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Alternatives · Realtime

LiveKit alternatives (2026)

LiveKit: Apache-2.0 voice/video/agent runtime. Self-host is the free path; Cloud pricing is not confirmed here.

Its Catch: Self-hosting an SFU is ops-heavy.

Below: 8 free or free-tier tools from the same category (realtime and WebSocket tools), free and open source first, then the closest match by shared tags. Each keeps its own Catch.

  1. 1.Socket.IOMIT realtime library with fallbacks, not a hosted product

    Free / OSS · OSS/MIT · 63.2k GitHub stars

    VerdictThe MIT socket library. Free as in you run it.

    CatchYou bring the host. Horizontal scale needs Redis (or equivalent) adapter. This is not LiveKit and not a managed pub-sub. CORS, sticky sessions, and polling surprises remain your bugs.

  2. 2.CentrifugoApache-2.0 Go realtime server binary, not in-process Socket.IO

    Free / OSS · Apache-2.0 · 10.9k GitHub stars

    VerdictApache-2.0 realtime binary. Free as in you operate the server.

    CatchYou run it. This is not Socket.IO in-process. Cloud/PRO pricing is not confirmed here — no invented Cloud prices. Ops, clustering, and Redis when you scale stay yours.

  3. 3.AnyCableMIT realtime for Action Cable with delivery guarantees

    Free / OSS · Freemium · 2.4k GitHub stars

    VerdictMIT Action Cable path. OSS tier is free; not Soketi, not Socket.IO.

    CatchDelivery guarantees + presence + Action Cable / multi-backend — not a Pusher-protocol server. Distinct from Socket.IO and Centrifugo. Pro and Managed exist; prices not reprinted here.

  4. 4.Pion WebRTCMIT embeddable Go WebRTC library — not a rooms product

    Free / OSS · OSS/MIT · 16.9k GitHub stars

    VerdictMIT Go WebRTC library. Free to embed; not a rooms stack.

    CatchEmbeddable Go library — not LiveKit rooms product, not mediasoup C++/Node media server, not PeerJS browser-only P2P helper. You assemble signaling and any SFU-class topology yourself. Distinct from LiveKit, mediasoup, and PeerJS.

  5. 5.Janus GatewayGPL-3.0 plugin-core WebRTC gateway (SIP, VideoRoom, streaming)

    Free / OSS · GPL-3.0 · 9.2k GitHub stars

    VerdictGPL-3.0 WebRTC gateway. Self-host free; commercial options exist — pitch the OSS core.

    CatchPlugin-core C gateway — not LiveKit/mediasoup opinionated rooms products. You pick plugins and ops the gateway. Distinct from LiveKit, mediasoup, PeerJS, and Pion.

  6. 6.SocketClusterMIT Node pub/sub+RPC+JWT with SCC scale-out

    Free / OSS · OSS/MIT · 6.2k GitHub stars

    VerdictMIT Node realtime cluster. Self-host free; not Socket.IO alone.

    CatchNode pub/sub+RPC+JWT+SCC scale-out — not Socket.IO library-only, not Soketi Pusher-protocol, not Centrifugo Go hub, not NATS messaging, not AnyCable Rails WS. Distinct from Socket.IO, Soketi, Centrifugo, NATS, and AnyCable.

  7. 7.Laravel ReverbMIT first-party Laravel WebSocket server

    Free / OSS · OSS/MIT · 1.6k GitHub stars

    VerdictMIT Laravel WebSockets. Free with your Laravel stack.

    CatchFirst-party Laravel WS — not Soketi Pusher-protocol, not Centrifugo Go hub, not AnyCable Rails, not Socket.IO library, not Mercure SSE. Distinct from Soketi, Centrifugo, AnyCable, Socket.IO, and Mercure.

  8. 8.SockudoMIT Rust Pusher V1 edge + Protocol V2 recovery/history/push

    Free / OSS · AGPL-3.0 · 828 GitHub stars

    VerdictMIT Rust Pusher-compat with V2 durability. Not AGPL Soketi.

    CatchVs Soketi: Rust Pusher V1 edge + Protocol V2 recovery/history/mutable/push — not AGPL v7-only. Distinct from Soketi AGPL Protocol v7 drop-in. Self-host is the free path.

FAQ

What are the best free alternatives to LiveKit?
Socket.IO, Centrifugo, AnyCable, Pion WebRTC, Janus Gateway. All are reviewed on Stack Gems in the same category (realtime and WebSocket tools); 8 free or open source.
What is the catch with LiveKit?
Self-hosting an SFU is ops-heavy.
Is there an open-source alternative to LiveKit?
Yes: Socket.IO (OSS/MIT), Centrifugo (Apache-2.0), AnyCable (Freemium), Pion WebRTC (OSS/MIT).

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