Daily
WebRTC video and voice APIs, plus hosting for Pipecat voice AI agents.
Updated · AppBreakup editorial · Web, iOS, Android
Daily has been acquired. Daily's website announces that Daily is joining Deepgram.
Is Daily free?
Free plan, plus paid plans
- Starting price:
- $0.004 per participant minute after free minutes
- Free plan:
- Yes, 10,000 participant minutes/month
Checked on Daily's site Nov 8, 2026
Full Daily pricing and plansSwitch from Daily to
All 6- Verified facts
- 8 of 8
- Alternatives ranked
- 6
- Approved reviews
- 0
- Visits sent from here
- 0
About Daily
Daily is a real-time video and audio platform for developers, running global WebRTC infrastructure since 2016. Its video SDKs and prebuilt call UI let teams add video calls, audio-only rooms, recording and live streaming to web and mobile apps. In recent years it has shifted much of its focus to voice AI: the team created Pipecat, an open-source Python framework for conversational agents, and sells Pipecat Cloud for deploying those agents on Daily's network. Daily is a common choice in healthcare because it signs HIPAA BAAs and offers end-to-end encryption, and it lists SOC 2 and GDPR compliance. The video SDK is billed by usage with a free monthly allowance of minutes; Pipecat Cloud is also usage-based. Daily's website announces that the company is joining the speech AI company Deepgram, so buyers may want to watch how the product line changes. The service is cloud-only and is integrated through SDKs and REST APIs.
Best for: Developers building telehealth video or voice AI agents who want WebRTC infrastructure and Pipecat together.
Daily pricing (checked Nov 8, 2026)
Each line is quoted from Daily's own site, with the page it came from.
| Plan or term | What it says | Checked | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $0.004 per participant minute after free minutes | Nov 8, 2026 | daily.co |
| Free plan | Yes, 10,000 participant minutes/month | Nov 8, 2026 | daily.co |
| Audio-only rate | $0.00099 per participant minute | Nov 8, 2026 | daily.co |
| HIPAA add-on | $500 a month | Nov 8, 2026 | daily.co |
Pros and cons
What works
- Signs HIPAA BAAs and offers end-to-end encryption
- Maintains Pipecat, a popular open-source voice AI framework
- Free monthly minutes on the video SDK
Why people leave
- Joining Deepgram, so the roadmap may change
- The core media platform is cloud-only, with no self-hosted server
- Pricing details sit behind separate product pages
Daily vs LiveKit, 100ms and Agora
From each app's listing and the prices verified on its own site. A dash means we haven't verified it yet.
| Attribute | Daily | LiveKit | 100ms | Agora |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan + paid | Open source | Free plan + paid | Free plan + paid |
| Verified price | $0.004 per participant minute after free minutes | From $50/month | $0.004 per participant minute | $0.59 per 1,000 RTC minutes |
| Free plan | Yes, 10,000 participant minutes/month | $0/month Build plan | 10,000 conferencing minutes/month | Yes |
| Open source | No | Yes | No | No |
| Self-hostable | No | Yes | No | No |
| Platforms | Web, iOS, Android | Web, iOS, Android, Self-hosted | Web, iOS, Android | Web, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android |
Top Daily alternatives
See all 6- 1
LiveKit68.8Open-source WebRTC server you can self-host or use as a cloud, with its own agents framework for voice AI.
- 2
100ms64.8Video SDK with prebuilt UI and roles for live classes and events, quicker to ship than building on raw WebRTC.
- 3
Agora55.9Global real-time voice and video SDKs with a large network in Asia, for apps with users across many regions.
- 4
Stream52.6Video and audio calling APIs alongside chat and feeds, useful if you also need in-app messaging from one vendor.
- 5
Twilio51.2Broad communications platform where video sits next to SMS, voice and email APIs under one account and bill.
Why people left Daily
In reviewers' own words, from reviews of the apps they moved to. These are their opinions, not ours.
No switching stories yet. If you moved away from Daily, review the app you switched to and tell us why.
Reviews
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Daily: common questions
What is Daily?
Daily: WebRTC video and voice APIs, plus hosting for Pipecat voice AI agents. Best for developers building telehealth video or voice AI agents who want WebRTC infrastructure and Pipecat together. Available for Web, iOS and Android.
Is Daily free?
Daily has a free plan and paid plans. Free plan: Yes, 10,000 participant minutes/month (checked on Daily's own site).
How much does Daily cost?
Daily is free with paid plans. Starting price: $0.004 per participant minute after free minutes; Free plan: Yes, 10,000 participant minutes/month; Audio-only rate: $0.00099 per participant minute; HIPAA add-on: $500 a month. Checked on Daily's own site, November 2026.
Is Daily open source?
No, Daily is not open source. Open-source alternatives include LiveKit.
What platforms does Daily run on?
Daily is available for Web, iOS and Android.
What are the best alternatives to Daily?
The highest-ranked Daily alternatives right now are LiveKit, 100ms and Agora. See the full ranked list for pricing, platforms and verified facts.
Daily vs LiveKit: what's the difference?
Daily is free with paid plans; LiveKit is free and open source. Verified prices: Daily $0.004 per participant minute after free minutes, LiveKit From $50/month. LiveKit is open source and Daily is not. Both run on Web, iOS and Android.