Cloud · head to head
Jaeger vs Zipkin
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Jaeger tracing is only as good as the instrumentation, and partial instrumentation produces misleading gaps; Zipkin less active development and smaller community momentum than Jaeger
- They diverge on capability: Jaeger covers Distributed trace search, Zipkin covers Trace collection and search.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Jaeger and Zipkin actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Open source, no licence fee), 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 Jaeger
- Distributed trace search
- Dependency graph
- Adaptive sampling
Only in Zipkin
- Trace collection and search
- Dependency diagram
- Simple deployment
Both cover
- Pluggable storage
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 Zipkin
- Understanding real service dependencies rather than the diagram on the wikinot Zipkin
- Debugging failures that only appear under production traffic patternsnot Zipkin
Zipkin
- Adding distributed tracing quickly without standing up heavy infrastructurenot Jaeger
- Java and Spring Boot estates, where instrumentation support is long-establishednot Jaeger
- Small deployments where Jaeger is more than the problem requiresnot 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
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
Jaeger
Free- JaegerFree
- Full functionality
- No usage limits
- Community support
Zipkin
Free- ZipkinFree
- Full functionality
- No usage limits
- Community support
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 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.
Questions people ask
- Is Jaeger or Zipkin better?
- Neither clearly leads. Jaeger 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, Jaeger or Zipkin?
- Jaeger starts at Free and Zipkin at Free.
- Does Jaeger or Zipkin run on more platforms?
- Jaeger runs on Linux, Kubernetes, Docker. Zipkin runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
- 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 Zipkin is typically brought in for.
- What can Jaeger do that Zipkin cannot?
- Jaeger covers Distributed trace search, Dependency graph, Adaptive sampling. Zipkin covers Trace collection and search, Dependency diagram, Simple deployment. Both handle Pluggable storage.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Jaeger: Is Jaeger free?
Yes, open source and CNCF-graduated. Costs are the storage backend you run.
Zipkin: Is Zipkin free?
Yes, open source with no licence fee.
Jaeger: Do I use Jaeger or OpenTelemetry?
Both, usually. Instrument with OpenTelemetry and use Jaeger to store and query the traces.
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.
Jaeger: Does Jaeger handle metrics and logs?
No. It is a tracing system. Metrics and logs need Prometheus, Loki or an equivalent.
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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