Skip to main content

plugNmeet: Self-Hosted Open-Source Video Conferencing for Your Website

Welcome to plugNmeet, the video conferencing platform designed for ultimate control, flexibility, and cost-effective scale. Host secure, high-quality, and AI-powered meetings directly from your website, with your own branding, and complete ownership of the user experience.

What truly sets plugNmeet apart is its unmatched customization. The interface is fully controllable, allowing you to tailor the entire experience — from simple branding with your own logo and colors, to enabling specific features to create anything from a minimalist video chat, to a full-featured virtual classroom, or even a massive live event with hundreds of participants.

In 30 seconds
  • What: Complete meeting room — audio/video, screen share, whiteboard, chat, polls, breakout rooms, recording, live streaming, and AI summaries/translations.
  • How you own it: Install the free server on your own server, or skip ops with plugNmeet Cloud. In both cases the meeting runs under your brand.
  • How you use it: No-code plugins for WordPress, Moodle, Joomla, and any LMS via LTI — or plugNmeet API + SDKs for custom apps.
  • Why teams pick it: Privacy by design with optional end-to-end encryption, true white-label via config (no code forks), and a lightweight, scalable stack.

Which one are you? Pick your path​

If you are…You get…Start here
A creator, educator, or business owner — you want video on your site without codingInstall a plugin, enter server URL + key, add meetings from your dashboardUser Guide Overview
An admin or self-hoster — you care about privacy, cost, and controlA single-binary Go server + automated install script, you own data and recordingsInstallation Quick Start
A developer — you want to embed, automate, or ship mobile appsPlugNmeet API, PHP/JS SDKs, webhooks, custom mobile apps, and full UI theming without an iframe trapDeveloper Guide · API Intro

You can mix paths: many teams self-host once, then let teachers use the Moodle plugin while developers automate rooms via API.

What can you build with it?​

Same engine, very different products — you just enable what you need:

  • Virtual classroom & coaching: Whiteboard + shared notepad + polls + breakout rooms + attendance via analytics. Works from Moodle, WordPress, or any LMS via LTI.
  • Webinar & live event: Waiting room, moderator controls, RTMP live streaming to YouTube/Facebook, studio input from OBS via RTMP/WHIP, shared video playback for everyone.
  • Telehealth & private consulting: Browser-only join, lockable room, per-user permissions, and optional end-to-end encryption where even the server cannot read media or chat.
  • Community or marketplace calls: Minimal video chat embedded in your product with your logo, colors, and domain. No plugNmeet branding.
  • Internal meetings & ERP integration: API-created rooms, SSO via your existing users, recordings stored as plain MP4 on your storage.
  • Custom mobile & desktop apps: Ship your own branded iOS, Android, Flutter, React Native, or desktop app with the hybrid integration — native media performance plus the full plugNmeet web UI in a WebView, no mobile SDK lock-in.

If you are coming from BigBlueButton, see Migrating from BigBlueButton — plugNmeet speaks the BBB API, so existing apps keep working.

Key capabilities at a glance​

You do not need to learn all of this on day one. This is the full toolbox your room can offer:

Meet without friction​

  • HD audio/video with virtual backgrounds, join from any modern browser, no install. See Attendee Guide.
  • Stable on weak networks: Adaptive quality automatically lowers thumbnails and pauses off-screen videos to prevent lag.
  • HD screen sharing, public + private chat with file sharing.

Collaborate live​

  • Interactive whiteboard: Draw together, upload PDFs/Office files and annotate them.
  • Shared notepad for live meeting notes.
  • Embed any web content (Google Doc, dashboard) or play a YouTube/file video in sync for all.

Engage and moderate​

  • Breakout rooms for small-group work, polls with quiz mode, raise hand, waiting room.
  • Granular permissions: Lock mic, camera, chat, whiteboard per participant. See Moderator Guide.

Record and broadcast​

  • Cloud recording to MP4 on your server + browser-based local recording.
  • Live stream to YouTube/Facebook via RTMP, bring in studio feeds from OBS via RTMP/WHIP.
  • Telephone dial-in (SIP) for audio-only join without internet.

Turn meetings into knowledge with AI​

  • Live captions, spoken translation, transcriptions, summaries, and chat assistant — powered by your own AI provider (OpenAI-compatible).
  • You control when AI runs and where data goes. E2EE rooms automatically disable server-side AI that would need to hear audio. Details in Security Overview.

Security and control​

  • Self-hosted data, HMAC-signed API + JWT sessions, TLS everywhere, optional end-to-end encryption (E2EE) for media and chat.
  • Per-room analytics metadata (counts, not content) and full audit via API. Start with Security & Privacy.

How it works: 3 pieces​

Forget complex diagrams. There are only three pieces:

  1. plugNmeet server — the engine. Runs your conferences, manages rooms, users, recordings, and AI hooks. You either self-host it or use Cloud.
  2. Meeting interface — the room. The modern web client your users see. Fully white-labeled via config: logo, colors, features on/off — no code fork needed.
  3. Connection — the bridge. Links your website to the server:
    • No-code: WordPress / Joomla / Moodle plugin, or any LMS via LTI and BBB-compatibility.
    • Pro-code: PlugNmeet API + SDKs create rooms and mint join tokens from your backend. For iOS, Android, Flutter, React Native, or desktop, use the hybrid mobile integration with LiveKit native SDKs + WebView UI.
Users (browser, 1 click, no install)
  |
Your site/app (WordPress, Moodle, Joomla, or custom code)
  |  creates room + join token via API
plugNmeet server (your own server or Cloud)
  |  hosts encrypted media + chat + recordings
Meeting room (your brand, your domain)

Your backend never exposes the secret: it signs the API request, gets a short-lived token for that user, and redirects them to the room.

Under the hood (for technical readers)​

If you evaluate architecture, this is what matters:

  • Single Go binary for the app logic — no runtime juggling, easy to deploy and scale horizontally.
  • LiveKit (SFU) for media routing with simulcast/dynacast — one upload per sender, server forwards efficiently.
  • NATS JetStream for signaling, chat, and collaboration state — with per-user, per-room least-privilege permissions and TLS.
  • Separate recorder that outputs portable MP4. Run it on another machine so transcoding never slows live meetings.
  • Redis/NATS-KV (ephemeral) + MariaDB (history) — live state disappears when the session ends; only what you opt to keep (recordings, analytics JSON, AI artifacts) is persisted.
  • API-first + BBB-compatible: POST /auth/* with API-KEY + HMAC-SHA256, SDKs for PHP and JavaScript, webhooks and hooks for workflows, /bigbluebutton/ compatibility for drop-in migration, and hybrid mobile apps via LiveKit native SDKs + WebView (no proprietary mobile SDK required).

Deeper reads: Backend Architecture Deep Dive, Scalable Deployment, Why we built plugNmeet.

Why teams choose plugNmeet over SaaS or heavy stacks​

  • Own your data and brand: Your domain, your logo, your storage. No user lock-in, no per-user SaaS tax for basic meetings.
  • White-label without forking: Change look and features via API/config and custom CSS. Updates do not break your theme.
  • Lightweight to run: One binary + LiveKit + NATS replaces sprawling multi-language stacks. A small server handles testing; vertical scaling + isolated recorder covers hundreds of concurrent users before you ever need a cluster.
  • Portable recordings: Plain MP4 files you can download, merge, or move — no proprietary post-processing maze.
  • Built for builders: From one-click CMS plugins to headless getClientFiles embedding, custom mobile apps, and full automation, you are not forced into someone else's UX.

Get started in 15 minutes​

Step 1: Get a server​

Option A — Self-host (free, full control)

You need a clean Ubuntu/Debian server with public IP, 2 subdomains, and an email for SSL. Then:

wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/mynaparrot/plugNmeet-install/main/install.sh
sudo bash install.sh

Save the Server URL, API Key, and Secret at the end. Full checklist in Installation Quick Start.

Option B — Cloud (managed, fastest)

No server work. Create an account on plugNmeet Cloud, get credentials, and start with the free plan. Same privacy model, plus geo-routing for global audiences.

Step 2: Connect it to your site​

  • WordPress / Joomla / Moodle? Install the official plugin, paste server details, create your first room. See WordPress, Joomla, Moodle, LTI.
  • Custom app? Follow PHP Quick Start or read API Intro: create room → generate token → redirect user. No frontend SDK required to start.

Try it right now — live demo​

Explore the UI and test the API without installing anything:

Room demo: https://demo.plugnmeet.com/landing.html

Demo API for developers:

plugNmeet server URL: https://demo.plugnmeet.com
plugNmeet API KEY: plugnmeet
plugNmeet API SECRET: zumyyYWqv7KR2kUqvYdq4z4sXg7XTBD2ljT6

Next steps​