10 Best WebRTC Frameworks for Real-Time Communication

We all have tried video calling or even just calling, these are the courtesy of WebRTC Framework. Our modern society is a time, where real-time communication is key to any business, and meetings and communications are taken up through online format. Here video calling, chatting, screen sharing, and so on are used regularly for it to be functional.

Even on websites, space for help is all performed through real-time communication. This makes the process much easier quicker and highly digitalized. Real-time communication has made many systems more efficient and even possible to some degree.

WebRTC is a framework that makes adding real-time communication to your application possible, and this works on top of an open standard. This system supports features like video, voice, and generic data to be shared between peers. Many voice and video solutions of high standards have been built after its introduction. This framework is considered an open web standard and available as JavaScript API in many browsers.

There are many uses for this framework from websites using cameras and microphones to high-end video calling applications or screen sharing. This application works by identifying and accessing the needed media which then will work to connect and then streamline.

There are many WebRTC Frameworks available to get these functions installed in your apps or website. Moreover, since its first development by Google, it has gone through many updates and is now available in many different forms like apps or websites. Let’s take a look at some of them to choose the best one for your needs.

1. OpenVidu

You can access this application by using the OpenVidu Call web application which is a ready-to-use app. This application has all the features needed for a video conference application like screen sharing, video calls, chats, dominant speaker layout, device selection, virtual background, and more. You can have any combination, may that be one-to-one, one-to-many, or many-to-many.

Key Features

• It is highly customizable, like how a video can be shown or what type of users can enter a video conference and so on.
• You can install this application on your server or the cloud application of your preference.
• Pre-defined layouts are available, but you can customize your layout while recording any videos.

Advantages

• The server’s API makes sure there is security and all video calls will be protected with high privacy.
• There are a lot of working examples and guides, while at the same video tutorial to make sure it is easy to use.
• It is easy to deploy and supports deploying in the most popular cloud provider.

Pricing: There are both free and pro versions available with the pro starting at $0.0006 core/minute.

2. Janus

It is developed by Meetecho and is known to serve a general purpose only, which means it does not serve any other purpose other than setting up a WebRTC communication with a website by exchanging JSON messages and relaying the RTC/RTCP and messages between browsers and the server-side application log-in they are in connection with. There are server-side plugins available to provide other features.

Key Features

• Plugins can be changed or extended according to the needs of the user. New plugins can also be written.
• By referring to the transport API page, a new API transport can be created.
• Recording out of the box is also supported.

Advantages

• Documentation to create a new API is provided as a guide for a better user experience.
• You can monitor Janus’s resources by referring to the admin or monitor API.
• Event handler plugins are also available.

Pricing: This software is available for free.

3.Kurento

You can use Kurento to create a rich video application for a website or as an app using its enhanced API. This is an open-sourced media server that is written in C/C++ and mainly uses the GStreamer function. This framework is under GitHub and licensed under Apache 2.0 open-source license.

Key Features

• Through AI-powered applications and security tools, the workflow can be performed seven times quicker.
• A secured code development environment is available to get you coding quicker and easier.
• You can store your packages in the same environment as your source code, protected by GitHub.

Advantages

• You can extend your workflow to GitHub packages with full API and webhooks.
• A global CDN is available for fast and reliable downloads.
• You can use Action to automatically publish new package versions.

Pricing: There are both free and premium plans available, with premium starting at $4/month.

4. Ant Media Server

It is a real-time streaming software engine that is known for its adaptiveness, and ultra-low latency streaming with 0.5 seconds latency using WebRTC technologies. This is a server that can be run on-premise or even on the cloud and is highly scalable. You can increase interaction by using features like video conferences, E-learning, webinars, and so on.

Key Features

• Adaptive Bitrate streaming is available which allows real-time streaming on any screen with any internet speed.
• You can scale all publishers and viewers with an auto-scale cluster.
• There is live video surveillance embedded with IP cameras which can be added to websites and mobile apps to broadcast videos.

Advantages

• Ultra-low latency while streaming and interacting in real-time is greatly advantageous.
• You can stream gaming and e-sports live with no issues.
• You can also perform activities like life shopping, telehealth, and so on.

Pricing: Monthly license starts at $99/month with many other premium plans available.

5. Galene

This is a video conference server which is originally designed for lectures, conferences, and teaching as an education platform but can also be used to conduct meetings and other conferences using videos. This has been used by universities like Universite de Paris for conducting lectures, student tutorials, staff meetings, and so on, showing its practicality for the field it was developed for.

Key Features

• It uses the Pion and Go implementation of WenRTC.
• Traffic is encrypted from user to server and server to receiver.
• An arbitrary number of audio and video streams.

Advantages

• Multiparty audio and video can be smoothly done.
• You can set a password that is plain with only letters or use hashed.
• There is easy peer-to-peer file transfer available.

Pricing: This software is available for free.

6. Media Soup

It is an open-sourced software that is supported by Node.js and Rust server and is used to create video conferencing apps with its rich toolkit great for building such apps. This can be used to create apps that we are familiar with, like apps that support multiparty video conferences, one to one video calls, or even audio calls, and so on.

Key Features

• Mediasoup provides its users with easy media production and consumption from other external sources
• Mediasoup is very important and crucial for recording, transcoding, and HLS streaming.
• In media soup, developers can easily create a server-side plain transport. Moreover, can use the product or consume functions with the required necessary parameters to manage media.

Advantages

• Mediasoup is a server-side WebRTC library that revolutionized the development of scalable real-time applications.
• It is quietly known for its superior codec support for its users
• It provides a platform to build a real-time application which is scalable.

Pricing: This software is available for free.

7. OvenMediaEngine(OME)

OME is a streaming service that can stream high-end live streams over WebRTC and low latency HLS. It can be streamed to hundreds and thousands of viewers while at the same time maintaining a sub-second latency. With this engine, users can build a sub-second latency and powerful media service which can stream to thousands of viewers very easily

Key Features

• OvenLifeKit is an open-sourced with WebRTC encode for OvenMediaEngine.
• It is highly scalable with an origin edge cluster to scale a large amount of viewers.
• For features like access control and monitoring, Rest API is available.

Advantages

• It has many features like live rewind, recording, thumbnail, access control, and more.
• It has already been certified as good software level 1 after many tests like functional suitability, performance efficiency, and so on.
• Customization features are available to use according to your liking.

Pricing: Both free and premium plans are available with premium beginning at $100/month.

8. JSCommunicator

This is an open-sourced, JavaScript-based tool created by using web technologies like HTML, JavaScript, and CSS. This application is advantageous as it can support and work on many CMS like Drupal, WordPress, and so on. You can use voice, chat, or video communication through this server through the use of SIP protocols.

Key Features

• JSCommunicator is a WebRTC communication tool. It is developed in HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
• The software supports voice, video, and chat messaging using the SIP protocol over WebSockets.
• JSCommunicator requires no plugins and no lock-in to a particular service provider.

Advantages:

• JSCommunicator is a free software licensed under the GNU General Public License v2.0.
• It offers its users customization on videos, voice, and chats.
• JSCommunicator provides a high-level API for SIP-based webRTC voice, videos, and web chat.

Pricing: Both free and premium versions are available with premium starting at $4/month.

9. Ion Media Server

Ion media server is a software that supports real-time processing of media streamed through the SFU using ion-avp. It is also a Go implementation of a WebRTC Selective Forwarding Unit that provides its user with a simple, flexible, high-performance Go implementation of a WebRTC SFU. Therefore, it has been used as the engine behind several projects as it provides end-to-end solutions.

Key Features

• ion media server is an audio, video data channel forwarding software
• It Unified plan semantics in the program.
• It provides Congestion Control over TWCC, REMB, RR/SR.

Advantages

• It is designed to focus with minimal signaling or external dependency.
• It provides its user with audio level indication.
• A gRPC or JSon-RPC interface can be used to make calls.

Pricing: Both free and premium versions are available with the premium starting at $4/month.

10. Jitsi Meet

This is an open-sourced video conferencing solution that is fully encrypted and can be used for video, voice, and chats. This app or site is fairly easy to use and many use it as a platform for conducting meetings or any conference. Although this solution is free, it is packed with premium features that are very useful for digitalized communication.

Key Features

• HD audio with Opus is available for better sound quality.
• With its advanced security settings, privacy can be kept and all conversations protected.
• 100% open-sourced, which means developers can change it according to their liking.

Advantages

• You don’t need to open an account to access this server and can remain anonymous.
• Etherpad can be used to edit documents together with your team.
• Multiparty screen sharing is also available.

Pricing: This software is available for free.

Also Read

• Introduction to WebRTC
• Web API WebRTC.getUserMedia() Method
• Top 10 Frameworks for Web Applications

Real-time communication is key for any website, and moreover, it is further used in fields like education or conducting any form of meeting or conference. Every framework comes with different key features, advantages, and plans. By researching them, users have to figure out which suits them best.

What is WebRTC Framework?

It is a framework that provides us with real-time communication services.

Which is the best WebRTC Framework for real-time communication?

Each server has its key features, advantages, and plans out of which users can choose which suits them best.

Why is the WebRTC framework needed?

It is needed to have real-time communication like video calls or voice messages on websites or apps.