Comparison

Jitsi Meet vs Session

Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.

Head to head
About

Jitsi Meet

Host unlimited video conferences with anyone, anywhere. No account or downloads are needed for participants to join. Secure your meetings with password protection and enjoy high-quality audio and video.

Highlights
  • Unlimited users
  • No account required
  • Lock-protected rooms
  • Encrypted by default
  • High quality audio/video
  • Web browser ready
  • Pretty URLs for meetings
Read full description

Jitsi Meet lets you stay in touch with all your teams, be they family, friends, or colleagues. Instant video conferences, efficiently adapting to your scale. * Unlimited users: There are no artificial restrictions on the number of users or conference participants. Server power and bandwidth are the only limiting factors. * No account needed. * Lock-protected rooms: Control the access to your conferences with a password. * Encrypted by default. * High quality: Audio and video are delivered with the clarity and richness of Opus and VP8. * Web browser ready: No downloads are required of your friends to join the conversation. Jitsi Meet works directly within their browsers as well. Simply share your conference URL with others to get started. * 100% open source: Powered by awesome communities from all over the world. And your friends at 8x8. * Invite by pretty URLs: You can meet at the easy to remember https://MySite.com/OurConf of your choice instead of joining the hard to remember rooms with seemingly random sequences of numbers and letters in their names.

About

Session

A private messenger focused on user data protection through a decentralized network. It offers secure, end-to-end encrypted communication without requiring personal information for account creation. Enjoy private group chats and secure file sharing with no ads or trackers.

Highlights
  • Fully private account creation
  • Decentralized server network
  • No metadata logging
  • IP address protection
  • End-to-end encrypted group chats
  • Secure attachments
Features
Read full description

Session is a new breed of private messenger, built on a unique network of user-operated servers spread all over the world. With no central servers, Session can’t leak or sell your data. And with Session’s private routing protocols, your messages are completely safe. No trackers, no leaks — send messages, not metadata. • Fully private account creation: No phone number or email needed to create an Account ID • Decentralized server network: No data breaches, no central point of failure • No metadata logging: Session doesn't store, track, or log your messaging metadata • IP address protection: Device IP addresses are never exposed to the person you're talking to or the servers holding your data • Closed groups: Private, end-to-end encrypted group chats for up to 100 people • Secure attachments: Share voice snippets, photos, and files with Session's secure encryption and privacy protections • Free and open-source: Don’t take our word for it — check Session's code yourself Session is free as in free speech and free as in free of ads and trackers. It is stewarded by the Session Foundation, a Swiss-based foundation dedicated to advancing digital rights and innovation. Take back your online privacy today — download Session. Want to build from source, report a bug, or just take a look at our code? Check out Session on GitHub: https://github.com/session-foundation/session-ios Terms of Use (EULA): https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/dev/stdeula/ Session Terms of Service: https://getsession.org/terms-of-service

Screenshots

Jitsi Meet4 screens
Session4 screens

Verdict

The call

The clearest difference is rating: Session at 4.4 against Jitsi Meet's 3.6. Session also leads on review sentiment (61% vs 33%) and update cadence (fortnightly vs every 6 weeks). On price, ads, in-app purchases and monetization model there is nothing between them.

Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS

CostPrice · In-app purchases · Ads · Monetization

Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.

ReceptionRating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings

Session holds the better App Store score, 4.4 against 3.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Session has 5.4K ratings behind it against 491, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 33% of Jitsi Meet's written reviews are positive against 61% of Session's.

UpkeepUpdate frequency

Jitsi Meet ships an update every 6 weeks, Session fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on November 11, 2026 and November 12, 2026 respectively.

Scorecard5 real differences · 6 level
Jitsi Meet versus Session: the parameters behind the verdict, then further details
ParameterJitsi MeetSession
PriceFreeFree
Rating3.6 (491 ratings)4.4 (5.4K ratings) — better
Positive reviews33.1% of reviews61.5% of reviews — better
Number of ratings4915.4K — better
Update frequencyEvery 6 weeksFortnightly — better
AdsNoNo
In-app purchasesNoNo
MonetizationFreeFree
Best chart rank—#98 — better
DevicesiPhone, iPad, iPodiPhone, iPad, iPod
Requires iOS15.1 — better15.6
Further details — not scored
Size66 MB92 MB
Age rating4+12+
Developer8x8, Inc.The Loki Project

Customer experience

Jitsi Meet

All ratings490 ratings
Positive61.2%
Neutral9.0%
Negative29.8%
Written reviews670 reviews
Positive33.1%
Neutral12.5%
Negative54.3%

Session

All ratings5,406 ratings
Positive84.4%
Neutral4.2%
Negative11.5%
Written reviews1,254 reviews
Positive61.5%
Neutral12.0%
Negative26.6%

User reviews

Jitsi Meet

From 491 App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🚀 Easy to use
  • 🔒 No account required
  • 💡 Unlimited participants and duration
  • 👍 Good video and audio quality
  • 🚀 Simple to set up meetings

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Frequent disconnections and stability issues
  • 🐛 Audio and video quality problems
  • 🐛 Compatibility issues on certain devices
  • 🐛 Difficulty sharing screens on mobile
  • 🐛 Overheating and high battery drain on some devices

Session

From 5.4K App Store ratings

What we love

  • 🔒 Secure and private messaging
  • 👍 Clean and intuitive user interface
  • 🚀 Fast and responsive
  • 🔒 No phone number or personal data required
  • 💡 Innovative use of blockchain and Tor network

Room to improve

  • 🐛 Unreliable notifications and message delivery
  • 🐛 Frequent crashes and bugs
  • 🐛 Slow media file transfers
  • 🔋 High battery consumption
  • 👎 Limited features compared to competitors

Bugs and requests

Jitsi Meet

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Microphone not working on iOS 14
  • Inability to exit meetings as sole participant
  • Inconsistent behavior when joining meetings
  • Shared videos not visible to all participants

Requested features

5 requests
  • Screen sharing support for mobile devices
  • Option to mute or remove participants
  • Ability to change camera source
  • Improved accessibility features
  • Integration with calendars and scheduling

Session

Reported bugs

4 issues
  • Messages not syncing across devices
  • Inability to join or view group chats
  • Attachments and media not loading properly
  • Frequent app crashes and freezes

Requested features

5 requests
  • Add voice and video calling
  • Implement self-destruct/ephemeral messaging
  • Allow customization of chat backgrounds and themes
  • Improve group chat functionality
  • Add support for multiple accounts/identities

In-app purchases

None

Jitsi Meet

No in-app purchases

None

Session

No in-app purchases

Questions

Is Jitsi Meet free?
Jitsi Meet is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Is Session free?
Session is free to download, with no in-app purchases.
Which has better reviews, Jitsi Meet or Session?
Session is rated higher. Jitsi Meet averages 3.6 out of 5 from 491 ratings, while Session averages 4.4 from 5.4K ratings.
Do Jitsi Meet or Session have ads?
Neither Jitsi Meet nor Session shows ads.
Which is updated more often, Jitsi Meet or Session?
Jitsi Meet ships an update every 6 weeks, and Session fortnightly. Most recently, Jitsi Meet was updated on November 11, 2026 and Session on November 12, 2026.

Other comparisons