BigBlueButton is free, open-source video conferencing for online education, with whiteboards, breakout rooms, and LMS integration. See features and hosting.
BigBlueButton is a free, open-source virtual classroom platform that began in 2007 at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and was open-sourced in 2009 by its creators, who also founded Blindside Networks to provide paid hosting and support. The project is now overseen by BigBlueButton Inc., a membership-based organization that elects a board to guide development.
Unlike general-purpose video conferencing tools, BigBlueButton is designed specifically for teaching: it prioritizes features like presentation annotation, breakout rooms, and shared notes over generic meeting features.
The platform provides real-time audio, video, and screen sharing alongside a multi-user whiteboard, public/private chat, shared notes, live polling, and breakout rooms. Presenters can upload and annotate slide decks, and sessions can be recorded for on-demand playback.
Its deepest integrations are with open-source Learning Management Systems — especially Moodle, which offers a dedicated BigBlueButton activity module — plus Sakai, Canvas, and others, letting instructors start a live class session directly from a course page.
The core BigBlueButton software is free under the LGPL license, with no vendor licensing fee for self-hosting. Organizations either run and maintain their own servers or pay third-party managed hosting providers, which typically start around $149/month for hosting plus added branding, API, and support services.
The core software is free and open-source under the LGPL license. Costs come from self-hosting infrastructure or from optional third-party managed hosting, which typically starts around $149/month.
It originated in 2007 at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and was open-sourced in 2009 by Richard Alam, Denis Zgonjanin, and Fred Dixon, who also founded Blindside Networks.
Yes, Moodle offers a dedicated first-party BigBlueButton activity module, and the platform also integrates with Sakai, Canvas, and other LMS systems.
Yes, sessions can be recorded and made available for on-demand playback.
It's purpose-built for online education and virtual classrooms, with features like breakout rooms and slide annotation, rather than general corporate meetings.