Galene is a free, self-hosted WebRTC video server (SFU) built in Go. Explore its features, MIT license, architecture, pricing and top alternatives.
Category
Video Conferencing
Pricing
Open Source, from Free
Verified
Not yet
Last updated
July 18, 2026
Founded
2020
Headquarters
Paris, France (IRIF, Universite Paris Cite)
WindowsWeb AppAndroidAPIOpen SourceSelf-HostedMac
Overview
Galene is a free, open-source videoconferencing server built as a Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU), meaning it relays WebRTC audio and video streams between participants rather than mixing them, which keeps server load low for multi-party calls.
Created in 2020 by researcher Juliusz Chroboczek at IRIF (Universite Paris Cite) to support remote lectures and exams during the COVID-19 lockdown, Galene has since been used in production at Universite Paris Cite, Sorbonne Universite, and events like LibrePlanet 2024.
Key Features
Galene supports VP8, VP9, H.264 and AV1 codecs with simulcast and Scalable Video Coding, a built-in TURN server, server-side recording, screen sharing, background blur, peer-to-peer file transfer and WHIP protocol ingest.
An administrative HTTP API lets operators script group and user provisioning, while a native Android client and full browser support cover desktop and mobile use cases without requiring any plugins.
Pricing
Galene is entirely free under the MIT licence; there are no subscription tiers, seat fees, or usage limits when self-hosted, and the source code can be modified freely, including for commercial deployments.
The only real costs are server hardware and administrator time. Ongoing development is funded through public-interest programs such as NLnet's NGI Zero Core rather than customer revenue.
Key Features
Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU) architecture — Forwards WebRTC streams between participants without server-side mixing, keeping CPU load low for multi-party calls.
Multi-codec video support — Supports VP8, VP9, H.264 and AV1 with simulcast and Scalable Video Coding for adaptive quality under constrained bandwidth.
Built-in TURN server — Includes NAT traversal out of the box, removing the need for a separate external TURN service in most deployments.
Session recording — Supports server-side recording of meetings for later playback.
WHIP ingest protocol — Lets external encoders and streaming software publish video directly into a Galene group.
Administrative HTTP API — Allows scripted creation and management of groups and user accounts for large-scale provisioning.
Native Android client — Dedicated mobile app with screen sharing, alongside full browser support on desktop and mobile.
Peer-to-peer file transfer and background blur — Built-in file sharing between participants plus client-side background blur for privacy.
Pros & Cons
Pros
Free and MIT-licensed, with full source code access and no vendor lock-in
Very low CPU and RAM footprint compared to many comparable SFUs
Cross-platform server support across Linux, macOS, Windows and ARM devices
Actively maintained with funded development and an independent security review
Proven in production at major universities and open-source conferences
Cons
No official managed or hosted SaaS option; self-hosting is required
Requires system administration skills to deploy and maintain
User interface is more minimal than commercial tools like Zoom or Google Meet
Many-to-many meetings scale quadratically, limiting very large all-camera calls
Smaller community and fewer integrations than Jitsi Meet
Yes. Galene is MIT-licensed free and open-source software with no cost to download, run, or modify.
Who maintains Galene?
It is primarily maintained by Juliusz Chroboczek at IRIF, University of Paris Cite, with development currently funded by the NLnet Foundation.
How many participants can Galene handle?
As a rough guide, Galene supports about 300 participants per CPU core in one-to-many (lecture) scenarios and about 20 participants per core in many-to-many meetings.
Does Galene have a mobile app?
Yes, there is a native Android client with screen sharing; iOS and other devices can join through a mobile browser.
How does Galene compare to Jitsi Meet?
Both are open-source SFUs, but Galene is lighter-weight and simpler to deploy on modest hardware, while Jitsi has a larger ecosystem and more polished feature set.
Can I run Galene commercially?
Yes, the MIT licence permits commercial use, modification and redistribution without royalties.