head to head · open source
LiveKit vs Ethora
LiveKit has 22,027 GitHub stars, 2,529 forks, 189 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Ethora has 552 stars, 112 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. LiveKit leads on adoption by 3,890% (22,027 vs 552 stars). LiveKit is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Ethora is written in JavaScript under Apache-2.0. LiveKit has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, Ethora 20%. Ethora 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 | Ethora | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 552 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-11-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 2.5K | ⑂ 112 |
| 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 Ethora if
- You want the Ethora feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and Ethora 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 Ethora
Ethora — SDK Monorepo Chat, AI and messaging SDK platform. Add real time messaging, AI bots, and backend services to your app in minutes. This repository serves as the SDK monorepo — a single place to discover, clone, and navigate all Ethora SDKs, tools, and sample apps. Each component lives in its own focused repository, linked here as git submodules. Ecosystem Feature coverage across SDKs Quick glance at what each SDK supports. Full matrix with evidence: features/ · Source: features/features.yaml Legend: ✅ Present · 🟡 Partial · 🛠 Roadmap · — Absent Coverage (present + partial×0.5) / 44 features: React.js 77%…
read the full Ethora overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is LiveKit or Ethora more popular?
LiveKit has 22,027 GitHub stars and Ethora has 552. LiveKit has the larger community by that measure.
Are LiveKit and Ethora free?
Both are open source. LiveKit is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Ethora under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between LiveKit and Ethora?
LiveKit is written in Go and Ethora in JavaScript. 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 Ethora?
Choose LiveKit if you want the larger community (22,027 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Ethora if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.