The strongest open source foundation for voice agents in 2026, and the right choice for teams with engineers and real volume. Above roughly ten thousand minutes a month the cost math beats managed platforms decisively, and the vendor freedom is unmatched. Below that volume, or without a development team, a managed platform like Vapi or Retell will get you live faster and cheaper overall.
What is LiveKit Agents?
LiveKit Agents is an open source framework for building realtime voice (and video) AI agents on top of LiveKit's WebRTC infrastructure, the same stack that powers voice features at OpenAI and other large AI products. You write agents in Python or Node, bring your own STT, LLM, and TTS providers, and run them either self-hosted or on LiveKit Cloud, which added first-party SIP telephony and phone numbers. It hit 1.0 in 2025 and now includes adaptive interruption handling and native MCP tool support.
Best for
Engineering teams building serious voice products at scale who want full stack control and are ready to write and operate code.
Not for
Non-technical teams, or anyone under about ten thousand call minutes a month who just needs an agent live quickly.
Strengths
- Battle-tested WebRTC core used by some of the largest realtime AI products in production
- Fully open source framework with the option of managed hosting on LiveKit Cloud
- Complete vendor freedom across STT, LLM, and TTS, including open models
- First-party SIP telephony and phone numbers, so no separate Twilio bridge is required
- Very aggressive economics at scale, with cloud agent minutes around a cent and self-hosting cheaper still
- Active development: 1.x releases through 2026 added adaptive interruptions and MCP tool support
Limitations
- It is a framework, not a product: expect real engineering effort and weeks to months before production
- You own quality tuning across every vendor in your pipeline, from latency to turn-taking
- Below roughly ten thousand minutes a month, managed platforms are usually cheaper once engineering time is counted
- Cloud tiers are bundles, so past the free tier you pay for the plan whether you use the minutes or not
- No visual builder, so it is out of reach for non-technical teams
LiveKit Agents pricing
Free open source framework; optional LiveKit Cloud hosting uses bundled monthly tiers with per-minute agent session pricing, and you pay your chosen model providers separately.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Build | $0 | Free tier with generous WebRTC minutes and bundled agent minutes for prototyping |
| Ship | ~$50/mo | Larger bundled quotas for early production workloads |
| Scale | ~$500/mo | High-volume bundles; agent session minutes around $0.01/min |
| Self-hosted / Enterprise | Free / Custom | Run the open source stack yourself, or custom enterprise contracts |
Pricing reflects public plans as of July 2, 2026 and can change. Check LiveKit Agents for the latest.
LiveKit Agents FAQ
Is LiveKit Agents free?
The framework is open source and free to self-host. LiveKit Cloud, the managed option, has a free Build tier for prototyping and paid bundles beyond that, with agent session minutes priced around a cent.
How does LiveKit Agents compare to Vapi or Retell?
Vapi and Retell are managed platforms that get you to a working agent in days; LiveKit is a framework you build on over weeks or months. The crossover point is volume: above roughly 10,000 minutes a month, building on LiveKit typically costs 60 to 80 percent less per call.
Does LiveKit Agents handle phone calls?
Yes. LiveKit ships first-party SIP support and phone numbers, so inbound and outbound telephony works without bridging through a separate Twilio integration.
Which models can I use with LiveKit Agents?
Any you like. It has plugins for major STT, LLM, and TTS providers, including realtime speech-to-speech models, and you can swap vendors without rearchitecting the agent.
Looking at alternatives? LiveKit Agents is infrastructure for developers building voice products, about as far from no-code as the category gets, and Autonoly does not compete with it. Autonoly is a no-code automation platform for digital workflows, not realtime telephony. If your engineers build a call agent on LiveKit, Autonoly is a natural companion for the non-realtime side: routing call outcomes into your systems, triggering follow-ups, and keeping back-office data in sync. See the Autonoly review.