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Cloud · head to head

OpenTelemetry vs Zipkin

OpenTelemetry logo

OpenTelemetry

Cloud

Vendor-neutral standard for traces, metrics and logs

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: OpenTelemetry genuinely complex to adopt: collectors, pipelines, samplers and exporters are a system to run in their own right; Zipkin less active development and smaller community momentum than Jaeger
  • They diverge on capability: OpenTelemetry covers Vendor-neutral SDKs, Zipkin covers Trace collection and search.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which OpenTelemetry and Zipkin actually diverge.

Attributes where OpenTelemetry and Zipkin differ
AttributeOpenTelemetryZipkin
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, DockerLinux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted

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 OpenTelemetry

  • Vendor-neutral SDKs
  • Collector
  • Three signals
  • Auto-instrumentation

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.

OpenTelemetry

  • Instrumenting once and keeping the option to change observability vendor laternot Zipkin
  • Standardising telemetry across services written in different languagesnot Zipkin
  • Routing and filtering telemetry centrally to control observability spendnot Zipkin

Zipkin

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

Where each one falls short

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

OpenTelemetry

  • Genuinely complex to adopt: collectors, pipelines, samplers and exporters are a system to run in their own right
  • Language SDKs mature at different rates, so a polyglot estate gets uneven support
  • It produces and moves telemetry but does not store or visualise it, so a backend is still required and still billed

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

OpenTelemetry

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

Zipkin

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

Which should you pick?

Choose OpenTelemetry if

  • You need vendor-neutral sdks.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Docker.
  • You also want collector.
OpenTelemetry 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 OpenTelemetry or Zipkin better?
Neither clearly leads. OpenTelemetry 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, OpenTelemetry or Zipkin?
OpenTelemetry starts at Free and Zipkin at Free.
Does OpenTelemetry or Zipkin run on more platforms?
OpenTelemetry runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Docker. Zipkin runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
Can I use OpenTelemetry for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is OpenTelemetry best used for?
OpenTelemetry is most often used for instrumenting once and keeping the option to change observability vendor later, standardising telemetry across services written in different languages, routing and filtering telemetry centrally to control observability spend. Of those, instrumenting once and keeping the option to change observability vendor later and standardising telemetry across services written in different languages are not what Zipkin is typically brought in for.
What can OpenTelemetry do that Zipkin cannot?
OpenTelemetry covers Vendor-neutral SDKs, Collector, Three signals, Auto-instrumentation. Zipkin covers Trace collection and search, Dependency diagram, Simple deployment, Pluggable storage.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

OpenTelemetry: Is OpenTelemetry free?

Yes, open source under the CNCF. What you pay for is the backend you export to.

Zipkin: Is Zipkin free?

Yes, open source with no licence fee.

OpenTelemetry: Does OpenTelemetry replace Datadog or Grafana?

No. It replaces their proprietary agents and instrumentation libraries. You still need a backend to store and query the data.

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.

OpenTelemetry: Why adopt a vendor-neutral standard?

Because instrumentation is the expensive part. Once code emits OTel, changing observability vendor is a collector config change instead of re-instrumenting every service.

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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