About HOMER
HOMER is an open-source telecom observability platform, in development since 2011, for capturing and analyzing SIP, VoIP, and RTC signaling. Version 11 is described as an all-in-one HEP capture and API server that combines writer, reader, coordinator, compactor, and API roles in one Go application. The input lists its license only as other.
The modern codebase runs on Linux and macOS for x64 and ARM64, powered by DuckDB, Apache Arrow, and Parquet. Its data lake design is based on a DuckLake catalog with local or object storage, an end-to-end columnar OTLP approach with on-demand queries, and linear scaling by querying a shared object-storage catalog. A flexible schema accommodates new protocols, and it stays backward compatible with HEPv3 agents. An optional collector for SIP quality of service reports is available.
Topics include call flows, CDRs, correlation, packet capture, and integration with OpenSIPS and Kamailio. HOMER suits telecom engineers, VoIP operators, and WebRTC teams who need to troubleshoot calls and monitor service quality.
Key features
- SIP and VoIP packet capture
- All-in-one HEP capture and API server
- DuckDB, Arrow, and Parquet data lake
- Backward compatible with HEPv3 agents
- Optional SIP QoS collector
- Call flow and CDR analysis
Good fit for
- →Troubleshooting VoIP call quality
- →Monitoring Kamailio and OpenSIPS deployments
- Built with
- Go
- Tags
- voip
- sip
- packet-capture
- monitoring
- telecom
- webrtc
- observability
- hep
HOMER: questions and answers
- What is HOMER used for?
- HOMER, an open-source SIP, VoIP, and RTC packet capture and monitoring platform built around a single Go server and a DuckDB-based data lake. It is a good fit for troubleshooting VoIP call quality, and monitoring Kamailio and OpenSIPS deployments.
- Is HOMER open source?
- Yes. HOMER is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at sipcapture/homer and is written mainly in Go.
- Is HOMER free?
- Yes. HOMER is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.
- Can I self-host HOMER?
- Yes. HOMER can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
- What are some alternatives to HOMER?
- Similar open-source tools in the Monitoring & Observability category include Netdata, Grafana and Prometheus. SaaS products in the same category include Amazon CloudWatch, AppDynamics and Axiom.
- Is HOMER actively maintained?
- Yes. The most recent commit to HOMER was on 30 September 2026, and the latest release is 11.0.355, published on 29 September 2026. The project has 2k stars on GitHub.
Open-source alternatives to HOMER
See all
Netdata
Monitoring & Observability
The fastest path to AI-powered full stack observability, even for lean teams.
GPL-3.0vs Datadog★ 81k
Grafana
Monitoring & Observability
The open and composable observability and data visualization platform. Visualize metrics,
AGPL-3.0vs Datadog★ 77k
Prometheus
Monitoring & Observability
The Prometheus monitoring system and time series database.
Apache-2.0vs Datadog★ 66k
Sentry
Monitoring & Observability
Developer-first error tracking and performance monitoring
OSSvs Rollbar★ 45k
SigNoz
Monitoring & Observability
SigNoz Cloud is a one-stop observability tool built on top of OpenTelemetry. Get APM, logs
OSSvs Datadog★ 32k
Grafana Loki
Monitoring & Observability
Like Prometheus, but for logs.
AGPL-3.0vs Datadog★ 29k
SaaS alternatives to HOMER
See all
Amazon CloudWatch
Monitoring & Observability
AWS service for metrics, logs, alarms and dashboards
SaaS
AppDynamics
Monitoring & Observability
Cisco application performance monitoring that maps technical metrics to business impact
SaaS
Axiom
Monitoring & Observability
Cloud service for ingesting, storing and querying logs, traces and event data
SaaS
Azure Monitor
Monitoring & Observability
Azure service for collecting and analyzing metrics, logs and traces
SaaS
Clawwatcher
Monitoring & Observability
Observability for OpenClaw agents with token and cost tracking and anomaly alerts
SaaS
Coralogix
Monitoring & Observability
Observability platform that analyzes logs, metrics and traces as they are ingested
SaaS

