head to head · open source
LiveKit vs magic
LiveKit has 22,040 GitHub stars, 2,531 forks, 189 open issues and last shipped yesterday. magic has 1,223 stars, 178 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. LiveKit leads on adoption by 1,702% (22,040 vs 1,223 stars). LiveKit is written in Go under Apache-2.0; magic is written in C# under MIT. LiveKit has attracted 11% as many forks as stars, magic 15%. 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 | magic | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 22K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | C# |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-04 |
| 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 magic if
- You want the magic feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and magic 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 magic
Instant SECURE Full Stack Apps and AI Agents Turn plain English into a working full stack app — database, secure API, business logic, and frontend — running on your own hardware , with zero lock in . An open source alternative to Lovable, Bolt, and Replit that gives you the whole backend, plus an MCP server that turns every endpoint into a tool for Claude, Cursor, or Codex. Read more about Hyperlambda. [ ] Run it in 60 seconds Then open localhost:5555 , point it at localhost:4444 , and log in with root / root . Point the API Wizard at your database, and it generates a complete, secured REST API — then extend it…
read the full magic overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is LiveKit or magic more popular?
LiveKit has 22,040 GitHub stars and magic has 1,223. LiveKit has the larger community by that measure.
Are LiveKit and magic free?
Both are open source. LiveKit is licensed under Apache-2.0 and magic under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between LiveKit and magic?
LiveKit is written in Go and magic in C#. 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 magic?
Choose LiveKit if you want the larger community (22,040 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose magic if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.