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Room Types Explained

Understanding different types of rooms and when to use them

Fishjam provides three distinct room types, each optimized for different use cases and scenarios. Understanding these room types helps you choose the right approach for your application.

Conference Rooms (Default)​

What are Conference Rooms?​

Conference rooms are the default room type designed for multi-participant video conferencing scenarios. They support all Fishjam features and provide the most flexibility.

Key Characteristics​

  • Multi-participant: Support for many participants simultaneously
  • Bidirectional media: All participants can send and receive video/audio
  • Multiple sources: Participants can share their camera, screen, microphone and more all at once
  • Flexible track management: Participants can add/remove tracks dynamically

Best Use Cases​

  • Video conferencing applications
  • Interactive webinars with participant engagement

Cost Considerations​

Conference rooms are priced based on total connection time of all peers.

Audio-only Rooms​

What are Audio-only Rooms?​

Audio-only rooms are optimized specifically for voice communication, removing video capabilities to improve performance and reduce costs.

Key Characteristics​

  • Voice-only communication: No video tracks allowed
  • Cheap pricing: Audio only rooms cost much less than other room types
  • Optimized network usage: Works well in degraded network conditions

Best Use Cases​

  • Audio chat applications
  • Podcast recording with multiple participants
  • Large-scale audio events (town halls, announcements)

Cost Benefits​

Audio-only rooms come at a 75% discount compared to conference rooms:

  • 2 peers for 30 minutes = 60 minutes total time in conference room
  • Same scenario in audio-only room = 15 minutes equivalent cost

Video Behavior in Audio-only Rooms​

If you attempt to add video to an audio-only room:

  • Video tracks are ignored (not transmitted)
  • SDKs log warnings to help with debugging
  • Only audio from screen sharing is transmitted
  • No errors thrown, graceful degradation

Livestream Rooms​

What are Livestream Rooms?​

Livestream rooms are designed for one-to-many livestreaming scenarios where a single streamer streams to multiple viewers.

Key Characteristics​

  • One sender: Only one streamer can send media
  • Many receivers: Unlimited viewers can watch
  • Optimized for scale: Efficient distribution architecture

Livestreaming Limitations​

  • Single video track: Only one video stream allowed
  • Single audio track: Only one audio stream allowed
  • Additional tracks ignored: Extra tracks are not forwarded to viewers

Viewer Experience​

  • Configurable access: Livestreams can either be public, where anyone with the stream's ID can join, or private, where every viewer needs a token
  • Standard compatibility: Any WHEP-compatible player works

Best Use Cases​

  • Live events
  • Streaming platforms and content distribution
  • Corporate livestreams and announcements
  • Sports and entertainment streaming

Cost Benefits​

Livestream rooms are 20% cheaper than conference rooms for equivalent usage.

Choosing the Right Room Type​

Decision Matrix​

Use CaseRoom TypeWhy
Classic video meetingsConferenceMultiple video sources
Voice-only meetingsAudio-onlyCheapest and most performant option
Live PodcastsAudio-onlyCheapest and most performant option
Sport streamingLivestreamHighly scalable and cheaper than conference
Interactive workshopConferenceMultiple video sources

Next Steps​

To understand how to implement each room type:

To learn about the underlying architecture:

Ready to start building? Check our tutorials: