Comparison
Castio vs Daily.co
A complete video platform you deploy in minutes -- or a video SDK you build with for months. Different tools for different needs.
A finished product vs. a building toolkit
Daily.co and Castio solve different problems. Understanding the difference saves you months.
Daily.co
Video API / SDK
Daily gives you a powerful video SDK. You embed their video engine into your application and build everything else: the user interface, user management, scheduling, recording workflows, analytics dashboards, and branding.
Castio
Complete video platform
Castio is a finished, production-ready video platform. It deploys onto your own Cloudflare account with everything built in: UI, users, scheduling, recording, AI transcription, analytics, and full branding. No engineering required.
Think of it this way: Daily gives you lumber, nails, and blueprints. Castio gives you a finished house on land you own.
Feature-by-feature comparison
What you get out of the box with each approach.
| Category | Daily.co | Castio |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | Video SDK -- you build the rest | Complete app, ready to use |
| Time to launch | 4-12+ weeks of engineering | Minutes |
| UI | Prebuilt components or build your own | 136 production UI components |
| User management | You build it | Built-in, 5-tier roles |
| Scheduling | You build it | Built-in RRULE, RSVP |
| Recording | Cloud recording, stored on Daily's servers | Built-in, stored on your R2 |
| AI / Transcription | Available as add-on | Built-in Whisper v3 Turbo |
| Analytics | Basic API metrics, you build dashboard | Built-in analytics dashboard |
| Branding | Style the embedded component | Full white-label, custom domain |
| Data location | Daily's infrastructure | Your Cloudflare account |
| Pricing model | ~$0.004/participant-minute (variable) | ~$5-25/mo flat infra + license (TBD) |
Where Daily.co wins
Daily is a strong product. Here's where it's the better choice.
Embeddable SDK
Daily's SDK drops directly into your existing application. Castio is a standalone platform -- it doesn't embed inside another app.
Native mobile SDKs
iOS, Android, React Native, and Flutter SDKs. Castio currently has no native mobile SDKs -- it's browser-based.
Noise cancellation
Daily offers Krisp-powered noise cancellation built into their SDK. Castio does not currently include noise cancellation.
SIP/PSTN dial-in
Daily supports phone dial-in via SIP and PSTN. Castio is internet-only -- no phone bridge.
Deep custom integrations
As an SDK, Daily gives you more flexibility to build custom video workflows deeply integrated into your product.
Larger team & mature SDK
Daily has a larger engineering team and a more mature SDK ecosystem. Their documentation and support are well-established.
Bottom line: If you're building a product where video is embedded inside your existing application -- like a telehealth platform with custom patient workflows, or a classroom app with custom student views -- Daily's SDK gives you the control you need.
Where Castio wins
When you want a complete video platform -- not a building project.
Complete platform
No engineering required. Everything is built in -- users, roles, scheduling, analytics, branding, recording, AI.
Your infrastructure
Runs on your Cloudflare account, not Daily's servers. You own the data, the infrastructure, and the deployment.
No per-minute pricing
Flat Cloudflare infrastructure costs (~$5-25/mo) instead of variable per-minute billing that scales with usage.
Full white-label
Custom domain, logo, brand colors, themes. Your platform looks like yours, not a third-party widget.
136 UI components
Production-ready interface from day one. No designing, building, or maintaining a frontend.
AI included, not add-on
Whisper v3 Turbo transcription and AI meeting summaries are built in. Not a separately billed add-on.
Zero vendor dependency
After deployment, no traffic routes through Castio. The vendor disappears at runtime. Your platform runs independently.
Minutes, not months
Deploy a production video platform in minutes. No frontend to build, no backend to architect, no infrastructure to provision.
The real cost comparison
Daily charges per participant-minute. It adds up faster than you'd expect -- and that's before counting the engineering cost.
Daily.co per-minute costs at scale
At ~$0.004/participant-minute
| Monthly usage | Daily.co cost | Castio infra cost |
|---|---|---|
| 10,000 participant-minutes | ~$40/mo | ~$5-25/mo |
| 100,000 participant-minutes | ~$400/mo | ~$5-25/mo |
| 500,000 participant-minutes | ~$2,000/mo | ~$5-25/mo |
Daily.co costs based on published pricing. Castio shows estimated Cloudflare infrastructure costs only; Castio license fee is separate (pricing TBD). Add-ons like recording, transcription, and streaming increase Daily costs further.
The cost you don't see on the pricing page
Daily's SDK is the starting line, not the finish line. Building a production app on top of it takes real engineering time.
Engineering time
4-12+ weeks
UI, auth, scheduling, recording workflows, analytics, branding
Engineering cost
~$24,000 - $96,000+
At $150-200/hr for experienced developers
Castio: deploy in minutes. The entire platform is already built.
When to choose Daily instead
Castio isn't for everyone. Here's when Daily is the right call.
Video embedded inside your existing app
If you're building a telehealth platform, an online classroom, or any app where video is a feature inside a larger product, Daily's embeddable SDK is exactly what you need. Castio is a standalone platform -- it doesn't embed into other applications.
Native mobile apps required
If your product needs native iOS and Android SDKs with deep mobile integration, Daily has mature mobile SDKs. Castio is currently browser-based.
Highly custom video workflows
If you need pixel-level control over the video experience, custom layouts for specific use cases, or deep integration with proprietary systems, an SDK gives you that flexibility.
Phone dial-in or noise cancellation needed
If participants need to join via phone (SIP/PSTN) or you require built-in noise cancellation (Krisp), Daily supports these features. Castio does not currently offer either.
Daily is a good product for its use case. Castio is a different kind of product for a different kind of need. Pick the right tool for your situation.
Want a video platform, not a building project?
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