HOMER
HOMER patches a SQL injection in /exec and stabilizes Azure and DuckDB storage in 11.0.x
Comparison · Meetings
Asterisk vs BigBlueButton
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Asterisk and BigBlueButton — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Asterisk vs BigBlueButton: at a glance
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.
What is BigBlueButton?
BigBlueButton 4.0 enters release candidate with LiveKit fully replacing the legacy audio stack.
BigBlueButton is in its final stretch to 4.0 GA, with three release candidates shipping in September 2026. The 4.0 release is a near-complete architectural rebuild: LiveKit has replaced SIP.js and mediasoup as the default media transport, BlockNote replaced the old shared notes engine, and the mobile layout was overhauled. RC2 shipped security fixes for a cross-meeting presentation injection vulnerability, urging immediate admin updates.
Asterisk vs BigBlueButton: editorial side-by-side
Asterisk
5.0MEETINGS
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.
BigBlueButton
6.3MEETINGS
BigBlueButton 4.0 enters release candidate with LiveKit fully replacing the legacy audio stack.
◆ Current state
BigBlueButton is in its final stretch to 4.0 GA, with three release candidates shipping in September 2026. The 4.0 release is a near-complete architectural rebuild: LiveKit has replaced SIP.js and mediasoup as the default media transport, BlockNote replaced the old shared notes engine, and the mobile layout was overhauled. RC2 shipped security fixes for a cross-meeting presentation injection vulnerability, urging immediate admin updates.
◆ Where it's heading
The LiveKit migration that began in 3.x security patches has culminated in rc.1's 'LiveKit as audio state source' refactor — the legacy audio path is gone. Multi-room sessions with membership-based tokens and automatic token refresh enable scenarios (breakout listen-in, large conferences) that the old bridge couldn't cleanly support. A 4.0 GA release is imminent given the RC cadence.
◆ Prediction
4.0 GA will ship within 2-3 weeks based on the RC pace. Post-GA focus will shift to hardening the LiveKit multi-room session model and expanding BlockNote capabilities (Markdown export landed in beta.4; more collaborative editing features likely next). The successful migration may influence other open-source video conferencing projects still running legacy SFU stacks.
Alternatives to Asterisk and BigBlueButton
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 BigBlueButton.
Fourwaves
Fourwaves adds custom domain support for event websites, removing the hosted-subdomain constraint for conference organizers
JW Player
JW Player automates CMAF rendition ladders and sharpens ad attribution by player and placement
Nextcloud Talk Desktop
Nextcloud Talk Desktop is approaching Talk v25 stable while its July managed-config feature unlocks enterprise mass deployment for the first time.
Nextcloud Talk
Nextcloud Talk v25 adds classified conversations and an owner role, targeting regulated enterprise deployments.
Element Call
Element Call is removing its legacy architecture — the federated multi-SFU model is now the only option.
See all Asterisk alternatives → · See all BigBlueButton alternatives →
Recent activity from Asterisk and BigBlueButton
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 4d agoBigBlueButtonBigBlueButton 4.0-rc.3: LiveKit resilience hardening, configurable whiteboard zoom
- 5d agoBigBlueButtonBigBlueButton 4.0-rc.2: security fixes — update immediately
- 14d agoBigBlueButtonBigBlueButton 4.0-rc.1: LiveKit becomes sole audio source, multi-room sessions land ⚡
- 20d agoAsterisk22.11.0 promotes to final with 28 issues resolved
- 20d agoAsterisk23.5.0 closes the cycle on the newest mainline branch
- 20d agoAsterisk20.21.0 carries the same fix set back to the LTS line
- 27d agoAsterisk23.5.0-rc2: single fix for a websocket PONG segfault
- 27d agoAsterisk20.21.0-rc2 takes the same one-commit websocket fix
- 27d agoAsterisk22.11.0-rc2 mirrors the websocket PONG crash fix
- 1mo agoBigBlueButtonBigBlueButton 4.0-beta.5: mobile layout rebuilt, dark mode auto-switch, audio settings
- 1mo agoBigBlueButtonBigBlueButton 4.0-beta.4: LiveKit default (SIP.js removed), BlockNote default, Java 21 ⚡
- 3mo agoBigBlueButtonBigBlueButton 4.0-beta.3: Unified layout default, WASM audio processor, user search
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Asterisk and BigBlueButton?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. BigBlueButton is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Asterisk better than BigBlueButton?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. BigBlueButton is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. 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 BigBlueButton?
Top BigBlueButton alternatives in Meetings are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "BigBlueButton alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/bigbluebutton for the full list with editorial commentary on each.