
BigBlueButton is one of the most widely used open-source virtual classroom platforms. It was built for teaching, with a shared whiteboard, breakout rooms, polls, shared notes, recordings and a learning dashboard that shows who took part in a session. It also connects with learning platforms such as Moodle, so many schools, universities and training companies run their live classes on it.
Because BigBlueButton is open source, you have a real choice about how to run it. You can install and operate it on your own server, or you can use a managed hosting provider that runs the servers for you. Both options use the same software. What changes is who is responsible for the servers, the updates, the security and the problems that come up at 8 a.m. on the first day of term.
This guide explains what each option involves, where each one tends to fit, and which questions to ask before you decide.