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Amplitude vs Jaeger

Amplitude logo

Amplitude

Technology

The digital analytics platform to understand your users

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Jaeger logo

Jaeger

Cloud

Open-source end-to-end distributed tracing

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Amplitude metered on event volume, so instrumenting more of a product raises the bill even if the audience does not grow; Jaeger tracing is only as good as the instrumentation, and partial instrumentation produces misleading gaps
  • They diverge on capability: Amplitude covers Event tracking, Jaeger covers Distributed trace search.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amplitude and Jaeger actually diverge.

Attributes where Amplitude and Jaeger differ
AttributeAmplitudeJaeger
Pricing modelUnknownOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, ApiLinux, Kubernetes, Docker
CategoryTechnologyCloud
Founded2012Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Amplitude

  • Event tracking
  • User segmentation
  • Funnel analysis
  • Retention analysis
  • Cohort analysis
  • A/B testing
  • Revenue analytics
  • Predictive analytics

Only in Jaeger

  • Distributed trace search
  • Dependency graph
  • Adaptive sampling
  • Pluggable storage

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Amplitude

  • User behavior analysisnot Jaeger
  • Feature adoption trackingnot Jaeger
  • Conversion rate optimizationnot Jaeger
  • Customer journey mappingnot Jaeger
  • Retention improvementnot Jaeger

Jaeger

  • Finding which service in a request path causes the latencynot Amplitude
  • Understanding real service dependencies rather than the diagram on the wikinot Amplitude
  • Debugging failures that only appear under production traffic patternsnot Amplitude

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Amplitude

  • Metered on event volume, so instrumenting more of a product raises the bill even if the audience does not grow
  • The free plan covers 2M events a month
  • The Plus plan scales to 70M events, above which pricing is custom
  • Growth and Enterprise pricing is not published

Jaeger

  • Tracing is only as good as the instrumentation, and partial instrumentation produces misleading gaps
  • Storage is the real operational cost: high-volume tracing on Elasticsearch or Cassandra is a cluster to run and pay for
  • Traces alone, without correlated metrics and logs, leave you switching between tools during an incident

Pricing, plan by plan

Amplitude

Free
  • StarterFree
    • 2 million events per month
  • Plus$49/month
    • $0.049 per MTU
    • Up to 300k MTUs
    • Advanced analytics
  • GrowthFree
    • Causal insights
    • Feature experimentation
    • Real-time streaming
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Cross-product analysis
    • Advanced permissions
    • Dedicated account manager

Jaeger

Free
  • JaegerFree
    • Full functionality
    • No usage limits
    • Community support

Which should you pick?

Choose Amplitude if

  • You need event tracking.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Api.
  • You also want user segmentation.
Amplitude review

Choose Jaeger if

  • You need distributed trace search.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Kubernetes, Docker.
  • You also want dependency graph.
Jaeger review

Questions people ask

Is Amplitude or Jaeger better?
Neither clearly leads. Amplitude starts at Free and Jaeger at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amplitude or Jaeger?
Amplitude starts at Free and Jaeger at Free.
Does Amplitude or Jaeger run on more platforms?
Amplitude runs on Web, Ios, Android, Api. Jaeger runs on Linux, Kubernetes, Docker.
Can I use Amplitude for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Amplitude best used for?
Amplitude is most often used for user behavior analysis, feature adoption tracking, conversion rate optimization, customer journey mapping. Of those, user behavior analysis and feature adoption tracking are not what Jaeger is typically brought in for.
What can Amplitude do that Jaeger cannot?
Amplitude covers Event tracking, User segmentation, Funnel analysis, Retention analysis. Jaeger covers Distributed trace search, Dependency graph, Adaptive sampling, Pluggable storage.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Amplitude: Does Amplitude have a free plan?

Yes, Amplitude offers a free Starter plan with 2 million events per month and access to the entire platform including analytics, session replay, and experimentation features.

Source
Jaeger: Is Jaeger free?

Yes, open source and CNCF-graduated. Costs are the storage backend you run.

Amplitude: What is Amplitude's pricing based on?

Amplitude's pricing is based on the number of monthly tracked users (MTUs), data volume, and advanced features selected. The Plus plan starts at $49 per month with a rate of $0.049 per MTU.

Source
Jaeger: Do I use Jaeger or OpenTelemetry?

Both, usually. Instrument with OpenTelemetry and use Jaeger to store and query the traces.

Amplitude: What analytics features does every Amplitude plan include?

Every plan includes access to the full platform: analytics, session replay, feature experimentation, web experimentation, guides and surveys, activation, and AI tools like AI Feedback and AI Assistant.

Source
Jaeger: Does Jaeger handle metrics and logs?

No. It is a tracing system. Metrics and logs need Prometheus, Loki or an equivalent.

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