Layer 5 · self-hosting reality check
What it actually takes to self-host Jitsi Meet
The docs say 4 GB. In practice you want 8 GB for the videobridge under real load. Here is the honest version — real requirements, real monthly cost, what you will be maintaining, and the one thing that catches people out.
Usually reached from Zoom alternatives, where Jitsi Meet is one of the picks.
Wondering whether you need to at all? Is Zoom free? — what the free tier actually allows, and where the wall is.
| RAM — documented minimum | 4 GB |
|---|---|
| RAM — what it really needs | 8 GB for the videobridge under real load |
| CPU | 4 vCPU minimum; video routing is CPU-bound |
| Disk | 20 GB, more if you record |
| Monthly cost | $40–80/mo for a usable instance, and bandwidth is the real cost |
| Setup time | 3 hours |
| How you install it | The quick-install packages, or docker-jitsi-meet; TURN and firewall rules are the hard part |
| Ongoing maintenance | Active. It has many moving parts and they all matter. |
| Where it stops scaling | Dozens per conference on one bridge; large deployments shard across multiple videobridges. |
The thing that catches people out
Bandwidth, not CPU, is what actually fails. The videobridge relays every participant's stream, so a 10-person call at moderate quality can push well past 20 Mbps out of your server, and most VPS plans meter that. People size the box on RAM and CPU, get the call working with three people, and fall over at ten with an unmetered-bandwidth surprise on the invoice.
When not to self-host Jitsi Meet
You need reliable large meetings and have no operational capacity. Jitsi is genuinely good and self-hosting real-time video is genuinely hard.
Every guide here carries this section. A site that only ever tells you to self-host is selling something — the useful answer is sometimes no.
Other Layer 5 self-hosting guides
- Self-hosting LibreOffice2 GB with a large spreadsheet open
- Self-hosting ONLYOFFICE6 GB for the Document Server with a handful of concurrent editors
- Self-hosting Collabora Online4 GB, and roughly 1 GB per 20 concurrent documents
- Self-hosting CryptPad2 GB for a small instance
- Self-hosting Mattermost4 GB for a team of 50 with PostgreSQL on the same box
- Self-hosting Rocket.Chat6 GB with MongoDB on the same machine
Common questions
- How much RAM does Jitsi Meet actually need?
- 8 GB for the videobridge under real load in practice. The documented minimum is 4 GB, which is the figure at which the process starts rather than the figure at which it works under real use. 4 vCPU minimum; video routing is CPU-bound alongside it.
- What does self-hosting Jitsi Meet cost per month?
- $40–80/mo for a usable instance, and bandwidth is the real cost This is commodity VPS pricing and excludes your time, which is the larger cost for most people — budget for active. It has many moving parts and they all matter.
- How long does it take to set up Jitsi Meet?
- 3 hours, via The quick-install packages, or docker-jitsi-meet; TURN and firewall rules are the hard part.
- When should I NOT self-host Jitsi Meet?
- You need reliable large meetings and have no operational capacity. Jitsi is genuinely good and self-hosting real-time video is genuinely hard.
- What is the most common mistake when self-hosting Jitsi Meet?
- Bandwidth, not CPU, is what actually fails. The videobridge relays every participant's stream, so a 10-person call at moderate quality can push well past 20 Mbps out of your server, and most VPS plans meter that. People size the box on RAM and CPU, get the call working with three people, and fall over at ten with an unmetered-bandwidth surprise on the invoice.