Open-source Whereby alternatives

Jitsi Meet is a collection of open-source projects for hosting video conferences. It works in all current browsers and has Android and iOS apps, and it can be used as a ready-made service or embedded into other web applications through web and native SDKs. It is built on WebRTC with a selective forwarding unit to scale to larger meetings.

Meetings offer HD audio and video, content sharing, raised hands and reactions, chat with private conversations, polls and virtual backgrounds. The hosted service at meet.jit.si is free to use, and the README says you can start a meeting after signing in with an account from a major provider. Mobile users can use the browser or the full-featured apps, which are also available from F-Droid, and open beta programs let early adopters test features.

If you prefer control over your data, Jitsi can be deployed on your own infrastructure, with documentation for running your own instance. Jitsi Meet is Apache-2.0 licensed and written in TypeScript. It suits organizations, schools and communities that want an alternative to proprietary meeting software.

MiroTalk P2P is an open-source video conferencing platform that uses direct peer-to-peer WebRTC connections between participants. You host it on your own server, and people join meeting rooms from a browser with no downloads and no time limits. It is meant for teams and communities that want private real-time communication they control.

Features include unlimited rooms, screen sharing, text chat, a collaborative whiteboard, recording and general collaboration tools. It works across common browsers and platforms, can be deployed with a Docker image in minutes, and has a live demo, documentation and a Discord community. The software is JavaScript based.

MiroTalk P2P is licensed under AGPL-3.0. Because media flows peer to peer, it keeps traffic off a central media server, which suits small groups. It fits small teams, schools and communities who want a self-hosted alternative to commercial meeting tools.

Chitchatter is a free communication tool that aims to be the simplest way to connect with others privately and securely. It is peer-to-peer, using a TURN server only when a direct connection is not possible, and end-to-end encrypted through WebRTC. It is fully open source under the GPL v2 license.

Messages are ephemeral: content is never written to disk on either the client or a server. The tool is also decentralized, working without an API server, with only GitHub for static assets and public WebTorrent and TURN relay servers needed to establish connections. Its topics list video conferencing and the Trystero library.

A public instance runs at chitchatter.im, and since it is a static web app it can also be hosted elsewhere. Chitchatter suits people who want a quick private room for text, video, or file exchange without creating accounts, and developers interested in serverless WebRTC applications.

Galene is a videoconferencing system that aims to be easy to deploy and to run on very moderate server resources. It is a WebRTC-based SFU, meaning the server forwards participants' media streams to each other instead of mixing them, which keeps CPU use low while supporting group calls from a web browser.

Beyond video calls it supports file sharing, as its topics indicate, and ships with documentation covering installation, usage and administration, writing clients, the client protocol and an administrative API. People join through a browser, and the quick start explains how to try it locally with a self-signed certificate. Questions and common issues are answered on the project website.

Galene is written in Go by Juliusz Chroboczek and is licensed under MIT. You run it on your own server, which suits universities, small organizations and groups that want a private conferencing system without a large infrastructure. Discussion and patches go through a mailing list, though pull requests on GitHub are also accepted.

Call-Me, also called MiroTalk CME, is an open-source, self-hosted click-to-call solution built on WebRTC. You add a video call button to your website and visitors can connect with your team directly from the browser, with no signup or installation required.

Callers join with a username and can enter rooms such as Support or Reception to group users, then call each other with a click. During a call they can switch camera, microphone and speaker, chat, mute, hide video, share their screen and share files. The README also lists end-to-end encryption, a host protection mode with a password, web push notifications for incoming calls, a REST API for users, rooms, availability and call stats, and webhooks for call events.

It runs on Node.js or Docker, listening on port 8000 by default, and is licensed under AGPL-3.0. The project suggests it for customer support, sales, consultations and remote assistance, and provides a live demo, documentation and a Discord community.

MiroTalk C2C is an open-source WebRTC application for private one-to-one video calls between two browsers. It uses direct peer-to-peer connections and supports screen sharing, and the project describes the calls as end-to-end encrypted.

It is aimed at consultations, coaching, customer support, telehealth and other situations where two people need a private browser-based call. The interface can be embedded into any website via an iframe. Settings include camera background options of off, blur or a custom image, processed locally in the browser, although the effects load MediaPipe files from external hosts.

You can start it with a few commands or run it with Docker and Docker Compose, then open it on localhost port 8080. A live demo, documentation and a Discord community are linked from the repository. The project is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and is written in JavaScript.

Briefing, running at Brie.fi/ng, is a secure group video chat that works directly in the browser using open technologies such as WebRTC. No extra software is needed, and a conversation can start immediately for free. A free iOS app also exists. Features include desktop sharing, text chat and simple invitation links, and the code can be extended with JavaScript and Vue knowledge.

Briefing is self-contained: it bundles the user interface, signaling and STUN components that a WebRTC video chat needs. There are several ways to use it in your own project. You can create a room on Brie.fi/ng and link it from your site, embed it in a frame with a configurator, run it on your own server through Docker or a cloud platform such as fly.io, Render, Google Cloud, AWS or Azure, or customize the source code.

The public license is AGPL-3.0 or later, and the author also offers a commercial license, particularly for white-labeling applications. Sponsorship through GitHub is also welcome. The project is written in TypeScript with Vue, and topics highlight end-to-end encryption and WebRTC signaling.