Jitsi Meet vs Webex
We give Jitsi Meet and Webex the same GPA: 3.4 out of 4.0. Jitsi Meet grades higher on value for money and the free plan. Webex grades higher on features and ease of use. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Webex
Cisco's app for video meetings, messaging and calling
How we grade them
| 3.4GPAJitsi MeetVery good | 3.4GPAWebexVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | AIt costs nothing, where tools in this category typically start at about $7 a user a month. There's no paid plan at all. The one thing with a price is 8x8's separate Jitsi as a Service, for embedding meetings in your own app, and that's free up to 25 endpoints. | BWebex Meet is $12 a user a month billed annually, which is $144 a year. That's above the $7 team chat typically starts at but about normal for a meetings tool, and it buys 24-hour meetings for 200, the AI Assistant and 10 GB of cloud recording. Calling needs Suite at $22.50. |
| Free plan and trial | AAll of it is free: the hosted meet.jit.si service and the open-source software for your own server. The only hoop is that whoever creates a room on meet.jit.si has to sign in with a Google, Facebook or GitHub account. Everyone else just joins. | BUnlimited meetings with up to 100 attendees, unlimited messaging and whiteboards, local recording and noise cancellation, with no credit card needed. The catch is the clock: every meeting ends at 40 minutes. Fine for a catch-up, tight for a workshop. |
| Features | BScreen sharing, chat, raise hand, a shared Etherpad document, live streaming to YouTube, recording and phone dial-in. Plenty for a free meeting tool. But end-to-end encryption is opt-in and doesn't cover chat or polls, and a self-hosted server needs the Jibri and Jigasi components for recording and dial-in. | AMeetings with screen sharing and annotation, group messaging and file sharing in the same app, unlimited whiteboards and Vidcast video messages. Paid plans add the AI Assistant, closed captions, cloud recording and Slido polls. Suite brings a business phone number and visual voicemail. |
| Ease of use | C3.55 from 492 App Store ratings, which is a C on our ladder. Joining couldn't be simpler, as a meeting is a room name on a URL. But about a quarter of those reviewers gave the app one star, so the phone side clearly has its off days. | B4.58 from about 9,400 App Store ratings, a whisker short of our A line. It runs in a browser, though Webex says some features, such as PSTN calls, need the downloaded app. |
| Platforms and integrations | ABrowser, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android. An external API embeds a meeting in a web page, and the app can be compiled as an SDK for Android and iOS. It ties into Etherpad, YouTube and Dropbox too. | AWeb, Mac, Windows, Linux, iPhone and Android. It connects to Slido, Miro, Microsoft Teams, Google Workspace, Salesforce, Slack and Smartsheet, and it's the natural pick if your rooms and desks have Cisco devices. |
| Best for | free video calls where guests need no account | meetings, messaging and phone calls on one licence |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Jitsi Meet and Webex. How we grade
Where they differ
- Jitsi Meet is free. Webex starts at $12 per user / month, billed annually ($144 a year).
- Jitsi Meet is open source, self-hostable and end-to-end encrypted, according to its own site.
- Webex also covers noise cancellation, whiteboard, screen recording, team chat and file sharing.
At a glance
| Jitsi Meet | Webex | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $12 per user / month, billed annually ($144 a year) |
| Free plan | Free and open source, both as the hosted meet.jit.si service and as software to run on your own server. On meet.jit.si the person creating a room must sign in. | Webex Free: unlimited meetings of up to 40 minutes and 100 attendees, unlimited messaging and whiteboards, local recording and noise cancellation. No credit card is needed. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| macOS | ||
| Windows | ||
| Linux | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | 8x8, Inc. | Cisco |
| Price read from | jitsi.org | pricing.webex.com |
| Checked | Oct 6, 2026 | Oct 9, 2026 |
Who each one suits
Jitsi Meet
- Quick video calls where guests should not need an account
- Organizations that want to self-host open-source video conferencing
- Developers who want to customize or embed the meeting client
Webex
- Organizations that equip rooms and desks with Cisco devices
- Teams that want meetings, messaging and phone calling on one license
- Short free meetings with whiteboards and noise cancellation
- Public-sector buyers that need FedRAMP authorized security
Worth knowing
Jitsi Meet
- Since August 24, 2023, the person creating a room on meet.jit.si must sign in with an account.
- End-to-end encryption is opt-in, needs a Chromium-based browser or the desktop client, and covers audio, video and screen sharing but not chat or polls.
- Neither the Jitsi team nor 8x8 sells commercial support; self-hosters rely on the community forum or outside providers.
- Embedding meetings in another app is directed to 8x8's separate Jitsi as a Service, which is free up to 25 endpoints and paid beyond that.
Webex
- Free meetings end at 40 minutes, and the free plan records locally only.
- A business phone number and calling need Webex Suite, and meetings above 200 attendees need Webex Enterprise, which is sold by sales.
- Call Me and Real-Time Translation are paid add-ons: Call Me starts at $48 and translation is $300 per license a year.
- Webex runs in a browser, but the vendor says some features, such as PSTN calls, need the downloaded app.
Key features
Jitsi Meet
- Meetings at a simple URL
- A meeting is a room name on a URL. On meet.jit.si the first participant signs in with a Google, Facebook or GitHub account; everyone else joins without one.
- Screen sharing and in-call tools
- Share a desktop or presentation, chat with emoji, raise a hand, edit a shared Etherpad document and play a YouTube video to all attendees.
- Self-hosting
- Stable and nightly Ubuntu and Debian packages and a Docker setup let you run your own instance, with your own authentication and moderation rules.
- Encryption
- Audio and video are encrypted in transit with DTLS-SRTP by default. End-to-end encryption can be switched on in Chromium-based browsers and the desktop client.
- Recording, streaming and dial-in
- Conferences can be live streamed to YouTube and recorded, and joined by phone. Self-hosted servers need the Jibri and Jigasi components for these.
- APIs and SDKs
- An external API embeds a meeting in a web page, and the app can be compiled as an SDK for Android and iOS. The code is 100% open source.
Webex
- Video meetings
- Meetings include screen sharing with annotation. They run 40 minutes with 100 attendees on Free, 24 hours with 200 on Meet, and up to 1,000 attendees on Enterprise.
- Messaging
- Group messaging, chat and file sharing sit in the same app as meetings, and the free plan includes unlimited messaging.
- AI Assistant and cloud recording
- Paid plans include the AI Assistant, closed captions and 10 GB of cloud recording. The free plan records locally, and Enterprise has unlimited cloud recording.
- Whiteboards, polls and video messages
- Whiteboards are unlimited on every plan and Vidcast records and shares video. Live polling and Q&A through Slido start with Webex Meet.
- Calling
- Webex Suite adds a business phone number, visual voicemail, 6-way conference calling and unlimited local and domestic long-distance calling.
- Noise cancellation
- Advanced noise cancellation is listed on every plan, including Webex Free, along with calendar service integration.
Plans
Jitsi Meet
Jitsi Meet$0
Free meetings on the hosted meet.jit.si service, and free open-source software for self-hosting. The project is funded by 8x8.
Webex
Webex Free$0
Unlimited meetings of up to 40 minutes and 100 attendees, unlimited messaging and whiteboards, and local recording.
Webex Meet$12
per user / month, billed annually ($144 a year)
24-hour meetings with up to 200 attendees, the AI Assistant, 10 GB of cloud recording, Slido polling and Q&A, and closed captions.
Webex Suite$22.50
per user / month, billed annually ($270 a year)
Meet plus calling: a business phone number, visual voicemail and unlimited local and domestic long-distance calls.
Webex EnterpriseCustom
Up to 1,000 attendees, unlimited cloud meeting recording and FedRAMP authorized security. Certain plans include Webex events.
Ways to pay less
Jitsi Meet
No public discounts listed.
Webex
- Annual discount
Lower rate on annual billing
Billed annually, Webex Meet is $144 per user a year, shown as $12 a month. The pricing page's own plan data lists the monthly-billed Meet license at $14.50.
- Other savings
6 months free with 5 or more licenses
The pricing page advertises 6 months free on Webex Meet when 5 or more licenses are bought, a saving of $360 or more. Terms apply and no end date is shown.
- Nonprofit
60% off for eligible nonprofits
The Flex Plan Non-Governmental Organization offer gives eligible nonprofits a 60% discount on Webex for up to 100 users, arranged by contacting Webex.
