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Cloud · head to head

Beam Cloud vs Zipkin

Beam Cloud logo

Beam Cloud

Cloud

Serverless GPU computing with sub-second cold starts and multi-cloud support

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Zipkin logo

Zipkin

Cloud

Distributed tracing system for microservice latency

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Beam Cloud free tier limited to $30 monthly credits with 5 GPU containers; Zipkin less active development and smaller community momentum than Jaeger
  • They diverge on capability: Beam Cloud covers Sub-second cold starts, Zipkin covers Trace collection and search.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Beam Cloud and Zipkin actually diverge.

Attributes where Beam Cloud and Zipkin differ
AttributeBeam CloudZipkin
Pricing modelFreemium with pay-per-millisecond usage chargesOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsCloud, PythonLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted

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

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 Beam Cloud

  • Sub-second cold starts
  • Inference endpoints
  • Task queues
  • Sandboxes
  • Multi-cloud support
  • Python SDK
  • Global distribution
  • Massive parallelization

Only in Zipkin

  • Trace collection and search
  • Dependency diagram
  • Simple deployment
  • Pluggable storage

What people use each for

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

Beam Cloud

  • Deploying ML models with minimal latency and setup timenot Zipkin
  • Large-scale batch processing across thousands of concurrent tasksnot Zipkin
  • Cost-effective inference serving with bursty workloadsnot Zipkin
  • Multi-cloud AI deployments with global low-latency accessnot Zipkin
  • Serverless AI development for rapid experimentationnot Zipkin

Zipkin

  • Adding distributed tracing quickly without standing up heavy infrastructurenot Beam Cloud
  • Java and Spring Boot estates, where instrumentation support is long-establishednot Beam Cloud
  • Small deployments where Jaeger is more than the problem requiresnot Beam Cloud

Where each one falls short

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

Beam Cloud

  • Free tier limited to $30 monthly credits with 5 GPU containers
  • Massive parallelization complexity may require DevOps expertise
  • Per-millisecond pricing model requires careful cost monitoring
  • Smaller team relative to established cloud providers

Zipkin

  • Less active development and smaller community momentum than Jaeger
  • Fewer features: sampling, storage options and UI are all more limited
  • The interface is dated and slower to work with on large trace volumes
  • Tracing alone still leaves metrics and logs in separate tools during an incident

Pricing, plan by plan

Beam Cloud

Free
  • DeveloperFree
    • $30 monthly free credits
    • 5 GPU containers, 30 CPU containers
    • Community support
  • Team$89/month
    • $30 monthly free credits included
    • 50 GPU containers, 1,000 CPU containers
    • 3 seats included, $25 per additional
  • Growth$undefined/custom
    • 1,000+ GPU containers
    • Unlimited CPU containers
    • Unlimited seats
  • Serverless GPUs$undefined/per-millisecond
    • RTX 4090: $0.00019/sec

Zipkin

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Beam Cloud if

  • You need sub-second cold starts.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, Python.
  • You also want inference endpoints.
Beam Cloud review

Choose Zipkin if

  • You need trace collection and search.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
  • You also want dependency diagram.
Zipkin review

Questions people ask

Is Beam Cloud or Zipkin better?
Neither clearly leads. Beam Cloud starts at Free and Zipkin at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Beam Cloud or Zipkin?
Beam Cloud starts at Free and Zipkin at Free.
Does Beam Cloud or Zipkin run on more platforms?
Beam Cloud runs on Cloud, Python. Zipkin runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
Can I use Beam Cloud for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Beam Cloud best used for?
Beam Cloud is most often used for deploying ml models with minimal latency and setup time, large-scale batch processing across thousands of concurrent tasks, cost-effective inference serving with bursty workloads, multi-cloud ai deployments with global low-latency access. Of those, deploying ml models with minimal latency and setup time and large-scale batch processing across thousands of concurrent tasks are not what Zipkin is typically brought in for.
What can Beam Cloud do that Zipkin cannot?
Beam Cloud covers Sub-second cold starts, Inference endpoints, Task queues, Sandboxes. Zipkin covers Trace collection and search, Dependency diagram, Simple deployment, Pluggable storage.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Beam Cloud: What is included in the Developer plan?

The Developer plan includes $30 monthly free credits, 5 GPU containers, 30 CPU containers, and community support. No upfront commitment is required.

Source
Zipkin: Is Zipkin free?

Yes, open source with no licence fee.

Beam Cloud: How fast are the cold starts?

Beam Cloud achieves sub-second cold starts through memory snapshots that restore GPU containers 35x faster than traditional cold boots.

Source
Zipkin: Zipkin or Jaeger?

Jaeger has more momentum, more features and CNCF backing. Zipkin is lighter and quicker to stand up, and remains well supported in the Java and Spring ecosystem.

Beam Cloud: Can I deploy across multiple cloud providers?

Yes, Beam Cloud supports multi-cloud deployment across AWS, GCP, Azure, Hetzner, and other providers with 30+ global regions available.

Source
Zipkin: Does Zipkin work with OpenTelemetry?

Yes. OpenTelemetry can export to Zipkin, which is now the usual way to instrument for it.

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