Free Video and Voice Call APIs
Which video and voice call APIs a startup can add live calls to its product with for free today, how many free minutes they give, whether a card is needed and what paid usage costs, read from each provider's own page.
Free allowances read on each provider's own pages, all checked on or after . Video APIs change their free plans from time to time: confirm the terms on the provider's page before you rely on it.
Video call APIs a startup can use for free today include Agora (10,000 RTC minutes a month), Janus (Free, open source (GPL v3)), 100ms (10,000 conferencing minutes a month), mediasoup (Free, ISC License), and Digital Samba Embedded (10,000 participation minutes a month). Each of the 10 free plans below links to the provider's page that states it, with its main limit, its free minutes, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs.
Telehealth visits, tutoring sessions, customer calls and live audio rooms all need real-time video inside your own product. Video call APIs and SDKs handle the infrastructure, and most give free minutes each month; open-source WebRTC servers run free on your own servers.
The headline rarely tells you how far it goes. Free minutes are usually counted per participant, so a group call uses them up fast, recording often has its own cap, and some free allowances are credits given once. Each API below shows what is free, its main limit, its free minutes, whether a card is needed and what paid usage costs, quoted from the provider's own page with the date we read it.
Which APIs we picked and the order they appear in are our editorial choices; the terms are the providers'. Some of these providers pay us a referral commission when someone signs up through our link: those links are labeled, and they play no part in which APIs are listed or where.
Video call APIs with free minutes
Add live video and voice calls to your app, with free minutes each month.
- 1
Agora
Apps that need voice and video calls at scale
Agora's RTC service includes its first 10,000 combined RTC minutes free every month, and recording is counted in the same minutes. After that, RTC starts at $0.59 per 1,000 minutes.
- First paid plan
- RTC from $0.59 per 1,000 minutes (source: agora.io)
Start free at AgoraTerms read on agora.io on Agora: the free allowance and how to start Agora Startup Program: what startups get - 2
100ms
Teams that want a video SDK running fast
100ms gives 10,000 conferencing minutes a month free, with recording capped at 300 minutes a month. Its Pay-As-You-Grow plan then charges $0.004 per participant minute after the included 10,000 minutes.
- Free minutes
- 10,000 minutes a month (source: 100ms.live)
- First paid plan
- $0.004/min per participant after 10,000 (source: 100ms.live)
- 3
Digital Samba Embedded
Developers testing an embedded video call
Digital Samba Embedded gives 10,000 participation minutes a month to build, explore and evaluate with, and up to 100 concurrent participants.
- Free minutes
- 10,000 a month (source: digitalsamba.com)
Start free at Digital SambaTerms read on digitalsamba.com on Digital Samba Embedded: the free allowance and how to start - 4
Cloudflare Realtime
Calls and live streams on Cloudflare's network
Cloudflare Realtime's SFU and TURN services share a free allowance of the first 1,000 GB each month. After that they cost $0.05 per GB of egress.
- First paid plan
- $0.05 per GB of egress (source: developers.cloudflare.com)
Start free at CloudflareTerms read on developers.cloudflare.com on Cloudflare Realtime: the free allowance and how to start - 5
Jitsi as a Service (8x8)
Adding meetings to an app for a small user base
JaaS Dev, the free plan of Jitsi as a Service, covers 25 monthly active users. The first paid plan, JaaS Basic, is $99.00 a month for 300 monthly active users.
- First paid plan
- JaaS Basic: $99.00 a month (source: jaas.8x8.vc)
Start free at 8x8Terms read on jaas.8x8.vc on Jitsi as a Service (8x8): the free allowance and how to start - 6
VideoSDK
Trying a calling API with no card to start
VideoSDK gives $20 of free credit on sign up, and no credit card is required. Its pay-as-you-go plan then costs $0.004 a minute, with no minimums and no expiration.
- Payment card
- No card needed (source: videosdk.live)
- First paid plan
- Pay-as-you-go $0.004/min (source: videosdk.live)
- 7
Metered Video
A WebRTC SDK billed per participant minute
Metered gives $30 of free credit on signup. Its video calling then costs $0.003 per participant minute, and it supports up to 10,000 participants.
Open-source video servers you can self-host
Run your own video call infrastructure, free.
- 1
Janus
Building a custom WebRTC media server
Janus is free software under the GNU General Public License Version 3. It is a general-purpose WebRTC server, and its features come from server-side plugins.
Start free at JanusTerms read on janus.conf.meetecho.com on Janus: the free allowance and how to start - 2
mediasoup
Developers building a conferencing app in Node.js or Rust
mediasoup is released under the ISC License, which allows use for any purpose with or without fee. It provides a low-level API that enables different use cases up to your application.
- What's free
- Free, ISC License (source: mediasoup.org)
Start free at mediasoupTerms read on mediasoup.org on mediasoup: the free allowance and how to start - 3
MiroTalk
A self-hosted video room on your own servers
MiroTalk's open-source products can be inspected, modified and self-hosted under the AGPLv3 terms. You deploy them on infrastructure you control.
Start free at MiroTalkTerms read on docs.mirotalk.com on MiroTalk: the free allowance and how to start
Developer startup programs
Programs from developer tool companies that give startups credits or discounts on paid plans.
Also useful for founders
Referral links, picked for fit and ordered by fit (70%) and what a signup earns us (30%), at no cost to you. They never change this page's ranking.
Compare the top options
How this comparison is built
The list covers video and voice call APIs a founder can use for free today without applying to a program. The order and the "best for" notes are our editorial reading of each API's terms. Every term comes from the API's own pricing or help page on the date shown, never from a third-party list; follow each link for the full conditions. Free minutes a month that run out fast with more participants, recording or HD kept for paid plans, a free tier only for development can matter more than the headline, so the comparison quotes them wherever the provider states them. Some of these APIs pay StartupPerks a referral commission, and their links are labeled as referral links; that decides neither whether nor where a API appears, and no API pays for a placement on this page.
Read the full methodologyCommon questions
What is the best free video call API?
By the terms each provider states, Agora gives 10,000 RTC minutes a month, 100ms 10,000 conferencing minutes a month, Digital Samba Embedded 10,000 participation minutes a month, and Cloudflare Realtime 1,000 GB of egress a month.
Is Agora free?
Agora's free tier covers 10,000 RTC minutes a month, shared with recording; after that, RTC starts at $0.59 per 1,000 minutes.
How do free video minutes run out?
They are usually counted per participant: 100ms, for one, prices extra minutes at $0.004 per minute per participant, so a call with 4 people uses 4 minutes of allowance every minute.
Is there a free open-source video call server?
Yes. Janus (GPL v3), mediasoup (ISC License) and MiroTalk (AGPLv3) are open source and run on your own server.
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