Janus is a low-level, general-purpose WebRTC gateway built around swappable plugins for video, audio, streaming, and SIP telephony, making it a toolkit for…
Best for: Developers building a fully custom video, audio, or streaming application, or one that needs SIP telephony bridging, rather than adopting a fixed meeting UI.
Open Source · From Free (self-hosted); managed cloud hosting also available
Best for: Organizations wanting a single-binary, LiveKit-based platform with an AI meeting agent for transcription and translation, document-aware whiteboarding, and white-label branding.
At a Glance
Janus
MiroTalk SFU
plugNmeet
Primary category
Video Conferencing
Video Conferencing
Video Conferencing
Rating
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
Pricing model
Open Source
Open Source
Open Source
Starting price
Free
Free
Free (self-hosted); managed cloud hosting also available
Free plan
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
Free trial
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
Platforms
Not documented
Web
Not documented
Team collaboration
Not documented
Not documented
Not documented
AI features
Not documented
Yes
Yes
Public API
Yes
Yes
Yes
Standout Differences
Build-your-own video infrastructure
Janus's modular plugin architecture, covering VideoRoom, SIP gateway, AudioBridge, Streaming, and Recordplay, separates core WebRTC handling from application logic, letting developers assemble a bespoke real-time product instead of adopting a fixed meeting UI.
Janus
SIP telephony bridging
Janus is the only one of the three with a documented SIP gateway plugin, letting WebRTC clients interoperate with traditional telephony infrastructure.
Janus
SFU architecture for large meetings
MiroTalk SFU's mediasoup-based architecture and plugNmeet's LiveKit-based architecture both route media through a central server rather than peer-to-peer, supporting far larger meetings than mesh-based tools.
MiroTalk SFU, plugNmeet
AI-powered meeting features
MiroTalk SFU ships built-in AI avatars and ChatGPT integration, while plugNmeet includes an AI meeting agent for live translation, transcription, and summaries.
MiroTalk SFU, plugNmeet
Single-binary deployment
plugNmeet deploys as a single Go binary built on Go, NATS, and LiveKit, simplifying self-hosted setup compared to Janus's plugin-based gateway or MiroTalk SFU's mediasoup stack.
plugNmeet
Feature-by-Feature
Architecture and Deployment
Feature
Janus
MiroTalk SFU
plugNmeet
Turnkey meeting UI out of the box
Unavailable
Available
Available
SFU (server-relayed) architecture for large calls
Available
Available
Available
SIP telephony gateway
Available
Not documented
Not documented
Meeting Capabilities
Feature
Janus
MiroTalk SFU
plugNmeet
Live RTMP or WHIP broadcast streaming
Available
Available
Available
Collaborative whiteboard
Not documented
Available
Available
Built-in AI meeting features
Not documented
Available
Available
Hosting and Support
Feature
Janus
MiroTalk SFU
plugNmeet
Official managed cloud hosting
Unavailable
Unavailable
Available
Commercial support or alternative licensing
Available
Available
Available
Pricing Compared
Starting price reflects the lowest paid tier, not the full cost for every team size or usage level.
Janus
Self-Hosted (Open Source) — Free N/A
Meetecho Commercial Support — Custom pricing contract
Self-Hosted — Free Open source, one-time setup plus your own server hosting costs
plugNmeet Cloud — Custom (contact for pricing) Managed hosting
Pros & Cons
Janus
Pros
Completely free and open source with no usage-based fees
Modular plugin system gives developers granular control over functionality
Native SIP gateway support that many competing SFUs lack
Long production track record and active maintenance by its original authors
Commercial support available directly from Meetecho when needed
Cons
Requires significant developer effort to build a finished product on top of it
No official managed cloud hosting option from Meetecho
Lower-level API means a steeper learning curve than fully managed video SDKs
Documentation, while solid, assumes real-time media and networking expertise
Scaling and operating in production requires WebRTC infrastructure knowledge
MiroTalk SFU
Pros
Scales to unlimited participants far better than peer-to-peer video tools
Free and open source under AGPLv3, with an optional commercial license for alternative terms
Rich feature set including RTMP streaming, AI avatars, and ChatGPT integration
No download or login required for participants to join
Full data ownership and no vendor lock-in when self-hosted
Cons
Self-hosting an SFU server requires more technical setup and server resources than the P2P edition
No official managed cloud SaaS offering from the core open-source project
Community-based support rather than guaranteed enterprise SLAs
Advanced features like AI avatars and ChatGPT integration may require additional configuration or API keys
Running large meetings reliably depends on adequately provisioned server infrastructure
plugNmeet
Pros
Free, open-source and fully self-hostable with no per-seat licensing
Full control over data privacy and hosting infrastructure
Modern feature set including AI transcription, translation and summaries
Efficient single-binary deployment built on a proven WebRTC media stack (LiveKit)
Cons
Self-hosting requires server administration and DevOps expertise
Smaller community and ecosystem compared to Jitsi or BigBlueButton
Managed cloud pricing is not transparently published
Founding date and company details are not publicly disclosed
Use Cases
Choose Janus: Developers building a fully custom video, audio, or streaming application, or one that needs SIP telephony bridging, rather than adopting a fixed meeting UI.
Choose MiroTalk SFU: Teams wanting a free, self-hosted meeting platform that scales to unlimited participants with built-in AI avatars and live RTMP broadcast.
Choose plugNmeet: Organizations wanting a single-binary, LiveKit-based platform with an AI meeting agent for transcription and translation, document-aware whiteboarding, and white-label branding.
Janus
Custom video conferencing platforms — Companies use Janus's VideoRoom plugin as the SFU foundation for building their own branded conferencing products.
Live streaming and webinars — Organizations use Janus's Streaming plugin to broadcast one-to-many live video for events or education.
SIP-to-WebRTC bridging — Telecom and enterprise teams use Janus's SIP plugin to let browser-based clients call into existing telephony systems.
MiroTalk SFU
Webinars and online classes — Educators and businesses hosting larger group sessions that exceed what peer-to-peer tools can handle.
Company-wide meetings — Organizations needing a scalable, self-hosted alternative to commercial video conferencing platforms.
Live broadcasting — Streamers or organizations using RTMP output to broadcast meetings to external platforms.
plugNmeet
Self-hosted company meetings — Organizations that need full data control deploy plugNmeet on their own infrastructure for internal video meetings.
White-labeled video conferencing for products — Software companies embed and rebrand plugNmeet as the video layer inside their own applications or platforms.
Education and webinar hosting — Institutions use plugNmeet's whiteboard, recording and breakout room features to run online classes and webinars.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Janus a full video conferencing app like MiroTalk SFU or plugNmeet?
No. Janus is a general-purpose WebRTC gateway and plugin toolkit rather than a finished meeting product, so it requires developer effort to build a complete conferencing app, while MiroTalk SFU and plugNmeet ship ready-to-use meeting UIs.
Which of the three scales best to large meetings?
MiroTalk SFU (mediasoup) and plugNmeet (LiveKit) both use SFU architectures built for large groups out of the box. Janus can also scale via its VideoRoom SFU plugin, but that requires custom integration work.
Do any of these offer official managed cloud hosting?
plugNmeet is the only one with an official managed option, plugNmeet Cloud. Janus and MiroTalk SFU are self-hosted only, though Meetecho offers commercial support for Janus and MiroTalk SFU offers a paid commercial license.
Which tool includes SIP telephony support?
Janus is the only one of the three with a documented SIP gateway plugin for bridging WebRTC clients to traditional telephony infrastructure.
Which platforms include AI meeting features?
MiroTalk SFU offers built-in AI avatars and ChatGPT integration, and plugNmeet includes an AI meeting agent for live translation, transcription, and summaries. AI features are not documented for Janus.
Are all three free to self-host?
Yes, all three are free and open source for self-hosted deployment, with optional paid commercial support or licensing available from their respective maintainers.