Can I get cost for each session in livekit
# ask-aif
fancy-florist-18763
02/20/2026, 10:09 PMCan I get cost for each session in livekit
t
tall-airline-16756
02/20/2026, 10:09 PMThanks for reaching out, Palwisha. I'm an AI assistant and I'm here to help. Give me a moment while I research this topic.
tall-airline-16756
02/20/2026, 10:09 PMThanks — I’ll help you estimate cost per session in LiveKit. You’re asking whether you can get cost for each session; the short answer is yes, you can estimate cost per session because LiveKit charges by resource usage rather than a flat per-session fee.
Below are the pricing components that determine cost per session and a short example you can adapt to your session type.
Key pricing components
• Connection minutes: Charged per minute for each human or AI participant. Rate starts at $0.0005 per minute (volume discounts apply).
• Bandwidth (downstream only): Charged for data sent from LiveKit servers to participants. Rate starts at $0.12 per GB (volume discounts apply). Upstream (ingress) is not charged.
• Transcoding minutes: Applies when LiveKit performs transcoding (e.g., RTMP input, room composite recording).
◦ Video transcoding: roughly $0.015–$0.02 per minute
◦ Audio-only transcoding: roughly $0.004–$0.005 per minute
• Agent session minutes (AI agents): If using LiveKit Cloud agents, $0.01 per minute of active agent session.
Quick example (voice AI session)
1. 10-minute voice AI session with one user and one agent:
◦ Agent session minutes: 10 min × $0.01 = $0.10
◦ Connection minutes: 2 participants × 10 min × $0.0005 = $0.01
◦ Bandwidth: voice is typically low (example ~40 kbps); downstream usage for short voice may be negligible
◦ Estimated total ≈ $0.11 per session
Notes and tips for a more accurate per-session estimate
• For video sessions, bandwidth usually dominates cost; estimate downstream GB per participant = bitrate (kbps) × session_minutes / (8 × 1024).
• Include transcoding minutes if you use recording/composites or RTMP ingest.
• Multiply connection minutes by number of charged participants (ingress/egress and SIP are not charged for connection minutes).
• Use your expected monthly volume to account for tiered pricing/discounts.
If you want, I can:
• Walk through an estimate for a specific session type (e.g., 30-minute 720p video with 4 participants).
• Calculate bandwidth cost if you tell me expected bitrates (audio/video) and participant counts.
• Show how totals change under different plan tiers (Build/Ship/Scale) if you share expected monthly minutes and GB.
Which session type should I estimate for you—voice-only, single-camera video, group video, or AI agent session?
Sources: Towards a future-aligned pricing model | Understanding and Estimating Pricing for Video Conference and Livestream Us... | Pricing | LiveKit | Deploy and scale agents on LiveKit Cloud
f
fancy-florist-18763
02/20/2026, 10:10 PMAI agent session in which one particapant video is enabled
t
tall-airline-16756
02/20/2026, 10:10 PMThanks — I’ll estimate an AI agent session where one participant has video enabled. I’ll break down the cost components, give a worked example, and ask one quick question so I can make it precise.
What affects cost for this scenario
• Agent session minutes: Charged at $0.01 per active agent minute.
• Connection minutes: Charged at $0.0005 per minute per charged participant (human and agent). In this session you have two charged participants (user + agent).
• Downstream bandwidth: Charged for data sent from LiveKit servers to participants at $0.12 per GB (starting rate). Only downstream is billed; upstream is not charged. Video increases downstream usage significantly.
• Transcoding minutes: Only if LiveKit transcodes the stream (e.g., composite recording, RTMP ingest). If you’re not transcoding, ignore this line.
Quick example estimate (assumptions)
• Session length: 30 minutes (tell me if you want a different length)
• Video participant outbound bitrate (server → other participant): assume 1 Mbps (typical for 720p). If you use a different bitrate, tell me and I’ll recalc.
• Audio bitrate: negligible relative to video; I’ll ignore it for bandwidth rounding.
Calculations
1. Agent session minutes: 30 min × $0.01 = $0.30
2. Connection minutes: 2 participants × 30 min × $0.0005 = $0.03
3. Downstream bandwidth:
◦ 1 Mbps = 1 megabit/sec = 0.125 megabytes/sec.
◦ Data per minute = 1 Mbps × 60 sec = 60 megabits = 7.5 MB.
◦ For 30 minutes = 7.5 MB × 30 = 225 MB ≈ 0.2197 GB.
◦ Bandwidth cost = 0.2197 GB × $0.12/GB ≈ $0.0264
Total estimated cost ≈ $0.30 + $0.03 + $0.026 = $0.356 ≈ $0.36 per 30-minute session
Notes and caveats
• If the agent also sends video (agent camera enabled), include its downstream similarly.
• If you use higher bitrates (e.g., 2–3 Mbps for 1080p) bandwidth cost will rise proportionally.
• If LiveKit performs transcoding or you record a composite, add the relevant transcoding minutes ($0.015–$0.02/min for video).
• Volume discounts may reduce per-minute and per-GB rates at scale.
Would you like me to:
• Recalculate with a different session length or a different video bitrate (e.g., 500 kbps, 1.5 Mbps, 3 Mbps)?
• Include transcoding/recording in the estimate?