Fourwaves
Fourwaves follows its participant inbox with a week of admin fixes and security hardening.
Comparison · Meetings
HOMER vs Telegram
A side-by-side editorial comparison of HOMER and Telegram — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
HOMER vs Telegram: at a glance
What is HOMER?
HOMER 11.0.369 fixes S3 auth on Ceph-based storage and stops compaction memory growth.
HOMER's 11.0 line is still hardening its DuckDB tiered-storage layer. 11.0.368 retries incomplete tier moves and fixes tiered queries that missed lake tables. The 11.0.369 pre-release stops sending the AWS session token with static S3 keys, which broke Vultr/Ceph RGW, and keeps DuckDB's file cache off on write paths so compaction memory plateaus. Security fixes (bound tiered lookup parameters, hono bump) ride alongside.
What is Telegram?
Telegram is turning its bot platform into an agent runtime: bots now hire other bots.
Telegram ships large, bundled feature drops every four to eight weeks, mixing consumer polish with platform mechanics in the same release. The consumer half is interface work — an Android redesign, Liquid Glass on iOS, live photos, GIF editing, gift crafting. The platform half is where the direction shows: AI summaries, an AI Editor, bots managed by bots, and now guest AI bots that can be summoned into any chat.
HOMER vs Telegram: editorial side-by-side
HOMER
5.0MEETINGS
HOMER 11.0.369 fixes S3 auth on Ceph-based storage and stops compaction memory growth.
◆ Current state
HOMER's 11.0 line is still hardening its DuckDB tiered-storage layer. 11.0.368 retries incomplete tier moves and fixes tiered queries that missed lake tables. The 11.0.369 pre-release stops sending the AWS session token with static S3 keys, which broke Vultr/Ceph RGW, and keeps DuckDB's file cache off on write paths so compaction memory plateaus. Security fixes (bound tiered lookup parameters, hono bump) ride alongside.
◆ Where it's heading
Almost every release since early October fixes the parquet lake: compaction, cache behaviour, tiering and S3 compatibility. The storage rewrite is being shaken out in production on more varied object stores. Feature work, such as OTLP log events on the call ladder, has paused while this stabilises.
◆ Prediction
Expect 11.0.369 to be promoted from pre-release, followed by more storage fixes for non-AWS object stores before feature work picks up again.
Telegram
0.0MEETINGSCOLLAB
Telegram is turning its bot platform into an agent runtime: bots now hire other bots.
◆ Current state
Telegram ships large, bundled feature drops every four to eight weeks, mixing consumer polish with platform mechanics in the same release. The consumer half is interface work — an Android redesign, Liquid Glass on iOS, live photos, GIF editing, gift crafting. The platform half is where the direction shows: AI summaries, an AI Editor, bots managed by bots, and now guest AI bots that can be summoned into any chat.
◆ Where it's heading
The bot API is being rebuilt as an agent substrate rather than a chatbot toolkit. Bot-to-bot chats and chat automation mean the composition happens inside Telegram instead of on a developer's server, which makes the app the orchestration layer for third-party AI. Identity primitives like Login with Telegram and member tags point at the same ambition: be the account and the runtime, not just the transport.
◆ Prediction
Expect monetization and governance to follow the agent surface — paid or metered access for guest AI bots, plus permission controls over what an automated bot may do inside a group.
Alternatives to HOMER and Telegram
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 Telegram.
Element Call
Element Call starts moving to new LiveKit transports and falls back to remote SFUs when needed.
JW Player
JW Player moves CMAF VOD into the dashboard, adds AV1, and opens Broadcast Live to audio-only feeds.
rtpengine
rtpengine opens the mr26.3 branch with a rollback message and leaner call state.
Nextcloud Talk Desktop
Nextcloud Talk Desktop 2.3.3 adds accessibility options and bundles Talk v25.0.6.
Nextcloud Talk
Nextcloud Talk patches v22 and v23 while v25 stable sits five weeks past its last RC.
See all HOMER alternatives → · See all Telegram alternatives →
Recent activity from HOMER and Telegram
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoHOMERHOMER 11.0.371: B2BUA legs in exports, Smart Search fix
- 3d agoHOMERHOMER 11.0.369 fixes Ceph S3 auth and compaction memory growth
- 6d agoHOMERHOMER 11.0.368 fixes tier moves and tiered-query table coverage
- 8d agoHOMERHOMER 11.0.367 disables DuckDB file cache for local lakes
- 9d agoHOMERHOMER 11.0.366 bumps DuckDB to 1.5.6, pins Go build
- 14d agoHOMERBlocks DuckDB file reads and rejects placeholder JWT secrets
- 5mo agoTelegramGuest AI Bots, Bot-to-Bot Chats, Chat Automation, Custom AI Styles, 100M+ Emoji & Sticker Search and Much More ⚡
- 7mo agoTelegramAI Editor, Mighty Polls, Live Photos, Bots Managed by Bots, and More
- 7mo agoTelegramAI Editor, Mighty Polls, Live Photos, Bots Managed by Bots, and More
- 8mo agoTelegramMember Tags, Login with Telegram, Disable Sharing, GIF Editing, Date Formatting, Voting Timestamps
- 8mo agoTelegramMember Tags, Login with Telegram, Disable Sharing, GIF Editing, Date Formatting, Voting Timestamps
- 8mo agoTelegramAndroid Redesign, Group Ownership Transfer, Gift Crafting, Colored Bot Buttons
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between HOMER and Telegram?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. HOMER is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 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 HOMER better than Telegram?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. HOMER is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 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 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 Telegram?
Top Telegram alternatives in Meetings are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Telegram alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/telegram for the full list with editorial commentary on each.