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.
What "self-hosted" means
Self-hosting means your organization installs BigBlueButton on a server it controls. That server can be a physical machine in your own data center or a virtual server you rent from a cloud provider. Your team, or a contractor working for you, is responsible for installing it, configuring it, keeping it updated and fixing it when something goes wrong.
BigBlueButton is demanding software, and the project is clear about what a production server needs. For BigBlueButton 3.0, the official installation documentation recommends at least:
- a clean, dedicated server running Ubuntu 22.04 (64-bit), with nothing else installed on it;
- 16 GB of memory with swap enabled;
- 8 CPU cores with high single-thread performance (on cloud providers, a "compute-optimized" instance with dedicated CPU);
- 500 GB of free disk space if you record sessions, or 50 GB if recording is disabled;
- at least 250 Mbit/s of symmetrical bandwidth;
- a hostname with a valid SSL certificate, and open TCP ports 80 and 443 plus UDP ports 16384 to 32768.
Those are the minimums for one server. A single server has a limit on how many people it can handle at the same time. Larger deployments usually add a load balancer such as Scalelite to spread meetings across several servers, and often a TURN server so users behind strict firewalls can still connect.
What "managed" means
With managed hosting, a provider runs BigBlueButton for you. You receive a working server address and the credentials to connect it to your learning platform or website, and the provider takes care of the infrastructure behind it. Depending on the plan, that can mean a shared cloud service, a dedicated server reserved for your organization, or a fully managed server that the provider operates on your behalf.
Managed providers typically handle installation, updates, monitoring, storage of recordings and technical support. What you give up is some direct control over the server, and you pay an ongoing fee for the service.
What a managed service looks like in practice
To make this concrete, here is what the MynaParrot BigBlueButton hosting service includes. Other providers differ in the details, but the list gives a good idea of what to look for in any managed offer.
- Quick start. An account is ready to use in minutes, and there is a free plan for up to 25 concurrent users, so you can test BigBlueButton with your own classes before paying anything.
- Plans based on concurrent users. Each plan sets how many people can be online at the same time across your account, with unlimited hosts and rooms. Paid plans have no contract and no setup fee, and larger organizations can ask for a custom plan.
- Dedicated hardware. The service runs on dedicated bare-metal servers rather than shared virtual machines, and from the Ultra-2 plan upward each customer gets a separate dedicated server.
- Servers near your users. Servers are available in Europe (Germany, France and the United Kingdom), the United States, Canada, Asia (Hong Kong and Singapore) and Australia, which helps keep audio and video smooth.
- Scaling handled for you. A load balancing system spreads meetings across multiple servers, so you do not have to build and run your own cluster.
- Extra features on top of standard BigBlueButton. These include exporting recordings as MP4 or WebM files, live broadcasting to YouTube, Facebook or any RTMP server, a monitoring board with live and past session reports, and live captioning with translation.
- Easy integration. The standard BigBlueButton plugins for Moodle, Chamilo, WordPress and Joomla work as usual, and an extended API is available for systems without a plugin.
- Branding. Larger plans can be fully rebranded with your own classroom address, welcome message and default presentation.
- Support. Technical support is available 24/7 by live chat, email, phone or WhatsApp.
You can compare the current plans and features on the MynaParrot BigBlueButton hosting page.
Comparing the two, factor by factor
Control and customization
Self-hosting gives you full control. You decide exactly which version runs, how it is configured, which recording formats are produced and how the interface is branded. You can also add BigBlueButton 3.0 plugins or build your own integrations. Managed providers usually support branding, common configuration changes and extra features of their own, but deep changes to the server depend on what the provider allows.
Data location and compliance
Some organizations must keep student data, recordings and chat logs in a specific country or inside their own network. Self-hosting makes that straightforward, because you choose where the server lives. Many managed providers also let you choose the region your server runs in, so it is worth asking any provider exactly where your data and recordings will be stored and who can access them.
Technical skills and staff time
This is often the deciding factor. Running BigBlueButton in production requires comfort with Linux server administration, networking, SSL certificates, firewalls and troubleshooting real-time audio and video. It is not a one-time job. Someone needs to watch the server, apply updates and respond when a class cannot connect. With managed hosting, that work sits with the provider.
Updates and upgrades
BigBlueButton releases updates regularly. Minor updates within version 3.0 can be applied by re-running the installation script. Major version jumps are bigger work: for example, the project recommends moving from version 2.6 or 2.7 to 3.0 by setting up a new server and copying recordings across, rather than upgrading in place. A managed provider plans and performs these upgrades for you. When self-hosting, you schedule and carry them out yourself.
Reliability and scaling
A single self-hosted server is a single point of failure. If it goes down during an exam or a busy week, every class on it stops. Building a setup that stays up and grows with demand means running several servers, load balancing, monitoring and a plan for failures. Managed providers usually already have this in place. On the other hand, a well-run self-hosted cluster can be sized precisely to your own peak usage.
Cost
Self-hosting does not mean free. The software costs nothing, but you pay for servers, bandwidth, storage for recordings and, most of all, the time of the people who run it. Managed hosting turns most of this into a predictable monthly fee, usually based on how many people use the platform at the same time. Which one works out cheaper depends heavily on your scale: a very large, steady user base can make self-hosting economical, while a smaller or seasonal one often comes out ahead with a managed plan. The fairest comparison counts staff time as a real cost, not just the server bill.
Support
With self-hosting, your support is your own team plus the open-source community, which is active but has no obligation to respond on your schedule. Managed plans include a support channel with the provider. If you self-host, some organizations also bring in an outside specialist for installation, tuning or emergencies.
When self-hosting tends to fit
- You have, or can hire, people with solid Linux and networking experience.
- Your data must stay on infrastructure you control, for legal or policy reasons.
- You need deep customization or your own integrations and plugins.
- You have a large and fairly steady number of users, so you can plan capacity in advance.
- You are comfortable owning uptime, security and upgrades.
When managed hosting tends to fit
- You want your teachers teaching, not your team running servers.
- You do not have in-house server administration skills, or that team is already stretched.
- You need to launch quickly, for example before the next term or course starts.
- Your usage goes up and down during the year.
- You prefer a predictable cost and a support contact when something breaks.
A middle path
The choice is not always all or nothing. Some organizations start with managed hosting and move to their own servers once they understand their usage and have built up the skills. Others self-host but hire a specialist to do the initial installation and configuration, or to help with major upgrades. Another common arrangement is a dedicated server that belongs to you alone but is operated by a provider, which gives you your own resources without the day-to-day administration.
Questions to ask before you decide
- How many people will be in live sessions at the same time at our busiest moment?
- Where do our recordings and user data need to be stored?
- Who on our team will maintain the servers, apply updates and respond to problems?
- What would it cost us if the platform went down during a class or an exam?
- Do we need changes to BigBlueButton that a hosting provider might not allow?
- What is our full yearly cost for each option once staff time is included?
Final thoughts
Both approaches run the same BigBlueButton, with the same whiteboard, breakout rooms, polls and recordings. The real difference is who carries the responsibility for keeping it running. Self-hosting gives you the most control and can make sense at scale, provided you have the skills and time to run it well. Managed hosting removes most of the technical work, in exchange for an ongoing fee and less direct control over the server.
The right answer depends on your team, your users and your requirements, not on which option sounds better in general. If you work through the questions above honestly, the better fit for your organization usually becomes clear. If you would like to try the managed route first, you can start with the free MynaParrot BigBlueButton plan and test it with your own classes.
