Unpod vs the DIY stack

Everyone sells a piece

A team building an app that talks does not shop for a dialer. It compares Unpod with stitching six vendors together: channels from one, media from another, an agent framework, a vector database, a workflow engine and a CRM schema of its own. Each of those vendors owns one primitive and forgets the user when the session ends. Unpod is built so that channels, agents and context are one system, and every interaction writes into the context the next one reads. The real competitor is the DIY stack.

Single primitive · persistent

Mem0 · Pinecone · ZepMemory only - no channels, no agents

Full backend · persistent

UnpodOne system, one SDK

Single primitive · stateless

Twilio · Bird · LiveKitSession ends, state gone

Deepgram · ElevenLabsOne leg of the loop

Full backend · stateless

LangGraph · Sierra · DecagonRent every layer beneath

Build it yourselfSix vendors + glue

vs voice frameworks

If you are choosing a voice framework rather than a backend, this is how Unpod compares with LiveKit and Pipecat.

	Unpod	LiveKit	Pipecat
What it is	Agentic backend for conversational apps	Real-time audio infrastructure + agent framework	Open-source voice pipeline framework
You own	Your agent logic	Everything	Everything
They manage	Phone numbers, STT/TTS, VAD, orchestration	WebRTC rooms (self-hosted or cloud)	Nothing - it’s a library
Phone numbers	Built-in, no carrier account	Bring your own SIP trunk	Bring your own
STT/TTS	Fully managed, automatic failover	You configure and run providers	You configure and run providers
Time to first call	~2 hours	~4 months	~4 months
Scaling	Automatic	You manage workers	You manage processes
Your agent format	Webhook, SDK, LangChain, MCP (in build)	LangChain, custom	LangChain, custom
Best for	Teams that want the backend behind the conversation handled	Teams needing full audio control	Teams wanting pipeline flexibility

The Core Difference

LiveKit and Pipecat are audio frameworks. They give you building blocks to construct a voice pipeline. You choose and wire every component - STT provider, TTS provider, VAD, transport, endpointing. Then you deploy it, scale it, and keep it running. Unpod is the backend. You design the conversation; Unpod runs the number, the audio, the agent runtime and the memory behind it.

Pipecat

Pipecat gives you components to build a voice pipeline yourself:

# Pipecat - you wire and run every component
pipeline = Pipeline([
    transport.input(),
    stt,
    llm,
    tts,
    transport.output(),
])
runner = PipelineRunner()
await runner.run(PipelineTask(pipeline))

You pick the STT, the TTS, the transport. You manage the process. You handle failover. Maximum flexibility - maximum setup work. Good fit: Teams with specific provider requirements or non-standard pipeline shapes. Research and experimental systems.

LiveKit

LiveKit provides real-time infrastructure (WebRTC rooms, SIP, TURN) and an agent framework on top:

# LiveKit - you configure all providers and manage the room
async def entrypoint(ctx: JobContext):
    await ctx.connect()
    agent = VoiceAgent(
        vad=silero.VAD.load(),
        stt=deepgram.STT(),
        llm=openai.LLM(),
        tts=cartesia.TTS(),
    )
    agent.start(ctx.room)

You configure every provider. You deploy and manage the LiveKit server (or pay for LiveKit Cloud). Phone numbers require a SIP trunk from a carrier. Good fit: Teams already on LiveKit, or needing fine-grained WebRTC control for browser and mobile use cases beyond phone calls.

Unpod

Unpod runs the backend under your agent: the number, the audio, the runtime and the memory of past calls.

# Unpod - you write the logic; Unpod runs the backend
async def handle_call(ctx: CallContext) -> None:
    ctx.session.dialog_machine = DialogMachine("support.yaml", llm="anthropic/claude-haiku-4-5")
    await ctx.session.run()

AgentRunner(entrypoint=handle_call, agent_id="agt_...").start()

Numbers provisioned from Unpod. STT/TTS configured via voice profiles with automatic failover. Orchestration and dispatch handled automatically. You can also point Unpod at an existing HTTP endpoint or LangChain agent without writing any SDK code. Good fit: Teams that want production voice calls without becoming telephony experts.

When to Choose Each

Choose Unpod when:

You want phone numbers without a carrier account or SIP trunk
You have an existing agent and want to give it voice in hours - not months
You do not want to manage STT/TTS provider accounts, failover, or audio infrastructure
Your core value is the agent logic - not the backend behind it

Choose LiveKit when:

You need granular WebRTC control (custom ICE, codec requirements)
You are already running LiveKit infrastructure
You need browser or mobile real-time communication beyond phone calls
You want full ownership of every infrastructure component

Choose Pipecat when:

You need a highly customised pipeline shape or experimental architecture
You want maximum control over every processing step
You are comfortable managing deployment, scaling, and provider accounts yourself

Feature Comparison

Telephony

Feature	Unpod	LiveKit	Pipecat
Managed phone numbers	Yes	No	No
SIP trunk required	No	Yes	Yes
Inbound calls	Yes	Yes (with SIP)	Requires setup
Outbound calls	Yes (SDK)	Yes (with SIP)	Requires setup
BYON (bring your own number)	In build	Yes	Yes

Voice Processing

Feature	Unpod	LiveKit	Pipecat
Managed STT/TTS	Yes - voice profiles	No - configure yourself	No - configure yourself
Provider failover	Automatic	Manual	Manual
VAD + barge-in	Managed	You configure	You configure
Deepgram STT	Yes	Yes	Yes
Cartesia TTS	Yes	Yes	Yes
ElevenLabs TTS	Yes	Yes	Yes

Developer Experience

Feature	Unpod	LiveKit	Pipecat
Python SDK	Yes	Yes	Yes
HTTP endpoint / webhook	Yes	No	No
Structured flows (SuperDialog)	Yes	No	No
Call recordings	Managed	Self-managed	Self-managed
Transcripts	Managed	Self-managed	Self-managed
Dashboard + UI	Yes	Limited	No
Metrics + analytics	Yes	Limited	No

Open Source

All three are open source. Unpod’s core components - unpod, supervoice, superdialog - are on GitHub. You can self-host the open-source platform - supervoice is not part of self-hosting yet (add the voice executor from apps/super/deployment; it trails the hosted product) or use Unpod’s managed cloud.

Self-hosting Unpod

Run the open-source Unpod stack on your own infrastructure.

Start Here

Quickstarts

Unpod vs the DIY stack

Everyone sells a piece

vs voice frameworks

The Core Difference

Pipecat

LiveKit

Unpod

When to Choose Each

Choose Unpod when:

Choose LiveKit when:

Choose Pipecat when:

Feature Comparison

Telephony

Voice Processing

Developer Experience

Open Source

Self-hosting Unpod

​Everyone sells a piece

​vs voice frameworks

​The Core Difference

​Pipecat

​LiveKit

​Unpod

​When to Choose Each

​Choose Unpod when:

​Choose LiveKit when:

​Choose Pipecat when:

​Feature Comparison

​Telephony

​Voice Processing

​Developer Experience

​Open Source

Self-hosting Unpod

Everyone sells a piece

vs voice frameworks

The Core Difference

Pipecat

LiveKit

Unpod

When to Choose Each

Choose Unpod when:

Choose LiveKit when:

Choose Pipecat when:

Feature Comparison

Telephony

Voice Processing

Developer Experience

Open Source