FreeSWITCH
With the legacy purge done, FreeSWITCH spent 1.11.2 bounds-checking everything that parses bytes
Comparison · Meetings
HOMER vs Asterisk
A side-by-side editorial comparison of HOMER and Asterisk — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
HOMER vs Asterisk: at a glance
What is HOMER?
Three security advisories in three days as HOMER locks down the query layer it just opened up.
HOMER ships multiple patch releases per day against a single 11.0.x line, and the work is overwhelmingly corrective rather than additive. Two long-running threads dominate: unifying HEP capture identity (node_id, node_name, "Capture ID") across the results table, filters and Prometheus labels, and keeping DuckDB/DuckLake storage honest. In the first week of August a third thread took over — three separate GHSA advisories closed in 11.0.309, and 11.0.313.
What is Asterisk?
Four parallel branches, one fix set — Asterisk's changelog is a backport ledger, not a feature list.
Asterisk maintains mainline 20, 22 and 23 branches alongside a certified track, and lands each fix set across all of them at once. The June 25 batch was a coordinated security release resolving roughly 20 advisories on every branch simultaneously. The August 7 batch opens the next cycle with release candidates carrying identical commit, author and issue counts across 23.5.0, 22.11.0 and 20.21.0.
HOMER vs Asterisk: editorial side-by-side
HOMER
5.0MEETINGS
Three security advisories in three days as HOMER locks down the query layer it just opened up.
◆ Current state
HOMER ships multiple patch releases per day against a single 11.0.x line, and the work is overwhelmingly corrective rather than additive. Two long-running threads dominate: unifying HEP capture identity (node_id, node_name, "Capture ID") across the results table, filters and Prometheus labels, and keeping DuckDB/DuckLake storage honest. In the first week of August a third thread took over — three separate GHSA advisories closed in 11.0.309, and 11.0.313.
◆ Where it's heading
The security run is not incidental: each advisory lands on surface area the project recently added. The node query endpoint and DuckDB's external scanners are exactly the pieces that make HOMER queryable beyond its own UI, and they are now being fenced with token auth and a stricter SQL validator. Expect the identity-unification work to keep filling patch releases while the query layer hardens around it, since both are prerequisites for anyone building on captured data rather than just reading it.
◆ Prediction
The next releases likely continue tightening ValidateRawSQL and the node auth path, since two of the three August advisories came from that one surface. Whether the MCP natural-language parser seen in 11.0.308 grows past instrumentation is not yet visible in these entries.
Asterisk
5.0MEETINGS
Four parallel branches, one fix set — Asterisk's changelog is a backport ledger, not a feature list.
◆ Current state
Asterisk maintains mainline 20, 22 and 23 branches alongside a certified track, and lands each fix set across all of them at once. The June 25 batch was a coordinated security release resolving roughly 20 advisories on every branch simultaneously. The August 7 batch opens the next cycle with release candidates carrying identical commit, author and issue counts across 23.5.0, 22.11.0 and 20.21.0.
◆ Where it's heading
The visible output is backport discipline rather than feature development. Release notes carry counts, tags and advisory IDs but no feature text, so the changelog reads as a stability and security ledger for a mature telephony core. The certified track deliberately lags mainline and picks up a smaller subset of each cycle.
◆ Prediction
The three release candidates should promote to final within the project's usual short RC window, with the certified branch taking the same fixes a cycle later. Nothing in these entries points to feature work in flight.
Alternatives to HOMER and Asterisk
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 HOMER or Asterisk.
Switcher Studio
Switcher Studio's tracked feed is search-driven streaming education, not product news.
3CX
3CX is bolting AI onto the PBX and rewriting its licensing to match
CallHippo
CallHippo is arguing that compliance, not features, is what sells business calling.
Intermedia
A UCaaS marketing blog split between buyer education and channel-partner enablement.
Restream
Restream is pushing past creator multistreaming into webinars and agent control.
See all HOMER alternatives → · See all Asterisk alternatives →
Recent activity from HOMER and Asterisk
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoHOMERNode query API gains token auth; DuckDB external scanners blocked
- 2d agoAsteriskCertified 22.8-cert4: 8 community-reported fixes
- 2d agoAsterisk23.5.0-rc1 opens the cycle with 27 issues resolved
- 2d agoAsterisk22.11.0-rc1 mirrors the 23.5.0 fix set
- 2d agoAsterisk20.21.0-rc1 carries the same set back to the LTS line
- 3d agoHOMERHEP node names reach search, results and Prometheus labels
- 3d agoHOMERDuckDB reconnects on catalog refresh
- 3d agoHOMERAdmin-role self-escalation blocked in the users API
- 3d agoHOMERCall flow consolidates messages by Capture ID
- 4d agoHOMERResults columns relabel node_id as Capture ID
- 1mo agoAsterisk23.4.1 security release resolves 20 advisories
- 1mo agoAsterisk22.10.1 takes the same 20-advisory security set
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between HOMER and Asterisk?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. HOMER and Asterisk 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 HOMER better than Asterisk?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. HOMER and Asterisk 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 HOMER?
Top HOMER alternatives in Meetings are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "HOMER alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/homer-voip for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
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.