Many companies lose clients during onboarding or overpay for proprietary video conferencing services, even though data can be stored on their own server. We regularly encounter this problem in projects requiring secure video communication. The open-source platform Jitsi Meet is the only open-source solution that covers both issues: it is free and entirely under your control. Our deployment experience includes one-day prototypes and production servers with JWT authentication, room management, and integration with business logic.
Comparison of Jitsi Meet with alternatives
| Solution | License | Pricing | Data Control | WebRTC Support |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jitsi Meet | Apache 2.0 | Free | Full | Yes |
| Zoom SDK | Proprietary | Per-minute billing | No | Yes |
| Daily.co | Proprietary | From $10/month for 10k minutes | Partial | Yes |
| Twilio Video | Proprietary | $0.004/participant/min | No | Yes |
Jitsi wins in cost and privacy: data never leaves your infrastructure, no time limits. For medical, educational, and corporate platforms this is essential. Self-hosted Jitsi costs on average from $20 per month for 50 participants, and license savings can reach 90%. In fact, for high-volume usage, Jitsi is up to 10x cheaper than Zoom, providing the same HD quality and more control.
Ensuring conference privacy
This video conferencing tool uses end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for audio and video streams, as well as signaling traffic encryption via TLS. All data is transmitted directly through Jitsi Videobridge without being stored on the server. For additional protection, participant authentication is enabled via JWT — the token contains access rights and moderator privileges. Only authorized users can join a room, preventing confidential information leaks.
Advantages of self-hosted Jitsi
Cloud services charge per minute of communication or number of participants, which quickly grows with active use. A self-hosted Jitsi solution only requires server costs (from $10/month) and is independent of traffic. Additionally, you retain full control over data — it never leaves your infrastructure perimeter. This is critical for projects in healthcare, education, and finance.
Self-hosted server requirements
Minimum requirements:
- 1 vCPU, 2 GB RAM — up to 10 participants
- 4 vCPU, 8 GB RAM — up to 50 participants (with Jitsi Videobridge)
- Open ports: 443/TCP, 10000/UDP
- Domain with SSL (Let's Encrypt)
Installation via the official repository. The installer automatically configures Nginx and SSL.
How to embed Jitsi on a site: iframe or self-hosted?
Jitsi as iframe — quick start. Embed via Jitsi External API and <iframe>. The public server meet.jit.si is suitable for prototypes. Self-hosted Jitsi — full control: server on Ubuntu LTS, your own domain zone, UI customization, and logging.
Example Prosody configuration for JWT
For private conferences, enable JWT authentication at the Prosody XMPP server level:
# /etc/prosody/conf.avail/your-jitsi.domain.com.cfg.lua VirtualHost "your-jitsi.domain.com" authentication = "token" app_id = "myapp" app_secret = "your-secret-key" allow_empty_token = false How to set up JWT room authentication?
By default Jitsi is open — anyone who knows the room name can join. For privacy, enable JWT. Token generation on your backend:
use Firebase\JWT\JWT; class JitsiTokenService { private const APP_ID = 'myapp'; private const SECRET = 'your-secret-key'; public function generate(User $user, string $roomName, bool $isModerator = false): string { $payload = [ 'iss' => self::APP_ID, 'sub' => 'your-jitsi.domain.com', 'aud' => self::APP_ID, 'room' => $roomName, 'exp' => time() + 3600, 'context' => [ 'user' => [ 'id' => (string) $user->id, 'name' => $user->name, 'email' => $user->email, 'moderator' => $isModerator, ], ], ]; return JWT::encode($payload, self::SECRET, 'HS256'); } } The token is passed in External API options when initializing the iframe.
Step-by-step Jitsi Meet integration guide
- Deploy the Jitsi server on Ubuntu using the official installer.
- Configure domain and SSL via Let's Encrypt.
- Embed the iframe on the page via Jitsi External API.
- Set up JWT authentication on the Prosody server.
- Generate tokens on the backend and pass them to the iframe.
What is included in the work?
- Installation of self-hosted Jitsi on your server with SSL
- Embedding iframe with Jitsi External API and event handling
- Configuration of JWT room authentication
- Creation of REST API for room management (create, delete, get links)
- Comprehensive API documentation and administration guide
- Load testing up to 50 participants
- Post-deployment support and training for your team
Estimated timelines
| Stage | iframe + public | Self-hosted |
|---|---|---|
| Server installation | 0 | 0.5 day |
| Basic integration | 0.5 day | 1 day |
| JWT authentication | 1 day (if proxy needed) | 1 day |
| Full customization | 2-3 days | 3-5 days |
Our team has over 5 years of experience in Jitsi deployments and has successfully completed 20+ projects. We guarantee a seamless integration with thorough testing and documentation. For a consultation on Jitsi Meet integration, we will help you choose the optimal configuration and set everything up for your project. Request a custom proposal factoring in load and security requirements—backed by our proven expertise.