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Developer Tools · head to head

Jitsu vs Zipkin

Jitsu logo

Jitsu

Developer Tools

Open source event pipeline that streams behavioural data to your own warehouse

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: Jitsu jitsu is a pipeline, not a customer data platform, so identity resolution, audience building and reverse ETL are absent and a marketing team expecting Segment parity will be disappointed.; Zipkin less active development and smaller community momentum than Jaeger
  • They diverge on capability: Jitsu covers Event collection, Zipkin covers Trace collection and search.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Jitsu and Zipkin actually diverge.

Attributes where Jitsu and Zipkin differ
AttributeJitsuZipkin
Pricing modelPer month by event volumeOpen source, no licence fee
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, iOS, AndroidLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCloud

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 Jitsu

  • Event collection
  • Warehouse destinations
  • Connector syncs
  • Transformations
  • Bundled ClickHouse
  • Event debugger
  • Self-hosting
  • Custom domains

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.

Jitsu

  • A team paying five figures a year to a customer data platform when all it actually does is send events to Snowflakenot Zipkin
  • An engineering group that needs event collection running inside its own VPC for data residency or security review reasonsnot Zipkin
  • A product analytics setup that wants raw events in the warehouse as the source of truth rather than trapped in a vendor toolnot Zipkin
  • A startup that needs first-party event collection on its own domain to reduce loss from tracker blocking without paying CDP pricesnot Zipkin

Zipkin

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

Where each one falls short

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

Jitsu

  • Jitsu is a pipeline, not a customer data platform, so identity resolution, audience building and reverse ETL are absent and a marketing team expecting Segment parity will be disappointed.
  • Connector sync frequency is deliberately tiered, with the free plan limited to manual runs and one daily sync, so anything approaching operational freshness requires the paid plan or self-hosting.
  • Self-hosting means you own the reliability of a system that drops data silently when misconfigured, and event loss is uniquely hard to notice because nothing errors, the numbers are just quietly lower.
  • The connector catalogue is far smaller than Fivetran or Airbyte, so if your requirement is pulling from many SaaS sources rather than pushing events, Jitsu is the wrong half of the problem.
  • It is a small company with a small commercial team, so enterprise procurement processes around security review, contractual SLAs and support escalation take longer than with an incumbent vendor.

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

Jitsu

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • MIT licence
    • Self-host on any cloud
    • No usage limits
  • Cloud FreeFree
    • Unlimited captured events
    • 200,000 active events per month
    • Manual connector runs only
  • Business$99/month
    • 2,000,000 active events per month
    • $40 per additional million events
    • Hourly connector sync frequency
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom event volume
    • One minute sync frequency
    • Unlimited active syncs

Zipkin

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Jitsu if

  • You need event collection.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, iOS, Android.
  • You also want warehouse destinations.
Jitsu 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 Jitsu or Zipkin better?
Neither clearly leads. Jitsu 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, Jitsu or Zipkin?
Jitsu starts at Free and Zipkin at Free.
Does Jitsu or Zipkin run on more platforms?
Jitsu runs on Web, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, iOS, Android. Zipkin runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
Can I use Jitsu for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Jitsu best used for?
Jitsu is most often used for a team paying five figures a year to a customer data platform when all it actually does is send events to snowflake, an engineering group that needs event collection running inside its own vpc for data residency or security review reasons, a product analytics setup that wants raw events in the warehouse as the source of truth rather than trapped in a vendor tool, a startup that needs first-party event collection on its own domain to reduce loss from tracker blocking without paying cdp prices. Of those, a team paying five figures a year to a customer data platform when all it actually does is send events to snowflake and an engineering group that needs event collection running inside its own vpc for data residency or security review reasons are not what Zipkin is typically brought in for.
What can Jitsu do that Zipkin cannot?
Jitsu covers Event collection, Warehouse destinations, Connector syncs, Transformations. Zipkin covers Trace collection and search, Dependency diagram, Simple deployment, Pluggable storage.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Jitsu: Is Jitsu the same as Jitsi?

No. Jitsu is an open source event data pipeline. Jitsi is an unrelated video conferencing project.

Zipkin: Is Zipkin free?

Yes, open source with no licence fee.

Jitsu: Can I self-host for free?

Yes. The project is MIT licensed with no usage limits when self-hosted.

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.

Jitsu: How does the cost compare with Segment?

The Business plan is 99 US dollars a month for two million active events, where a per-tracked-user CDP typically costs orders of magnitude more at comparable volume.

Zipkin: Does Zipkin work with OpenTelemetry?

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

Jitsu: Does Jitsu do identity resolution?

No. It transports and transforms events; identity stitching and audiences are not part of the product.

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