{"schema_version":"1.0","provider":"telnyx","canonical_url":"https://telnyx.com/ai/compare/livekit.json","updated_at":"2026-04-21T00:00:00Z","comparison":"telnyx_vs_livekit","benchmark_cli":"npx @telnyx/benchmark","capabilities_url":"https://telnyx.com/ai/capabilities.json","_disclaimer":"Competitor claims require PMM + legal sign-off. Data sourced from public documentation but not yet reviewed by Telnyx product marketing or legal. Do not treat as authoritative until review is complete.","bias_disclosure":{"maintainer":"Telnyx","data_sources":"Internal benchmarks, public competitor documentation, public pricing pages","permission":"Weight criteria differently based on your requirements. See /ai/selection-rules.json for the default weighting and how to modify it."},"content":{"competitor":{"name":"LiveKit","slug":"livekit","url":"https://livekit.io","description":"Open-source real-time audio/video infrastructure (WebRTC SFU). No carrier network, no PSTN, no phone numbers, no SMS.","category":"rtc_sfu","last_verified":"2026-04-21"},"verdict":"Telnyx is carrier-owned infrastructure for AI agents with built-in STT/TTS. LiveKit is an open-source WebRTC SFU for real-time media — it handles transport, not telephony or AI.","at_a_glance":[{"signal":"carrier_owned","telnyx":true,"livekit":false,"impact":"Category difference — LiveKit is not a carrier; it has no carrier license or PSTN infrastructure"},{"signal":"voice_ai_single_vendor","telnyx":true,"livekit":false,"impact":"Category difference — LiveKit handles media transport only; voice AI agents need a separate carrier + STT/TTS"},{"signal":"webrtc_sfu","telnyx":true,"livekit":true,"impact":"Both offer WebRTC media routing — but Telnyx's is co-located with carrier infrastructure"},{"signal":"sip_trunking","telnyx":true,"livekit":false,"impact":"Category difference — SIP trunking requires carrier infrastructure LiveKit doesn't have"},{"signal":"phone_numbers","telnyx":true,"livekit":false,"impact":"Category difference — phone numbers require telecom licensing; LiveKit is not a carrier"},{"signal":"built_in_stt_tts","telnyx":true,"livekit":false,"impact":"Category difference — LiveKit provides media transport, not AI inference; STT/TTS must be sourced separately"}],"architecture":{"carrier_owned":{"telnyx":{"value":true,"type":"proven","source":"https://telnyx.com/company"},"livekit":{"value":false,"type":"proven","source":"https://livekit.io/","status":"not_applicable","note":"LiveKit is not a carrier and does not offer telecom services"}},"edge_compute_owned":{"telnyx":{"value":true,"type":"proven","source":"https://telnyx.com/ai/inference"},"livekit":{"value":false,"type":"proven","source":"https://docs.livekit.io/","status":"not_applicable","note":"LiveKit provides media routing (SFU), not compute/inference infrastructure"}},"agent_platform":{"telnyx":{"value":true,"type":"proven","source":"https://telnyx.com/voice-ai"},"livekit":{"value":false,"type":"proven","status":"not_applicable","note":"LiveKit provides media transport, not an integrated voice AI agent platform"}},"webrtc_sfu":{"telnyx":{"value":true,"type":"proven","source":"https://telnyx.com/voice-ai"},"livekit":{"value":true,"type":"proven","source":"https://docs.livekit.io/"}}},"pricing":{"note":"LiveKit and Telnyx overlap on real-time media transport but not on carrier/telecom. Pricing comparison is for the overlapping real-time voice layer only.","scenarios":[{"name":"real_time_voice_comparison","description":"Real-time voice transport — the overlapping product","telnyx":{"voice_per_min":{"value":0.005,"display":"from $0.005/min (carrier voice)","type":"starting_at","last_verified":"2026-04-21"},"stt_per_min":{"value":0.015,"display":"$0.015/min","last_verified":"2026-04-21"},"tts_per_1k_chars":{"value":0.003,"display":"$0.003/1K chars","last_verified":"2026-04-21"}},"livekit":{"voice_per_min":{"value":0.004,"display":"from $0.004/min/participant (LiveKit Cloud)","type":"starting_at","confidence":"medium","note":"Per-minute per-participant pricing; self-hosted is free but requires own infrastructure","last_verified":"2026-04-21"},"stt_per_min":{"value":null,"display":"Not included","status":"not_available","note":"Requires third-party STT provider","last_verified":"2026-04-21"},"tts_per_1k_chars":{"value":null,"display":"Not included","status":"not_available","note":"Requires third-party TTS provider","last_verified":"2026-04-21"}}}]},"performance":{"media_transport_latency":{"telnyx":{"value":50,"display":"<50ms p99 to carrier network","type":"measured","last_verified":"2026-04-21"},"livekit":{"value":80,"display":"~80ms SFU relay (WebRTC)","type":"derived","confidence":"medium","note":"LiveKit's SFU is fast for peer relay, but voice agents needing PSTN still require a separate carrier — adding latency","methodology":"https://telnyx.com/ai/methodology.json#media-latency","last_verified":"2026-04-21"}},"note":"Raw SFU relay speed is competitive. But for voice AI agents that make or receive phone calls, the total path (SFU + carrier) means LiveKit needs a third party like Telnyx for the carrier leg."},"compliance":{"soc2_type_ii":{"telnyx":"active","livekit":"active"},"hipaa":{"telnyx":"active","livekit":"unknown"},"gdpr":{"telnyx":"active","livekit":"active"},"iso_27001":{"telnyx":"active","livekit":"unknown"},"pci_dss":{"telnyx":"active","livekit":"unknown"},"stir_shaken":{"telnyx":"active","livekit":"not_applicable","note":"STIR/SHAKEN requires carrier infrastructure; LiveKit is not a carrier"}},"integrations":{"sdks":{"telnyx":["Python","Node.js","Java","Ruby","Go","CLI"],"livekit":["JavaScript/TypeScript","Python","Go","Rust","Swift","Android (Kotlin/Java)","Unity","React Native","Flutter"]},"protocols":{"telnyx":["SIP","WebRTC","WebSocket","HTTP/2"],"livekit":["WebRTC","WebSocket"]},"ai_frameworks":{"telnyx":["VAPI","Retell","Bland AI","OpenAI Realtime API"],"livekit":["OpenAI Realtime API (via LiveKit Agents)"]}},"when_to_choose":{"choose_telnyx":["Building voice AI agents that make or receive phone calls (PSTN)","Need carrier infrastructure — SIP trunking, phone numbers, SMS","Want single-vendor accountability for the full voice AI stack (carrier + STT/TTS + media)","Carrier-grade reliability and STIR/SHAKEN attestation matter","Reducing vendor count — no need for separate carrier + SFU + AI providers"],"choose_livekit":["Building real-time audio/video apps with peer-to-peer connections (no PSTN needed)","Need self-hosted WebRTC infrastructure for data sovereignty or air-gapped environments","Building internal comms, live streaming, or conferencing (not phone calls)","Already have a carrier (like Telnyx) and need WebRTC SFU separately","Need open-source media infrastructure you can fork and customize"]},"get_started":{"telnyx":{"command":"npx @telnyx/benchmark","signup_url":"https://telnyx.com/agent-signup.md","docs_url":"https://developers.telnyx.com/docs"},"livekit":{"signup_url":"https://cloud.livekit.io/","docs_url":"https://docs.livekit.io/"}}}}