Butter alternatives: 3 open-source picks
Butter costs $14/mo — $168 a year. These 3 alternatives replace it for $0, led by BigBlueButton, Jitsi Meet and LiveKit. All 3 are open source. License, stars and last commit checked by hand on 2026-08-29. No trials, no crippled tiers.
Workshops, polls, breakouts and recordings; installation is the first workshop.
Video conferencing with no accounts and no time limits. Embed it, brand it, or just use meet.jit.si.
licenseApache-2.0
runsyour server
setupnot verified by us yet — check the repo README
facts verified 2026-08-29
Realtime audio/video/data infrastructure over WebRTC for calls, rooms, and AI voice agents.
licenseApache-2.0
runsyour server
setupnot verified by us yet — check the repo README
facts verified 2026-08-29
What each one is, in full: BigBlueButton · Jitsi Meet · LiveKit
last updated 2026-08-29 · no votes, no pay-to-list · just what's real
how to choose a Butter alternative
Most proven
Jitsi Meet, with 25,000 GitHub stars — the largest community of the 3, which usually means more answers when something breaks.
Needs real ops to self-host
BigBlueButton is capable but expects someone to run a server, updates and backups. Budget for that before choosing it.
what you give up by leaving Butter
- workshop tools, templates, media reliability, engagement features, and integrations
- global low-latency media network
- dial-in and telephony
- large webinars
- transcription, support, and compliance
None of the picks above covers all of it. The full verdict says which gaps matter.
Butter alternatives at a glance
| tool | license | running it | platforms | stars | active |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BigBlueButton | open source | self-host, real ops | web, self-hosted | 9,200 | 2026-08 |
| Jitsi Meet | Apache-2.0 | docker to self-host | self-hosted, web | 25,000 | 2026-08 |
| LiveKit | Apache-2.0 | docker to self-host | self-hosted, web | 13,000 | 2026-08 |
why people still pay for Butter
People paid for Butter because video products survive because real-time media quality and global reliability are infrastructure businesses, not weekend interface projects. The recurring cost bought TURN capacity, codecs, browsers, packet loss, scaling, recording, consent, abuse, monitoring, and incident response, not just the visible interface. If none of that applies to you, any pick above saves $168 a year.
questions about switching from Butter
Is there an open-source alternative to Butter?
Yes: BigBlueButton, Jitsi Meet, LiveKit. Every tool on this page is open source: no trials, no crippled tiers.
Can open source really replace Butter?
Our verdict is YES. Jitsi Meet (25k stars), LiveKit (13k stars), BigBlueButton (9k stars) are mature open-source replacements for Butter — self-host with docker and stop paying $14/mo. The full verdict, and what you give up by switching, is at caniopensourceit.online/butter.
What is the most popular open-source Butter alternative?
By GitHub stars, Jitsi Meet (25,000). LiveKit is next with 13,000.
