For years, open-source video conferencing has been championed by foundational platforms like Jitsi Meet and BigBlueButton (BBB). They have been instrumental in making self-hosted collaboration possible for countless organizations. As the digital landscape evolves, new architectural approaches have emerged, offering different advantages for scalability, maintenance, and customization.
plugNmeet is a next-generation, open-source WebRTC platform built with these modern principles in mind. It offers a new alternative for those exploring different architectural trade-offs in search of greater efficiency and flexibility.
Understanding Traditional Architectures
Established platforms are often built with a robust set of interdependent services. This approach is powerful, but can present certain challenges depending on your team's goals and resources:
- Complex System Management: A multi-service stack can require specialized system administration skills to install, manage, and troubleshoot effectively.
- Challenges in Scalability: Scaling horizontally often involves manually configuring multiple components and load balancers, which can be a resource-intensive process.
- Resource-Intensive Features: Certain features, like full-UI recording, sometimes rely on resource-heavy methods like launching headless browsers, which can impact server density and cost.
- The Customization Fork: Deep UI or feature customization may require forking the original codebase, which can create a long-term maintenance challenge when it comes time to apply updates.
plugNmeet: A Different Architectural Philosophy
plugNmeet was designed to offer a different path, focusing on simplicity, efficiency, and modularity from the ground up. Our architecture provides several key benefits:
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Simplified, Lightweight Stack
Built on Go, LiveKit (for media), and NATS (for real-time messaging), plugNmeet offers a significantly smaller footprint. This translates to a simpler installation process and easier maintenance with a single, efficient binary.
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Designed for Cost-Effective Scale
plugNmeet is built for distributed scaling. Each core component is designed to scale independently, allowing you to add resources precisely where you need them. This can lead to more efficient infrastructure use and lower operational costs as you grow.
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Customization Without Code Alterations
Our platform enables deep customization and branding without altering the core code. By using simple configurations and APIs, you can tailor the user experience while ensuring that applying future updates remains a straightforward process.
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Efficient & Flexible Recording
plugNmeet provides a highly efficient, server-side recording method that captures media streams directly. The CPU-intensive work of file processing can be offloaded to separate, scalable worker servers, protecting the performance of your live meetings.
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A Seamless Bridge for the BBB Community
To support the ecosystem, plugNmeet includes a BBB-compatible API layer. This allows users of BigBlueButton-integrated applications (like Moodle or Greenlight) to test and migrate to plugNmeet's backend with minimal friction, often with just a simple configuration change.
Explore a New Generation of Open-Source Conferencing
plugNmeet offers the control and transparency of open-source, combined with an architectural approach focused on modern performance, scalability, and ease-of-use. For educators, businesses, and developers looking for a flexible, future-proof foundation for their communication needs, plugNmeet provides a powerful new option.
Ready to explore a different approach?