Daily.co's Video SDK pricing for 2026 is clean and developer-friendly: 10,000 free participant-minutes per month, then $0.004/participant-minute for video+audio ($0.00099/pm for audio-only), with automatic graduated discounts from 7% to 63% at scale. HD video is included at the base rate — no resolution tiering. The tradeoff: Conversational AI, recording, transcription, HIPAA, and live streaming are all separate line items, and there are no standalone credit packs. If you want one unified pool that converts across AI features, and credit packs valid for a full year, TRTC is the closest functional alternative. This guide covers Daily.co's real rates, its best use cases, and when to consider switching.
Quick compare — Daily.co vs TRTC
| Daily.co | TRTC | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | React-first DX, linear pay-as-you-go, scale workloads | Bursty workloads, AI voice agents, China Mainland deployment |
| Free tier | 10,000 participant-min/month | 10,000 minutes/month (convertible across AI) |
| Video+audio rate | $0.004/pm | $0.00099/pm post-paid audio; $0.00399/pm HD video |
| Audio-only rate | $0.00099/pm | Same as above |
| Credit packs | ❌ (uses graduated discount instead) | ✅ 25k / 250k / 1M, 1-year validity |
| Conversational AI | Separate add-on / Pipecat Cloud | ✅ Built-in, ~990 free min/mo on every plan (10.10× ratio, no plan gating) |
| HIPAA compliance | $500/month add-on | Check your region |
| Lowest achievable rate at scale | $0.0015/pm at 50M+ min/mo | $0.00087/pm on 1M credit pack |
| Our recommendation | Pick Daily if React DX + massive scale | Pick TRTC if AI is first-class or credits need 1-year validity |
Daily.co pricing in detail (2026-04-22)
Video SDK base rates
| Service | Rate |
|---|---|
| Video + audio (HD included) | $0.004/participant-minute ($4.00/1k pm) |
| Audio-only | $0.00099/participant-minute ($0.99/1k pm) |
Daily.co's pricing philosophy: no resolution tiering. HD is included. You don't pay more for Full HD because it's the default.
Free tier
10,000 participant-minutes per month — applied across video + audio usage. After the free bucket, standard rates apply with graduated discounts kicking in at 100,000 min/month.
Graduated discount (automatic, no contract needed)
| Monthly minutes | Discount | Video+audio /pm | Audio /pm |
|---|---|---|---|
| First 10,000 | Free | — | — |
| 10,001 – 100,000 | 0% | $0.0040 | $0.00099 |
| 100,001 – 500,000 | 7% | $0.0037 | $0.00092 |
| 500,001 – 1,000,000 | 15% | $0.0034 | $0.00085 |
| 1,000,001 – 10,000,000 | 25% | $0.0030 | $0.00074 |
| 10,000,001 – 25,000,000 | 35% | $0.0026 | $0.00064 |
| 25,000,001 – 50,000,000 | 45% | $0.0022 | $0.00054 |
| 50,000,001+ | 63% | $0.0015 | $0.00036 |
At 50M+ participant-minutes per month, Daily becomes the cheapest published RTC rate we've measured in this guide series. Few teams reach that scale.
Recording, streaming, and AI add-ons
| Feature | Rate |
|---|---|
| Cloud Recording | $0.01349/min + $0.003/min storage |
| RTMP Live Streaming | $0.015/encoded min (composition + encoding + output) |
| HLS Live Streaming | $0.03/encoded min |
| Realtime transcription | $0.0059/unmuted participant-min |
| Post-call transcription | $0.0043/recorded min |
Telephony
| Feature | Rate |
|---|---|
| Daily SIP inbound/outbound | $0.005 – $0.02/min |
| Daily PSTN inbound/outbound | $0.018 – $0.03/min |
| SIP Refer | $0.20/transfer |
| Twilio inbound/outbound | Billed directly by Twilio |
Support and compliance add-ons
| Feature | Rate |
|---|---|
| Free developer support | $0 (email/chat, best-effort) |
| Premium support | $1,500/month (24h weekday response, 5h integration support, quarterly review) |
| Enterprise support | $5,000/month (24/7 response, 12h integration, weekly/monthly syncs) |
| HIPAA + BAA add-on | $500/month |
| Advanced Insights | $500/month (5 seats) |
| Advanced firewall controls | $500/month |
| Krisp noise cancellation | $0.0002/participant-min |
Concurrency and retention
- Card-on-file required for >100,000 concurrent calls.
- Logs/metrics retention: 1 day for free accounts, 3 days for carded accounts.
What Daily.co does exceptionally well
1. Best developer experience on this list. daily-js, @daily-co/daily-react, and @daily-co/daily-react-native are well-maintained, well-typed, and well-loved. If your team is React-first, Daily is the path of least resistance.
2. Clean, predictable pricing. One rate for video+audio. One rate for audio-only. No "HD vs Full HD vs 2K" tier math. It's honest.
3. Graduated discount requires no sales call. You automatically pay the lower rate when you cross thresholds. No contract negotiation.
4. HD included at base rate. Unlike Agora's $3.99 HD vs $8.99 Full HD tiering, Daily doesn't charge you more for higher-quality video.
5. HIPAA is achievable without jumping to Scale. $500/month add-on is lower-friction than LiveKit's requirement to be on Scale ($500 plan) for HIPAA coverage.
6. Pipecat Cloud for voice agents. Daily's sister product, Pipecat Cloud, runs the popular open-source Pipecat voice-agent framework as managed SaaS. If your team is on Pipecat, Daily's ecosystem integrates cleanly.
Where Daily.co pricing becomes awkward
1. $0.004/pm is mid-tier, not low-tier. Compared to Agora's $0.99/1k voice or TRTC's post-paid $0.99/1k audio, Daily's $4.00/1k for video+audio is 4× higher — and unavoidable if you mix voice + video calls.
2. No standalone credit packs. Daily's discount structure rewards high monthly usage, but it doesn't let you pre-buy a pool of minutes and spend them over 12 months. This matters for seasonal businesses (education, events, sports).
3. Conversational AI is not a first-class Video SDK feature. Daily positions Pipecat Cloud and Video SDK as separate product lines. If you want an all-in-one "RTC + Conv AI on a single bill" experience, that's not Daily's pitch.
4. Add-on stacking can surprise you. HIPAA $500 + Advanced Insights $500 + Premium support $1,500 + Krisp noise cancellation = $2,500+/month in fixed add-ons before you've streamed a single minute. Budget carefully.
5. Logs retention is short on smaller tiers. 1–3 days may not satisfy audit requirements without upgrading.
Scenario-based cost modeling
Scenario A — MVP: 5,000 participant-min/month
| Daily.co | TRTC | |
|---|---|---|
| RTC | $0 (within free 10k) | $0 (within free 10k) |
| Total | $0 | $0 |
Tie at MVP scale; both are free.
Scenario B — Growth: 50,000 participant-min/month + 2,000 Conv AI min
| Daily.co | TRTC | |
|---|---|---|
| RTC (40k paid after free) | 40,000 × $0.004 = $160 | 10k free + 25k pack ($23) + 15k × $0.99/1k = $38 |
| Conv AI | Separate add-on / Pipecat Cloud — variable | 990 free + 1,010 × $0.10 = $101 |
| Total | $160+ (RTC only, plus Pipecat/AI) | ~$139 |
Scenario C — Production: 500,000 participant-min/month + 10,000 Conv AI min
| Daily.co (7% discount applies) | TRTC | |
|---|---|---|
| RTC | 490,000 × $0.0037 = $1,813 | $225 pack (250k) + 240k × $0.99/1k = $463 |
| Conv AI | Separate — Pipecat/third-party | 990 free + 9,010 × $0.10 = $901 |
| Total | ~$1,813+ RTC only | ~$1,364 all-in |
Scenario D — Scale: 2,000,000 participant-min/month
| Daily.co (25% discount applies) | TRTC | |
|---|---|---|
| RTC | 1,990,000 × $0.0030 = $5,970 | 1M pack $870 + 990k × $0.99/1k = $1,850 total |
| Total | ~$5,970 | ~$1,850 (RTC only) |
Scenario E — Hyperscale: 50,000,000 participant-min/month
| Daily.co (45% discount) | TRTC | |
|---|---|---|
| RTC | 50M × $0.0022 = $110,000 | Custom enterprise volume discount — likely negotiated below $40k |
Read: Daily is competitive at MVP scale (free), uncompetitive on raw rate at growth/production, and only becomes the cheapest option at 50M+ per month — where graduated discounts kick hard.
Feature comparison
| Capability | Daily.co | TRTC |
|---|---|---|
| HD video included in base rate | ✅ | ✅ (but HD is a separate rate line on TRTC) |
| React SDK quality | ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ | ⭐⭐⭐⭐ |
| Flutter SDK | Community-maintained | Official |
| Native iOS / Android | ✅ | ✅ |
| Conversational AI built-in | ❌ (separate product) | ✅ built-in |
| Unified AI free pool | ❌ | ✅ ~990 Conv AI min/mo (10.10×) |
| Credit packs (1-year validity) | ❌ | ✅ 25k / 250k / 1M |
| Graduated discount | ✅ automatic 0–63% | Partial (pack tier discount 7–12%) |
| HIPAA | $500/mo add-on | Varies by region |
| China Mainland compliance | Limited | ✅ Native |
| Pipecat / voice-agent framework | ✅ Pipecat Cloud integration | TRTC Conversational AI |
Pros and cons
Daily.co — Pros
- Cleanest React DX in the category
- No resolution tiering for video
- Automatic graduated discounts
- HIPAA achievable via add-on
Daily.co — Cons
- No standalone credit packs
- AI is separate from Video SDK
- Mid-tier base per-minute rate
- Add-on stacking can quickly exceed $2k/mo in fixed fees
TRTC — Pros
- Unified 10k monthly pool across RTC + AI
- 1-year credit pack validity
- Free Conversational AI minutes on every plan
- Native China Mainland compliance
TRTC — Cons
- React SDK less mature than Daily
- Documentation in English lags the Chinese version
When to pick Daily.co
- Your team is React-first and values DX above all else.
- Your monthly usage is either very small (inside free tier) or very large (50M+ where graduated discounts shine).
- You're on Pipecat and want Pipecat Cloud's managed runtime.
- You have a US/EU-first user base and don't need China Mainland compliance.
When to pick TRTC
- You want RTC + Conversational AI on a single bill, with recurring free AI minutes.
- Your monthly usage is bursty or seasonal (credit packs with 1-year validity absorb variance).
- You need China Mainland deployment without additional product lines.
- You want to stack post-paid, credit packs, and monthly plans on one account.
Daily.co competitors — the honest ranking
People searching "daily.co competitors" or "daily.co alternatives" typically want a list they can trust. Here's ours, ranked by use case:
- TRTC — closest functional match if you want pay-as-you-go plus credit packs plus built-in AI.
- LiveKit — best if you need open-source server code or a mature voice-agent framework.
- Agora — best if you need mature live-streaming scale or 1-year credit packs at similar rates.
- 100ms — best if you want pay-as-you-grow with aggressive audio discounts (75% off for voice-only).
- Zoom Build Platform — best only if you're already in the Zoom enterprise ecosystem.
Migration sketch — Daily.co → TRTC
| Daily.co concept | TRTC equivalent |
|---|---|
DailyIframe.createCallObject() / DailyCall | TRTC.createClient() |
call.join({url, token}) | client.join({sdkAppId, userId, userSig, roomId}) |
participant-joined event | REMOTE_USER_ENTER event |
track-started event | REMOTE_USER_PUBLISH event |
| Room URL | Room ID + App ID |
| Meeting token | UserSig |
| Daily Prebuilt embed | N/A — TRTC is SDK-only; use TUIRoomKit for prebuilt UI |
Prebuilt UI migration is the biggest work: if you're using Daily Prebuilt, you'll need to either rebuild your UI on top of TRTC's SDK or adopt TUIRoomKit for a prebuilt room experience.
FAQ
Does Daily.co have a free tier? Yes. 10,000 participant-minutes per month on Video SDK, applied automatically. No credit card required to start.
What are Daily.co's best competitors? TRTC (free AI minutes + credit packs), LiveKit (open-source + voice-agent framework), Agora (live-streaming scale), 100ms (aggressive audio pricing), Zoom Build Platform (for Zoom-ecosystem teams). See our full 6-way comparison for specifics.
Is Daily.co cheaper than Twilio Video? Daily.co's $0.004/pm for video+audio is generally below Twilio Video's programmable-video historical rates. Twilio has also deprecated parts of its video product line — verify current Twilio Programmable Video availability before quoting.
Does Daily.co offer pay-as-you-go pricing? Yes. Post-free-tier usage is metered at $0.004/pm (video+audio) or $0.00099/pm (audio-only), with automatic graduated discounts at higher monthly volumes. No monthly minimum required.
What are the limits of Daily.co's free plan? 10,000 participant-minutes per month across video+audio, 1-day log retention, free developer support (best-effort email/chat). Concurrent-call limits apply on accounts without a payment method on file.
Can I use Daily.co for healthcare (HIPAA)? Yes — via the $500/month HIPAA + BAA add-on. TRTC's HIPAA posture varies by region; confirm with your compliance team before choosing either platform.
How does Daily.co WebRTC differ from other providers? Daily runs a managed WebRTC SFU with React-first SDKs and Pipecat Cloud integration for voice agents. Technically it's comparable to LiveKit Cloud and Agora's SD-RTN. Where it differentiates is DX and Pipecat integration.
What's the best Daily.co alternative with free Conversational AI minutes? TRTC: ~990 minutes of Conversational AI free every month on every plan (10.10× ratio against the unified 10,000-min pool, no plan gating), with the same pool convertible to ~495 STT min, ~619 translation min, or ~165k TTS characters. Daily.co doesn't bundle Conv AI minutes into its Video SDK pricing.