Overview
BigBlueButton is open-source web-conferencing software designed for online teaching rather than business meetings. Its feature set centres on classroom tools: screen sharing, a multi-user whiteboard, breakout rooms, polling and the ability to broadcast videos to all participants[12].
The project says BigBlueButton has been adopted as the default virtual classroom by Canvas, Moodle Cloud, Sakai, Jenzabar, D2L and Schoology, vendors that together account for more than 75% of the worldwide learning-management-system market, and that it is used daily in more than 65 languages[12]. Schools can run it themselves or buy hosting from commercial providers listed by the project[12].
BigBlueButton is a strong fit for universities and schools that teach inside an LMS. It is not designed for sales calls or general corporate meetings, lacks the calendar and phone integrations of Zoom or Teams, and self-hosting requires server resources and administration.
BigBlueButton features
- Multi-user whiteboard
- Breakout rooms and polling
- Shared video playback for the class
- Built into Canvas, Moodle Cloud, Sakai, D2L and others
- Self-hostable open source
- Commercial hosting partners
BigBlueButton pricing
Free and open source to self-host; commercial hosting available from third-party providers at their own prices.
BigBlueButton strengths and limitations
Strengths
- Purpose-built teaching tools
- Default in several major LMS platforms
- No licence fees
- Multilingual
Limitations
- Not designed for business meetings
- Self-hosting needs administration
- Few calendar and phone integrations
- Hosting quality varies by provider
Appears in
BigBlueButton alternatives and competitors
Alternatives to BigBlueButton: companies ranked in the same lists.
Zoom ZoomMate
Microsoft Power BI
Google Password Manager
Webex- RingCentral RingEX
- Zoho Analytics
Dialpad
Whereby
Jitsi Meet- Pexip
Lifesize
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