OpenAI Realtime API vs LiveKit Agents
How the two platforms compare on pricing, live demos, calls, integrations, and setup — highlighted where they differ.
Developer API
OpenAI Realtime API
Realtime speech-to-speech API for building low-latency voice agents over WebRTC, WebSocket, or SIP.
Developer API
LiveKit Agents
Open-source framework and managed cloud runtime for building and deploying realtime voice agents.
Highlighted rows differ between these picks
| Attribute | OpenAI Realtime API | LiveKit Agents |
|---|---|---|
| Platform type | Developer API | Developer API |
| Pricing | Usage Based pricing $32/M audio input tokens and $64/M audio output tokens for gpt-realtime | Usage Based pricing LiveKit Cloud usage plus selected models, telephony, and optional services |
| Test it | Open live demo | Free trial |
| Calls | Inbound, Outbound | Inbound, Outbound |
| Human handoff | Yes | Yes |
| Setup difficulty | Technical | Technical |
| Use cases | Customer Support Appointment Scheduling Lead Qualification Custom Voice Apps | Custom Voice Apps Customer Support Telephony Agents Multimodal Assistants |
| Useful for |
|
|
| Integrations | ||
| WebRTC | ||
| SIP | ||
| WebSocket | — | |
| OpenAI Agents SDK | — | |
| Custom tools | — | |
| Custom API | — | |
| Twilio | — | |
| Telnyx | — | |
| Exotel | — | |
| OpenAI | — | |
| +2 more across these tools — see each profile for the full list. | ||
Platform type
- OpenAI Realtime API
- Developer API
- LiveKit Agents
- Developer API
Pricing
- OpenAI Realtime API
Usage Based pricing
$32/M audio input tokens and $64/M audio output tokens for gpt-realtime
- LiveKit Agents
Usage Based pricing
LiveKit Cloud usage plus selected models, telephony, and optional services
Test it
- OpenAI Realtime API
- Open live demo
- LiveKit Agents
- Free trial
Calls
- OpenAI Realtime API
- Inbound, Outbound
- LiveKit Agents
- Inbound, Outbound
Human handoff
- OpenAI Realtime API
- Yes
- LiveKit Agents
- Yes
Setup difficulty
- OpenAI Realtime API
- Technical
- LiveKit Agents
- Technical
Use cases
- OpenAI Realtime API
- Customer SupportAppointment SchedulingLead QualificationCustom Voice Apps
- LiveKit Agents
- Custom Voice AppsCustomer SupportTelephony AgentsMultimodal Assistants
Useful for
- OpenAI Realtime API
- • Developer teams
- • Speech-to-speech agents
- • Tool-using voice workflows
- • Custom web and phone experiences
- LiveKit Agents
- • Developer teams
- • Realtime multimodal apps
- • Bring-your-own model stacks
- • Cloud or self-hosted agents
Integrations
| OpenAI Realtime API | LiveKit Agents | |
|---|---|---|
| WebRTC | ||
| SIP | ||
| WebSocket | — | |
| OpenAI Agents SDK | — | |
| Custom tools | — | |
| Custom API | — | |
| Twilio | — | |
| Telnyx | — | |
| Exotel | — | |
| OpenAI | — |
+2 more across these tools — see each profile for the full list.
What would these cost to run?
Enter your call volume once and see OpenAI Realtime API and LiveKit Agents priced at the same usage, ranked alongside every other platform.