We may earn a commission if you buy through links on this page. It never changes a score or a ranking. How we make money
Daily is hosted WebRTC infrastructure combined with Pipecat, aimed at teams building real-time voice calls and agents. Its free plan starts at $0, while production costs scale by participant-minutes. That makes call volume and duration central to budgeting. The alternatives below range from LiveKit’s real-time agent focus to broader communications APIs from Twilio, Vonage, Bandwidth and Sinch. They are not all drop-in replacements: check each vendor’s API, deployment options, pricing and migration requirements against your call flows.
01Why people leave Daily
Costs scale with call activity
Daily's production costs scale by participant-minutes, so high-volume or long sessions make usage forecasting central.
Hosted stack shapes deployment choices
Daily combines hosted WebRTC with Pipecat; teams considering a different media or agent architecture may compare alternatives.
You may need broader communications APIs
Daily focuses on real-time calls; teams adding messaging, identity or carrier connectivity may prefer a broader communications API.
02The alternatives, ranked by fit
- Real-time AI agents
LiveKitLiveKitChoose LiveKit when your product needs real-time AI agents, voice, telephony or model flexibility rather than Daily's hosted WebRTC-and-Pipecat combination. Its plan starts at $50 with a free plan, but production costs can include more than session minutes. Before migrating, confirm its API and SDK coverage, licensing, deployment options and how your existing call flows would change.
Trade-off: Production costs can include more than session minutes; confirm deployment and licensing terms.
8.1/10from
$50/mofree plan - Voice and inference
TelnyxTelnyxTelnyx fits teams that want communications APIs alongside voice and inference agents, or are considering deployment at network edges. It starts at $0. Compare your expected call workload and ask about usage rates and limits before budgeting; the starting price alone is not a production estimate. A migration means checking how Telnyx's APIs fit your existing media and agent requirements.
Trade-off: Check portability, usage rates and limits before committing to its communications stack.
7.8/10from
$5,000/mofree plan - Programmable voice
TwilioTwilioTwilio suits teams that need programmable voice alongside messaging, email or identity APIs. Its listed starting price is $15 with a free plan, but production costs and carrier rules need attention. It is a broader communications option, not a drop-in Daily replacement: map call flows to Twilio's voice APIs and validate carrier requirements before migrating.
Trade-off: Production costs and carrier rules need attention.
7.3/10from
$15/mofree plan - Voice and video
Vonage Communications APIsVonage Communications APIsVonage is worth comparing when a product needs voice, video and messaging across customer journeys. Its listed starting price is $10.49. The developer details and pricing need verification before adoption, so check the API surface, SDKs, usage rates and deployment choices against your Daily integration. Treat migration as an API and call-flow change, not a configuration swap.
Trade-off: Verify developer details and pricing before estimating production costs.
5.0/10from
$10.49/mo - Carrier connectivity
Bandwidth Communications APIsBandwidth Communications APIsBandwidth is a candidate for enterprise voice and messaging products that need carrier connectivity or contact-center and telecom integrations. No starting price is listed, so request costs for your expected usage before comparing it with Daily's participant-minute billing. Confirm integration details, API fit and migration requirements with the vendor before moving call flows.
Trade-off: No starting price is listed; confirm costs and integration details.
6.8/10from
Custom - Multichannel communications
SinchSinchSinch fits teams building across messaging and voice APIs or using ready-made messaging apps. Its listed starting price is $99 with a free plan, but unpublished usage rates and limits complicate production budgeting. Compare the APIs and costs for your expected channels, then assess how much of your Daily call integration can move without rewriting surrounding workflows.
Trade-off: Unpublished usage rates and limits make production costs harder to estimate.
6.2/10from
$99/mofree plan
03Side by side
| Tool | Score | From | Free plan | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Daily Daily (current) | 7.7 | Free | Yes | Teams building realtime voice calls |
| LiveKit LiveKit | 8.1 | $50/mo | Yes | Teams building real-time AI agents |
| Telnyx Telnyx | 7.8 | $5,000/mo | Yes | Teams building voice AI agents |
| Twilio Twilio | 7.3 | $15/mo | Yes | Teams building multichannel communications |
| Vonage Communications APIs Vonage Communications APIs | 5.0 | $10.49/mo | No | Teams adding voice to customer workflows |
| Bandwidth Communications APIs Bandwidth Communications APIs | 6.8 | Custom | No | Enterprise communications platforms |
| Sinch Sinch | 6.2 | $99/mo | Yes | Products using multiple communication channels |
Questions people ask
Which Daily alternative is cheaper?
The listed starting prices include $0 for Daily and Telnyx, and a free plan for LiveKit, Twilio and Sinch. Those figures do not establish which is cheaper at production volume. Daily costs scale by participant-minutes, while LiveKit production costs can include more than session minutes. Compare estimates for your call duration and volume.
Can I replace Daily with an open-source or self-hosted option?
Do not assume an API provider is open-source or self-hostable. Check each vendor’s license and deployment documentation, and ask about data export before choosing. LiveKit is described as giving developers control, but that alone does not establish its license or hosting options. Verify those terms before planning a migration.
Which alternative fits voice and real-time agents?
LiveKit is described for real-time AI agents, voice, telephony and model flexibility. Telnyx combines communications APIs with voice and inference agents. Twilio offers programmable voice. Compare the APIs and costs for your call flows, and confirm limits and deployment requirements with the vendor before moving from Daily.