Why Build AlienMeet?

I’ve built multiple apps using WebRTC, like Dverse. Compared to video calls on platforms like WhatsApp or Google Meet, I found WebRTC to be significantly faster. This is because it eliminates the third party through which all data is routed, resulting in improved speed and enhanced privacy.
That’s why I built AlienMeet — a faster, more private way to connect.

Centralized vs Decentralized Video Calls

centralized (zoom) vs decentralized (alienmeet)

How it works

  • When the user provides camera and microphone permissions and clicks on 'Talk to Aliens', a WebSocket connection is created to a server. The server assigns a peerId to the system and attempts to find an open peer to match the user with. Once a match is found, the server shares their WebSocket connections with each other, and the frontend code handles all the sending and receiving of audio and video streams.

  • As you can see, there is no centralization here. The server is only used to connect random peers with each other. This kind of server is called a Signaling Server, and it does not store any user data.

Tech Used

  • The entire project is built using TypeScript.

  • Vite.js is used for frontend development.

  • Node.js is used for the server application.

Overview of webRTC

In simple terms, WebRTC enables two systems to connect and exchange media streams (like video and audio) directly without using a third-party server. WebRTC uses JavaScript APIs such as RTCPeerConnection and RTCDataChannel to connect, listen, and transmit streams. It also employs ICE Candidates, STUN servers, and TURN servers to establish and maintain peer-to-peer connections.

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Here is the repository with this article: AlienMeet GitHub Repo