Facebook iconDifference Between LiveKit vs PipeCat Voice AI Platforms
Blogs/AI

Difference Between LiveKit vs PipeCat Voice AI Platforms

Mar 10, 20253 Min Read
Written by Kiruthika
Difference Between LiveKit vs PipeCat Voice AI Platforms Hero

Selecting the appropriate voice agent framework is crucial for developers and businesses aiming to create effective voice applications. The right framework can significantly impact the performance, scalability, and user experience of the application. Factors such as ease of integration, support for various functionalities, and community support should be considered when making this choice.

This blog will provide an in-depth comparison of two popular voice agent frameworks: LiveKit and PipeCat. We will explore their features, advantages, and disadvantages, followed by a feature comparison, pricing plans, and customer reviews to help you make an informed decision. 

What is LiveKit?

LiveKit is an open-source framework designed for real-time communication, focusing on audio and video processing. Built with scalability in mind, it allows developers to create custom communication agents that can handle various use cases, from video conferencing to interactive voice applications. LiveKit integrates seamlessly with WebRTC, ensuring low-latency interactions.

Pros and Cons of Livekit

What is Pipecat?

Pipecat is an open-source Python framework for building voice and multimodal conversational agents. It manages the complex orchestration of AI services, network transport, audio processing, and multimodal interactions, allowing developers to focus on creating engaging experiences. 

Pros and cons of pipecat

Feature Comparison of LiveKit and PipeCat

Feature Comparison of LiveKit and PipeCat

Summary of Features

Why Choose LiveKit Over PipeCat

LiveKit is ideal for developers seeking a robust, high-performance framework for real-time communication. Its open-source nature and strong community support make it a great choice for scalable applications. Additionally, its low-latency capabilities are crucial for applications requiring immediate feedback, such as video conferencing.

Partner with Us for Success

Experience seamless collaboration and exceptional results.

Why Choose PipeCat Over LiveKit

PipeCat is better suited for developers looking for flexibility in building complex audio pipelines. Its user-friendly features and built-in integrations with leading STT and TTS services simplify the development process, making it an excellent choice for those new to voice application development.

Plans and Pricing of LiveKit vs PipeCat

Pricing Structure of LiveKit

LiveKit is open-source, meaning there are no licensing fees. However, costs may arise from hosting and infrastructure, depending on the scale of deployment.

Pricing Structure of PipeCat

PipeCat is also open-source and free to use. Similar to LiveKit, costs may be incurred based on the services and infrastructure used for deployment.

Comparison of Plans

Comparison of Plans of Livekit and Pipekat

Pricing and Plan Conclusion

Which Plan Offers Better Value for Money

Both LiveKit and PipeCat offer excellent value as open-source frameworks. The choice between them should be based on specific project requirements rather than cost, as both frameworks are free to use.

Considerations for Startups vs Established Businesses

Startups may prefer PipeCat for its ease of use and rapid development capabilities, while established businesses might lean towards LiveKit for its scalability and performance in high-demand environments.

Partner with Us for Success

Experience seamless collaboration and exceptional results.

Summary and Recommendation 

Both LiveKit and PipeCat are powerful frameworks for building voice agents, each with its strengths and weaknesses. LiveKit excels in performance and scalability, making it suitable for real-time applications, while PipeCat offers flexibility and ease of use for developers.

Customer Reviews of LiveKit vs PipeCat

User Experiences with LiveKit

Users praise LiveKit for its performance and scalability, particularly in applications requiring real-time communication. The community support and documentation are also frequently highlighted as valuable resources.

User Experiences with PipeCat

PipeCat users appreciate its flexibility and ease of use, especially for those new to voice application development. The built-in integrations with STT and TTS services are often mentioned as significant advantages.

Overall Satisfaction Ratings

Both frameworks receive positive feedback, with LiveKit being favoured for performance and PipeCat for user-friendliness. Ultimately, the choice depends on the specific needs of the project and the developer's familiarity with the frameworks.

For further details, you can explore the following resources:

Author-Kiruthika
Kiruthika

I'm an AI/ML engineer passionate about developing cutting-edge solutions. I specialize in machine learning techniques to solve complex problems and drive innovation through data-driven insights.

Phone

Next for you

What is MLX? A Beginner's Guide To Apple’s Machine Learning Cover

AI

Apr 1, 20255 min read

What is MLX? A Beginner's Guide To Apple’s Machine Learning

Are you tired of compatibility issues when running machine learning on your Mac? MLX, a powerful, native machine learning framework designed specifically for macOS and Apple Silicon, is changing how Mac users approach machine learning. This guide unpacks everything beginners need to know about this exciting framework. From its innovative unified memory model to its impressive speed on Apple Silicon chips, we'll walk through why MLX matters and how you can start using it today. Keep reading to s

Best OCR Models Comparison Guide in 2025 Cover

AI

Apr 2, 20255 min read

Best OCR Models Comparison Guide in 2025

OCR technology has transformed the way documents are processed, allowing text to be extracted from images and converted to a readable format for computers, and this has opened up a variety of applications, from data entry to searching scanned archives. In the last few years, OCR has seen dramatic advances, driven by the advent of new deep learning models, therefore this has extended the scope of OCR to previously unthought-of levels. In this blog, we will highlight some of the most advanced OCR

What is Model Context Protocol (MCP) in 2025 Cover

AI

Mar 29, 20255 min read

What is Model Context Protocol (MCP) in 2025

Integrating AI models with external data sources has traditionally been a complex and fragmented process, often requiring custom code for each dataset. This approach not only consumes significant development time but also poses challenges in maintaining and scaling integrations.  To address these issues, Anthropic introduced the Model Context Protocol (MCP), an open-source tool designed to standardize and simplify the connection between AI assistants and various data sources.  What is MCP (Mo