Pipecat + Pipecat Cloud
Pipecat is an open-source (BSD-2-Clause) Python framework for voice and multimodal agents with roughly 85 STT/LLM/TTS integrations; Pipecat Cloud is Daily's hosting service for Pipecat agents with Daily WebRTC and telephony built in.
Overview
Best for: Python teams that want maximum provider choice and open-source portability, with optional managed hosting.
At a glance
Fee is agent-1x hosting ($0.02 / $0.03 for larger sizes); open-source Pipecat is free to self-host. Pricing page says unlimited concurrency. No explicit free credit amount.
Daily WebRTC (Opus), WebSocket serializers for Twilio/Telnyx/Plivo/Vonage (8 kHz mu-law or PCM)
Same as input
Depends on chosen providers.
No vendor number verified.
Not verified in this research.
Not verified in this research for Pipecat Cloud (ask Daily for SOC 2/HIPAA terms).
Features
- turn detection (Smart Turn open model, Silero VAD)
- noise cancellation (Krisp VIVA)
- telephony (Daily SIP/PSTN, Twilio and others via WebSocket)
- multi-provider plug-ins (~85 services)
- recording
- metrics
- reserved warm instances
- speech-to-speech services
Pricing
| What | Price | Unit |
|---|---|---|
| Agent hosting agent-1x | $0.01 | per active minute |
| Reserved (always-on) agent-1x | $0.0005 | per reserved minute |
| Daily WebRTC voice (1:1 on Pipecat Cloud) | $0.001 listed, marked Free | per minute |
| Daily PSTN dial-in/out (SIP included) | $0.018 | per minute |
| Daily SIP dial-in/out | $0.003-$0.02 | per minute |
| SIP REFER transfer | $0.20 | per event |
| Krisp VIVA noise cancellation | Free to 10k min, then $0.0015 | per minute |
| Recording (audio only) | $0.005 | per minute |
$0.01 agent-1x hosting + ~$0.005-0.01 STT + ~$0.002-0.02 LLM + ~$0.015-0.05 TTS (provider list prices, billed by providers) + $0 for 1:1 WebRTC or $0.018 for Daily PSTN. Not a vendor figure; it is an assembly of the listed rates with typical provider prices.
Free tier: Page says 'Start building for free'; 1:1 Daily WebRTC voice labelled free; Krisp free up to 10k min/month. No explicit credit amount found.
Source: daily.co
Setup
- Python 3.11+ and uv. Get Deepgram, OpenAI and Cartesia keys (quickstart stack).
- Run the quickstart bot locally with 'uv run bot.py' and open the local WebRTC client.
- Install the CLI: uv tool install "pipecat-ai[cli]"; then 'pipecat cloud auth login'.
- 'pipecat cloud secrets set <secret-set> --file .env', configure pcc-deploy.toml (agent_name, secret_set, scaling.min_agents), then 'pipecat cloud deploy' (cloud build, no registry needed).
- Start sessions via the REST API or Python SDK; attach Daily phone numbers or SIP for calls.
Endpoint
Pipecat Cloud REST API / Daily roomsAuthentication
Pipecat Cloud API key (CLI login); provider keys stored as secret sets
Quick start python
# Core of the Pipecat quickstart bot.py (Oct 2026). Imports omitted: copy them from
# docs.pipecat.ai quickstart, class names changed in recent releases
# (PipelineTask/PipelineRunner -> PipelineWorker/WorkerRunner).
stt = DeepgramSTTService(api_key=os.getenv("DEEPGRAM_API_KEY"))
tts = CartesiaTTSService(api_key=os.getenv("CARTESIA_API_KEY"),
settings=CartesiaTTSService.Settings(voice=os.getenv("CARTESIA_VOICE_ID")))
llm = OpenAIResponsesLLMService(api_key=os.getenv("OPENAI_API_KEY"),
settings=OpenAIResponsesLLMService.Settings(model="gpt-4.1",
system_instruction="You are a brief, friendly voice assistant."))
context = LLMContext()
user_agg, assistant_agg = LLMContextAggregatorPair(
context, user_params=LLMUserAggregatorParams(vad_analyzer=SileroVADAnalyzer()))
pipeline = Pipeline([transport.input(), stt, user_agg, llm, tts,
transport.output(), assistant_agg])
worker = PipelineWorker(pipeline, params=PipelineParams(enable_metrics=True))
runner = WorkerRunner(handle_sigint=runner_args.handle_sigint)
await runner.add_workers(worker)
await runner.run()
# Deploy: pipecat cloud auth login
# pipecat cloud secrets set my-secrets --file .env
# pipecat cloud deployWritten from the current docs. Check the vendor's SDK version before you ship.
Warnings
Hosting price excludes all AI models
Pipecat Cloud bills compute and Daily transport only; you pay Deepgram/OpenAI/Cartesia (or others) directly. Bundled inference billing exists only for enterprise via sales.
Reserved instances bill around the clock
Warm 'reserved' agents avoid cold starts but bill every minute until switched off ($0.0005/min for agent-1x is about $21.60 per 30-day month per instance).
SIP transfers keep the meter running
With SIP REFER the call stays anchored to Daily until the handoff completes, then a $0.20 event fee applies.
Fast-moving API
Class names and the CLI changed in 2025-2026 (pcc -> 'pipecat cloud', PipelineTask -> PipelineWorker). Pin the pipecat-ai version and follow the docs for your version.
Telephony audio via WebSocket is 8 kHz
When using Twilio/Telnyx/Plivo serializers, audio is usually 8 kHz mu-law; configure sample rates correctly in the transport params.
Plus 12 warnings that apply to all platforms and telephony APIs. See category warnings.
Limits
- Pricing page says 'unlimited concurrency'
- Cold starts unless you keep min_agents / reserved instances warm
Models and products
| Name | Status |
|---|---|
| Pipecat (open source) | GA |
| Pipecat Cloud agent-1x | GA |
| Pipecat Cloud agent-2x | GA |
| Pipecat Cloud agent-3x | GA |
Docs and sources
Docs
Sources used
- daily.co/pricing/pipecat-cloud/
- docs.pipecat.ai/pipecat/get-started/quickstart
- github.com/pipecat-ai/pipecat
- docs.pipecat.ai/pipecat-cloud/guides/cloud-builds
Regions, compliance attestations, free credit amount; snippet imports deliberately omitted because module paths changed in recent releases.