LiveKit vs Vapi
Pricing last verified from each vendor's own site.
Verdict
LiveKit is an open-source framework plus cloud: Build $0, Ship from $50/mo, Scale from $500/mo, with agent sessions at $0.01/min and model inference billed per minute (its example totals about $0.048/min). Vapi is a hosted orchestration API billed per minute with each provider's cost listed separately.
- Consider LiveKit if: Your engineers want open-source control and voice or video agents.
- Consider Vapi if: You want a hosted API that gets a phone agent live faster.
Factual summary
- Both are listed under Voice AI & Dialers, AI Agent Builders.
- Directly comparable starting prices are not available for both: LiveKit — Build $0/mo; Ship from $50/mo; Scale from $500/mo; Enterprise custom; usage on top: agent session $0.01/min, US local telephony $0.01/min, and LLM, speech-to-text and text-to-speech inference billed per minute by model (the page's example totals about $0.048/min); Vapi — Usage-based per minute, with transcriber, model and voice costs listed separately; $5 free credits; optional support packages: Core $29/mo, Pro $999/mo minimum.
- LiveKit lists channels Vapi does not: video.
This is a factual comparison drawn from vendor sites, not a recommendation. Which fits depends on your channels, volume and budget.
| LiveKit | Vapi | |
|---|---|---|
| Summary | Open-source framework and cloud for building, deploying and scaling real-time voice and video AI agents. | Developer platform for building voice AI agents. |
| Starting price | From $50/mo | See vendor |
| Pricing details | Build $0/mo; Ship from $50/mo; Scale from $500/mo; Enterprise custom; usage on top: agent session $0.01/min, US local telephony $0.01/min, and LLM, speech-to-text and text-to-speech inference billed per minute by model (the page's example totals about $0.048/min) | Usage-based per minute, with transcriber, model and voice costs listed separately; $5 free credits; optional support packages: Core $29/mo, Pro $999/mo minimum |
| Model | freemium | usage |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Channels | phone, video | phone |
| Last verified | 2026-10-31 | 2026-10-28 |
FAQ
What is the difference between LiveKit and Vapi?
LiveKit is an open-source framework plus cloud: Build $0, Ship from $50/mo, Scale from $500/mo, with agent sessions at $0.01/min and model inference billed per minute (its example totals about $0.048/min). Vapi is a hosted orchestration API billed per minute with each provider's cost listed separately.
Which is cheaper, LiveKit or Vapi?
We can't compare entry prices directly. LiveKit: Build $0/mo; Ship from $50/mo; Scale from $500/mo; Enterprise custom; usage on top: agent session $0.01/min, US local telephony $0.01/min, and LLM, speech-to-text and text-to-speech inference billed per minute by model (the page's example totals about $0.048/min). Vapi: Usage-based per minute, with transcriber, model and voice costs listed separately; $5 free credits; optional support packages: Core $29/mo, Pro $999/mo minimum.
When should I choose LiveKit over Vapi?
Consider LiveKit if: Your engineers want open-source control and voice or video agents. Consider Vapi if: You want a hosted API that gets a phone agent live faster.
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