Alternatives to Zipkin

Collect trace timing data to troubleshoot service-to-service latency. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as Zipkin.

  • Jaeger

    Follow requests across services to investigate distributed-system latency.

    FreeOpen sourceSelf-hosted

    Jaeger collects and presents distributed traces to compare service timing within requests, also Apache-2.0 and also needing compatible tracing instrumentation.

  • Grafana Tempo

    Store and query distributed traces with a dedicated tracing back end.

    FreeOpen sourceSelf-hosted

    Grafana Tempo stores traces in object storage and integrates with Grafana trace exploration, licensed AGPL-3.0, with a separate visualization setup required.

  • Apache SkyWalking

    Observe distributed applications through traces, metrics and related service information.

    FreeOpen sourceSelf-hosted

    Apache SkyWalking adds metrics and application-performance views alongside traces under Apache-2.0, requiring deployed collectors and supported instrumentation.

  • Pinpoint

    Trace application requests across distributed services.

    FreeOpen sourceSelf-hosted

    Pinpoint traces requests across services and visualizes service relationships, but supported languages and frameworks depend on its compatible agents.

  • SigNoz

    Open-source full-stack observability platform built on OpenTelemetry and ClickHouse.

    FreemiumOpen sourceSelf-hosted

    SigNoz combines traces with APM, logs and metrics on OpenTelemetry and ClickHouse, which adds operational overhead when self-hosted.

  • Uptrace

    Explore traces, metrics and logs collected through OpenTelemetry.

    FreemiumOpen sourceSelf-hosted

    Uptrace explores traces together with metrics and logs collected through OpenTelemetry, licensed AGPL-3.0, with a supported storage setup required.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.