Announcing LiveKit on Telnyx: Voice AI Infrastructure You Control

LiveKit is where you prototype voice. Telnyx is where you run production voice.

Today, we’re announcing LiveKit on Telnyx, a fully hosted platform for running LiveKit agents on Telnyx-owned infrastructure.

You keep the framework you know. We handle the infrastructure.

What is LiveKit on Telnyx?

LiveKit on Telnyx is a fully hosted platform that runs your agents on Telnyx-owned infrastructure.

You can write your agent using the LiveKit Agent Framework you already know. You package it with a Dockerfile. You deploy via API. Telnyx builds your container, runs it on our GPU infrastructure, and connects it to our carrier network. Point your Telnyx phone number to your agent and start taking calls.

Same LiveKit CLI. Same agent framework. Same APIs. Your code doesn't change. The infrastructure underneath does.

The Gap Between Prototype and Production

Voice AI agents are having a moment. Developers everywhere are building conversational agents, AI receptionists, and voice-first applications using the LiveKit Agent framework. It’s a fantastic way to get started, clean APIs, solid documentation, and a straightforward path from idea to working prototype.

But here’s what happens next: your agent works. Customers love it, volume grows and problems start to stack up.

LiveKit Cloud charges $0.01 per minute for active sessions. At 100 concurrent agents during business hours, that's $316,800 annually in session fees alone, before you pay for speech services. The marginal cost of each new agent stacks up faster than your revenue.

The latency degrades. At prototype scale, a 600ms response time feels fine. At production scale, during peak hours, when your users are having real conversations, they notice the pause. External API calls introduce variability you can't control.

The enterprise requirements arrive. A customer asks about STIR/SHAKEN for verified caller ID. Another needs call transfers. You're looking at months of integration work for capabilities that should be table stakes.

There's a gap between the framework that got you started and the infrastructure you need at scale. LiveKit on Telnyx bridges it.

What Infrastructure Ownership Means

Telnyx owns every layer of the stack that runs your agents. We operate as a licensed carrier in 30+ countries, run our own MPLS network, and host STT and TTS models on our own GPU clusters, colocated with the telephony switches that terminate calls.

When your agent transcribes speech, it happens in the same facility that received the call. When it generates a response, that happens locally too. No external API calls. No network hops. No third-party dependencies.

This is the Telnyx difference: infrastructure ownership from carrier network to GPU cluster. Not renting capacity from cloud providers or reselling third-party APIs.

Here's what that translates to at production scale.

Why Telnyx wins vs LiveKit

Dramatically lower cost

Speech services cost 50% less than LiveKit Cloud equivalents because we host models on our own GPUs, not buy them from resellers, that's the benefit of owning every part of the stack.

More agents doesn't mean proportionally higher costs. Your unit economics improve as you scale. Let's talk specifics because vague promises of "better performance" don't pay the bills.

LiveKit Cloud charges $0.01 per minute for active sessions. At 100 concurrent agents, that's $316,800 annually in session fees before you pay for speech services.

LiveKit on Telnyx waives session fees during the beta period. After beta, pricing remains substantially lower because we own the infrastructure rather than renting it. Furthermore, Telnyx will also be offering 50% lower STT/TTS costs than LiveKit Cloud equivalents, which will further reduce your spend.

Ultra low latency

Telnyx hosts the latest STT and TTS models on our own GPU infrastructure, not routing through third-party APIs. The result: sub-200ms round-trip time and consistent performance at scale.

When your agent responds in under 200 milliseconds, the conversation feels natural. When it takes 600+ milliseconds, users notice the pause. The difference is infrastructure proximity.

With Telnyx, your audio doesn't leave our infrastructure. No external API calls means no variable latency from shared resources. You get consistent performance even during peak hours when other platforms are competing for the same API capacity.

Enterprise SIP in our DNA

SIP is not a first-class citizen on LiveKit Cloud. They're a real-time media platform, WebRTC is their core, and telephony connectivity is bolted on through gateways and partnerships.

Telnyx is a carrier. SIP is native to our platform.

We've spent over a decade building enterprise telephony infrastructure:

• AMR-WB for HD voice quality
• SIP REFER for seamless call transfers
• STIR/SHAKEN attestation for verified caller ID
• Full call recording and compliance controls
• Number portability and emergency services routing

hese aren't features we integrated from vendors. They're capabilities we built.

Zero-friction migration

If you're using LiveKit today, you can use LiveKit on Telnyx, migration only take a few minutes:

• Update your LiveKit server URL to point to Telnyx.
• Deploy your agent.

And that's it, you're live on Telnyx infrastructure. Your agent code stays the same. The LiveKit APIs you're using stay the same. You just get better infrastructure underneath.

Getting started with LiveKit on Telnyx

Moving your agents to Telnyx takes two files and a single API call.

• Write your agent.py using the LiveKit Agent Framework.
• Add a Dockerfile to package it.
• Zip them and send via API.

Telnyx builds your container, runs it on our infrastructure, and handles the rest.

When to make the move to Telnyx

Infrastructure costs are scaling faster than your revenue. Session fees compound. Speech API markups eat your margins. You need infrastructure with economics that work at production volume.

Enterprise requirements block deals. Customers demand STIR/SHAKEN, call transfers, or HD voice compliance. You need carrier-grade capabilities without months of integration work.

Peak-hour latency hurts the user experience. Variable response times from shared APIs create awkward conversational pauses. You need consistent performance when it matters.

You'd rather build than operate. You want to write agent logic, not manage LiveKit servers, negotiate with speech vendors, and debug telephony edge cases. You need a platform that handles the stack.

LiveKit on Telnyx is available in beta now, and you can get started by reading our quickstart guide. We're waiving session fees and offering 50% lower STT/TTS costs than LiveKit Cloud equivalents.

Want to test Telnyx infrastructure first? The Telnyx LiveKit Plugin lets you swap in Telnyx speech services with a configuration change. Same agent code, 50% lower costs. When you're ready for the full platform, the path is clear.