Picking the right platform for real-time audio, video, and interactive apps is necessary for better performance and scalability. Therefore, 100ms vs ZEGOCLOUD and now emerging competitors, each with strengths in live streaming, video calls, and virtual events. Among them, developers want to make the best choice to meet the project needs after getting the detailed review. Thus, review the guide and determine which platform aligns best with your requirements.
What is 100ms?
Before opting for the 100ms alternative, know that 100ms is basically the measurement of time that represents one hundred milliseconds. Ideally, a millisecond is one thousandth of a second, which means that 100ms equals one-tenth of a second. Hence, in gaming, technology, and electronics, 100ms describes the time interval, delays, and responsiveness of the system.
On the contrary, 100ms also refers to a video infrastructure platform that specializes in live video infrastructure, but mostly, it’s the time metrics. Therefore, this offers developer tools and APIs to create and incorporate bespoke video conferencing and live streaming experiences into their apps. Hence, it is designed to provide functions like video calls, interactive streaming, and features like persistent participant states.
Additionally, rather than relying on separate platforms or alternatives to 100ms, it enables developers to embed video and audio functionalities into their apps. Most importantly, 100ms supports API and SDKs for Android, iOS, Flutter, ReactNative, and React, while offering a supporting library known as “Prebuilt.” It’s a low-code UI solution with limited customization, allowing only minor artwork and color changes.
Key Features
- 100ms is built to support large-scale events having thousands of participants and a global distributed network.
- For border distribution, it also supports simulcasting to platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch.
- To offer a custom experience, 100ms comes with grid layouts, participant controls, chat interfaces, and virtual whiteboards.
- Additionally, having API support for on-demand replay, 100ms guarantees both cloud-based and local session recording.
- Users can also have built-in support for a flexible layout that allows branding with event-specific video arrangements.
Pros
- In the debate of 100ms vs ZEGOCLOUD, 100ms has secure infrastructure as it uses industry-standard encryption protocols like SRTP and DTLS.
- It has robust management tools like role-based access, usage analytics, and event auditing.
- To reduce the coding effort, 100ms offers developer-centric REST APIs and comprehensive SDKs.
- In order to react to in-room and session events, it also offers support for real-time webhooks.
Cons
- Multiple highly specialized video workflows may require more manual configuration.
- Recording and advanced streaming features are not included in the free tier.
What is ZEGOCLOUD?
Being a 100ms competitor, ZEGOCLOUD is an RTC technology company that offers cloud-based APIs and SDKs for live streaming, in-app chat, video, and audio calls. Furthermore, it provides support for the AI agent API, enabling developers to create a chatbot with global coverage across 500+ nodes in 212 countries.
To limit the hassle of integrating APIs from scratch, the platform also comes with 20+ pre-built UIKits. Additionally, this platform provides communication for over 4,000 enterprises and millions of developers while complying with GDPR and HIPAA.
For real-time communication, ZEGOCLOUD also ensures 300ms of average global latency, with the best record of 79ms. Hence, while using features like AR effects, push notifications, cohosting, and VOD, users can utilize its products in various applications, including telemedicine, sports streaming, and more.
Key Features
- This alternative to 100ms ensures video call delivery in 4K quality with an average latency of 300ms.
- Moreover, it comes with Cloud Recording SDK, supporting recording of single or dynamic layout streams.
- For content moderation while recording, it also enables users to capture screenshots with the Cloud Recording API.
- With Digital Human SDK support, you can clone avatars and voices while also supporting high-quality large language models.
- Having a team and live streaming chat, users can also benefit from in-app chat communication with a latency of 200ms.
- It also supports Global node coverage with over 500 audio-video nodes, enabling both worldwide and local deployment.
- Users can create multiple AI agents that will feature LLM and TTS language models.
- You can even make direct transitions from text to call and calls to text while interacting with AI.
- Upon integrating the AI Agent API, users can also convert their call communication into Text form.
- With long-term memory of user details and regular summaries, AI enables smarter interactions.
Pros
- Its in-app Chat SDK allows you to upload media while offering the Rich Media Attachment feature.
- There is an option to integrate voice beautification, noise suppression, and background sound removal features in the app.
- Comes with a pricing calculator, allowing developers to estimate the monthly cost for each API.
- To help developers integrate and customize an app, it offers detailed documentation, making it a better 100ms alternative.
Cons
- Users report facing difficulty in integrating ZEGOCLOUD with platforms like WordPress.
- Additionally, the pay-as-you-go plan can become costly for startups and projects with high usage.
100ms vs ZEGOCLOUD: What is the Difference?
To choose between 100ms vs ZEGOCLOUD, it’s better to understand how these platforms differ from each other and why. Therefore, in this section, we’ve made a detailed comparison table, letting you determine which seems to be the right choice.
| Feature/Aspect | 100ms | ZEGOCLOUD |
|---|---|---|
| Developer Experience | Before opting for an alternative to 100ms, know it’s developer-centric; it has extensive API docs, guides, rapid prototyping, and strong code samples. | Developer-ready but more low-code; prebuilt flows for rapid launch, can be complex for advanced use. |
| Ease of Integration | Quick with prebuilt UI, deep flexibility via SDK for custom flows; strong event/webhook support. | Fastest via UIKits & low-code, broad platform support; integration for advanced cases requires more work. |
| Customization | Deep composability, modify layouts, UX, templates, and roles via code; suitable for dynamic app logic. | Strong for branding/UI, AR/AI engagement customization; some features “locked” to default UI/module. |
| Scalability | Elastic, multi-region, thousands per room in real time, large-scale HLS; ideal for global conferencing. | This 100ms alternative has massive scale (10M+ viewers/room) via global PoPs; excels at viral live events, e-commerce, and large webinars. |
| Engagement Tools | Chat, Q&A, whiteboards, polls, reactions, breakout rooms; composable and event-driven UI. | Chat, Q&A, gifts, AR, avatars, AI voice effects, live translation, content moderation, reactions, etc. |
| Recording & Media | Multi-format, cloud or on-prem, HLS recording, event-based; costs extra at scale. | Cloud, multi-source (per user & session), global storage, multi-format, secure/elastic. |
| Security & Compliance | GDPR, AES-256, SRTP/DTLS, JWT, role-based access, and audit logs, making it suitable for enterprise use, with HIPAA compliance available upon request. | ISO/IEC27001:2013, ISO/IEC27018:2019, CMMI Level 3, ISO/IEC27701:2019, AES-256, token auth, GDPR, some HIPAA/China support, DLP, AI mod tools |
| Analytics/Monitoring | Usage dashboard, session logs, webhook access, event tracking, management APIs. | Advanced dashboard, quality scores, historical records, audit trails, reporting, error/event logs. |
| Support/Community | Active developer support, webinars, community forums, and managed onboarding for large clients. | This 100ms alternative offers 24/7 tech support, live chat, and mail, premium onboarding, regular docs updates, and international reach. |
| Pricing Model | Free tier, usage-based (minutes, features); scalable for startups to enterprise; cost at scale on extras. | Usage/subscription hybrid; free/paid tiers; can be cost-effective at high scale, but extras add up. |
| Best For | Custom conferencing, education apps, and SaaS need tailored logic and workflows. | Interactive social/video apps, webinars, live e-commerce, AR/AI-driven engagement, global events, rapid deployments. |
100ms vs ZEGOCLOUD: Feature Comparison
If you want to determine if ZEGOCLOUD is an ideal 100ms alternative, review the feature comparison given below:
| Feature/Aspect | 100ms | ZEGOCLOUD |
|---|---|---|
| Core Product Focus | High-quality, low-latency video & audio APIs; live/interactive streaming; virtual events; Developer-centric SDKs | Real-time ultra-low latency video/audio/chat SDKs & APIs for live streaming, education, events, e-commerce, etc. |
| Video Quality | Unlike alternatives to 100ms, it offers up to 1080p (customizable resolution layers for HLS live streaming); Adaptive Bitrate for viewer network conditions | Supports from 96p to 4K/60FPS; adaptive bitrate across weak and strong network conditions |
| Latency | Sub-second latency for interactive sessions (WebRTC); <10s for HLS broadcast at scale | This 100ms alternative has ultra-low latency streaming (<300ms typical video; <100ms audio globally); designed for up to 10M+ concurrent users |
| Live Streaming | Real-time (WebRTC), webinar mode, HLS for large-scale broadcast; RTMP out to third-party | Interactive live streaming, guest invitation, co-hosting, simulcast to multiple platforms, virtual gifting, enhanced RTMP, and rewards |
| Recording | Track, stream, or composite video recording; Both VOD (HLS) and per-layer MP4; Cloud storage options; Chat recording | Mixed-stream (composite) and multi-sector (per-user) recording; Integrates with AWS, Alibaba, etc.; Supports MP4, FLV, HLS formats |
| Room Roles & Permissions | Powerful role-based permission system; Dynamic promotion/demotion (e.g., audience to speaker) per API call | Fine-grained role and permissions management; classroom, event, host/audience, and more out of the box |
| Interactivity | Compared to many alternatives to 100ms, it has real-time chat, emoji reactions, polls, hand raise, whiteboard, custom layouts, and breakout rooms | In-app chat (text, emojis, file sharing), audience Q&A, live polls, reactions, gifts, AR overlays, multi-user whiteboards, etc. |
| Screen Sharing | Supported across platforms (Web, desktop, mobile SDKs) | Built-in; share full screen, app window, browser tab, with multi-user support |
| Audio Features | Real-time audio rooms, spatial audio, mute/unmute controls, and dynamic audio role switching | HD audio calls, background noise suppression, AI-powered voice effects, and beautification |
| Adaptive Layouts/UI Kits | Prebuilt UI for rapid deployment; customizable screens/components via SDKs and React | Prebuilt/low-code UIKits for quick launches; fully customizable layouts; device management |
| Messaging/Chat | In-session chat (text, emojis, moderation), chat recording, event-driven interactions | Full-featured in-app chat: high concurrency, unread count, offline/unstable network support, secure & GDPR-compliant |
| Cloud Recording | Supports all live rooms (video, audio, chat); Multiple formats & storage management | Global, multi-cloud, secure cloud recording with recovery and flexible output options |
| File Sharing | Not a focus (via integrations) | This 100ms alternative supports all primary documents, PDFs, images, H5/classroom import, and cross-platform |
| Engagement/AI Features | Polls, Q&A, chat, hand-raising, breakout; Custom events, analytics for engagement | AR beautification, avatars, virtual backgrounds, live gifts/reactions, AI-powered real-time translation & transcription, automated content moderation, AI voice effects, background noise suppression, gesture & mood detection, smart recommendations, auto attendance logs, face filters, emotion/mood recognition, audience heatmaps/scoring, and programmable chat filtering. |
100ms vs ZEGOCLOUD: Pricing Comparison
In the debate of 100ms vs ZEGOCLOUD, price is the central aspect that makes any platform suitable for beginners and large-scale application developers. Therefore, this section provides a detailed comparison of the pricing models to help you select the best option.
100ms Pricings
| Pricing Plans | 100ms |
|---|---|
| Free | Conferencing: 10,000 mins/month Streaming: 10,000 mins/month Encoding: 1,000 mins/month Live Transcription:300 mins/month Recording:300 mins/ month External Streaming (RTMP out):300 mins/month Post Call Transcription:300 mins/month AI-Generated Summary:300 mins/month |
| Pay As You Go (SD) | Conferencing: $0.004/min/participant Streaming: $0.0012/min/viewer Encoding: $0.04/min Live Transcription: $0.017/min Recording: $0.0135/min External Streaming (RTMP out): $0.04/min Post Call Transcription: $0.004/min AI-Generated Summary:$0.0035/min |
| Notable Billing Points | Usage-based; separate billing for each role (viewer, host, recorder, streamer); higher resolution = higher cost |
ZEGOCLOUD Pricings
| Pricing Plans | ZEGOCLOUD |
|---|---|
| Voice Call | $0.99/1,000 participant minutes |
| Video Call | Starting $3.99/1,000 participant minutes |
| Live Streaming | $0.39/1,000 minutes [Audio] Starting 1.49/1,000 minutes [Video] |
| In-App Chat | Starting $99/10,000 MAU |
| AI Effects | Starting $584/2 platforms/month |
| Super Board | $1.99/1,000 participant minutes |
| Cloud Recording | Starting $0.59/1,000 recording minutes |
| Analytics Dashboard | $299/month |
| Notable Billing Points | Usage-based (audio billed as audio, video as video), monthly/annual/enterprise; discount for startups |
100ms vs ZEGOCLOUD: Support Comparison
If you seek to know whether ZEGOCLOUD is a better alternative to 100ms, head to the support table given below. Thus, this will aid you in choosing the one that best fits your project needs.
| Support Aspect | 100ms | ZEGOCLOUD |
|---|---|---|
| Support Channels | Email support, Web-based chat, Documentation & API reference, developer community forum, ticketing for technical issues, managed onboarding for large clients | 24/7 technical support (email, web chat), live chat within the dashboard, telephone (enterprise plans), dedicated integration team, premium mail, and chat support |
| Availability | Standard support provides basic help for most plans, premium support (faster SLAs) with higher plans, and enterprise SLAs by contract | This alternative to 100ms has 24/7 support for all paid plans, a fast response guaranteed for enterprise/starter, and an integration team available outside regular hours |
| Type of Support | Developer-centric troubleshooting, SDK/API integration help, guidance for custom workflows, webinars for onboarding, product roadmap discussions for partners | Fast onboarding via guided setup, help with SDK/UIKits adoption, live event assistance (enterprise), integration, debugging, and ops consulting |
| Knowledge Base | Extensive, developer-focused docs, guides, API changelogs & migration guides, community Q&A/articles | Comprehensive multi-language docs, step-by-step guides & changelogs, use-case specific tutorials, regularly updated FAQs, and best practices |
| Training Resources | Recorded/interactive webinars, code samples, Slack/Discord channels, video tutorials (YouTube, site) | Onboarding workshops, video walkthroughs & webinars, 1:1 tutorials for enterprise/on request, blog community with implementation stories |
| Dedicated Support/Manager | Account manager for enterprise plans, premium support option for fast-track issues | Dedicated integration/customer success manager for high-tier plans, priority/escalated support for VIP clients |
| International/Language | Unlike the 100ms alternative, it has English-only official support, and the Docs and guides are mainly in English | Mainly English, some resources in Chinese and Japanese, and live chat in English; language-expanding (2025) |
| Support for Updates/Migrations | Detailed migration guides for SDK/API changes, Compatibility docs, and early access for partners | Scheduled migration help, live support during major upgrades, changelog alert emails for critical releases |
Conclusion
Summing up, selecting the right app development platform is crucial, which is why this article has resolved the 100ms vs ZEGOCLOUD debate. Among them, we recommend using ZEGOCLOUD since it supports global access, 24/7 live support, quick integration, and prebuilt 20+ UIKits. Hence, all these aspects make it a developer-friendly choice for building real-time audio, video, and interactive applications.
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