Which One Actually Fits What You're Building?
All three of these let you put video calls inside your own product. After that, they go in very different directions. Zoom Video SDK hands you Zoom's media stack and keeps the servers. Daily is a managed service built to make a call work in a few lines of code. LiveKit is open source and sits closest to a toolkit, with a managed cloud and an agents framework for voice AI.
So the useful question isn't which one is best. It's which one matches what you're building and who has to run it. This guide compares them on that basis. For per-minute cost at real volumes, our video API pricing comparison goes deeper, and if you're leaving one of them, see LiveKit alternatives.
The Quick Verdict
You want Zoom-grade calls with a ready UI
Zoom Video SDK. A prebuilt UI toolkit and large sessions, on Zoom's infrastructure.
You want a call working in an afternoon
Daily. A drop-in prebuilt UI, plus recording, streaming, and phone dial-in as features.
You are building AI voice agents or want to self-host
LiveKit. Open source media server, a first-party agents framework, and a cloud if you'd rather not run it.
None of the three feels right
A self-hosted meeting server may fit better. See LiveKit vs Jitsi for the trade-off.
How to Choose
Four questions settle most of it:
- Do you need a finished call UI, or will your team design one? A prebuilt UI saves weeks. A toolkit gives you control.
- Does the product include AI voice agents? That changes which vendor's tooling matters.
- Do you need to run the media servers yourself, for data control or cost at scale? Only one of the three allows it.
- Do you have compliance needs, such as HIPAA? Check the terms before you build, not after.
Zoom Video SDK
- Managed service
- Proprietary
- Not self-hostable
The Zoom Video SDK gives you Zoom's media stack without the Zoom app around it. Your users never see Zoom branding or need a Zoom account. It runs on Zoom's global infrastructure, so there's nothing to host.
- SDKs for Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux, React Native, Flutter, and Unity
- Up to 5,000 users in a session, with 49 videos displayed on native and 25 on web
- A UI Toolkit with a prebuilt video chat UI for Android, iOS, and web
- Cloud recording, live transcription and translation, RTMP live streaming, and subsessions
- PSTN, chat, a command channel, raw data access, and webhooks
Pros
- The widest platform list of the three, including desktop and Unity
- Very large sessions, and a prebuilt UI to start from
- No servers to run or scale
Cons
- Proprietary and managed only, so no self-hosting and no source to read
- Pricing runs through the Zoom Build Platform's credit-based plans, not plain pay-as-you-go. Third-party sources put the entry plan at $100 a month for 100 credits and Pro at $450 for 500, at about $0.0035 per session minute. Confirm the current numbers on Zoom's pricing page
- No first-party agents framework for voice AI
LiveKit
- Open source
- Self-host or Cloud
- Agents framework
LiveKit describes itself as a platform for voice, video and physical AI agents. The media server and the Agents framework are open source, so you can run them yourself, and LiveKit Cloud is there if you'd rather not. We walk through the self-hosted route in how to self-host LiveKit on AWS.
- Client SDKs for JavaScript, Swift, Android, and Flutter, with component libraries for React, Android, Swift, and Flutter
- Server SDKs for Go, Node.js, Python and Ruby
- An Agents framework for Python and Node.js, for realtime voice and multimodal AI agents
- Cloud plans: Build (free, 5,000 WebRTC minutes and 1,000 agent session minutes), Ship from $50 a month, Scale from $500 a month, and Enterprise at custom pricing
- Telephony recipes for agent-powered calling systems
Pros
- The only one of the three you can self-host, or move off a managed plan later
- First-party tooling for AI voice agents
- Cheap minutes on paper, with 150,000 WebRTC minutes included on the Ship plan
Cons
- More of a toolkit: you assemble the UI from components
- Bandwidth is metered separately on Cloud, so model it, not just the minutes
- Self-hosting means you run the media servers, TURN, and scaling
Daily
- Managed service
- Prebuilt UI
- Not self-hostable
Daily is the quickest route from nothing to a working call. Daily Prebuilt drops a complete, customizable call UI into your page with a single line of code, and the client SDKs are there when you outgrow it. Daily also maintains Pipecat, the open-source voice agent framework we compare with LiveKit's in LiveKit Agents vs Pipecat.
- SDKs for JavaScript, React, React Native, Android, iOS, Flutter, and Python, plus a REST API
- Cloud and local recording with custom layouts, and RTMP and HLS live streaming
- Real-time and post-call transcription, powered by Deepgram
- Phone dial-in and dial-out, and webhooks for call events
- A Healthcare add-on with HIPAA support and a BAA, listed at $500 a month
Pros
- Fastest to a working call, with a UI you can customize
- One simple per-participant-minute rate ($0.004 for video and $0.00099 for audio-only at the first paid tier), with recording at $0.01349 per recorded minute
- A published HIPAA option
Cons
- Managed only, so no self-hosting
- Costs scale with participant minutes, which adds up in long, busy calls
- Less to tune than a toolkit when you want unusual behavior
Side by Side
| Feature | Zoom Video SDK | LiveKit | Daily |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hosting | Zoom's infrastructure only | Self-host or LiveKit Cloud | Daily's infrastructure only |
| Open source | No | Yes, media server and Agents framework | No (it maintains open-source Pipecat) |
| Prebuilt UI | UI Toolkit for Android, iOS and web | Component libraries, assembled by you | Daily Prebuilt, one line of code |
| Client platforms | Web, iOS, Android, macOS, Windows, Linux, React Native, Flutter, Unity | JavaScript, Swift, Android, Flutter, plus React components | JavaScript, React, React Native, Android, iOS, Flutter, Python |
| Largest session | Up to 5,000 users per session | Not stated on the pages I checked | Not stated on the pages I checked |
| AI voice agents | Live transcription and translation; no agent framework | First-party Agents framework | Via Pipecat, which Daily maintains |
| Recording and streaming | Cloud recording, RTMP | Egress and recording, billed per minute on Cloud | Cloud and local recording, RTMP and HLS streaming |
| Phone | PSTN | Telephony and SIP minutes on Cloud | Dial-in and dial-out |
| Free allowance | A free monthly credit allowance (20 credits on Zoom's page); older sources cite 10,000 minutes | Build plan: 5,000 WebRTC and 1,000 agent minutes | 10,000 participant minutes a month |
| HIPAA | Zoom says the Video SDK can support HIPAA for customers with a BAA | HIPAA listed on the Scale plan; confirm a BAA with LiveKit | Healthcare add-on with BAA, $500 a month |
Facts come from each vendor's docs and pricing pages as I read them, and all three change often. Verify anything that decides your architecture on the vendor's own page.
Cost Is Not Comparable
The headline numbers look similar and measure different things. Zoom talks about session minutes and credits. Daily bills per participant-minute: $0.004 for video and $0.00099 for audio-only, with recording at $0.01349 per recorded minute. LiveKit Cloud bills WebRTC minutes, downstream data transfer, agent sessions, and egress as separate meters. LiveKit has also announced per-second metering with a ten-second minimum for agent sessions, recording, WebRTC, and SIP, though one page of its billing docs still lists minute increments, so check the current billing page before you model costs.
A call with ten people for an hour is 600 participant minutes, one session hour, and a bandwidth figure, depending on whose bill you read.
Model your real traffic against each vendor's meters instead of comparing the free allowances. Our pricing comparison does that arithmetic at 100,000 and 1 million minutes.
Where Self-Hosting Fits
Of the three, only LiveKit lets you run the media layer yourself. That matters when data has to stay in your own cloud account, or when a per-minute bill grows past what servers would cost. It also means you take on TURN, scaling, and monitoring. If you want that route, our guides on self-hosting LiveKit on AWS and setting up a TURN server cover the parts that trip people up.
If what you actually need is meetings, not a toolkit, a finished open-source server can be less work than any SDK. That's the case LiveKit vs Jitsi makes, and Meetrix packages Jitsi Meet for AWS and Google Cloud if you go that way. For a developer-led build, though, the three above are the right shortlist.
Where I'd Start
Prototype fast
Start with Daily Prebuilt or the Zoom UI Toolkit, and use the free allowance to learn your real usage.
Voice AI product
Look at LiveKit Agents and Pipecat first, since that's where the agent tooling lives.
Data stays in your account
LiveKit self-hosted is the only option of the three. Budget time for TURN and scaling.
Regulated data
Get each vendor's compliance terms in writing before you build. Daily publishes a HIPAA add-on price at $500 a month. LiveKit lists HIPAA on its Scale plan, and Zoom says its Video SDK supports HIPAA for customers with a BAA. Confirm the BAA scope with each vendor.
Pricing and limits in this article come from the vendors' own pages as of this writing and may have changed. Treat the table as a starting point, and run a small proof of concept with your own call shapes before you commit.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Zoom Video SDK better than LiveKit?
They serve different needs. Zoom Video SDK gives you a prebuilt UI and very large sessions on managed infrastructure. LiveKit gives you open-source control and first-party AI agent tooling. Pick based on whether you want a finished product or a toolkit.
Can I self-host Zoom Video SDK or Daily?
No. Both are managed services. Only LiveKit's media server and Agents framework are open source and can be self-hosted.
Which is cheapest for a small video app?
Daily's 10,000 free participant minutes a month is a clear free tier. LiveKit's Build plan includes 5,000 WebRTC and 1,000 agent minutes. Zoom lists a free monthly credit allowance. Units differ, so test with your own usage.
Which has a prebuilt video call UI?
Zoom's UI Toolkit and Daily Prebuilt both ship complete call UIs. LiveKit provides component libraries you assemble yourself.
Which is best for AI voice agents?
LiveKit has a first-party Agents framework for Python and Node.js. Daily maintains Pipecat, an open-source voice agent framework. Zoom has transcription and translation but no dedicated agent framework.
Which supports HIPAA?
Daily publishes a HIPAA add-on at $500 a month with a BAA. LiveKit lists HIPAA on its Scale plan. Zoom says its Video SDK supports HIPAA for customers with a BAA. Confirm each vendor's BAA scope before handling PHI.
Prefer to Run Your Own Video Server?
Meetrix's pre-configured Jitsi Meet servers deploy into your own AWS or Google Cloud account, so calls and recordings stay on infrastructure you control.
Explore Jitsi Meet on the Store
