sip-exporter

Overview

sip-exporter is a free, open-source Linux sensor for turning SIP signaling and related voice traffic into monitoring data. It suits teams already using Prometheus-compatible tools that can place a sensor directly on the call path. Its call-quality and fraud metrics are useful, but narrow capture support and privileged deployment make it a specialist choice.

Key features

The exporter exposes SIP traffic and active-session metrics alongside RFC 6076 performance and RFC 6035 voice-quality measures. For SIP-correlated RTP streams, it calculates jitter, packet loss, packet-delay variation and E-model MOS. RTCP sender and receiver statistics add loss, jitter and round-trip time, associated by SSRC. These measures can help operators distinguish signaling trouble from degraded media, provided the sensor sees both.

Security-oriented signals include registration scans, INVITE bursts, account takeover after a registration-country change, and False Answer Supervision. Metrics are available at /metrics. An included Grafana dashboard has 11 sections, with Prometheus alert-rule examples and Alertmanager examples for Slack, PagerDuty and email. The metrics are documented for use with Prometheus, VictoriaMetrics, Grafana Cloud and other Prometheus-compatible scrapers.

Privacy is a relative strength: the project says it does not store packets or audio, and RTP analysis parses the fixed header rather than inspecting audio. However, RTP snapshots copied to userspace may contain a small payload prefix, so organizations should assess that behavior against their own handling requirements. Anonymous usage telemetry is on by default and can be disabled with SIP_EXPORTER_TELEMETRY=false.

Pricing

The AGPL-3.0 open-source plan costs nothing. It is free for personal and educational use, and commercial use is free subject to AGPL-3.0 conditions. There is no free trial because the software itself is free. The trade-off is license responsibility rather than a subscription: modified versions made accessible over a network must offer users the corresponding source under the license terms.

Platforms

sip-exporter runs on Linux and is self-hosted. The project offers a single-container deployment, but the container must run privileged and use host networking to access eBPF and the network interface. That is a material operational and security consideration; it is not a fit for teams unable to grant those permissions.

Capture is limited to IPv4 SIP over UDP and correlated RTP/RTCP. SIP over TCP or TLS, IPv6, and fragmented UDP are unsupported. Full metrics require the sensor host to see signaling and media for the same call path. Mirrored traffic is not supported for trustworthy QoE and direction measurements. These constraints rule it out for mixed-protocol or IPv6-heavy environments where those paths matter.

Who it's for

This is a good fit for Linux-based VoIP operators who control a suitable host on the call path, want SIP and media-quality telemetry, and already have a Prometheus-compatible monitoring stack. The dashboard, alert examples and fraud indicators provide a useful starting point for operational visibility without storing audio.

Look elsewhere if deployment must avoid privileged containers, if calls use SIP over TCP/TLS or IPv6, or if the sensor cannot observe both signaling and media. It is also less suited to teams seeking a managed monitoring service rather than a self-hosted sensor.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Detailed correlated RTP and RTCP measures, including MOS, jitter, loss and round-trip time, support call-quality diagnosis.
• Pros: The included dashboard and alert examples reduce the work of connecting metrics to common monitoring workflows.
• Pros: Free commercial use is possible under AGPL-3.0, and the project says it does not store packets or audio.
• Cons: IPv4/UDP-only capture excludes several common traffic paths, including SIP over TCP/TLS and IPv6.
• Cons: Privileged execution and host networking raise deployment and security considerations.
• Cons: Useful QoE and direction metrics depend on observing the complete signaling and media path; mirrored traffic is unsupported for trustworthy measurements.

Alternatives

VoIP Monitoring Software is the broader category to browse when the sensor's protocol or placement limits do not match your environment.

• Obkio is worth considering for teams that want broader platform coverage and a 14-day premium trial capped at 10 agents, with no credit card required.
• Dotcom-Monitor may suit teams looking for target-based monitoring, with a free tier covering up to 25 targets, five-minute monitoring frequency, two locations and email alerts.
• HOMER is another free, open-source, self-hosted option, with commercial support available by quote.
• Telchemy SQmediator is a paid alternative with a single-server small-provider edition; Web Services API is optional and passive plus active monitoring costs extra.
• MultiDSLA is a paid option built around a controller and one or more node devices, and controls 100+ nodes.
• Bicom Systems SIP Monitoring (sipMON) is another paid, self-hosted Linux option.
• CallMeter offers paid Starter and Professional plans billed monthly or annually, with features, usage limits and service levels varying.
• Exoprise is a paid alternative with a free trial and credits priced at $100 a month; discounts are available for prepaid annual plans and volume purchases.

Verdict

Choose sip-exporter if you need free, self-hosted SIP and voice-quality metrics, operate Linux on a host that sees the full supported call path, and can accept AGPL-3.0 and privileged-container requirements. Its strongest reason to adopt is the combination of correlated RTP/RTCP quality measures and fraud signals; its strongest reason to look elsewhere is that unsupported protocols or incomplete network visibility can leave important calls outside its view.