# BigBlueButton

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/bigbluebutton/

5 people recommended BigBlueButton in Hacker News comments, 2 had mixed feelings and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 2 of 12 months, in 4 threads. It does not meet the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People recommend it as a free, open-source video conferencing option that works as an alternative to Zoom and Teams, especially for webinars and schools. Critics say it is good enough rather than perfect and that self-hosting it is hard.

Summary written by Claude from 7 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Free alternative to Zoom (2 comments in the sample): "In my part of Germany we used BigBlueButton after a short time when Zoom was used." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47150895)) "Video / screen sharing and voice chat: Zoom, BigBlueButton, Jitsi" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46985852))

## What people warn about

- Hosting it is difficult (1 comment in the sample): "Hosting BBB or Jitsi is even worse" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47037010))
- Dated software stack (1 comment in the sample): "is a non starter due to elderly software in the stack" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45934214))

## Other video conferencing apps people recommend

- [Zoom](https://hackerapproved.com/p/zoom/): 53 recommend, 44 mixed, 140 criticize
- [Jitsi Meet](https://hackerapproved.com/p/jitsi/): 34 recommend, 6 mixed, 13 criticize
- [Google Meet](https://hackerapproved.com/p/google-meet/): 22 recommend, 16 mixed, 43 criticize
- [Proton Meet](https://hackerapproved.com/p/proton-meet/): 14 recommend, 2 mixed, 22 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "BigBlueButton", https://hackerapproved.com/p/bigbluebutton/ (5 recommend, 2 mixed, 2 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.