ConnectionOpen

What ConnectionOpen does

ConnectionOpen, Inc. is a privately held software company, incorporated in Nevada in 2007 and headquartered in Austin, Texas, that develops a remote audio recording and collaboration platform targeted primarily at professional voice actors, recording studios, podcasters, musicians, and music educators. The company's core product is a low-latency, uncompressed-audio VOIP application that enables real-time remote recording sessions with audio fidelity comparable to in-studio work, addressing a workflow historically dependent on expensive ISDN lines or competing tools such as Source Connect.

The platform is built on patented peer-to-peer communication technology protected by two US patents (8,301,790 and 8,918,541), which delivers uncompressed audio transmission with near-zero latency. The product surface includes a standalone desktop application for Windows and Mac, native DAW plugins in AAX (Pro Tools), AU (Logic Pro), and VST (Ableton Live and others) formats, and an iPad/iOS app. Capabilities span audio/video sessions with screen sharing, built-in session recording that splits solo and combined tracks, stereo audio support, and up to three simultaneous participants per session. The company has released 100+ product versions, with major feature additions concentrated between January 2020 and December 2021.

ConnectionOpen operates a product-led, self-serve go-to-market motion. Revenue is generated through a three-tier monthly subscription model (Basic $15/month, Standard $30/month, Pro $90/month) with a 20% annual discount and doubled day-pass allocations, supplemented by $10 single-use 24-hour day passes and a freemium tier offering three free day passes on signup plus a 7-day free trial. Customer acquisition is community-led, driven by testimonials from high-profile voice actors (Rob Paulsen, Dave Fennoy, Corey Burton), endorsements from professional studios (CastVoices, NYAV POST, Monster Sound & Picture, Buggin Media), referral incentives, and earned media coverage including a MusicTech Innovation Award. The company has no disclosed institutional funding and operates with a 1–10 person team.

Name

ConnectionOpen

Legal name

ConnectionOpen, Inc.

Website

https://connectionopen.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ConnectionOpen is a privately held Austin-based software company that provides a patented low-latency uncompressed-audio collaboration platform for voice actors, recording studios, podcasters, musicians, and music educators to conduct professional remote recording sessions.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Austin

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Monthly Subscription Plans: Three-tier subscription model (Basic, Standard, Pro) providing unlimited monthly access to the service. Plans include varying numbers of transferable day passes to gift to non-subscribing contacts. Annual billing available at 20% discount with doubled pass allocations.
2. Day Passes: Single-use 24-hour access passes for casual users. Activated when a non-subscribing member makes or accepts a session. Can be purchased individually or received as gifts from subscribers.
3. Freemium/Trial: Free tier with 3 day passes for new account signups. 7-day free trial on all subscription plans. No credit card required for trial signups.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ConnectionOpen is a low-latency, uncompressed audio VOIP software platform that lets voice talent, podcasters, musicians, and studios record and collaborate remotely with studio-quality fidelity. The platform offers a desktop application for Windows and Mac, native plugins for Pro Tools, Logic Pro, and Ableton Live, and an iPad app, all delivering near-zero-latency peer-to-peer audio, video streaming, screen sharing, and built-in multi-track session recording.

Product overview

ConnectionOpen is a unified remote collaboration platform centered around low-latency, uncompressed audio transmission. The core product is the ConnectionOpen desktop application for Windows and Mac, which provides VOIP communication with near-zero latency using patented technology. This core platform is supplemented by three DAW plugin variants (AAX for Pro Tools, AU for Logic Pro, and VST for Ableton Live and others) that embed the same functionality directly inside professional audio workstations. A companion iPad/iOS app extends the platform to mobile workflows. All variants enable real-time audio/video collaboration, screen sharing, and built-in session recording with support for up to three simultaneous participants.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• ConnectionOpen Desktop Application Standalone Windows and Mac application providing low-latency, uncompressed audio VOIP sessions with webcam video, screen sharing, built-in session recording with solo and session track splitting, and support for up to three simultaneous participants; aimed at voice actors, podcasters, studios, and musicians.
• ConnectionOpen AAX Plugin (for Pro Tools) AAX audio plugin for Avid Pro Tools enabling remote uncompressed-audio recording and collaboration directly inside the Pro Tools DAW workspace; requires 48 kHz sample rate and 128 sample buffer size.
• ConnectionOpen AU Plugin (for Logic Pro and other AU DAWs) Audio Unit plugin for macOS compatible with Logic Pro and other AU-supported DAWs, embedding the ConnectionOpen remote collaboration workflow directly inside the host DAW.
• ConnectionOpen VST Plugin (for Ableton Live and other VST DAWs) VST plugin for Windows and Mac providing the same remote uncompressed-audio collaboration capabilities inside Ableton Live and other VST-compatible DAWs.
• ConnectionOpen iPad / iOS App Native iPad / iOS app delivering the same uncompressed, low-latency audio collaboration features as the desktop platform on iPad devices running iPadOS 13.0 or later.

Quantifiable outcome

• Zero perceivable latency according to multiple professional voice actors
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration4 records

Feature8 records

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ipDTL: ipDTL offers broadcast-quality, low-latency audio links over IP for radio broadcasters, voice-over artists, and studios. It targets a similar professional remote-recording use case as ConnectionOpen, particularly in broadcast voice-over workflows.
• SessionLinkPRO: SessionLinkPRO provides multi-channel, low-latency audio transmission over the internet for remote recording sessions, primarily used by voice actors, musicians, and studios. It competes head-to-head with ConnectionOpen in the professional remote-recording workflow.
• Cleanfeed: Cleanfeed is a real-time, high-quality remote audio collaboration platform used by voice actors, podcasters, and audio post-production professionals. It offers uncompressed or lossless audio connections and competes with ConnectionOpen in the voice-over and podcast recording market.
• Source Elements (Source Connect): Source Connect is the dominant remote recording solution for voice-over and music production, transmitting near-zero-latency audio between studios and talent. ConnectionOpen explicitly positions itself as a 'cost-effective alternative to Source Connect,' making it the closest direct competitor.
• Riverside.fm: Riverside.fm provides studio-quality remote video and audio recording for podcasters, with local recording on each participant's device. It is a leading direct competitor in the remote podcast/voice recording category that ConnectionOpen also serves.
• SquadCast (by DISCO): SquadCast (now part of DISCO) is a remote podcast recording platform offering high-quality local recordings synced in the cloud, widely used by professional podcasters. It competes with ConnectionOpen in the remote podcasting segment.

Broad incumbents

• Zoom Video Communications: Zoom is a broad incumbent in video conferencing used as a default for remote podcast recording, voice sessions, and music lessons. While it doesn't match ConnectionOpen's uncompressed audio quality, its ubiquity and ease of use make it the most common substitute for casual users.
• Audinate (Dante): Audinate's Dante platform is the dominant standard for networked audio in professional studios, with Dante AVIO adapters enabling audio over IP between studios. While focused on facility-level networking, it represents a broader incumbent in low-latency audio networking that intersects with ConnectionOpen's domain.

Emerging players

• Rode Connect: Rode Connect is Rode's free podcasting and streaming software offering multi-microphone recording and broadcast-quality audio. It targets the same podcaster/creator audience as ConnectionOpen but with a different value proposition (hardware-bundled software vs. remote real-time collaboration).
• Zencastr: Zencastr is a remote recording platform for podcasters offering lossless local recording and cloud storage. It competes with ConnectionOpen in the podcast remote recording segment, though with a different primary use case (asynchronous local recording vs. real-time uncompressed collaboration).

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/connectionopen1
• Facebookfacebook.com/ConnectionOpen1
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/connectionopen

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ConnectionOpen