Jitsi vs Whereby

What Jitsi is

Jitsi is a collection of open-source projects centered on Jitsi Meet and Jitsi Videobridge. It can be self-hosted using Debian packages or Docker, embedded through web and mobile APIs/SDKs, consumed through paid 8x8 Jitsi as a Service, or tried on the public meet.jit.si instance. Those options have different guarantees: meet.jit.si is free but its current terms cap aggregate use at 25 Monthly Active End Points and say users should not rely on the service for commercial purposes. Self-hosting removes the service fee but transfers capacity, certificates, authentication, TURN, updates, abuse controls, recording and availability to the operator.

What Whereby is

Whereby runs video meetings entirely in the browser, with no download and no account needed for guests.

What Jitsi is built to do

Video meetings

Provides WebRTC audio/video, screen sharing, chat and collaborative meeting controls.

Self-hosting

Offers Debian and Docker deployments with configurable authentication and infrastructure.

Embedding

Supplies an external web API and native mobile SDKs for integrated conferencing.

Optional E2EE

Encrypts audio, video and screen sharing end to end on supported clients, with feature exclusions.

Choose Jitsi if

• Products embedding video meetings through supported web or mobile interfaces
• Organizations self-hosting for custom moderation, identity or data-path requirements
• Low-volume informal trials that fit meet.jit.si's current public-service terms

Skip Jitsi if

• The free public instance is assumed to provide an enterprise SLA or unlimited commercial use
• Every chat, poll, recording and meeting artifact must be end-to-end encrypted
• No team owns capacity planning, patching, TURN, abuse prevention and recovery for self-hosting

Choose Whereby if

• Quick calls with no downloads: free rooms for 4 participants up to 30 minutes
• Consultants who want a permanent room link for 100 participants: Pro $10.99/month
• Product teams embedding video via API, billed by usage

Skip Whereby if

• You host group calls longer than 30 minutes on Free
• You are a small team under 3 hosts — Business requires a 3-host minimum
• You need webinars for thousands; the cap is 200 on Business

Jitsi: pros & cons

• Open-source components can be inspected, modified and deployed under organizational control.
• Web, iOS and Android access plus embeddable APIs/SDKs fit browser and application workflows.
• Self-hosting supports custom authentication, moderation, data path and integration choices.
• Optional E2EE protects supported audio, video and screen sharing on compatible clients.
• Jitsi's optional E2EE does not cover chat, polls or every meeting feature and depends on supported clients.
• On meet.jit.si all users are moderators, while room creators require an account and analytics services are used.
• The public service has a 25-Monthly-Active-End-Point fair-use limit and no dependable commercial-service promise.
• A production self-hosted deployment requires real operations work: TLS, networking, TURN, capacity, authentication, monitoring, upgrades, backups and incident response.

Whereby: pros & cons

• Guests join with a link, no install
• Rooms have stable URLs
• Embeddable into your own product
• Fewer features than full meeting platforms
• Participant limits on lower plans
• Not aimed at large webinars