What’s the best WebRTC API for a mobile app?

There isn’t a single “best” WebRTC API for every mobile app — the right choice depends on whether you’re building native iOS/Android, cross-platform, and whether you need audio/video calls, screen sharing, or just data channels.

Best overall choices

1) Native WebRTC SDKs

• Best for: highest performance, full control, real-time audio/video apps
• Options:
  • Google’s WebRTC native library
  • Commercial SDKs built on WebRTC, like Agora, Twilio, Vonage, Dolby.io, LiveKit
• Pros: low-level control, best quality, mature ecosystem
• Cons: more integration complexity, more signaling/infrastructure work if using raw WebRTC

2) Agora / Twilio / LiveKit / Vonage SDKs

• Best for: fastest time-to-market for mobile calling apps
• Pros: ready-made mobile SDKs, NAT traversal, scaling, recording, moderation, etc.
• Cons: vendor lock-in, usage costs

3) React Native / Flutter WebRTC libraries

• Best for: cross-platform apps
• Examples:
  • React Native: react-native-webrtc
  • Flutter: flutter_webrtc
• Pros: share code across iOS/Android
• Cons: sometimes lag behind native support; debugging can be harder

My practical recommendation

• If you want to ship fast: Twilio or Agora
• If you want more control and lower cost at scale: LiveKit or native WebRTC
• If you're building in React Native/Flutter: use their WebRTC packages, but expect some native work

Important note

WebRTC itself is only the media layer. You still need:

• signaling (to exchange offers/answers/ICE)
• STUN/TURN servers
• often a backend for auth, room management, and scaling

If you tell me:

1. iOS/Android native or Flutter/React Native,
2. video calls or audio only, and
3. your budget / need for scaling,

I can recommend the best specific API or SDK.