How Janus and Baidu WebRTC relate

The relationship between Janus Gateway and Baidu WebRTC (libwebrtc) is subtle but important. Here’s a breakdown:

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How Janus and Baidu WebRTC relate

	Janus Gateway	Baidu WebRTC (libwebrtc)
What it is	A media server for WebRTC (written in C)	The WebRTC implementation used in browsers (C++)
Role	Server-side handler for WebRTC sessions, SFU	Client-side WebRTC stack (browsers, mobile SDKs)
Uses libwebrtc?	❌ No, it does not use Baidu’s libwebrtc	✅ Yes, used in Chrome, Firefox, Android, etc.
Language	Written in C (not C++)	Written in C++, designed for browsers & apps
Focus	Routing, mixing, recording, plugins	PeerConnection, ICE, DTLS, codecs

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So how do they “work together”?

When you use Janus Gateway with a browser:

• The browser side uses Baidu’s libwebrtc under the hood to handle:

  • Media capture
  • ICE negotiation
  • DTLS/SRTP encryption
  • Codec handling

• The Janus server:

  • Accepts and handles WebRTC signaling
  • Terminates ICE/DTLS/SRTP connections
  • Acts as a Selective Forwarding Unit (SFU) — relaying video/audio streams
  • Provides plugins (e.g., video room, echo test, streaming, etc.)

Even though Janus doesn’t use libwebrtc, it implements the WebRTC protocol stack on the server side — in its own way, written from scratch in C.

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️ Why Janus avoids libwebrtc

Janus authors chose not to use Baidu’s libwebrtc because:

• It’s a huge and complex dependency
• It’s hard to embed into C-based projects
• It’s focused on peer-to-peer and client-side use cases
• Janus only needs enough of the protocol to terminate and route streams

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Summary

• Janus Gateway is a standalone WebRTC server implementation — written in C, not using libwebrtc
• Browsers use Baidu’s libwebrtc to talk WebRTC protocols
• They interoperate via standard protocols: ICE, DTLS, SRTP, SDP

If you’re building with WebRTC in the browser and using Janus, you’re bridging Baidu’s libwebrtc (browser) to Janus (server) over standard protocols.