LiveKit

What is LiveKit?

LiveKit is a developer platform for realtime voice and video applications, including AI voice agents. Its open-source Agents framework lets developers assemble an agent in Python or Node.js from speech-to-text, language model and text-to-speech components, with turn detection and interruption handling. LiveKit Cloud then hosts and scales the agents on a global edge network, adds agent deployment, observability, simulations, session analytics and telephony with phone numbers, and exposes an inference service so you can call LLM, STT and TTS models from several providers using included credits. Pricing starts with a Build plan at $0 per month, followed by Ship from $50 per month and Scale from $500 per month, with Enterprise on custom terms. The pricing page also gives a per-minute estimate for running an agent, which depends on the models you pick, and its own sample totals about $0.0479 per minute.

Use cases

• Build a realtime voice agent
• Handle phone calls with an AI agent
• Add video calling to an app
• Deploy and roll back agents in the cloud
• Monitor agent sessions and metrics
• Test agents with simulations
• Run voice agents under HIPAA requirements

Who it's for

• Developers
• AI engineers
• Product teams building voice or video
• Enterprises

Why use LiveKit

• You start on a $0 plan with no credit card, so you can build an agent before paying.
• Plans bundle deployment, observability, telephony and inference credits instead of leaving you to assemble each.
• Model prices are listed per minute, which makes the cost of a voice agent easier to estimate.
• The core framework is open source, so you can inspect and adapt it.
• Higher tiers add team access, rollbacks, role-based access and security reports as you grow.

LiveKit features

• Open-source Agents framework for Python and Node.js
• Agent deployment with instant rollback
• Agent observability and simulations
• Inference credits for LLM, STT and TTS models
• Global edge network
• Telephony with a free number on Build
• Session metrics and analytics
• Custom voices on Ship
• Role-based access and region pinning on Scale
• SSO and support SLA on Enterprise

LiveKit integrations

• OpenAI
• Google Gemini
• Deepgram
• AssemblyAI
• Cartesia
• Inworld
• xAI
• Rime

How to get started with LiveKit

1. Create a LiveKit Cloud project on the Build plan, which needs no credit card.
2. Build an agent with the Agents framework, picking STT, LLM and TTS models, and test it with simulations.
3. Deploy the agent to the global edge network and attach a phone number if it needs to take calls.
4. Watch sessions in observability and analytics, and roll back a deployment if something breaks.
5. Upgrade to Ship or Scale for team features and security controls, and use the cost estimator to plan spend.

LiveKit limitations

• Building an agent requires writing code
• Per-minute agent costs depend on which LLM, STT and TTS models you choose
• Private links, region pinning and HIPAA reports start on the Scale plan
• Cloud hosting is a separate service from the open-source framework

LiveKit pricing

Yes, LiveKit has a free plan. Paid plans start at $50 per month, according to the official pricing page on 24 Oct 2026.

LiveKit plans

• Build

  $0/mo

  No credit card required

  • Agent deployment
  • Agent observability and simulations
  • Inference credits
  • Global edge network
  • Telephony (1 free number)
  • Community support

• Ship

  Starting at $50/mo

  • Everything in Build
  • Team collaboration
  • Custom voices
  • Instant rollback
  • Email support

• Scale

  Starting at $500/mo

  • Everything in Ship
  • Role-based access
  • Metrics export APIs
  • Region pinning
  • Private links
  • Security reports / HIPAA
  • Inference discounts

• Enterprise

  Custom

  • Everything in Scale
  • Volume pricing, including inference
  • Shared Slack channel
  • SSO
  • Support SLA

Plans as listed on the official pricing page on 24 Oct 2026. Prices can change and may vary by country or exclude tax. Check the official pricing page.

LiveKit alternatives

The main LiveKit alternatives listed on Debuly are Twilio, Vapi, Agent Development Kit (ADK), Rasa, runAtlas and Maitai. The table compares pricing and platforms; order is A–Z.

1. 

   Agent Development Kit (ADK)

   Google's open-source, code-first Python framework for building, testing and deploying AI agents and multi-agent workflows.

   Developer platformsAutomation and agentsCoding
   Open sourceVisit Agent Development Kit (ADK) (official site)
2. 

   Maitai

   Control plane for production AI: monitor traffic, fine-tune models and version workflows and agents from live usage.

   Developer platformsAutomation and agents
   PaidVisit Maitai (official site)
3. 

   Rasa

   Agent platform for building, testing and running voice and text AI agents in your own infrastructure, with a free Developer Edition.

   Developer platformsAutomation and agentsAudio and voice
   FreemiumVisit Rasa (official site)
4. 

   runAtlas

   Enterprise AI stack with an OpenAI-compatible inference API, voice models, agent runtime and a security gateway.

   Developer platformsAutomation and agentsAudio and voice
   FreeVisit runAtlas (official site)
5. 

   Twilio

   Cloud communications platform with APIs for SMS, voice, WhatsApp, email and verification, plus voice AI and conversation memory.

   Developer platformsAutomation and agentsAudio and voice
   Free trialVisit Twilio (official site)
6. 

   Vapi

   Developer platform for building voice AI agents that handle phone and web calls, with per-minute pricing and optional success packages.

   Developer platformsAutomation and agentsAudio and voice
   PaidVisit Vapi (official site)

LiveKit FAQ

Sources & verification

Facts on this page come from the official sources below, each with the date we read it. Written by Debuly; the vendor did not review this page.

Image credits

• Logo: from livekit.com · fetched 24 Oct 2026 · Vendor trademark, used only to identify the product; removed on request
• Cover: none collected yet, so a generated tile is shown.

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