Zoom vs Jitsi

Zoom is the video call standard everyone knows. Jitsi is free, open source, and requires no account. Compare them for meetings, privacy, and cost.

Updated 2026-09 · 2026

Zoom

The video conferencing tool everyone already has installed

$13.33/user/moper user/month

Strengths

+Rock-solid reliability even on bad internet connections
+Everyone knows how to use it - zero onboarding friction
+Breakout rooms, polling, and webinar features are polished

Weaknesses

-Free tier limits group calls to 40 minutes
-Privacy track record has been questioned multiple times
-Gets expensive for teams that need Pro or Business features

Best for

Teams and organizations that need reliable, full-featured video conferencing that works for everyone without technical setup.

Jitsi

Free, open source video conferencing with no account required

Freefree and open source

Strengths

+Completely free with no time limits on calls
+No account or download required - just share a link
+Self-hostable for maximum privacy and control

Weaknesses

-Call quality can degrade with more than 15-20 participants
-No native breakout rooms or advanced meeting features
-Recording requires self-hosted setup or Oovoo integration

Best for

Privacy-conscious teams and anyone who wants free, no-account video calls without time limits or per-seat costs.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Zoom	Jitsi
Pricing	$13.33/user/mo	Free
Account required	Yes	No
Call time limit	40 min (free), unlimited (paid)	Unlimited
Max participants	1,000 (Business)	75-100 (quality varies)
Self-hosting	No	Yes
End-to-end encryption	Available	Available
Recording	Cloud + local	Self-hosted or Oovoo
Breakout rooms	Yes	No
Screen sharing	Yes	Yes
Browser-based	Yes (limited)	Yes (full support)

The Verdict

Zoom just works, and that matters a lot when you are in back-to-back meetings. Jitsi is ideal for teams that care about privacy and cost - it is genuinely good for small to mid-size calls. For large meetings or webinars, Zoom is still the safer pick. For everyday team calls under 20 people, Jitsi is hard to beat at free.

How to switch from Zoom to Jitsi

Full Zoom export guide →

1Export your Zoom data first: go to Admin > Account Management > Reports to download cloud recordings (MP4/M4A) and meeting/attendance reports as CSV, then use the Compliance Export tool to pull chat history as CSV or TXT before you cancel your subscription.
2Pick your Jitsi setup: use the free public instance at meet.jit.si for zero setup, or self-host via Jitsi Meet's Docker deployment on a VPS if you want full control over data and recordings.
3Recreate recurring meeting links by generating permanent Jitsi room URLs (e.g., meet.jit.si/YourTeamName-WeeklyStandup) and share them the same way you shared Zoom links - no scheduling system required unless you set up calendar integration.
4Set up recording if you need it: configure a self-hosted Jibri recording server, or accept that ad-hoc recording won't be available on the free public instance and plan accordingly for meetings that must be archived.
5Reconnect calendar and Slack integrations using Jitsi's official Google Calendar, Outlook, and Slack apps so meeting links still get generated automatically instead of manually.
6Run a 1-2 week parallel period where the team tests Jitsi for internal calls while keeping Zoom for external/client meetings, then fully cut over and downgrade or cancel the Zoom plan once everyone's comfortable.

Zoom vs Jitsi: common questions

How do I export my meeting data and recordings from Zoom before switching?+

Zoom account admins can export cloud recordings (MP4/M4A files) individually or in bulk from Admin > Account Management > Reports, and chat history via the Compliance Export tool as CSV or TXT files. Meeting reports (attendance, polling, Q&A) export as CSV from the same Reports section. There's no automated migration path since Jitsi doesn't store meeting history, so this export is really about archiving what you already have.

What features do we lose by switching from Zoom to Jitsi?+

You lose native breakout rooms, built-in cloud recording, meeting analytics/reports, and Zoom's AI meeting summaries - Jitsi has none of these out of the box. Recording on Jitsi requires either self-hosting a Jibri recording server or using a third-party integration, which takes real setup time. Webinar-specific features like registration pages and large-scale Q&A also aren't available.

Is Jitsi's free plan actually enough for a small team?+

Yes, for teams under 15-20 people doing regular internal calls, Jitsi handles it fine with no time limits or per-seat cost. Call quality does degrade as participant count climbs past 20-30, so it's less reliable for company-wide all-hands or client webinars. If your calls are mostly small standups and 1:1s, it's a solid free replacement.

Does Jitsi integrate with calendar and Slack the way Zoom does?+

Jitsi has official integrations for Google Calendar, Outlook, and Slack that let you generate meeting links directly, but they're not as polished or automatic as Zoom's scheduler plugins. There's no equivalent to Zoom's App Marketplace with hundreds of third-party integrations, so anything beyond calendar/Slack likely needs a manual link-share workflow.

How much would we actually save switching from Zoom to Jitsi over a year?+

A 10-person team on Zoom Pro at $13.33/user/month spends about $1,600/year; switching to Jitsi's public server drops that to $0. If you self-host for extra privacy, budget roughly $5-20/month for a small VPS depending on call volume, which still saves well over $1,300/year compared to Zoom.