If you have opened the GCP Marketplace and found eight different Meetrix Jitsi Meet listings, the obvious question is: which one do I actually buy? They look almost identical from the product card. The real difference is two things - how many concurrent users the setup is sized for, and how many servers it spins up to get there.
I deploy these for a living, so here is the short version. Pick your tier by peak concurrent participants, then decide whether you need recording. Everything else follows from those two choices. Below I break down what each product runs under the hood, because the server architecture is where the money and the reliability live.
The two things that separate the 8 products
Every product is the same Jitsi Meet software. What changes is capacity and recording.
Capacity comes in four sizes: 50, 100, 250, and 500 concurrent users. The number is not marketing. It maps directly to how the deployment is laid out. Small tiers keep everything on one machine. Bigger tiers split the video load across dedicated bridges.
Recording is the second axis. Each of the four sizes comes in a plain version and a "+ recording" version. Recording in Jitsi is done by Jibri, and Jibri is heavy: it runs a full headless Chrome session and an ffmpeg encoder per recording. That work does not belong on the same box as your signalling, so every recording product adds one extra VM for it.
Four sizes times two recording options is your eight products.
The architecture, tier by tier
This is the part the product page does not show you, and it is the part that matters. Here is what each size actually launches.
50 and 100 users: one server does everything
At 50 and 100 concurrent users, Jitsi Meet and the video bridge (JVB) live together on a single VM. One machine handles signalling, web, and video routing. It is the cheapest way to run Jitsi and it is genuinely fine for a small company, a classroom, or a team that never fills a room past a hundred people.
Servers: 1 VM (Meet + JVB together). Add recording and you get 2 VMs (the combined server, plus 1 Jibri).
Best for: internal team meetings, small webinars, single classrooms. If your calls rarely cross a hundred people at once, do not pay for more.
Marketplace: 50 users / 50 users + recording / 100 users / 100 users + recording
250 users: the video load moves off the main server
At 250 concurrent users, one bridge is no longer enough. So this tier separates the roles: one server runs Jitsi Meet (the web frontend, Prosody, Jicofo), and two JVB servers handle the video. That is 3 VMs. Splitting the bridges is what lets the setup carry the extra streams without a single machine choking on CPU and outbound bandwidth.
Servers: 3 VMs (1 Jitsi Meet, 2 JVBs). With recording, 4 VMs (add 1 Jibri).
Best for: larger webinars, a whole department, an event that reliably pulls a few hundred people. This is the sweet spot for most organisations that have outgrown a single box.
Marketplace: 250 users / 250 users + recording
500 users: same base, but you control the scale
The 500 user product starts from the same shape as the 250: one Jitsi Meet server and two JVBs as the minimum. The difference is that you are not locked to two bridges. At deploy time you can set the JVB count higher, and on the recording variant you can set the Jibri count too. So if you know you will run several large concurrent rooms, you add bridges up front instead of watching one saturate.
Servers: 3 VMs minimum (1 Jitsi Meet, 2 JVBs), and you can add more JVBs. Recording adds Jibri VMs, and you choose how many.
Best for: big virtual events, multiple large rooms at the same time, or anyone who wants headroom and the ability to tune capacity rather than accept a fixed layout.
Marketplace: 500 users / 500 users + recording
All 8 products side by side
| Product | Concurrent users | Servers | Recording | Customizable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 50 users | Up to 50 | 1 VM (Meet + JVB) | ❌ | ❌ |
| 50 users + recording | Up to 50 | 2 VMs (Meet + JVB, 1 Jibri) | ✅ | ❌ |
| 100 users | Up to 100 | 1 VM (Meet + JVB) | ❌ | ❌ |
| 100 users + recording | Up to 100 | 2 VMs (Meet + JVB, 1 Jibri) | ✅ | ❌ |
| 250 users | Up to 250 | 3 VMs (1 Meet, 2 JVB) | ❌ | ❌ |
| 250 users + recording | Up to 250 | 4 VMs (1 Meet, 2 JVB, 1 Jibri) | ✅ | ❌ |
| 500 users | Up to 500 | 3+ VMs (1 Meet, 2+ JVB) | ❌ | ✅ JVB count |
| 500 users + recording | Up to 500 | 4+ VMs (1 Meet, 2+ JVB, Jibri) | ✅ | ✅ JVB + Jibri count |
✅ included / adjustable❌ not available
How to pick, by use case
Forget the spec sheet for a second. Here is how I would actually choose.
- A team or a classroom under 100 people. Take a 50 or 100 user product. One VM, low cost, nothing to tune. Add recording only if you genuinely need session recordings.
- A department, a training series, a mid-size webinar. Go 250. The split architecture is the difference between a call that holds and a call that stutters when everyone turns their camera on.
- Large events or several big rooms at once. Go 500 and set the JVB count to match. This is the only tier that lets you scale the bridges yourself, so use that.
- You need recording or live streaming. Pick the "+ recording" variant of whatever size you landed on. Do not try to bolt Jibri on later; deploy the product that already includes it.
One honest note on cost. Recording is not free to run. Jibri sits on its own VM whether or not a recording is in progress, so a "+ recording" product is always at least one extra instance on your GCP bill. If recording is occasional, that is still worth it. If you will never record, skip it.
Not sure about sizing?
Why deploy these through Meetrix on GCP
You can absolutely build Jitsi from scratch. I have done it, and the tedious part is never Jitsi itself. It is wiring up multiple JVBs to one bridge, terminating SSL, getting Jibri's headless Chrome to actually record, and keeping the firewall ports straight. That is a day of work you do not get back.
These Marketplace images skip all of it. The multi-server layout is already wired, SSL is one certbot command after you point DNS, and on the recording tiers Jibri is configured and pointed at a Cloud Storage bucket. You launch, add an A record, run one command, and you are in a meeting. If your users sit behind restrictive networks you may still want a TURN server in front, but the core is done.
For the full launch, DNS, and SSL walkthrough, follow our Jitsi Meet on GCP developer guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many servers does each Jitsi Meet tier actually run?
The 50 and 100 user products run everything on one VM. The 250 user product runs 3 VMs (1 Jitsi Meet, 2 JVBs). The 500 user product starts at the same 3 VMs but lets you add more JVBs. Every recording variant adds one more VM for Jibri.
What is a JVB and why do bigger tiers have more of them?
The JVB (Jitsi Videobridge) is the component that routes participant video. One bridge only handles so many streams before CPU and bandwidth run out, so larger meetings need the video load spread across multiple JVB servers instead of one.
Do I need a recording product?
Only if you want to record or live stream meetings. Recording is handled by Jibri, which runs a headless Chrome session per recording and needs its own VM. If you never record, pick a non-recording tier and save the extra instance cost.
Can I upgrade from 250 to 500 users later?
You deploy the 500 user product fresh, point your DNS A record at the new instance, and reissue SSL with certbot. There is no in-place resize between Marketplace products, so plan the switch during a quiet window.
Is there a free trial on GCP?
Yes. Each product includes a 5-day free trial with up to USD 50.00 in licence fee credits. GCP infrastructure charges (VM, disk) still apply during the trial; only the Meetrix licence fee is credited.
Can I customize the JVB and Jibri counts?
On the 500 user product you can set the number of JVB servers and, on the recording variant, the number of Jibri servers at deploy time. The smaller tiers use fixed counts.
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