Is Jaeger or Grafana better?

Neither clearly leads. Jaeger starts at Free and Grafana at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Jaeger or Grafana?

Jaeger starts at Free and Grafana at Free.

Does Jaeger or Grafana run on more platforms?

Jaeger runs on Linux, Kubernetes, Docker. Grafana runs on Web, Api.

Can I use Jaeger for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Jaeger best used for?

Jaeger is most often used for finding which service in a request path causes the latency, understanding real service dependencies rather than the diagram on the wiki, debugging failures that only appear under production traffic patterns. Of those, finding which service in a request path causes the latency and understanding real service dependencies rather than the diagram on the wiki are not what Grafana is typically brought in for.

What can Jaeger do that Grafana cannot?

Jaeger covers Distributed trace search, Dependency graph, Adaptive sampling, Pluggable storage. Grafana covers Dashboard creation, Alerting, Data source integration, Visualization plugins.

Cloud · head to head

Jaeger vs Grafana

Jaeger

Cloud

Open-source end-to-end distributed tracing

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Grafana

Networking

Observability and Data Visualization

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Jaeger tracing is only as good as the instrumentation, and partial instrumentation produces misleading gaps; Grafana the free tier retains metrics, logs and traces for 14 days only
They diverge on capability: Jaeger covers Distributed trace search, Grafana covers Dashboard creation.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Jaeger and Grafana actually diverge.

Attributes where Jaeger and Grafana differ
Attribute	Jaeger	Grafana
Pricing model	Open source, no licence fee	usage-based
Platforms	Linux, Kubernetes, Docker	Web, Api
Category	Cloud	Networking
Founded	Unknown	2014

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 Jaeger

Distributed trace search
Dependency graph
Adaptive sampling
Pluggable storage

Only in Grafana

Dashboard creation
Alerting
Data source integration
Visualization plugins
API
Webhooks
REST
Web support

What people use each for

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

Jaeger

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

Grafana

Metrics visualization and monitoringnot Jaeger
Log aggregation and analysisnot Jaeger
Distributed traces managementnot Jaeger
System performance profilingnot Jaeger

Where each one falls short

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

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

Grafana

The free tier retains metrics, logs and traces for 14 days only
Free is capped at 10,000 active metric series and 50 GB each of logs and traces a month
The Pro plan carries a $19 a month platform fee before any usage charges
Logs and traces are billed on three separate meters, at $0.050 per GB processed, $0.400 per GB written and $0.100 per GB retained
Retaining data is an ongoing charge rather than a one off, so historical data costs every month it exists

Pricing, plan by plan

Jaeger

Free

JaegerFree
- Full functionality
- No usage limits
- Community support

Grafana

Free

FreeFree
- Limited usage across all services
- 14-day retention for metrics, logs, traces, profiles
- Community support only
Pro$19/month
- Pay-as-you-go pricing with volume discounts
- 13-month retention for metrics
- 30-day retention for logs/traces/profiles
Enterprise$25000/year
- Custom pricing based on annual volume
- Premium support included
- Custom retention options

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Grafana if

You need dashboard creation.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Api.
You also want alerting.

Grafana review

Questions people ask

Is Jaeger or Grafana better?: Neither clearly leads. Jaeger starts at Free and Grafana at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Jaeger or Grafana?: Jaeger starts at Free and Grafana at Free.
Does Jaeger or Grafana run on more platforms?: Jaeger runs on Linux, Kubernetes, Docker. Grafana runs on Web, Api.
Can I use Jaeger for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Jaeger best used for?: Jaeger is most often used for finding which service in a request path causes the latency, understanding real service dependencies rather than the diagram on the wiki, debugging failures that only appear under production traffic patterns. Of those, finding which service in a request path causes the latency and understanding real service dependencies rather than the diagram on the wiki are not what Grafana is typically brought in for.
What can Jaeger do that Grafana cannot?: Jaeger covers Distributed trace search, Dependency graph, Adaptive sampling, Pluggable storage. Grafana covers Dashboard creation, Alerting, Data source integration, Visualization plugins.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Jaeger: Is Jaeger free?

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

Grafana: What is Grafana's pricing model?

Grafana offers a freemium model with a free tier, Pro tier starting at 19 USD/month with pay-as-you-go usage charges, and Enterprise plans starting at 25000 USD/year.

Source

Jaeger: Do I use Jaeger or OpenTelemetry?

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

Grafana: How long is data retention for each plan?

Free tier provides 14-day retention for metrics, logs, traces, and profiles. Pro tier extends this to 13 months for metrics and 30 days for logs/traces/profiles. Enterprise offers custom retention options.

Source

Jaeger: Does Jaeger handle metrics and logs?

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

Grafana: What support is included in each tier?

Free tier includes community support only. Pro tier provides 8 times 5 email support. Enterprise includes premium 24/7 support.

Source

Grafana: Does Grafana offer volume discounts?

Yes, Grafana uses adaptive pricing with automatic volume discounts as usage scales, and provides cost-optimization tools to help eliminate spending on unused data.

Source

Jaeger vs Grafana

Jaeger

Grafana

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Jaeger

Only in Grafana

What people use each for

Jaeger

Grafana

Where each one falls short

Jaeger

Grafana

Pricing, plan by plan

Jaeger

Grafana

Which should you pick?

Choose Jaeger if

Choose Grafana if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Jaeger

More on Grafana

Keep looking

Other head to heads