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Vapi vs LiveKit pricing (2026)

Short answer. Vapi charges $0.05 a minute for hosting and passes model costs through at cost. LiveKit charges $0.01 a minute for agent sessions past a plan allowance, and its Ship plan starts at $50 a month. On platform fees alone, LiveKit costs less at volume. Vapi is easier to set up, and LiveKit is a framework a developer builds on. We read both pricing pages on October 27, 2026.

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Platform fees

Item	Vapi	LiveKit
Platform fee	$0.05 a minute hosting, pre-paid	$0.01 a minute agent sessions past the allowance
Free start	$5 free credits	Build plan, $0 a month, 1,000 agent minutes, $2.50 credits
Paid tier	Core, $29 a month	Ship, from $50 a month, 5,000 agent minutes included
Next tier	Pro, $999 a month minimum (10% of hosting fee)	Scale, from $500 a month, 50,000 agent minutes included
Models	Passed through at cost	LiveKit Inference rates, or bring your own keys
Self-hosting	Not listed	Open source framework and media server

Sources: Vapi pricing, LiveKit pricing, LiveKit pricing in plain text, checked October 27, 2026.

On 10,000 minutes a month, the platform fee is $500 on Vapi and $100 on LiveKit Ship by our math. Models and calls are extra on both.

Phone numbers and concurrency

Item	Vapi	LiveKit
Included numbers	1 free; 5 on Core; 10 on Pro	1 free US local number on every plan
Extra numbers	Not priced on the page	$1.00 a month each on Ship and Scale
Call transport	Vapi telephony and SIP free; Twilio, Vonage, and Telnyx billed by the provider	US local inbound $0.01 a minute past the allowance
Concurrent calls	4 free; 10 on Core; 30 on Pro	5 on Build; 20 on Ship; up to 600 on Scale
Extra concurrency	$10 a line a month	Request more on Scale
HIPAA	$2,000 a month add-on	Listed on Scale

A 1,000-minute phone agent month

Setup	Vapi	LiveKit Ship
Platform	$50 hosting	$50 plan, agent minutes included
Calls	Vapi telephony listed as free	$9 for inbound minutes past 100
Models	Deepgram $10, OpenAI $8 to $45, ElevenLabs $15 to $24	$16.20 after the $5 credit
Total	$82 to $129 a month (Vapi's calculator)	$75.20 (our math)

The two totals use different models. Vapi's calculator uses Deepgram, OpenAI, and ElevenLabs. Our LiveKit figure uses the models in LiveKit's worked example, with $0.0212 a minute in model cost. Pick the same models on both and the gap comes down to the platform fee.

Which one fits a trades business?

Neither is a finished receptionist. Vapi is a hosted platform, so there are no servers to run. LiveKit gives a developer more control and lower platform fees, but it takes more work to run. If you want a ready-made answering service, see AI receptionist cost.

Compare: Vapi pricing · LiveKit pricing · Vapi alternatives · Vapi vs Twilio

FAQ

Is LiveKit cheaper than Vapi? On platform fees, yes. Vapi charges $0.05 a minute for hosting. LiveKit charges $0.01 a minute for agent sessions past the plan allowance, and Ship starts at $50 a month.

What does a 1,000-minute month cost on Vapi vs LiveKit? Vapi's calculator shows $82 to $129 a month. Our LiveKit Ship math comes to $75.20 with LiveKit's example models.

Does Vapi or LiveKit have a free plan? Vapi gives $5 in free credits. LiveKit's Build plan is $0 a month with 1,000 agent session minutes.

Can you self-host LiveKit? Yes. LiveKit says its agents framework and media server are open source and can run on your own servers.

Checked 2026-10-27. Prices and policies change. Confirm on the source before you buy.