Cloud · head to head
Jaeger vs VerneMQ
VerneMQ
Databases
Erlang MQTT broker whose source is Apache 2.0 but whose official binaries need a paid subscription
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Jaeger tracing is only as good as the instrumentation, and partial instrumentation produces misleading gaps; VerneMQ the official binaries and Docker images are not Apache 2.0 but sit under a EULA requiring a yearly commercial subscription, a distinction easy to miss and awkward to discover during a licence audit.
- They diverge on capability: Jaeger covers Distributed trace search, VerneMQ covers Erlang/OTP clustering.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Jaeger and VerneMQ actually diverge.
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 VerneMQ
- Erlang/OTP clustering
- MQTT 5.0 support
- Plugin system
- Backpressure handling
- Bridge support
- Metrics export
- MQTT over WebSockets
- Pluggable auth backends
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 VerneMQ
- Understanding real service dependencies rather than the diagram on the wikinot VerneMQ
- Debugging failures that only appear under production traffic patternsnot VerneMQ
VerneMQ
- An industrial operator that wants an MQTT broker with predictable memory behaviour and no data integration features it will not usenot Jaeger
- A team building from source to stay strictly under Apache 2.0 terms with no vendor licence entanglementnot Jaeger
- A deployment needing custom authentication logic implemented as a plugin in Lua or over a webhooknot Jaeger
- An organisation that wants a broker maintained by a small European company rather than by a vendor that keeps changing licencesnot 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
VerneMQ
- The official binaries and Docker images are not Apache 2.0 but sit under a EULA requiring a yearly commercial subscription, a distinction easy to miss and awkward to discover during a licence audit.
- Octavo Labs is a very small company, so support depth, response times and the bus factor on the codebase are materially thinner than at HiveMQ or EMQ.
- There is no data integration or rule engine layer, so routing messages into a database means writing and operating your own consumer service.
- Operating an Erlang cluster requires runtime knowledge that most teams do not have and will use for nothing else in their stack.
- There is no vendor-managed cloud offering, so every deployment is self-operated with the infrastructure and on-call cost that implies.
Pricing, plan by plan
Jaeger
Free- JaegerFree
- Full functionality
- No usage limits
- Community support
VerneMQ
Free- Source buildFree
- Apache 2.0 licensed source from GitHub
- Full clustering and plugin capability
- You compile and package it yourself
- Binary packages and Docker images$undefined/year
- Covered by the VerneMQ EULA, not Apache 2.0
- Yearly usage subscription expected for commercial use
- Official builds and Docker images
- Commercial support$undefined/year
- Evaluation, customisation and operations assistance
- Custom development
- Long-term maintenance agreements
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.
Choose VerneMQ if
- You need erlang/otp clustering.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Docker, macOS, Kubernetes.
- You also want mqtt 5.0 support.
Questions people ask
- Is Jaeger or VerneMQ better?
- Neither clearly leads. Jaeger starts at Free and VerneMQ at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Jaeger or VerneMQ?
- Jaeger starts at Free and VerneMQ at Free.
- Does Jaeger or VerneMQ run on more platforms?
- Jaeger runs on Linux, Kubernetes, Docker. VerneMQ runs on Linux, Docker, macOS, Kubernetes.
- 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 VerneMQ is typically brought in for.
- What can Jaeger do that VerneMQ cannot?
- Jaeger covers Distributed trace search, Dependency graph, Adaptive sampling, Pluggable storage. VerneMQ covers Erlang/OTP clustering, MQTT 5.0 support, Plugin system, Backpressure handling.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Jaeger: Is Jaeger free?
Yes, open source and CNCF-graduated. Costs are the storage backend you run.
VerneMQ: Is VerneMQ free?
The source is Apache 2.0 and free. The official binary packages and Docker images are covered by a separate EULA that expects a yearly fee for commercial use.
Jaeger: Do I use Jaeger or OpenTelemetry?
Both, usually. Instrument with OpenTelemetry and use Jaeger to store and query the traces.
VerneMQ: Is the project still maintained?
Yes. Octavo Labs AG in Zurich continues to publish 2.x releases, most recently in 2026.
Jaeger: Does Jaeger handle metrics and logs?
No. It is a tracing system. Metrics and logs need Prometheus, Loki or an equivalent.
VerneMQ: Does it have a managed cloud?
No. Every deployment is self-hosted, with commercial support available from Octavo Labs.
VerneMQ: How does it compare to EMQX?
Narrower in features and without a rule engine, but with a simpler licence story for source builds after EMQX moved to BSL.
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