OpenAI Realtime API vs LiveKit Agents
Choose a direct OpenAI Realtime integration or LiveKit orchestration. Compare engineering responsibilities, model flexibility, and separate cost layers.
By Morak · Sources and pricing checked
Which should you choose?
Start with direct OpenAI integration when you have chosen its speech model and want to own the surrounding application. Shortlist LiveKit when your team needs a framework for real-time sessions and model integration. They can work together: LiveKit supports the OpenAI Realtime API, so this is also a decision about architecture, not just a choice between vendors.
These recommendations are Morak's assessment of public vendor documentation, not hands-on performance test results. How we research · Jump to feature comparison
Choose direct OpenAI for a focused integration
The Realtime API supports speech interaction through WebRTC, WebSocket, or SIP. Our recommendation: start here for an OpenAI-specific product when your engineers can maintain session handling, tools, and failure recovery. A model endpoint alone does not complete your business workflow.
OpenAI model documentationChoose LiveKit for orchestration flexibility
LiveKit integrates OpenAI realtime models as well as speech-to-text, language-model, and text-to-speech pipelines. Our recommendation: evaluate it when you expect to switch components or support more than one voice architecture. Budget time for operating the agent application even when infrastructure is managed.
LiveKit's OpenAI integrationWhat the price includes
USD unless stated otherwise. Usage examples exclude taxes and negotiated discounts. Confirm current terms before purchase.
OpenAI: measure tokens before estimating minutes
The gpt-realtime model lists $32 per million audio input tokens and $64 per million audio output tokens; text and cached inputs have separate rates. A minute of elapsed call time is not a fixed token quantity. Measure both sides of representative conversations before forecasting spend.
OpenAI model ratesLiveKit: price each layer once
Cloud billing separates resources such as agent deployment, inference, and telephony. Compare a complete deployment estimate with your direct application's hosting and operations costs. When using your own model credentials, account for that provider's bill rather than adding the same inference usage twice.
LiveKit billing documentationWhat to test before committing
Build the same appointment-change flow both ways. Interrupt the agent during a tool call, disconnect and reconnect the caller, and simulate a slow backend. Compare recovery behavior, audio token usage, and engineering effort; do not select solely from a polished voice demo.
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.