The right replacement for an embedded video tool depends on who you want to build the call screen. A prebuilt interface gets calls into your site fastest, an SDK lets your own developers design every pixel, and open source you host gives you the servers and the control, along with the upkeep.
Most people looking at Whereby alternatives aren't unhappy with a video call. They're stuck on a build decision: someone has to own the screen your customers see when the call starts, and that someone is either the vendor, your developers or your own servers.
Get that choice right and the shortlist writes itself. Get it wrong and you'll spend a quarter wrapping a prebuilt room in custom code, or rebuilding basic controls an off-the-shelf interface would have handed you on day one. So I've grouped nine options by who builds the call screen. They're in no particular order, and there's no crowned pick, because the right one depends on your product, not on a league table.
Meeting room or embedded API: decide which half you're replacing
Here's what most comparison pages skip. The product you're leaving is two things at once: a browser-based meeting room people join from a link, and an embeddable API and SDK for putting calls inside your own product. Searchers rarely say which half they mean, and the two halves have very different replacements.
If all you want is a branded meeting page for client calls, you don't need a developer platform at all. A hosted meeting tool may do the job, and our guides to video conferencing software for small teams and other hosted meeting apps cover that side.
If you want calls inside your app, you're choosing a developer platform, and that's a field that keeps moving. One hosted API on this list has announced it's being acquired, and the free public service of one open source project now caps meeting length. Neither is a reason to rule anything out. Both are reasons to check who owns a vendor, and what its free public tier allows, before you build a product on top of it.
Three ways to own the call screen
Prebuilt call UI
These hand you a working call interface you can drop in, with an API underneath for when you want more. Daily offers a ready-made call interface alongside its realtime building blocks; Deepgram announced on 29 Oct 2026 that it's acquiring the company, so read the announcement and the vendor's own updates before a long build. Vonage Video API is the big-vendor option here, a programmable video API with low-code and no-code routes for teams without many developers.
SDK-first infrastructure
Here your developers build the screen and the vendor runs the media underneath. Stream leans on breadth of SDKs across mobile, web and game engines. 100ms pairs calls with livestreaming and room-management APIs. VideoSDK reaches into AI voice agents and SIP phone systems. Metered also sells TURN servers with region pinning alongside its SDK, useful if data residency comes up in a security review. ApiRTC adds building blocks such as messaging, file transfer and a whiteboard. For a wider look at hosted media APIs, see our roundup of video APIs for developers.
Open source you host
This camp gives you the code and, if you want it, the servers. Jitsi is free, open source and self-hostable, with JaaS as a hosted version its team runs for you; its public meet.jit.si service limits meetings to 95 minutes as of Nov 2026, so don't mistake the public demo for your production plan. LiveKit is an open source framework for real-time voice and video agents, with a hosted developer platform behind it if you'd rather not run the infrastructure yourself.
All nine side by side
| Tool | Who builds the screen | Good for |
|---|---|---|
| 100ms | SDK-first | Calls plus livestreaming, chat, whiteboard and polls |
| ApiRTC | SDK-first | Messaging, file transfer and a whiteboard beside video |
| Daily | Prebuilt UI or API | A ready-made call interface or raw realtime building blocks |
| Jitsi | Open source you host | Self-hosted meetings, or a hosted version run for you |
| LiveKit | Open source you host | Real-time voice and video agents on an open framework |
| Metered | SDK-first | A video SDK with TURN servers and region pinning |
| Stream | SDK-first | In-app calling across mobile, web and Unity |
| VideoSDK | SDK-first | Calls, live streaming, AI voice agents and SIP links |
| Vonage Video API | Prebuilt UI or API | Programmable video with low-code and no-code routes |
The nine options, in no particular order
100ms
Best for: Apps that need live video calls and livestreaming with room-management APIs, plus chat, whiteboard and polls, and a call screen you can fully customise.
ApiRTC
Best for: Websites or mobile apps needing more than video: messaging, file transfer, recording and replay, snapshots and a shared whiteboard on one cloud WebRTC platform.
Daily
Best for: Developer teams building realtime voice, video and AI features, from the people behind the open source Pipecat framework, with a ready-made call interface on offer.
Jitsi
Best for: Teams that want free, open source video meetings for web and mobile, run on their own servers, built into their own app, or hosted for them through JaaS.
LiveKit
Best for: Developers building real-time voice and video agents on an open source framework, with a hosted platform for testing, deploying, scaling and observing them in production.
Metered
Best for: Products that need group or one-to-one calls, screen sharing, live streaming and recording, plus a global TURN server service with region pinning for data residency.
Stream
Best for: Mobile and web app makers wanting in-app video and voice calling, with SDKs for React, Swift, Android, Flutter, React Native, JavaScript and Unity.
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VideoSDK
Best for: Platforms adding audio and video calls, interactive live streaming, AI voice agents or SIP phone-system links, with SDKs the vendor says set up in minutes.
Vonage Video API
Best for: Teams wanting a programmable video API from a big communications vendor, with low-code and no-code options for people who don't write much code.
Questions to put to your developers before you sign up
A demo call always looks fine. These are the questions that decide whether the integration still looks fine a year later.
- Who owns the interface? If you want your brand and layout on every pixel, an SDK-first platform or an open source stack fits better than a drop-in room.
- Which platforms do you ship on? Check the vendor lists SDKs for every client you support, web, iOS, Android and anything cross-platform, before anyone writes code.
- Is video the whole feature, or one part of it? If you also need chat or text messages, our guide to messaging API alternatives covers that side, and some video platforms here bundle chat or a whiteboard.
- Where does call data travel? Ask about server regions and recording storage. Data protection requirements vary by country and sector, so check with your regulator rather than relying on a vendor's summary.
- Who runs the servers at three in the morning? Self-hosting gives you control and hands you the upkeep. A hosted platform takes the upkeep and holds more of the keys.
- Who owns the vendor, and could that change? Read the company's own news page. Ownership changes don't break products overnight, but they can shift roadmaps and terms.
My plain advice on picking a camp
If you're a small team that wants calls working inside your product within weeks, start with a prebuilt interface and only go deeper when customers ask for something it can't do. If the call screen is your product, say telehealth, tutoring or a sales tool, pick an SDK-first platform and plan developer time for the interface, because that's where the work goes.
If you've got engineers who like running infrastructure, or rules about where data lives, open source you host is worth the extra effort. Whichever camp you pick, run one real customer call on a trial build before you commit, and keep your call logic behind your own thin layer of code so you can swap vendors later without a rewrite. In a field where owners and free tiers keep changing, that layer is the easiest insurance you'll ever write.
Do you make an embeddable video API or SDK? Tool makers can ask to be considered for a featured place on this list.
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Frequently asked questions
What's the quickest way to add video calls to my website?
A prebuilt call interface is usually quickest, because the vendor supplies the call screen and you embed it. You trade some control over the design for speed, and you can move to an SDK later if you outgrow it.
What's the difference between a video API and a video SDK?
An API is the set of server calls that create rooms, manage participants and handle recordings. An SDK is the client library your app uses to show video and controls. Most platforms here offer both, and the real question is how much of the interface you want to build yourself.
Is open source video conferencing free to run?
The code is free to use, but running it isn't free of effort. You host the servers, handle updates and deal with scaling. Some open source projects also offer a hosted version so you can start there and self-host later.
Do I need TURN servers for embedded video calls?
Many calls connect directly, but users behind strict firewalls often need a TURN relay to connect at all. Hosted platforms usually include this; if you self-host, plan for it from the start.
Can I switch embedded video providers later?
Yes, if you plan for it. Keep room creation, tokens and recording calls behind your own small service layer, so changing provider means rewriting that layer rather than your whole product.
Should I worry when a video API company is acquired?
Not panic, but pay attention. Read the announcement and the vendor's updates, check whether terms or roadmaps change, and keep a fallback option in mind for anything your business depends on.
