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Comparison · Meetings

Asterisk vs Fourwaves

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Asterisk and Fourwaves — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Asterisk vs Fourwaves: at a glance

FeatureAsteriskFourwaves
SectorMeetingsMeetings
Velocity score5.05.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesbackport discipline, multi-branch releases, maintenance cycle, telephony coreevent management, organizer tools, payments, security
Last editorial update2mo ago16h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Asterisk?

The three-branch cycle closes: 20, 22 and 23 all promote to final with the same 28-issue set.

The release round that opened on August 7 has finished. Asterisk 20.21.0, 22.11.0 and 23.5.0 all tagged within a minute of each other, each carrying 39 commits from 16 authors, 28 resolved issues and zero security advisories. The counts are identical across all three branches, which is the same backport-in-lockstep pattern the certified track and the June security round both followed.

Read the full Asterisk trajectory →

What is Fourwaves?

Fourwaves follows its participant inbox with a week of admin fixes and security hardening.

Fourwaves ships small daily updates. After the Oct 19 participant DM inbox came: admins of organizations with a delegated payment gateway can connect it to events without waiting for approval, sessions without times can have presentations reordered, and a second round of fixes from an internal security audit. One entry is a header-divider style change.

Read the full Fourwaves trajectory →

Asterisk vs Fourwaves: editorial side-by-side

A
Asterisk
MEETINGS
5.0

The three-branch cycle closes: 20, 22 and 23 all promote to final with the same 28-issue set.

◆ Current state

The release round that opened on August 7 has finished. Asterisk 20.21.0, 22.11.0 and 23.5.0 all tagged within a minute of each other, each carrying 39 commits from 16 authors, 28 resolved issues and zero security advisories. The counts are identical across all three branches, which is the same backport-in-lockstep pattern the certified track and the June security round both followed.

◆ Where it's heading

Nothing about the shape has changed: three mainline branches plus a certified track, one fix set, promoted together. The rc1-to-rc2-to-final progression narrowed from 27 issues to a single websocket segfault fix and then closed, which is a cycle converging on schedule. Release bodies still publish counts and links rather than user-facing notes, so the feed measures release discipline rather than product direction.

◆ Prediction

Expect the certified track to pick up this same fix set in its next cert release, following the lag it showed after the June round. The next mainline round should open with rc1 tags on all three branches again.

F
Fourwaves
MEETINGS
5.0

Fourwaves follows its participant inbox with a week of admin fixes and security hardening.

◆ Current state

Fourwaves ships small daily updates. After the Oct 19 participant DM inbox came: admins of organizations with a delegated payment gateway can connect it to events without waiting for approval, sessions without times can have presentations reordered, and a second round of fixes from an internal security audit. One entry is a header-divider style change.

◆ Where it's heading

The product moves in two lanes: networking features for participants (DM alerts, then the inbox) and less organizer friction around payments, data tables and session scheduling. The security-audit follow-ups suggest more hardening releases are coming.

◆ Prediction

Expect more small organizer-workflow fixes and further security-audit releases. Participant messaging may get moderation or notification controls next.

Alternatives to Asterisk and Fourwaves

Other Meetings products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Asterisk or Fourwaves.

See all Asterisk alternatives → · See all Fourwaves alternatives →

Recent activity from Asterisk and Fourwaves

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 1d agoFourwavesRegistration emails now include a calendar file
  2. 2d agoFourwavesEvent assistant now reviews all event website text
  3. 5d agoFourwavesDelegated payment gateways connect to events without approval
  4. 6d agoFourwavesHeader divider now vertical on desktop
  5. 7d agoFourwavesReorder presentations in sessions without set times
  6. 8d agoFourwavesMore security fixes from the internal audit
  7. 2mo agoAsterisk22.11.0 promotes to final with 28 issues resolved
  8. 2mo agoAsterisk23.5.0 closes the cycle on the newest mainline branch
  9. 2mo agoAsterisk20.21.0 carries the same fix set back to the LTS line
  10. 2mo agoAsterisk23.5.0-rc2: single fix for a websocket PONG segfault
  11. 2mo agoAsterisk20.21.0-rc2 takes the same one-commit websocket fix
  12. 2mo agoAsterisk22.11.0-rc2 mirrors the websocket PONG crash fix

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Asterisk and Fourwaves?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Asterisk and Fourwaves are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Asterisk better than Fourwaves?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Asterisk and Fourwaves are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Meetings products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Asterisk?

Top Asterisk alternatives in Meetings are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Asterisk alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/asterisk for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Fourwaves?

Top Fourwaves alternatives in Meetings are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Fourwaves alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/fourwaves for the full list with editorial commentary on each.