# What is Zoom RTMS?

> Zoom Realtime Media Streams (RTMS) is Zoom's native pipeline for delivering a meeting's audio, video, screen share and transcript to your application.

Source: https://meetstream.ai/glossary/zoom-rtms

*By Sidhdharth Sivasubramanian, Co-founder and CEO, MeetStream*

Zoom Realtime Media Streams (RTMS) is Zoom's own way to send a meeting to your application in real time.

It carries audio, video, screen share and transcript over WebSockets.

No bot joins the meeting. It reached general availability on 25 June 2025.

It needs a Zoom Marketplace app that an admin has enabled for the host or a participant.

- **Zoom meeting**: app enabled
- **rtms_started**: webhook to you
- **Your app**: opens WebSockets
- **Media**: audio, video, share

*Zoom tells your app the meeting started; your app connects and receives the media. No bot joins.*

## How RTMS works

Instead of a client in the room, RTMS is a server-side stream.

- **A meeting starts**: One that has your app
- **Start webhook**: Carrying the server URLs
- **Your app connects**: Signalling and media sockets
- **Media arrives**: Audio, video, screen, transcript

*A webhook, a signed handshake, then media, with no waiting room step.*

Zoom shows participants a clear disclosure that meeting content is being shared with an app.

The app name appears on the tile of the participant running it.

Hosts can require approval.

## What RTMS needs first

The trade-off is scope. Three things have to be in place.

- Requirement
- What it is
- Who sets it up
- **Marketplace app**: A Zoom app with RTMS You, once
- **Enablement**: For the account, group or user An account admin
- **Developer Pack credits**: Consumed as the stream runs The customer RTMS is Zoom only. It does not help with Google Meet or Microsoft Teams at all.

*Three requirements, all of them on the customer side.*

## RTMS vs a meeting bot

A bot works on any Zoom meeting you can get a link for, on accounts you do not control.

It behaves the same way on Meet and Teams.

RTMS is the better path when every meeting is on Zoom and your users will install your app.

A bot API is the better path as soon as a second platform shows up, or an account you do not control.

Many teams run both: RTMS for their own tenant, a bot for everything else.

| | RTMS | Meeting bot |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Zoom only | Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams |
| Presence in the meeting | No tile of its own; a disclosure and the app name on the running participant's tile | Visible named participant |
| Requires | Marketplace app enabled by an admin, Developer Pack credits | A meeting link |
| Media | Audio, video, screen share and transcript from Zoom | Audio, video, transcript; per participant on Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams |
| Consent surface | Disclosure to participants; optional host approval | Zoom host recording prompt |

## Where MeetStream stands

MeetStream bots join Zoom through the Meeting SDK today.

[OBF](https://meetstream.ai/glossary/zoom-obf) or [ZAK](https://meetstream.ai/glossary/zoom-zak) handles the token side.

RTMS support is in progress alongside our Zoom partnership work.

When it lands, it becomes one more way for the same create-bot request to collect media.

The webhooks and artefact endpoints you build against stay the same.

The [Zoom integration page](https://meetstream.ai/integrations/zoom) covers the current state.

## Frequently asked questions

### Is Zoom RTMS free?

No. It consumes Zoom Developer Pack credits and must be enabled by an account admin.

### Does RTMS work for Google Meet or Teams?

No. It is Zoom only.

### Does RTMS give per-participant audio?

Yes. Zoom emits streams tagged per participant, which is one of its main attractions.

### How do MeetStream bots join Zoom today?

Bots join through the Meeting SDK, and RTMS support is on the way.

Your API calls stay exactly the same when RTMS arrives.

## Keep exploring

- [Zoom integration](https://meetstream.ai/integrations/zoom): Integration
- [Zoom OBF](https://meetstream.ai/glossary/zoom-obf): Glossary
- [Zoom ZAK](https://meetstream.ai/glossary/zoom-zak): Glossary
- [Zoom meeting bot API](https://meetstream.ai/meeting-bot-api/zoom): Product
- [Per-participant audio](https://meetstream.ai/glossary/per-participant-audio): Glossary
- [Meeting bot](https://meetstream.ai/glossary/meeting-bot): Glossary

## Put the vocabulary to work

One API to join, record, stream and transcribe meetings across Zoom, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams.

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Full site index for agents: https://meetstream.ai/llms.txt
API contract (OpenAPI 3.1): https://meetstream.ai/openapi.json
MCP discovery: https://meetstream.ai/.well-known/mcp