Free Stream alternatives: 5 apps ranked by verified data

Facts checked Nov 8, 2026AppBreakup editorialHow we rank

5 of the 8 Stream alternatives we track can be used for free (free, open source, or with a free plan). Firebase, Agora and Ably rank highest, with facts last verified Nov 8, 2026.

Quick comparison

#	App	Pricing	Verified price	Open source	Platforms	Verified facts	Score
1	Firebase	Free plan + paid	—	No	Web, iOS, Android	8 of 8	58.5
2	Agora	Free plan + paid	$0.59 per 1,000 RTC minutes	No	Web, Windows, macOS +2	6 of 6	52.6
3	Ably	Free plan + paid	$29 a month for 1K MAUs, billed annually (Pro)	No	Web	5 of 5	51.2
4	LiveKit	Open source	From $50/month	Yes	Web, iOS, Android +1	4 of 4	51.2
5	100ms	Free plan + paid	$0.004 per participant minute	No	Web, iOS, Android	4 of 4	50.0

1. FirebaseTop pick
Best for: Mobile and web teams who want realtime sync, auth and push messaging from one vendor
Free plan + paidWeb, iOS, Android
58.5
score / 100
Why switch from Stream
Many teams build their own chat on Firestore's realtime listeners instead of paying per monthly active user for a chat API.
Pros
Mature SDKs for Android, iOS, Flutter and web
Realtime sync and offline support built into the client libraries
Wide set of mobile services such as crash reporting and push messaging
Cons
Ties your app closely to Google Cloud
NoSQL query limits often force data duplication
Pay-as-you-go bills can spike with heavy reads
Visit Firebase Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.334
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.1563
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Firebase a good Stream alternative?
Verified facts
8 of 8 verified
Free plan
Yes, Spark plan
Checked Nov 8, 2026firebase.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
Paid plan
Blaze, pay as you go
Checked Nov 8, 2026firebase.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
Database
Firestore, a NoSQL document database
Checked Nov 8, 2026firebase.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
SQL option
PostgreSQL via Firebase SQL Connect
Checked Nov 8, 2026firebase.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
Blaze plan
Pay as you go, with Spark free usage included
Checked Nov 8, 2026firebase.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
Cloud Functions
Free up to 2M invocations/month, then $0.40 per million
Checked Nov 8, 2026firebase.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
Cloud Storage
Free up to 5 GB, then $0.026 per GB
Checked Nov 8, 2026firebase.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
Free credit
$300 for eligible Blaze users
Checked Nov 8, 2026firebase.google.com(opens source in a new tab)
2. Agora
Best for: Consumer apps that need voice, video or live streaming at very large scale across regions
Free plan + paidWeb, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android
52.6
score / 100
Why switch from Stream
Stronger choice if real-time video, voice and live streaming are the main need.
Pros
Large free monthly allowance of RTC minutes
Proven at very high concurrency
Separate products for signaling, chat and voice AI
Cons
Proprietary network with no self-hosted option
Many products and SKUs make costs hard to estimate
Larger deals require talking to sales
Visit Agora Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.346
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Agora a good Stream alternative?
Verified facts
6 of 6 verified
Free allowance
10,000 RTC minutes a month
Checked Nov 8, 2026agora.io(opens source in a new tab)
RTC price
From $0.59 per 1,000 minutes
Checked Nov 8, 2026agora.io(opens source in a new tab)
Conversational AI
From $0.10 per minute, first 300 minutes free
Checked Nov 8, 2026agora.io(opens source in a new tab)
Latency
Under 200 ms globally
Checked Nov 8, 2026agora.io(opens source in a new tab)
Starting price
$0.59 per 1,000 RTC minutes
Checked Nov 8, 2026agora.io(opens source in a new tab)
Chat
From $0.05 per monthly active user
Checked Nov 8, 2026agora.io(opens source in a new tab)
3. Ably
Best for: Teams building chat, live collaboration or streaming features where delivery guarantees matter
Free plan + paidWeb
51.2
score / 100
Why switch from Stream
Realtime messaging infrastructure with a dedicated chat SDK, for teams that want more control than prebuilt UI kits give.
Pros
Guaranteed ordering and message history
Generous free package with 6M messages a month
Dedicated chat and database-sync products
Cons
Usage-based billing is harder to predict than flat tiers
Uptime SLAs are limited to higher plans
Cloud only
Visit Ably Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.341
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Ably a good Stream alternative?
Verified facts
5 of 5 verified
Free plan
Yes, up to 500 MAUs
Checked Nov 8, 2026ably.com(opens source in a new tab)
Starting price
$29 a month for 1K MAUs, billed annually (Pro)
Checked Nov 8, 2026ably.com(opens source in a new tab)
Enterprise SLA
99.999% uptime
Checked Nov 1, 2026ably.com(opens source in a new tab)
JavaScript SDK license
Apache-2.0
Checked Nov 1, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
Business plan
From $349 a month
Checked Nov 8, 2026ably.com(opens source in a new tab)
4. LiveKit
Best for: Teams building voice AI agents or video apps who want an open-source stack with an optional managed cloud
Open sourceSelf-hostableWeb, iOS, Android, Self-hosted
51.2
score / 100
Why switch from Stream
Open-source WebRTC stack you can self-host for video and voice features.
Pros
Apache-2.0 server you can self-host
Agents framework with turn detection and telephony
SDKs for most web, mobile and game platforms
Free cloud tier with no credit card
Cons
Product focus has moved strongly towards voice AI agents
Self-hosting at scale means running your own WebRTC infrastructure
Cloud costs stack several per-minute charges per session
Visit LiveKit Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.341
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is LiveKit a good Stream alternative?
Verified facts
4 of 4 verified
License
Apache-2.0
Checked Nov 8, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
Free plan
$0/month Build plan
Checked Nov 8, 2026livekit.io(opens source in a new tab)
Paid plans
From $50/month
Checked Nov 8, 2026livekit.io(opens source in a new tab)
Cloud regions
19+
Checked Nov 8, 2026livekit.io(opens source in a new tab)
5. 100ms
Best for: Product teams adding branded video calls or live classes to an app without running media servers
Free plan + paidWeb, iOS, Android
50.0
score / 100
Why switch from Stream
A fit if live video and audio rooms are the main need rather than chat, with prebuilt UI and recording.
Pros
Generous free monthly minutes for conferencing and streaming
Prebuilt UI speeds up a first integration
Recording, RTMP out and transcription in the same platform
Cheaper rates for audio-only sessions
Cons
HIPAA compliance costs extra on the self-serve tier
Paid SLA support packages start at a high monthly minimum
Cloud-only: no self-hosted media server option
Visit 100ms Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.338
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is 100ms a good Stream alternative?
Verified facts
4 of 4 verified
Free plan
10,000 conferencing minutes/month
Checked Nov 8, 2026100ms.live(opens source in a new tab)
Conferencing price
$0.004 per participant minute
Checked Nov 8, 2026100ms.live(opens source in a new tab)
Audio-only discount
75% off
Checked Nov 8, 2026100ms.live(opens source in a new tab)
HIPAA BAA
$500/month add-on on self-serve
Checked Nov 8, 2026100ms.live(opens source in a new tab)

Quick comparison

1. FirebaseTop pick

Pros

Cons

Verified facts

2. Agora

Pros

Cons

Verified facts

3. Ably

Pros

Cons

Verified facts

4. LiveKit

Pros

Cons

Verified facts

5. 100ms

Pros

Cons

Verified facts