LiveKit SFU + SDKsCloud or self-hostedSub-300 ms250+ projects since 2005
LiveKit Development

LiveKit development, from first room to 100 nodes

We design, build, and scale apps on LiveKit — video chat, live streaming, recording, and SIP — on LiveKit Cloud or self-hosted on your infra. First milestone in –3 weeks, from $8K. The same team has run LiveKit rooms at 2,000 concurrent users in production.

2,000
Concurrent users in one live class we shipped
Sub-300 ms
Glass-to-glass latency target
250+
Custom projects since 2005
Cloud or self-hosted
Your call, same API
Who this is for

Built for teams shipping real-time video and audio on LiveKit

Whether you have picked LiveKit and need a team to build it, or you are deciding between LiveKit Cloud and self-hosting, we have shipped both — across EdTech, streaming, telehealth, and IoT.

Video conferencingLive class / virtual classroomLive streaming & eventsTelehealth videoFitness & wellness streamingRemote video productionSIP / intercom integrationSurveillance & IoT videoSocial & dating videoMarketplaces with live videoCloud-to-self-hosted migration
Options

Proprietary CPaaS, LiveKit Cloud, or self-hosted LiveKit

Proprietary CPaaS (Agora, Twilio, Vonage, Daily) bills per minute and owns your media path. LiveKit is open source: run it managed on LiveKit Cloud, or self-host on your own infra. Either way you keep the SDK, the data, and the option to move.

Proprietary CPaaSLiveKit CloudSelf-hosted LiveKit (Fora-built)
Pricing modelPer-participant-minute, compoundsUsage-based, no per-seat lockYour infra cost only — no per-minute tax
Media ownershipTheir serversLiveKit global meshYour cloud, your region, your logs
Source / lock-inClosed SDKOpen SDK, managed backendFully open, portable Cloud ↔ self-host
ScalingTheir black boxAuto, globalDistributed SFU, 1 to 100+ nodes (Redis routing)
Recording / egressAdd-on, meteredBuilt-in egressBuilt-in egress to your storage
Telephony (SIP)Vendor add-onSIP supportedSIP bridge built to spec
Data residency / HIPAALimited controlRegion optionsFull control — your VPC

We build on whichever fits — LiveKit Cloud to ship fast, self-hosted when cost, data residency, or control demand it — and migrate between them without a rewrite. See the math in LiveKit vs Agora: a cost analysis.

How we build

From an empty repo to a scaled LiveKit deployment

LiveKit is open source and deceptively simple to start — and full of decisions once you go to production. Here is how we build it so it holds up under load.

ClientsWeb · iOS · AndroidSFU cluster · Redis routingLiveKit SFU node 1LiveKit SFU node 2LiveKit SFU node 3Egress to your S3Ingress: RTMP / WHIP / SRTOne config: LiveKit Cloud or self-hosted (your VPC) — scales 1 to 100+ nodes
Figure 1: A production LiveKit deployment. The same config runs on LiveKit Cloud or self-hosted and scales from one node to a hundred-plus, with Redis routing keeping each room on one node.
1

Scope & topology

We map rooms, expected concurrency, regions, and whether LiveKit Cloud or self-hosted fits. The deployment topology is decided before a line of media code.

Week 1
2

Rooms & media

We build the room model, publish/subscribe, and simulcast and SVC layers so weak networks drop resolution instead of freezing — plus active-speaker, screen-share, and data channels.

3

Clients & SDKs

We wire the LiveKit SDKs into your stack — JS/React, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, or Unity — with token auth minted by the server SDK.

4

Egress, ingress & SIP

Recording and export via egress to your storage, RTMP/WHIP ingress for broadcast-in, and a LiveKit SIP bridge when phone or intercom is in scope.

5

Scale, observe & harden

Distributed SFU across nodes with Redis routing, autoscaling, Grafana/Prometheus dashboards, load tests to your concurrency target, and HIPAA/SOC 2 patterns where required.

Continuous

The result holds sub-300 ms glass-to-glass and scales from one room to hundreds of nodes on one config — the architecture does not change as you grow.

Architecture

The LiveKit stack we assemble

LiveKit is the open-source WebRTC SFU at the center. Around it we wire the media, clients, recording, telephony, and scaling that take it from a demo to production.

Layer
What we build
Transport / SFU
LiveKit (Go/Pion) distributed SFU, LiveKit Cloud or self-hosted on your VPC
Media
Simulcast + SVC adaptive layers, active-speaker, screen-share, data channels, adaptive stream
Clients
LiveKit SDKs: JS/React, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, React Native, Unity; token auth via server SDK
Egress / ingress
Room and track recording/export to your storage, RTMP/WHIP/SRT ingress for broadcast-in
Telephony
LiveKit SIP bridge — inbound/outbound calls, intercom, DTMF, PSTN
Scaling
Multi-node SFU with Redis routing, autoscaling worker pools, multi-region
Ops & compliance
Grafana/Prometheus + load tests, recording with consent, HIPAA and SOC 2-ready patterns
Use cases

What we have built on LiveKit

EdTech

Live classes at 2,000 concurrent

Scholarly runs live test-prep classes for up to 2,000 simultaneous students and 15,000+ users on a Kubernetes LiveKit deployment — whiteboards, quizzes, VOD.

Streaming

Live fitness, zero lag at peak

Perspire.tv is a Twitch-style live fitness platform that scales to peak hours with no lag, plus a Coins-based creator economy.

Production

Broadcast-grade remote video

Speed.Space records 1080p / 8 Mbps locally with multi-stream switching and role-based crew control — used on Netflix, EA, and HBO shoots.

Telephony

Intercom to mobile over SIP

Doorbell bridges any SIP intercom to a mobile video call via LiveKit’s SIP-to-WebRTC bridge, with DTMF remote door unlock.

Surveillance

4K AI site surveillance

EyeBuild streams 4K from solar-powered cameras with AI human and vehicle detection, on LiveKit + WebRTC + SIP.

Low-latency audio

Sub-second sports radio

Sports Broadcasting app streams real-time internet radio synced to the video feed at sub-second delay, scaling to thousands of listeners.

Build vs Buy

Why teams pick LiveKit over a proprietary CPaaS

A proprietary SDK (Agora, Twilio, Vonage) is the fastest way to a prototype. LiveKit is the way to own your real-time stack — the SDK, the media path, the data, and the bill. Here is the split.

Control & flexibilitylowhighOwnership & cost-efficiencyProprietary CPaaSLiveKit CloudSelf-hosted LiveKit(Fora Soft)
Figure 2: Value axes, not scale. Owning your real-time stack on LiveKit wins on control and cost-efficiency at any volume — there is no minimum size where it starts to pay off.
Stay on a proprietary CPaaS when
You need a prototype this week and per-minute cost is not a worry yet
You do not want to own any infrastructure
Their feature set covers you and you are fine on their servers
Right when: real-time video is a feature you are validating, not your core.
Build on LiveKit when
Per-minute CPaaS billing is starting to hurt as you grow
You want the open SDK and the freedom to self-host or move regions
Media, recordings, and data must live in your cloud (cost, residency, HIPAA)
You need custom media logic a closed SDK will not give you — SIP, custom egress, simulcast tuning
At any size — owning your stack pays off from your first production room
Right when: real-time video or audio is core to your product — first LiveKit milestone in 4–6 weeks.

Already on a CPaaS and feeling the bill? The free architecture review below sizes the migration.

How we work

Four ways to bring us in

Pricing

Starting points, not size caps

Fixed-scope starting points for a LiveKit build. Each is a floor you build up from.

Integration Pilot
from $8K
~2–3 weeks
  • LiveKit video/audio into one app or a focused new build
  • Rooms, publish/subscribe, one client SDK
  • Basic recording
  • A production-ready first milestone
Start a pilot
Most teams start here
Production Build
from $16K
~3–6 weeks
  • Multi-platform SDKs
  • Simulcast/SVC tuning
  • Egress/ingress + SIP if needed
  • Dashboards
  • Deployed to LiveKit Cloud or your VPC
Scope a build
Scale & Multi-Region
from $32K
~6+ weeks
  • Distributed self-hosted SFU
  • Autoscaling, multi-region
  • Load-tested to your concurrency target
  • HIPAA/SOC 2 patterns + observability
Plan for scale

LiveKit Cloud usage or your self-hosting infra is billed at provider/your cost — no per-minute markup from us. We forecast it in the estimate.

Free for qualified projects

Three ways to de-risk before you commit

Before the build, we will help you choose the topology and catch the scaling traps early.

Why Fora Soft

LiveKit in production, not in theory

We have shipped LiveKit across EdTech, streaming, telehealth, surveillance, and social — on Cloud and self-hosted, from pilots to 2,000-concurrent classes.

Track record

Since 2005, 250+ projects

Real-time video and audio is the core of the business, not a recent add-on.

At scale

LiveKit in production at scale

Scholarly runs live classes at 2,000 concurrent students on our LiveKit deployment; Perspire.tv streams at peak with zero lag.

Cloud + self-host

We have shipped both

LiveKit Cloud and self-hosted, and we migrate between them without a rewrite.

Full media path

Rooms to scaling, in-house

Rooms, simulcast/SVC, egress/ingress, SIP, scaling — built and tuned by us, with the exact versions named.

Rescue

We rescue, too

We revived O-Time Bank’s unstable build: geolocation lobby, matchmaking, and WebRTC stability restored.

Ownership

You own it

Your code, your cloud, your data. Open SDK, no lock-in.

FAQ

LiveKit development, answered

The questions teams ask before they build on LiveKit. The same answers power this page’s FAQ schema.

What is LiveKit development?

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LiveKit Cloud or self-hosted - which should we use?

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How does LiveKit scale?

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Which platforms and SDKs do you support?

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Can LiveKit record calls and stream in and out?

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Can LiveKit connect to phone systems (SIP)?

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How is LiveKit different from Agora, Twilio, or Daily?

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Can you migrate us off a proprietary CPaaS to LiveKit?

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Do you build AI voice agents on LiveKit?

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What does a LiveKit build cost and how long does it take?

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Further reading

Go deeper on LiveKit & WebRTC

Building something real-time on LiveKit?

Tell us the rooms, the concurrency, and the platforms. We will pick the topology, name the stack, and give you a timeline and a number — in one call. Want an AI voice agent on top? See LiveKit AI agents. Not sure LiveKit is the right SFU? See WebRTC development.

Specialist software house for video, real-time and AI products. Founded 2005. 50 in-house engineers.

+1 (914) 775-5855
New York · USA
© Fora Soft, 2005–2026
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