Backup · head to head
Velero vs Zipkin
Velero
Backup
Open source backup and migration for Kubernetes cluster resources
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Velero there is no vendor support contract from the project itself, so a failed restore during an outage is resolved by your team reading source code and GitHub issues.; Zipkin less active development and smaller community momentum than Jaeger
- They diverge on capability: Velero covers Cluster resource backup, Zipkin covers Trace collection and search.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Velero 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).
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 Velero
- Cluster resource backup
- Volume snapshots
- File-level backup
- Cross-cluster restore
- Backup hooks
- Scheduled backups
- Object storage targets
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.
Velero
- A platform team needing namespace-level restore after an accidental deletion, with no budget for a backup productnot Zipkin
- Migrating workloads between Kubernetes clusters or between cloud providers using backup and restorenot Zipkin
- Capturing cluster configuration before a risky upgrade so the previous state can be reinstatednot Zipkin
- An organisation proving a Kubernetes recovery capability to an auditor before deciding whether to buy a commercial productnot Zipkin
Zipkin
- Adding distributed tracing quickly without standing up heavy infrastructurenot Velero
- Java and Spring Boot estates, where instrumentation support is long-establishednot Velero
- Small deployments where Jaeger is more than the problem requiresnot Velero
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Velero
- There is no vendor support contract from the project itself, so a failed restore during an outage is resolved by your team reading source code and GitHub issues.
- Application consistency depends on backup hooks you write and maintain, and a database backed up without a correct hook restores to a state that may not be usable.
- Restore ordering across dependent resources such as custom resource definitions and operators needs manual attention, and complex applications frequently need a documented runbook rather than a single restore command.
- Corporate engineering investment became uncertain after Broadcom acquired VMware, which is a real consideration for anyone building a long retention policy on the project.
- Object storage egress charges apply on restore and are billed by your cloud provider, so a full cluster recovery from another region carries a cost discovered during the incident rather than during planning.
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
Velero
Free- VeleroFree
- Apache 2.0 licensed
- No cluster or capacity limits
- Community support via Kubernetes Slack and GitHub
Zipkin
Free- ZipkinFree
- Full functionality
- No usage limits
- Community support
Which should you pick?
Choose Velero if
- You need cluster resource backup.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux.
- You also want volume snapshots.
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 Velero or Zipkin better?
- Neither clearly leads. Velero 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, Velero or Zipkin?
- Velero starts at Free and Zipkin at Free.
- Does Velero or Zipkin run on more platforms?
- Velero runs on Linux. Zipkin runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
- Can I use Velero for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Velero best used for?
- Velero is most often used for a platform team needing namespace-level restore after an accidental deletion, with no budget for a backup product, migrating workloads between kubernetes clusters or between cloud providers using backup and restore, capturing cluster configuration before a risky upgrade so the previous state can be reinstated, an organisation proving a kubernetes recovery capability to an auditor before deciding whether to buy a commercial product. Of those, a platform team needing namespace-level restore after an accidental deletion, with no budget for a backup product and migrating workloads between kubernetes clusters or between cloud providers using backup and restore are not what Zipkin is typically brought in for.
- What can Velero do that Zipkin cannot?
- Velero covers Cluster resource backup, Volume snapshots, File-level backup, Cross-cluster restore. Zipkin covers Trace collection and search, Dependency diagram, Simple deployment, Pluggable storage.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Velero: Can we buy support for Velero?
Not from the project. Several commercial Kubernetes backup products package or extend it and sell support, which is the practical route to an accountable vendor.
Zipkin: Is Zipkin free?
Yes, open source with no licence fee.
Velero: Does it back up persistent volume data?
Yes, through cloud or Container Storage Interface snapshots, or through file-level upload where snapshots are not available.
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.
Velero: What does it cost?
Nothing to licence. You pay for object storage capacity and for egress on restore, both billed by your cloud provider.
Zipkin: Does Zipkin work with OpenTelemetry?
Yes. OpenTelemetry can export to Zipkin, which is now the usual way to instrument for it.
Related pages
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- Zipkin vs Kopia
- Zipkin vs Veeam Kasten for Kubernetes
- Zipkin vs Amanda Enterprise
- Zipkin vs Bacula Enterprise
- Zipkin vs Borg Backup
- Zipkin vs Axcient x360Recover
- Zipkin vs Clonezilla
- Zipkin vs Clumio
- Zipkin vs Cohesity
- Zipkin vs Jaeger
- Zipkin vs Grafana Cloud
- Zipkin vs VictoriaMetrics
- Zipkin vs Deno Deploy
- Zipkin vs Anyscale
- Zipkin vs Cerebrium
- Zipkin vs Go
- Zipkin vs Orca Security
- Zipkin vs Heroku
- Zipkin vs Vault
- Zipkin vs Beam Cloud
- Zipkin vs Caddy
- Zipkin vs DeepInfra
- Zipkin vs OpenTelemetry
- Zipkin vs Thanos
- Zipkin vs Linkerd
- Zipkin vs Longhorn