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Why Self-Hosted Jitsi Is the Best Zoom Alternative for Privacy

15 min Avkash Kakdiya

Finding a secure and reliable video conferencing tool is crucial these days. Lots of people look for Zoom alternatives that don’t trade off privacy or features. Jitsi, especially the self-hosted version, fits the bill. It’s open-source, protects your data well, and gives you control Zoom often doesn’t. Whether you’re a newbie developer, a business owner checking out options, or an agency wanting white-label tools, knowing how Jitsi works matters.

This article covers the main parts of self-hosted Jitsi — its API, UI, branding, common customizations, and where to find resources. Here’s why privacy-first choices like this stand out.

1. API Overview

Jitsi’s API is one of its best features—open, flexible, and friendly for developers. The key piece is the Jitsi Meet API, which lets you embed fully-working video calls in websites or apps. Unlike closed platforms, this API gives you control and visibility over how it works, which helps when you want to customize the conferencing experience.

Key API Features

  • Embed anywhere: Use iframe embeds or full React SDKs for web and mobile.
  • Room control: Create, join, and manage meeting rooms with custom names, passwords, and access settings.
  • User management hooks: Decide who’s a moderator or participant with API controls.
  • Event handling: Track things like people joining/leaving, muting, or screen sharing using event listeners.
  • Custom commands: Add features like recording, streaming, or chat moderation when you need them.

Real-World Example

A marketing agency used Jitsi’s API to add video calls to their client portal. They made sure only moderators could record and set auto timers for session expiry. It helped keep privacy tight and workflows smooth.

Why this matters

For developers and businesses, this API lowers the bar. No need to build video from scratch but you still get full control. That’s why Jitsi is a top Zoom alternative.

2. UI Elements

Jitsi’s UI is clean and works well out of the box but is built to be tweaked. It has everything you expect but stays simple and respects users’ privacy.

Core UI components include:

  • Video grid and participant tiles: Layouts that adjust, spotlight or tile views.
  • Chat panel: Text chat during calls.
  • Screen sharing controls: Easy buttons to share screens or apps securely.
  • Audio/video toggles: Mute/unmute mic, turn video off/on easily.
  • Recording and streaming buttons: Optional and configurable.
  • Settings menu: Controls for devices and bandwidth.

Benefits for end users

The default UI is simple for beginners but lets power users or developers add or remove features. With self-hosted Jitsi, you can tweak your interface to match how you work or comply with rules—something you can’t do on Zoom’s locked-down interface.

Accessibility

Jitsi supports keyboard shortcuts and screen readers, which matters if you want to include everyone. That’s a plus compared to some rivals.

3. Branding Options

When you host Jitsi yourself, branding isn’t just an afterthought—it’s fully yours. That’s a big reason businesses and agencies pick Jitsi over Zoom.

What you can customize:

  • Logo and colors: Swap default logos and choose your own color scheme.
  • Welcome screen: Add custom titles, notes, or disclaimers before meetings.
  • Backgrounds and layouts: Change default backgrounds or tile setups.
  • Custom domain support: Run your Jitsi on your own URL, not a third-party one.
  • White-labeling: Remove all Jitsi branding for a clean, branded look.

Case Study

One agency that does video coaching fully white-labeled their Jitsi setup. Clients joined through a branded portal with their logos and colors. This made things clearer and helped boost their subscribers by 20% in six months.

Expert tips

White-labeling is more than just looking right. Combine branding with API tweaks for a smooth, professional experience. It keeps clients happy and cuts support questions about “weird UI stuff.”

4. Example Customizations

Jitsi really shines here. Being open-source means you can adjust nearly everything—from security to how it looks.

Common customizations include:

  • End-to-end encryption (E2EE): Turn on E2EE so only the people in the call can decrypt streams.
  • Authentication modes: Add LDAP, OAuth, or single sign-on to control who joins.
  • Session recording control: Let only trusted users start or stop recording, storing files on your servers.
  • Bandwidth optimization: Change video quality based on user location or device to keep things smooth.
  • Custom layouts: Change tile arrangements by who’s talking or roles.
  • Automated meeting locks: Lock meetings after enough people join or after some time to block unwanted guests.

Technical insight

Setting these up means knowing a bit about Docker, prosody (an XMPP server that handles authentication), and Jitsi config files. Plenty of tutorials and docs make it doable.

Real-world use case

A finance company ran their own Jitsi with strict security rules. They added moderator approvals and auto session timeouts to meet internal policies without risking third-party data leaks.

5. Resources

To get going with Jitsi self-hosted, here are useful links for developers, business owners, or agencies:

Additional Learning

Many agencies build plugins and dashboards on top of Jitsi. Checking out these tools can speed up deployment and make your product look more polished.

Conclusion

Self-hosted Jitsi stands out as a privacy-focused, flexible video conferencing option—and a top Zoom alternative. Its open-source code, strong API, adaptable UI, and full branding control let you own your data and user experience, without relying on third parties. Real examples show it works both for everyday business and strict compliance needs.

If privacy and control are important to you, it’s worth trying self-hosted Jitsi. Developers, business owners, and agencies alike can shape it to fit their needs and skills.

Ready to switch to a privacy-first video conferencing platform?

Start at the Jitsi official site to download and explore, or get help from professionals who know self-hosted deployments. Putting your video calls under your control today avoids risks in the future.

Frequently Asked Questions

Self-hosted Jitsi gives you full control over your data and privacy, unlike cloud services like Zoom. That makes it a solid pick if security is your priority.

Jitsi offers a flexible API that lets developers embed, tweak, and expand video conferencing features inside websites or apps.

Yes, since Jitsi is open-source, you can customize the UI a lot—perfect for branding and making it fit your needs.

Yes. Basic IT skills help, but many agencies and developers provide managed self-hosted Jitsi setups, so business owners can use it without headaches.

With Jitsi, your data stays on your servers and is encrypted end-to-end, cutting down the risk of third-party leaks or access.

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