Best Video & RTC API Providers 2026

Feature comparison

This is a guide published by Orbit by Devotel. Provider details are sourced from public vendor documentation, G2, and Gartner Peer Insights, current as of Q3 2026 and subject to change at the vendor's discretion. Yes Partial No

Frequently asked

What is a video or RTC API provider?

A video or RTC (real-time communications) API provider supplies the SDKs and media infrastructure — rooms, sessions, and participant tokens — that let you embed live video and audio into your own product instead of building a WebRTC media server yourself. The providers compared here are Orbit by Devotel, Agora, Twilio Video, Vonage Video, Daily, and LiveKit.

Is Orbit a good video API provider?

Yes — Orbit's RTC-PaaS pillar ships embeddable in-browser video rooms with full moderator controls, live broadcast, session recording, agent co-browse, and AI video avatar participants, and the same account also runs programmable voice, SMS, WhatsApp, RCS, email, AI voice agents, and a built-in contact center, so the room and every channel around it live on one contract and one pay-as-you-go bill.

How do RTC PaaS alternatives differ on the room and session model?

All six providers move real-time media between participants, so the differences sit around the room: how much moderation is built in (mute, spotlight, lock, remove), whether recording ships with share and revoke links or as an add-on, whether an agent can co-browse the call screen, and whether AI participants can join the room. The room/session component itself is parity; what surrounds it decides the shortlist.

Why does one bill matter when picking a video API?

Because video rarely stands alone — a consultation room usually pairs with SMS or WhatsApp notifications, an email record, and sometimes a voice call or a contact-center handoff. A dedicated video vendor plus separate messaging and email vendors means three contracts and three usage bills to reconcile. Orbit runs the room and the channels on one account, so the consultation flow lands on a single pay-as-you-go bill.

When is a dedicated video vendor the right choice?

Pick a dedicated vendor when the video stack itself is the deciding factor: white-labeling the media layer under your own brand for resale, or self-hosting the media server for compliance control — LiveKit's open-source SFU is the correct shape for that. If your video rooms sit inside a broader customer-communication program, weigh the unified account instead.

Who publishes this comparison?

Devotel publishes this guide and says so on the page. Orbit is included and positioned by its genuine, shipped capability — the RTC-PaaS pillar with rooms, broadcast, recording, co-browse, and AI avatar participants — not by fabricated superiority. Competitor cells come from public vendor documentation, G2, and Gartner Peer Insights, dated September 2026, and where a capability varies by tier we mark it partial rather than claim a flat yes or no.

One provider vs. multiple vendors for business communications — which model holds up?What is CPaaS? Communications Platform as a Service explained is also in the resources library.