{ "data": { "a": { "slug": "gemini-live", "name": "Gemini Live API", "vendor": "Google", "vendorUrl": "https://ai.google.dev", "kind": "http-api", "category": "voice-agents", "summary": "Google's Live API runs real-time spoken conversations with Gemini audio-to-audio models over a stateful WebSocket. It takes audio, images and text, speaks back, and supports interruptions, function calling and Google Search grounding.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gemini-live", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gemini-live.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gemini-live.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gemini-live.json", "repo": "https://github.com/google-gemini/gemini-live-api-examples", "license": "Proprietary service under the Gemini API Additional Terms of Service. The Python and JavaScript SDKs are Apache-2.0", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta", "packages": [ { "registry": "pypi", "name": "google-genai" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@google/genai" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Self-serve API key from Google AI Studio, tied to a Google Cloud project. Keys created since 28 May 2026 are authorisation keys bound to a service account and restricted to the Gemini API, and unrestricted standard keys are rejected. The raw WebSocket guide passes the key as a `key` query parameter. For browsers and phones, a backend mints an ephemeral token (preview) at `POST /v1beta/auth_tokens`, single use by default, 1 minute to start a session and 30 minutes to use it, optionally locked to a model and configuration.", "pricing": "freemium", "pricingNotes": "Free tier on the Live models with no billing account, where content is used to improve Google products. Paid tier per 1M tokens on `gemini-3.8-live`, the extended thinking model and `gemini-3.1-flash-live-preview`. Text in $0.75, audio in $3.00 (about $0.005 a minute), image or video in $1.00, text out $4.50, audio out $12.00 (about $0.018 a minute). Google Search grounding $14 per 1,000 queries after 5,000 free a month. Each turn re-bills the whole session context. Paid tier needs a linked billing account and a $5 minimum prepayment (https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/pricing, checked 2026-10-08).", "priceSummary": "$14 / 1k req", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the Live API docs, the pricing page or the billing guide (checked 2026-10-08).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": 29486957, "pypiWeekly": 34128301, "asOf": "2026-10-08" }, "docsUrl": "https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/live-api", "llmsTxt": "https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/llms.txt", "capabilities": [ "voice.agent", "voice.speech-to-speech", "voice.tools" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "freemium", "free-tier", "closed-source", "speech-to-speech", "websocket", "streaming", "python", "typescript", "llms-txt", "api-key", "function-calling" ], "lastRelease": "2026-09-15", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 57.1, "grade": "C", "agentReady": false, "rank": 622, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 950, "categoryRank": 9, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 69, "maintenance": 83, "payments": 40, "reliability": 41, "schema": 66, "security": 48, "transparency": 72 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "medium", "date": "2026-10-08" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "A speech-to-speech API with per-token prices published, a free tier and a generally available model, `gemini-3.8-live`, since 15 September 2026. The documented raw WebSocket connection carries the API key in the URL, connections reset about every 10 minutes, and no SLA or readable incident history was found for the Developer API.", "bestFor": "Teams building their own voice or vision assistant on a single speech-to-speech model with function calling and Search grounding, who can run a backend for tokens and audio transport.", "strengths": [ "`gemini-3.8-live` went generally available on 15 September 2026 with asynchronous function calling as the default and three response scheduling modes.", "Ephemeral tokens can be single use, expire in 30 minutes by default and be locked to a model and session configuration.", "Prices are public per million tokens with per-minute equivalents, $0.005 a minute of audio in and $0.018 a minute of audio out.", "Session resumption handles, a GoAway message with `timeLeft` and sliding-window context compression are documented for long sessions.", "Free tier on the Live models with no billing account, and paid-tier content isn't used to improve Google products per the pricing page." ], "weaknesses": [ "The WebSocket guide authenticates with the API key as a `key` query parameter, and ephemeral tokens as an `access_token` query parameter.", "The status page at aistudio.google.com/status renders in the browser only, so no incident history could be read, and no SLA was found for the Developer API.", "No machine-readable contract for the WebSocket messages was found. The Discovery document types only the setup and token schemas.", "The capabilities, best practices and API reference pages still say the Live API is in preview, and the docs give both 70 and 99 supported languages.", "No telephony. Phone calls need a partner such as Voximplant, LiveKit or Pipecat, and concurrent session limits are shown only inside AI Studio." ], "agentNotes": [ "Enable `sessionResumption` and keep the newest handle. Connections end after about 10 minutes, and handles stay valid for 2 hours.", "Set `contextWindowCompression` with a sliding window. Without it audio sessions stop at 15 minutes and audio with video at 2 minutes, and every turn re-bills the whole context.", "On `gemini-3.8-live` function calls are non-blocking by default. Set `behavior: BLOCKING` if the model must wait for the tool response.", "Send 16 kHz 16-bit PCM in 20 to 40 ms chunks and discard buffered playback when `interrupted` is true.", "Keep the API key on a server and send it through the SDK. Give browsers an ephemeral token from `POST /v1beta/auth_tokens`, locked with `liveConnectConstraints`." ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "medium", "grade": "C", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 57.1 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 69, "maintenance": 83, "payments": 40, "reliability": 41, "schema": 66, "security": 48, "transparency": 55 }, "provenanceScore": 89 }, "connect": { "install": "pip install google-genai # or: npm i @google/genai", "http": "curl -X POST \"https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta/auth_tokens\" \\\n -H \"x-goog-api-key: $GEMINI_API_KEY\" -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"uses\": 1, \"liveConnectConstraints\": {\"model\": \"models/gemini-3.8-live\", \"config\": {\"sessionResumption\": {}, \"responseModalities\": [\"AUDIO\"]}}}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/voice.agent", "tool": "https://letme.dev/gemini-live" }, "sameCompany": [ "gemini-api", "gemini-embedding", "vertex-ai-tuning", "google-model-armor", "google-imagen", "google-veo", "google-lyria", "google-speech-to-text", "google-adk", "google-secret-manager", "google-cloud-document-ai", "google-weather-api", "chrome-devtools-mcp", "google-maps-platform", "google-cloud-translation", "google-calendar-api", "firebase-cloud-messaging", "google-drive-api", "gemini-cli", "google-search-console", "google-ads-api", "google-forms", "google-sheets-api", "gmail-api" ], "area": "voice", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "gemini-3.8-live audio input", "unit": "audio-minute", "usd": 0.005, "note": "$3.00 per 1M audio tokens, charged while the API is listening" }, { "item": "gemini-3.8-live audio output", "unit": "audio-minute", "usd": 0.018, "note": "$12.00 per 1M audio tokens" }, { "item": "gemini-3.8-live text input", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 0.75 }, { "item": "gemini-3.8-live text output", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 4.5, "note": "includes thinking tokens and transcription text" }, { "item": "Google Search grounding", "unit": "1k-requests", "usd": 14, "note": "after 5,000 free search queries a month shared across Gemini 3.x models" } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "Google LLC", "domain": "google.com", "domainRegistered": "1997-09-15", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/terms", "privacy": "https://policies.google.com/privacy", "statusPage": "https://aistudio.google.com/status", "changelog": "https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/changelog", "securityTxt": "valid", "checked": "2026-10-08", "notes": [ "The WebSocket and the token endpoint are on generativelanguage.googleapis.com, Google's API domain. The docs are on ai.google.dev.", "RDAP for google.com gives a registration date of 1997-09-15.", "The Gemini API Additional Terms of Service are effective 23 March 2026 and incorporate the Google APIs Terms of Service. Paid services fall under Google's Data Processing Addendum for products where Google is a data processor.", "The Google Privacy Policy read on 8 October 2026 is effective 1 October 2026. It is Google's general policy, and the terms page is where API data use is set out.", "www.google.com/.well-known/security.txt expires 2030-04-01 and points to g.co/vulnz and the vulnerability reward programme. ai.google.dev has no security.txt of its own (404).", "aistudio.google.com/status answered 200 with a page drawn by script, so no component or incident history was read." ], "score": 89 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gemini-live.json", "live": { "slug": "gemini-live", "probe": { "target": "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-10T03:53:28.444201799Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 404, "lastMs": 9, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 20, "p95ms24h": 48, "samples24h": 209, "samples30d": 209, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 169, "ok": 169 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 40, "ok": 40 } ] }, "versions": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@google/genai", "version": "2.28.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:54:31.934616475Z" }, { "registry": "pypi", "name": "google-genai", "version": "2.29.0", "released": "2026-10-07", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T16:54:31.819468452Z" } ], "githubStars": 543, "npmWeekly": 24939486, "pypiWeekly": 34169117, "securityTxt": { "url": "https://google.com/.well-known/security.txt", "state": "valid", "expires": "2030-04-01T00:00:00z", "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T15:39:28.443612679Z" }, "llmsTxt": { "url": "https://ai.google.dev/gemini-api/docs/llms.txt", "ok": true, "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T14:02:04.013470674Z" }, "updatedAt": "2026-10-10T03:53:28.444201799Z" } }, "answer": "OpenAI Realtime API scores 63.3 (B) on agent readiness against Gemini Live API's 57.1 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Gemini Live API leads on payments \u0026 pricing and maintenance \u0026 community.", "b": { "slug": "openai-realtime", "name": "OpenAI Realtime API", "vendor": "OpenAI", "vendorUrl": "https://openai.com", "kind": "http-api", "category": "voice-agents", "summary": "OpenAI's Realtime API runs spoken conversations with speech-to-speech models such as `gpt-realtime-2.1`. Clients connect over WebRTC, WebSocket or SIP, and sessions support interruptions, function calling and remote MCP tools.", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-realtime", "markdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-realtime.md", "slimMarkdownUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-realtime.min.md", "jsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-realtime.json", "repo": "https://github.com/openai/openai-agents-js", "license": "Proprietary service. The service terms on openai.com were not read. The Agents SDK for TypeScript and the OpenAPI description are MIT", "transports": [ "http" ], "remoteUrl": "https://api.openai.com/v1/realtime", "packages": [ { "registry": "npm", "name": "@openai/agents" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@openai/agents-realtime" } ], "auth": "api-key", "authNotes": "Self-serve API key from platform.openai.com, sent as a Bearer header on server WebSocket connections and call-control requests. For browsers and phones, a server calls `POST /v1/realtime/client_secrets` for a client secret (`ek_`) that lasts 10 seconds to 2 hours, 10 minutes by default, and can start several sessions until it expires. The browser WebSocket example passes the secret as a subprotocol. SIP calls are tied to a project by the project ID in the SIP address.", "pricing": "usage", "pricingNotes": "Per 1M tokens on `gpt-realtime-2.1`. Audio $32.00 in, $0.40 cached and $64.00 out, text $4.00 in and $24.00 out, image $5.00 in. `gpt-realtime-2.1-mini` is $10.00 and $20.00 for audio. Each response re-sends the whole conversation, and input transcription is billed separately. Usage tiers start at $5 of credit purchases. Whether the Free tier covers Realtime models was not established (https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing.md, checked 2026-10-09).", "priceSummary": "Pay per use", "where": "hosted", "x402": { "level": "no", "evidence": "No x402, MPP or L402 in the Realtime guides, the pricing page or the OpenAPI file (checked 2026-10-09).", "endpoints": [] }, "toolCount": null, "popularity": { "githubStars": null, "npmWeekly": null, "pypiWeekly": null, "asOf": "2026-10-09" }, "docsUrl": "https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/guides/realtime", "llmsTxt": "https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/llms.txt", "openapi": "https://github.com/openai/openai-openapi/blob/main/openapi.yaml", "capabilities": [ "voice.agent", "voice.speech-to-speech", "voice.tools", "voice.telephony" ], "tags": [ "hosted", "usage-priced", "closed-source", "speech-to-speech", "webrtc", "websocket", "sip", "streaming", "typescript", "python", "openapi", "llms-txt", "api-key", "function-calling", "mcp-client", "status-page" ], "lastRelease": "2026-07-28", "graded": true, "anchor": { "graded": true, "score": 63.3, "grade": "B", "agentReady": false, "rank": 400, "ranked": true, "rankOf": 950, "categoryRank": 7, "methodology": "0.4", "run": "2026-10-01", "scores": { "ergonomics": 76, "maintenance": 52, "payments": 20, "reliability": 67, "schema": 84, "security": 61, "transparency": 71 }, "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "assessment": { "confidence": "low", "date": "2026-10-09" }, "negative": 0, "verdict": "A generally available speech-to-speech API with WebRTC, WebSocket and SIP transports, a public OpenAPI file that types its events, and per-token prices. Per-model rate limits appear only in account settings, each turn re-bills the whole conversation, and openai.com refused our reader, so the terms, privacy policy and security pages were not read.", "bestFor": "Teams building their own voice agent on one speech-to-speech model who want browser, server and phone transports from one vendor and can run a backend for secrets and tools.", "strengths": [ "The OpenAPI 3.1 file in `openai/openai-openapi` covers nine Realtime paths and types 13 client events and 48 server events as schemas.", "Browser clients use client secrets that expire after 10 seconds to 2 hours, 10 minutes by default, so the API key stays on a server.", "Remote MCP tools accept an `allowed_tools` list, and `require_approval` defaults to `always` in the OpenAPI file.", "SIP calls connect at `sip.api.openai.com` with accept, reject, refer and hangup endpoints and a signed incoming-call webhook.", "The data controls page lists `/v1/realtime` with no training use, 30-day abuse logs, no stored application state and Zero Data Retention eligibility." ], "weaknesses": [ "openai.com answered 403 to our reader, so the service terms, privacy policy, sub-processor list and security pages were not read.", "Realtime rate limits are shown only in account settings. The public table gives numbers for GPT-6 model families only.", "Every response re-sends the whole conversation, so later turns cost more. Audio is $32 in and $64 out per 1M tokens on `gpt-realtime-2.1`.", "The status feed names Realtime among affected components in five incidents between 24 July and 6 October 2026, with durations not shown in the feed.", "Session settings attached to a client secret can be overridden by the client connection, per the client secret reference." ], "agentNotes": [ "Create a client secret on a server with `POST /v1/realtime/client_secrets` and give browsers only the `ek_` value. Never ship the API key.", "After a response with MCP calls finishes, send another `response.create`. The API does not create the follow-up response itself.", "Set `truncation` with a `retention_ratio` below 1 and `token_limits.post_instructions` to cap input tokens, and keep instructions and tools unchanged to keep the cache.", "On a WebSocket, stop playback on `input_audio_buffer.speech_started` and send `conversation.item.truncate` with `audio_end_ms`. WebRTC and SIP truncate on the server.", "Use `gpt-realtime-2.1` or `gpt-realtime-2.1-mini`. `gpt-realtime` and `gpt-realtime-mini` shut down on 20 January 2027." ], "metrics": { "kind": "remote", "measured": false }, "reviewCount": 0, "avgRating": 0, "history": [ { "basis": "public evidence", "confidence": "low", "grade": "B", "methodology": "0.4", "pending": [ "performance", "tasks" ], "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run", "score": 63.3 } ], "editorialScores": { "ergonomics": 76, "maintenance": 52, "payments": 20, "reliability": 67, "schema": 84, "security": 61, "transparency": 58 }, "provenanceScore": 84 }, "connect": { "install": "npm install @openai/agents", "http": "curl -X POST https://api.openai.com/v1/realtime/client_secrets \\\n -H \"Authorization: Bearer $OPENAI_API_KEY\" -H \"Content-Type: application/json\" \\\n -d '{\"session\": {\"type\": \"realtime\", \"model\": \"gpt-realtime-2.1\"}}'" }, "letme": { "capability": "https://letme.dev/voice.agent", "tool": "https://letme.dev/openai-realtime" }, "sameCompany": [ "openai-api", "openai-embeddings", "openai-guardrails", "openai-moderation", "openai-image-api", "openai-sora", "openai-speech-to-text", "openai-agents-sdk", "openai-decisions-api", "openai-codex" ], "area": "voice", "unitPrices": [ { "item": "gpt-realtime-2.1 audio input", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 32, "note": "$0.40 cached. 1 token per 100 ms of user audio, about $0.019 a minute before caching" }, { "item": "gpt-realtime-2.1 audio output", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 64, "note": "1 token per 50 ms of assistant audio, about $0.077 a minute" }, { "item": "gpt-realtime-2.1 text input", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 4, "note": "$0.40 cached" }, { "item": "gpt-realtime-2.1 text output", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 24 }, { "item": "gpt-realtime-2.1-mini audio input", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 10, "note": "$0.30 cached" }, { "item": "gpt-realtime-2.1-mini audio output", "unit": "1m-tokens", "usd": 20 } ], "provenance": { "legalEntity": "OpenAI", "domain": "openai.com", "domainRegistered": "2007-01-19", "endpointOnVendorDomain": true, "terms": "https://openai.com/policies/services-agreement/", "privacy": "https://openai.com/policies/privacy-policy/", "statusPage": "https://status.openai.com", "changelog": "https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/changelog", "securityTxt": "unknown", "checked": "2026-10-09", "notes": [ "The API, WebRTC and SIP endpoints are on api.openai.com and sip.api.openai.com. The docs are on developers.openai.com.", "RDAP for openai.com gives a registration date of 2007-01-19.", "The legal entity was not read. The SDK licence file says Copyright (c) 2025 OpenAI.", "robots.txt answered 200 on developers.openai.com and openai.com, allowing the pages read, and 404 on status.openai.com, which means no rules.", "openai.com answered our researcher with a bot check on 9 October 2026, so the terms and privacy policy were not read on that day. The links are the two documents OpenAI's other listings here carry. openai.com answers our policy reader with HTTP 403 as well, so neither document has been read and both are recorded as unreadable." ], "score": 84 }, "pageJsonUrl": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-realtime.json", "live": { "slug": "openai-realtime", "probe": { "target": "https://api.openai.com/v1/realtime", "method": "get", "lastAt": "2026-10-10T03:53:36.846326361Z", "lastOk": true, "lastStatus": 405, "lastMs": 159, "authRequired": false, "uptime24h": 100, "uptime30d": 100, "p50ms24h": 153, "p95ms24h": 201, "samples24h": 125, "samples30d": 125, "days": [ { "date": "2026-10-09", "probes": 85, "ok": 85 }, { "date": "2026-10-10", "probes": 40, "ok": 40 } ] }, "vendorStatus": { "page": "https://status.openai.com", "indicator": "minor", "summary": "Partial System Degradation", "checkedAt": "2026-10-10T03:58:36.458994883Z" }, "versions": [ { "registry": "github", "name": "openai/openai-agents-js", "version": "@openai/agents-extensions@0.20.0", "released": "2026-10-08", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:10:29.452928495Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@openai/agents", "version": "0.20.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:10:27.202909251Z" }, { "registry": "npm", "name": "@openai/agents-realtime", "version": "0.20.0", "seenAt": "2026-10-09T17:10:27.531105633Z" } ], "githubStars": 3903, "npmWeekly": 2125326, "pages": [ { "url": "https://developers.openai.com/api/docs/pricing.md", "kind": "pricing", "status": 200, "checkedAt": "2026-10-09T18:36:10.419663305Z", "changedAt": "0001-01-01T00:00:00Z", "fingerprint": "742c4d3c6b71" } ], "updatedAt": "2026-10-10T03:58:36.458994883Z" } }, "facts": [ { "a": "HTTP API", "b": "HTTP API", "name": "Kind" }, { "a": "Google", "b": "OpenAI", "name": "Vendor" }, { "a": "https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta", "b": "https://api.openai.com/v1/realtime", "name": "Hosted endpoint" }, { "a": "HTTP", "b": "HTTP", "name": "Transports" }, { "a": "API key", "b": "API key", "name": "Auth" }, { "a": "Freemium", "b": "Pay per use", "name": "Pricing" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "x402" }, { "a": "Proprietary service under the Gemini API Additional Terms of Service. The Python and JavaScript SDKs are Apache-2.0", "b": "Proprietary service. The service terms on openai.com were not read. The Agents SDK for TypeScript and the OpenAPI description are MIT", "name": "Licence" }, { "a": "no", "b": "no", "name": "Read-only variant documented" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "yes", "name": "llms.txt" }, { "a": "2026-09-15", "b": "2026-07-28", "name": "Last release" }, { "a": "2026-04-28", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms last updated" }, { "a": "2026-10-01", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Privacy policy last updated" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Customer content may train models" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms restrict automated access" }, { "a": "yes", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms restrict benchmarking" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Terms or service can change without notice" }, { "a": "not found in the text", "b": "couldn't be read", "name": "Arbitration or class-action waiver" }, { "a": "29.5M npm/wk, 34.1M PyPI/wk", "b": "none", "name": "Popularity" } ], "faq": [ { "answer": "OpenAI Realtime API scores 63.3 (B) on agent readiness against Gemini Live API's 57.1 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Gemini Live API leads on payments \u0026 pricing and maintenance \u0026 community.", "question": "Which is better for AI agents, Gemini Live API or OpenAI Realtime API?" }, { "answer": "Both need an API key.", "question": "Do Gemini Live API and OpenAI Realtime API need an API key?" }, { "answer": "Yes. Gemini Live API has a hosted endpoint at https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta and OpenAI Realtime API at https://api.openai.com/v1/realtime.", "question": "Can an agent call Gemini Live API and OpenAI Realtime API without installing anything?" } ], "goodFor": [ { "aheadOn": [ "Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 20", "Maintenance \u0026 community, 83 against 52" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "Teams building their own voice or vision assistant on a single speech-to-speech model with function calling and Search grounding, who can run a backend for tokens and audio transport.", "slug": "gemini-live", "watchFor": "The WebSocket guide authenticates with the API key as a `key` query parameter, and ephemeral tokens as an `access_token` query parameter." }, { "aheadOn": [ "Reliability, 67 against 41", "Schema \u0026 documentation, 84 against 66", "Agent ergonomics, 76 against 69", "Security \u0026 auth, 61 against 48" ], "also": null, "goodFor": "Teams building their own voice agent on one speech-to-speech model who want browser, server and phone transports from one vendor and can run a backend for secrets and tools.", "slug": "openai-realtime", "watchFor": "openai.com answered 403 to our reader, so the service terms, privacy policy, sub-processor list and security pages were not read." } ], "job": { "capability": "voice.agent", "name": "Voice agents" }, "others": [ { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-voice-agent-vs-gemini-live.json", "title": "AssemblyAI Voice Agent API vs Gemini Live API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-voice-agent-vs-gemini-live" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-voice-agent-vs-openai-realtime.json", "title": "AssemblyAI Voice Agent API vs OpenAI Realtime API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-voice-agent-vs-openai-realtime" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bland-ai-vs-gemini-live.json", "title": "Bland AI API + MCP vs Gemini Live API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bland-ai-vs-gemini-live" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bland-ai-vs-openai-realtime.json", "title": "Bland AI API + MCP vs OpenAI Realtime API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bland-ai-vs-openai-realtime" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bolna-vs-gemini-live.json", "title": "Bolna API + MCP vs Gemini Live API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bolna-vs-gemini-live" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bolna-vs-openai-realtime.json", "title": "Bolna API + MCP vs OpenAI Realtime API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bolna-vs-openai-realtime" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-voice-agent-vs-gemini-live.json", "title": "Deepgram Voice Agent API vs Gemini Live API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-voice-agent-vs-gemini-live" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-voice-agent-vs-openai-realtime.json", "title": "Deepgram Voice Agent API vs OpenAI Realtime API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-voice-agent-vs-openai-realtime" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-gemini-live.json", "title": "ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP vs Gemini Live API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-gemini-live" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-openai-realtime.json", "title": "ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP vs OpenAI Realtime API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-openai-realtime" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-hume-evi.json", "title": "Gemini Live API vs Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-hume-evi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-retell-ai.json", "title": "Gemini Live API vs Retell AI API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-retell-ai" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-synthflow.json", "title": "Gemini Live API vs Synthflow API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-synthflow" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-ultravox.json", "title": "Gemini Live API vs Ultravox Realtime API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-ultravox" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-vapi.json", "title": "Gemini Live API vs Vapi API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-vapi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-vocily.json", "title": "Gemini Live API vs Vocily AI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-vocily" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-vogent.json", "title": "Gemini Live API vs Vogent API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-vogent" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-openai-realtime.json", "title": "Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs OpenAI Realtime API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-openai-realtime" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-retell-ai.json", "title": "OpenAI Realtime API vs Retell AI API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-retell-ai" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-synthflow.json", "title": "OpenAI Realtime API vs Synthflow API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-synthflow" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-ultravox.json", "title": "OpenAI Realtime API vs Ultravox Realtime API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-ultravox" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vapi.json", "title": "OpenAI Realtime API vs Vapi API + MCP", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vapi" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vocily.json", "title": "OpenAI Realtime API vs Vocily AI", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vocily" }, { "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vogent.json", "title": "OpenAI Realtime API vs Vogent API", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vogent" } ], "scores": [ { "by": 26, "edge": "openai-realtime", "gemini-live": 41, "key": "reliability", "name": "Reliability", "openai-realtime": 67, "weight": 16 }, { "key": "performance", "name": "Performance", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 18, "edge": "openai-realtime", "gemini-live": 66, "key": "schema", "name": "Schema \u0026 documentation", "openai-realtime": 84, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 7, "edge": "openai-realtime", "gemini-live": 69, "key": "ergonomics", "name": "Agent ergonomics", "openai-realtime": 76, "weight": 13 }, { "by": 13, "edge": "openai-realtime", "gemini-live": 48, "key": "security", "name": "Security \u0026 auth", "openai-realtime": 61, "weight": 14 }, { "by": 20, "edge": "gemini-live", "gemini-live": 40, "key": "payments", "name": "Payments \u0026 pricing", "openai-realtime": 20, "weight": 10 }, { "key": "tasks", "name": "Task success", "pending": true, "weight": 10 }, { "by": 31, "edge": "gemini-live", "gemini-live": 83, "key": "maintenance", "name": "Maintenance \u0026 community", "openai-realtime": 52, "weight": 7 }, { "by": 1, "edge": "gemini-live", "gemini-live": 72, "key": "transparency", "name": "Transparency \u0026 trust", "openai-realtime": 71, "weight": 7 } ], "summary": "OpenAI Realtime API scores 63.3 (B) on agent readiness against Gemini Live API's 57.1 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Gemini Live API leads on payments \u0026 pricing and maintenance \u0026 community. Both do voice agents.", "verdicts": { "gemini-live": "A speech-to-speech API with per-token prices published, a free tier and a generally available model, `gemini-3.8-live`, since 15 September 2026. The documented raw WebSocket connection carries the API key in the URL, connections reset about every 10 minutes, and no SLA or readable incident history was found for the Developer API.", "openai-realtime": "A generally available speech-to-speech API with WebRTC, WebSocket and SIP transports, a public OpenAPI file that types its events, and per-token prices. Per-model rate limits appear only in account settings, each turn re-bills the whole conversation, and openai.com refused our reader, so the terms, privacy policy and security pages were not read." } }, "kind": "anchor.page", "links": { "api": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json", "html": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-openai-realtime", "json": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-openai-realtime.json", "llms": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt", "markdown": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-openai-realtime.md", "slim": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-openai-realtime.min.md" }, "markdown": "OpenAI Realtime API scores 63.3 (B) on agent readiness against Gemini Live API's 57.1 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Gemini Live API leads on payments \u0026 pricing and maintenance \u0026 community. Both do voice agents.\n\n- Gemini Live API: grade C, 57.1/100, rank #622 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/gemini-live.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gemini-live.json\n- OpenAI Realtime API: grade B, 63.3/100, rank #400 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/openai-realtime.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-realtime.json\n- Best conversational voice-agent APIs: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/voice-agents/index.md\n- All 91 voice agents comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/voice-agents/index.md\n\n## Which one, for what\n\n### Gemini Live API (C)\n\nGood for: Teams building their own voice or vision assistant on a single speech-to-speech model with function calling and Search grounding, who can run a backend for tokens and audio transport.\n\nAhead on:\n- Payments \u0026 pricing, 40 against 20\n- Maintenance \u0026 community, 83 against 52\n\nWatch for: The WebSocket guide authenticates with the API key as a `key` query parameter, and ephemeral tokens as an `access_token` query parameter.\n\n### OpenAI Realtime API (B)\n\nGood for: Teams building their own voice agent on one speech-to-speech model who want browser, server and phone transports from one vendor and can run a backend for secrets and tools.\n\nAhead on:\n- Reliability, 67 against 41\n- Schema \u0026 documentation, 84 against 66\n- Agent ergonomics, 76 against 69\n- Security \u0026 auth, 61 against 48\n\nWatch for: openai.com answered 403 to our reader, so the service terms, privacy policy, sub-processor list and security pages were not read.\n\n\n## Score by category\n\n| Category | Weight | Gemini Live API | OpenAI Realtime API | Edge |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 41 | 67 | OpenAI Realtime API +26 |\n| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Schema \u0026 documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 66 | 84 | OpenAI Realtime API +18 |\n| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 69 | 76 | OpenAI Realtime API +7 |\n| Security \u0026 auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 48 | 61 | OpenAI Realtime API +13 |\n| Payments \u0026 pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 40 | 20 | Gemini Live API +20 |\n| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |\n| Maintenance \u0026 community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 83 | 52 | Gemini Live API +31 |\n| Transparency \u0026 trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 72 | 71 | Gemini Live API +1 |\n| Negative events | ≤15 | 0 | 0 | |\n| **Total** | | **57.1 · C** | **63.3 · B** | |\n\n## Facts side by side\n\n| Fact | Gemini Live API | OpenAI Realtime API |\n| --- | --- | --- |\n| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |\n| Vendor | Google | OpenAI |\n| Hosted endpoint | `https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta` | `https://api.openai.com/v1/realtime` |\n| Transports | HTTP | HTTP |\n| Auth | API key | API key |\n| Pricing | Freemium | Pay per use |\n| x402 | no | no |\n| Licence | Proprietary service under the Gemini API Additional Terms of Service. The Python and JavaScript SDKs are Apache-2.0 | Proprietary service. The service terms on openai.com were not read. The Agents SDK for TypeScript and the OpenAPI description are MIT |\n| Read-only variant documented | no | no |\n| llms.txt | yes | yes |\n| Last release | 2026-09-15 | 2026-07-28 |\n| Terms last updated | 2026-04-28 | couldn't be read |\n| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-10-01 | couldn't be read |\n| Customer content may train models | yes | couldn't be read |\n| Terms restrict automated access | yes | couldn't be read |\n| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | couldn't be read |\n| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | couldn't be read |\n| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | couldn't be read |\n| Popularity | 29.5M npm/wk, 34.1M PyPI/wk | none |\n\n## Verdicts\n\n**Gemini Live API.** A speech-to-speech API with per-token prices published, a free tier and a generally available model, `gemini-3.8-live`, since 15 September 2026. The documented raw WebSocket connection carries the API key in the URL, connections reset about every 10 minutes, and no SLA or readable incident history was found for the Developer API.\n\n**OpenAI Realtime API.** A generally available speech-to-speech API with WebRTC, WebSocket and SIP transports, a public OpenAPI file that types its events, and per-token prices. Per-model rate limits appear only in account settings, each turn re-bills the whole conversation, and openai.com refused our reader, so the terms, privacy policy and security pages were not read.\n\n## Before you call either\n\n### Gemini Live API\n\n1. Enable `sessionResumption` and keep the newest handle. Connections end after about 10 minutes, and handles stay valid for 2 hours.\n2. Set `contextWindowCompression` with a sliding window. Without it audio sessions stop at 15 minutes and audio with video at 2 minutes, and every turn re-bills the whole context.\n3. On `gemini-3.8-live` function calls are non-blocking by default. Set `behavior: BLOCKING` if the model must wait for the tool response.\n4. Send 16 kHz 16-bit PCM in 20 to 40 ms chunks and discard buffered playback when `interrupted` is true.\n5. Keep the API key on a server and send it through the SDK. Give browsers an ephemeral token from `POST /v1beta/auth_tokens`, locked with `liveConnectConstraints`.\n\n### OpenAI Realtime API\n\n1. Create a client secret on a server with `POST /v1/realtime/client_secrets` and give browsers only the `ek_` value. Never ship the API key.\n2. After a response with MCP calls finishes, send another `response.create`. The API does not create the follow-up response itself.\n3. Set `truncation` with a `retention_ratio` below 1 and `token_limits.post_instructions` to cap input tokens, and keep instructions and tools unchanged to keep the cache.\n4. On a WebSocket, stop playback on `input_audio_buffer.speech_started` and send `conversation.item.truncate` with `audio_end_ms`. WebRTC and SIP truncate on the server.\n5. Use `gpt-realtime-2.1` or `gpt-realtime-2.1-mini`. `gpt-realtime` and `gpt-realtime-mini` shut down on 20 January 2027.\n\n## Questions\n\n### Which is better for AI agents, Gemini Live API or OpenAI Realtime API?\n\nOpenAI Realtime API scores 63.3 (B) on agent readiness against Gemini Live API's 57.1 (C), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Gemini Live API leads on payments \u0026 pricing and maintenance \u0026 community.\n\n### Do Gemini Live API and OpenAI Realtime API need an API key?\n\nBoth need an API key.\n\n### Can an agent call Gemini Live API and OpenAI Realtime API without installing anything?\n\nYes. Gemini Live API has a hosted endpoint at https://generativelanguage.googleapis.com/v1beta and OpenAI Realtime API at https://api.openai.com/v1/realtime.\n\n\n## For agents\n\n- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-openai-realtime.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-openai-realtime.min.md\n- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {\"a\": \"gemini-live\", \"b\": \"openai-realtime\"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare gemini-live openai-realtime`\n- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/gemini-live.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/openai-realtime.json\n\n## Other comparisons with Gemini Live API or OpenAI Realtime API\n\n- [AssemblyAI Voice Agent API vs Gemini Live API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-voice-agent-vs-gemini-live.md)\n- [AssemblyAI Voice Agent API vs OpenAI Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/assemblyai-voice-agent-vs-openai-realtime.md)\n- [Bland AI API + MCP vs Gemini Live API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bland-ai-vs-gemini-live.md)\n- [Bland AI API + MCP vs OpenAI Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bland-ai-vs-openai-realtime.md)\n- [Bolna API + MCP vs Gemini Live API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bolna-vs-gemini-live.md)\n- [Bolna API + MCP vs OpenAI Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/bolna-vs-openai-realtime.md)\n- [Deepgram Voice Agent API vs Gemini Live API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-voice-agent-vs-gemini-live.md)\n- [Deepgram Voice Agent API vs OpenAI Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/deepgram-voice-agent-vs-openai-realtime.md)\n- [ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP vs Gemini Live API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-gemini-live.md)\n- [ElevenLabs Agents API + MCP vs OpenAI Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/elevenlabs-agents-vs-openai-realtime.md)\n- [Gemini Live API vs Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface)](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-hume-evi.md)\n- [Gemini Live API vs Retell AI API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-retell-ai.md)\n- [Gemini Live API vs Synthflow API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-synthflow.md)\n- [Gemini Live API vs Ultravox Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-ultravox.md)\n- [Gemini Live API vs Vapi API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-vapi.md)\n- [Gemini Live API vs Vocily AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-vocily.md)\n- [Gemini Live API vs Vogent API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-vogent.md)\n- [Hume EVI (Empathic Voice Interface) vs OpenAI Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hume-evi-vs-openai-realtime.md)\n- [OpenAI Realtime API vs Retell AI API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-retell-ai.md)\n- [OpenAI Realtime API vs Synthflow API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-synthflow.md)\n- [OpenAI Realtime API vs Ultravox Realtime API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-ultravox.md)\n- [OpenAI Realtime API vs Vapi API + MCP](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vapi.md)\n- [OpenAI Realtime API vs Vocily AI](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vocily.md)\n- [OpenAI Realtime API vs Vogent API](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/openai-realtime-vs-vogent.md)\n", "meta": { "attribution": "Anchor Terminal (https://www.anchorterminal.com)", "docs": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/docs/", "generatedAt": "2026-10-10", "license": "CC-BY-4.0", "method": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/benchmark/", "methodology": "0.4", "openapi": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/openapi.json", "preview": false, "run": "2026-10-01", "runLabel": "October 2026 research run" }, "page": { "breadcrumbs": [ { "name": "Home", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/" }, { "name": "Compare", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/" }, { "name": "Gemini Live API vs OpenAI Realtime API", "url": "" } ], "description": "OpenAI Realtime scores 63.3 (B) to Gemini Live's 57.1 (C) for voice agents. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.", "facts": [ "Gemini Live API C 57.1", "OpenAI Realtime API B 63.3", "scores" ], "h1": "Gemini Live API vs OpenAI Realtime API", "image": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/assets/og/compare-gemini-live-vs-openai-realtime.png", "path": "/compare/gemini-live-vs-openai-realtime", "published": "2026-10-01", "section": "tools", "title": "Gemini Live vs OpenAI Realtime for AI agents (2026) | Anchor Terminal", "toc": null, "updated": "2026-10-09", "url": "https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/gemini-live-vs-openai-realtime" }, "tokens": { "markdown": 2750, "slim": 780 }, "version": 1 }