Digital Samba
Anyone who wants truly free, unlimited video conferencing without compromises — plus privacy-conscious organizations and developers needing GDPR-native embedded video via Digital Samba Embedded
Jitsi Meet
Privacy-conscious users, open source advocates, and organizations with self-hosting capability that want free, secure video conferencing
Score Comparison
Pricing & Features
Making Your Decision
When to Choose Digital Samba
Anyone who wants truly free, unlimited video conferencing without compromises — plus privacy-conscious organizations and developers needing GDPR-native embedded video via Digital Samba Embedded
Digital Samba offers something no other platform can match: a completely free video conferencing product (DS Free) with no participant limits, no session time limits, and no 40-minute gotchas — a genuine free alternative to the Big 3. The company makes its money through Digital Samba Embedded, a VPaaS product for developers who need white-label video with full API/SDK access and EU-only data residency. The collaboration toolset — breakout rooms, whiteboard, polling, quizzes, Q&A, shared notes — goes deeper than many premium competitors. With 20+ years in business and privacy baked into the architecture (not bolted on), Digital Samba is a serious contender that flies under the radar.
Strengths
- DS Free is completely free with no participant limits, no time limits, and no catch — a genuine alternative to Zoom, Teams, and Meet without the annoying 40-minute cap
- Privacy-first, GDPR-native platform — all infrastructure EU-only, zero-tracking business model, no data sold or shared
- Comprehensive feature set rivaling premium platforms — breakout rooms, whiteboard, polling (30 options), quizzes, Q&A with upvoting, shared notes, and AI captions/transcriptions/summaries
- Full API parity with the UI, SDK, webhooks, and CNAME white-labeling — strongest embedded/VPaaS offering for developers via Digital Samba Embedded
Limitations
- Embedded product uses EUR-based pricing and usage-based model (participation minutes), which adds complexity vs simple per-seat pricing
- Less brand recognition outside Europe — smaller community and fewer third-party reviews compared to the Big 3
- AI features launched recently (late 2025) — functional but still maturing compared to Zoom AI Companion or Teams Copilot
When to Choose Jitsi Meet
Privacy-conscious users, open source advocates, and organizations with self-hosting capability that want free, secure video conferencing
Jitsi Meet is the best free video conferencing platform, period. Open source, no account required, E2EE available, and self-hostable for complete control. The trade-off is the absence of AI features and the lack of commercial support. For organizations that can self-host and don't need AI, Jitsi is hard to beat at the price (free).
Strengths
- 100% free and open source — no paid plans, no feature restrictions, no user limits
- Self-hosted option for complete data sovereignty and privacy
- End-to-end encryption support for security-conscious organizations
- No account needed — create or join a meeting instantly via browser
Limitations
- No AI features — no transcription, summaries, or intelligent automation
- Quality can degrade with more than 35-50 participants on the free hosted version
- No commercial support — relies on community for troubleshooting
