head to head · open source
LiveKit vs ByteChef
LiveKit has 22,027 GitHub stars, 2,529 forks, 189 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ByteChef has 1,054 stars, 178 forks, 455 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. LiveKit leads on adoption by 1,990% (22,027 vs 1,054 stars). LiveKit is written in Go under Apache-2.0; ByteChef is written in Java under a custom or non-standard licence. LiveKit has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, ByteChef 17%. LiveKit was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| LiveKit | ByteChef | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 1.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Go | Java |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 178 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick LiveKit if
- You weight community size — 22K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ByteChef if
- You want the ByteChef feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and ByteChef fits your workflow better
About LiveKit
LiveKit: Realtime infrastructure for voice, video, and AI agents LiveKit is an open source platform for building voice, video, and physical AI agents. This repository is the LiveKit server: a scalable, distributed WebRTC SFU that moves realtime audio, video, and data between people, devices, and AI models. The SDKs, agents frameworks, and companion services are linked in the table at the bottom of this page. LiveKit's server is written in Go, using the awesome Pion WebRTC implementation. [!IMPORTANT] If you're building Voice AI, LiveKit Agents is the SDK for code first realtime voice agents. STT, LLM, TTS, turn…
read the full LiveKit overview →
About ByteChef
The open source platform that unifies AI agent orchestration and workflow automation Autonomy and precision — in one platform. Documentation · Live Demo · Discord · Connect on X · Roadmap [//]: ( ) [//]: ( About ByteChef) [//]: () [//]: (ByteChef is an open source platform for AI agents, workflow automation, and API integration.) [//]: () [//]: (Instead of using separate tools for AI agents and automated workflows, ByteChef brings both into a single platform with one orchestration layer, centralized management, and enterprise grade security.) [//]: () [//]: (Built for modern enterprises, ByteChef can run in…
read the full ByteChef overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is LiveKit or ByteChef more popular?
LiveKit has 22,027 GitHub stars and ByteChef has 1,054. LiveKit has the larger community by that measure.
Are LiveKit and ByteChef free?
Both are open source. LiveKit is licensed under Apache-2.0, and ByteChef has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between LiveKit and ByteChef?
LiveKit is written in Go and ByteChef in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, LiveKit or ByteChef?
Choose LiveKit if you want the larger community (22,027 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose ByteChef if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.