Fourwaves
Fourwaves is closing the gaps around its payments layer and its form editor at the same time.
Comparison · Meetings
BigBlueButton vs FusionPBX
A side-by-side editorial comparison of BigBlueButton and FusionPBX — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
BigBlueButton vs FusionPBX: at a glance
What is BigBlueButton?
BigBlueButton is polishing the 4.0 beta it already committed to LiveKit, while 3.0 stays the production line.
The 4.0 beta series is in its fifth iteration and the hard architectural decisions are behind it — LiveKit became the default media stack in beta.4 with the legacy SIP.js bridge deleted, BlockNote became the default shared notes engine, and the JVM moved to Java 21. Beta.5 is consolidation: a mobile layout overhaul with paginated webcams and landscape side-by-side camera and presentation, automatic light/dark switching, a dedicated Audio settings tab with push-to-talk, and better BBB-to-LiveKit state reconciliation on reconnect. Packaging gained a bbbctl admin tool and a bbb-coturn package, with bbb-etherpad and bbb-pads now optional. The project still recommends 3.0.x for production.
What is FusionPBX?
The release feed stops in 2018, so nothing here describes the current product
Every visible entry predates 2019. The newest is 4.4.1, a minor bug-fix release covering call centre login, device password propagation and call detail record naming. Below it sit 4.4.0 with user change logs, call recording management, QR-code provisioning and added translations, and two 4.2.x releases focused on bug fixes and SQL injection hardening in LUA scripts.
BigBlueButton vs FusionPBX: editorial side-by-side
BigBlueButton
6.3MEETINGS
BigBlueButton is polishing the 4.0 beta it already committed to LiveKit, while 3.0 stays the production line.
◆ Current state
The 4.0 beta series is in its fifth iteration and the hard architectural decisions are behind it — LiveKit became the default media stack in beta.4 with the legacy SIP.js bridge deleted, BlockNote became the default shared notes engine, and the JVM moved to Java 21. Beta.5 is consolidation: a mobile layout overhaul with paginated webcams and landscape side-by-side camera and presentation, automatic light/dark switching, a dedicated Audio settings tab with push-to-talk, and better BBB-to-LiveKit state reconciliation on reconnect. Packaging gained a bbbctl admin tool and a bbb-coturn package, with bbb-etherpad and bbb-pads now optional. The project still recommends 3.0.x for production.
◆ Where it's heading
The 4.0 line is converging toward a release candidate, and the work has shifted from replacing subsystems to making the new ones survive real conditions — reconnects, phones, and administrator tooling. Making etherpad and pads optional alongside a security advisory that urges API secret rotation points at shrinking the default install's attack surface. The parallel 3.0.x train continues shipping security patches, so the ecosystem is carrying two branches until 4.0 stabilises.
◆ Prediction
Expect beta.6 or a release candidate to focus on the LiveKit reconnection and mobile paths that beta.5 only started, since those are the areas where a self-hosted media migration typically breaks. The optional-package work suggests a slimmer default deployment is being prepared for the 4.0 release.
FusionPBX
0.0MEETINGS
The release feed stops in 2018, so nothing here describes the current product
◆ Current state
Every visible entry predates 2019. The newest is 4.4.1, a minor bug-fix release covering call centre login, device password propagation and call detail record naming. Below it sit 4.4.0 with user change logs, call recording management, QR-code provisioning and added translations, and two 4.2.x releases focused on bug fixes and SQL injection hardening in LUA scripts.
◆ Where it's heading
What the archive shows is a project that treated security hardening as release-worthy in its own right and steadily broadened administrative tooling around FreeSWITCH. What it cannot show is anything about the last several years — the feed has been silent since 2018, so no current direction is observable.
◆ Prediction
There is not enough recent data to predict a next move. Until this feed carries releases again, the product's current state is unreadable from here.
Alternatives to BigBlueButton and FusionPBX
Other Meetings products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either BigBlueButton or FusionPBX.
HOMER
Homer's storage churn pauses long enough to ship a catalog backup CLI.
mediasoup
mediasoup has moved off data-channel plumbing and into the media path — timing first, now layer selection.
Wowza
Wowza keeps arguing its case for detection inside the streaming pipeline
Vimeo
Vimeo ships another batched product post: six changes to embeds and the player
Switcher Studio
Switcher Studio's feed is a livestreaming how-to blog, not a changelog
See all BigBlueButton alternatives → · See all FusionPBX alternatives →
Recent activity from BigBlueButton and FusionPBX
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 5d agoBigBlueButton4.0 beta.5: mobile layout overhaul, audio settings, bbbctl admin tool
- 26d agoBigBlueButton4.0 beta.4: LiveKit becomes the default media stack, SIP.js bridge removed ⚡
- 2mo agoBigBlueButton4.0 beta.3: layout system rebuilt, Unified layout becomes default
- 5mo agoBigBlueButton3.0.23: breakout-room fixes, security patches, renamed bbb-web properties
- 6mo agoBigBlueButton3.0.22: client and core fixes, security patches
- 6mo agoBigBlueButton3.0.21: security fixes and minor client improvements
- 8y agoFusionPBXFusionPBX 4.4.1: call centre, device and CDR fixes
- 8y agoFusionPBXFusionPBX 4.4: recordings management, QR provisioning, email templates
- 9y agoFusionPBXFusionPBX 4.2.2: default settings and SIP alias fixes
- 9y agoFusionPBXFusionPBX 4.2.1 hardens every database-touching LUA script
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between BigBlueButton and FusionPBX?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. BigBlueButton is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is BigBlueButton better than FusionPBX?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. BigBlueButton is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 0.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Meetings products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to BigBlueButton?
Top BigBlueButton alternatives in Meetings are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "BigBlueButton alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/bigbluebutton for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to FusionPBX?
Top FusionPBX alternatives in Meetings are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "FusionPBX alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/fusionpbx for the full list with editorial commentary on each.