Webex is hired to run video meetings and team collaboration. The job is portable, and many companies already pay for it inside another suite. Below: what to count first, the two open-source options we verified, and how to move without breaking links people rely on.
A video tool spreads one team at a time and then becomes the link in everyone's calendar. Recurring series, room hardware and outside participants who already know the link make switching feel bigger than the license.
It is also easy to pay twice. A department adopts one tool, the company standardizes on another, and both stay on the card. A usage count shows which can go.
Only alternatives we have checked. An open-source project is listed with the license its repository reports, on the date shown; one whose license could not be read as a single standard id is not offered as open source. Read the license guide before running any of them.
| Alternative | Kind | License | Read from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jitsi Meet | Open source | Apache-2.0 | Jitsi Meet repositoryChecked Oct 25, 2026 |
| BigBlueButton | Open source | LGPL-3.0 | BigBlueButton repositoryChecked Oct 25, 2026 |
Each feature below is what the product's own page or README says, linked to where we read it on the date shown. Pros and cons are limited to what those pages state and to what the path itself changes. We do not rank products on quality.
Video meetings are a common job to pay for twice. A team on a suite that includes meetings often keeps a second subscription for a department that adopted it earlier. Count real use per seat before anything else.
Jitsi Meet and BigBlueButton are the open-source options we verified, listed under Apache-2.0 and LGPL-3.0 on the checked date. Jitsi's README describes browser-based meetings with chat, polls and screen sharing; BigBlueButton's describes a virtual classroom with whiteboards, polling and breakout rooms. We rate this moderate: the meetings are portable, but hosting video well is real operations work, and outside participants and rooms need testing first. Running them yourself makes hosting and uptime yours.
Samples are made up and are not Webex's prices. Type in the figures from your own invoice or order form.
The honest yearly cost of running open-source software yourself, set against the bill it replaces, with the seat count where it stops paying.
Paid seats against seats in use: what the idle ones cost a year, and what you save by right-sizing at renewal.
Arithmetic only, not tax, accounting or legal advice. Check the figures against your own order form.
Start from the meetings people actually hold. The move is finished when nobody joins the old one and the contract has ended.
List seats, recurring meetings, rooms and devices. Pull a month of usage and mark seats that never hosted or joined.
Check whether a suite you already pay for includes meetings. If so, the cheapest move may be using it.
Choose the replacement and name who administers it. If self-hosting, size it for your largest meeting and decide where recordings are kept.
Move one team. Hold real meetings with outsiders, share screens, join from phones and test any room hardware.
Re-issue recurring invitations from the new tool, tell outside participants the date and move the rest in stages.
Export recordings and records you must keep, wait a month, then end the plan inside the notice window and confirm in writing.
Run the vendor report for QuickBooks Online or Xero, then open the free audit.
General information, not legal advice. See cancelling without penalties. Last reviewed Oct 25, 2026. Product names belong to their owners and are used only to identify them.
Send us the export and see which lines are worth a second look. A connected version is planned. Webex is one of the lines worth a look.
Worked example. Type over it.
Result
| Self-hosting, per year | Amount |
|---|---|
| Hosting, backups, tooling | 720.00 |
| Admin and restore-test time | 2,640.00 |
| Total | 3,360.00 |
| One-off set-up (not in the yearly total) | 1,200.00 |
The saving holds only if the time is real. Price the admin hours at what that person's time costs the company, not at zero.
Worked example. Type over it.
Result
“In use” is your call: last sign-in in the past 30 or 90 days from the vendor's admin report. A seat for someone on leave is not idle.