☰

LiveKit is an open-source platform that powers real-time audio, video, and data communication in applications. Think of it as the engine behind video calls, live streaming, and interactive broadcasts—but one you can fully control and customize. Built on WebRTC, it handles the complex infrastructure so developers can focus on building features.

Key Features

Scalable Architecture
Supports everything from 1-on-1 calls to broadcasts with thousands of participants. Auto-scaling handles traffic spikes seamlessly, with built-in load balancing across multiple servers.

Developer Experience
SDKs for all major platforms—JavaScript, React, iOS, Android, Flutter, Unity, and more. Clean APIs make integration straightforward, with most basic video calls implementable in under 50 lines of code.

Audio/Video Quality
Adaptive bitrate streaming ensures optimal quality based on network conditions. Simulcast and SVC codecs deliver smooth performance even on unstable connections. Automatic echo cancellation and noise suppression come standard.

Advanced Capabilities

  • End-to-end encryption for sensitive communications
  • Recording and live streaming to platforms like YouTube/Twitch
  • AI integration support (transcription, translation, moderation)
  • Screen sharing with annotation tools
  • Spatial audio for immersive experiences

Use Cases

  • Video Conferencing: Build Zoom-like applications with breakout rooms, waiting rooms, and moderation controls
  • Live Streaming: Create platforms for webinars, virtual events, or social broadcasting
  • Telehealth: HIPAA-compliant video consultations with recording capabilities
  • Online Education: Interactive classrooms with whiteboarding and screen sharing
  • Gaming: In-game voice chat with spatial audio and low latency

Performance & Reliability

LiveKit handles production workloads at scale—some deployments serve millions of minutes monthly. Sub-100ms latency for same-region connections. Automatic failover and redundancy ensure high availability.

Pricing

LiveKit offers flexible plans that scale from prototypes to enterprise deployments:

Build (Free)
Perfect for getting started. Includes agent deployment, observability tools, inference credits, global edge network, one free phone number, analytics, and community support. No credit card required.

Ship ($50/mo)
For production-ready applications. Adds team collaboration, instant rollback capabilities, and email support to all Build features.

Scale ($500/mo)
Built for growing applications. Includes role-based access control, metrics export APIs, region pinning, security reports, and HIPAA compliance alongside Ship features.

Enterprise (Custom)
White-glove service with volume pricing, dedicated Slack channel, SSO, and guaranteed support SLAs. Everything in Scale plus custom requirements.

The free tier is generous enough for development and testing, while paid tiers remain competitive with alternatives like Agora or Twilio Video. The key advantage: you can always self-host for free if pricing becomes a concern.

Developer Experience

The documentation is exceptional—clear examples, interactive demos, and architectural guides. The quickstart gets you running in minutes. Active Discord community (5,000+ members) provides rapid support.

Sample apps demonstrate common patterns, from basic video calls to complex broadcasting setups. The modular architecture lets you swap components—use your own TURN servers, customize codecs, or integrate existing authentication.

Pros & Cons

Strengths:

  • True open-source with Apache 2.0 license
  • Production-ready with major companies using it
  • Excellent documentation and SDKs
  • Flexible deployment options
  • Active development (weekly releases)
  • No vendor lock-in

Limitations:

  • Self-hosting requires DevOps expertise
  • Cloud pricing can escalate for high-volume use
  • Some advanced features need manual implementation
  • Learning curve for WebRTC concepts

Real-World Performance

Companies report handling 10,000+ concurrent users on self-hosted clusters. Cloud deployments automatically scale to demand. Client SDKs are optimized—the JavaScript SDK is under 200KB gzipped.

Community & Ecosystem

Strong ecosystem with community-built integrations for popular frameworks. Regular blog posts detail architecture decisions and best practices. The team is responsive on GitHub, often addressing issues within days.

Verdict

LiveKit strikes an impressive balance between power and accessibility. It’s sophisticated enough for enterprise deployments yet approachable for startups. The open-source nature provides insurance against vendor lock-in while the cloud option offers convenience.

Perfect for: SaaS products adding video