Comparison

Grafana Tempo vs Zipkin

On the evidence we track, Grafana Tempo leads this comparison with a composite score of 63/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Grafana Tempo full profile →Zipkin full profile →

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★Grafana Tempo63

Zipkin43

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	Grafana TempoLeader	Zipkin
Vioscale score	63 / 100medium · 60%	43 / 100low · 38%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	freemium	open_source
Price levelpricing.price_level	free	free
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	-
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	7	10
Security
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	✓	-
Fedrampsecurity.fedramp	✓	-
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	✓	-
Iso27001security.iso27001	✓	-
Pcisecurity.pci	✓	-
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	7.4	4.2
Soc2security.soc2	✓	-
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	Count: 2 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fgrafana%2Ftempo&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 2 · Max severity: HIGH	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=io.zipkin.java%3Azipkin-autoconfigure-ui&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0
Reliability
Status pagereliability.status_page	✓	✓
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	73	1,426
Github starsadoption.github_stars	5,455	17,453
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	87	0
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	5	15
Historyrelease.history	20 items	20 items
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	AGPL-3.0	Apache-2.0
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	Go	Java

Score

Vioscale score

Grafana Tempo63 / 100medium · 60%

Zipkin43 / 100low · 38%

Pricing

Free tier

Grafana Tempo✓

Zipkin✓

Model

Grafana Tempofreemium

Zipkinopen_source

Price level

Grafana Tempofree

Zipkinfree

Transparent

Grafana Tempo✓

Zipkin–

Integrations

Count

Grafana Tempo7

Zipkin10

Security

Disclosure policy

Grafana Tempo✓

Zipkin–

Fedramp

Grafana Tempo✓

Zipkin–

Gdpr

Grafana Tempo✓

Zipkin–

Iso27001

Grafana Tempo✓

Zipkin–

Pci

Grafana Tempo✓

Zipkin–

Scorecard

Grafana Tempo7.4

Zipkin4.2

Soc2

Grafana Tempo✓

Zipkin–

Vulnerabilities

Grafana TempoCount: 2 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fgrafana%2Ftempo&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 2 · Max severity: HIGH

ZipkinCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=io.zipkin.java%3Azipkin-autoconfigure-ui&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Reliability

Status page

Grafana Tempo✓

Zipkin✓

Adoption

Dependent repos

Grafana Tempo73

Zipkin1,426

Github stars

Grafana Tempo5,455

Zipkin17,453

Activity

Commits last 30d

Grafana Tempo87

Zipkin0

Release

Cadence days

Grafana Tempo5

Zipkin15

History

Grafana Tempo20 items

Zipkin20 items

License

Spdx

Grafana TempoAGPL-3.0

ZipkinApache-2.0

Language

Primary

Grafana TempoGo

ZipkinJava

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for distributed tracing tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for Distributed Tracing Tools
Capability	Grafana Tempo	Zipkin
Core
Trace role	Trace backend / store	Trace backend / store
Standards
OpenTelemetry support	OTLP ingest	-
Multi-protocol (Jaeger + Zipkin + OTLP)	✓	✓
Query
Trace search / filter by attributes	-	✓
Service dependency graph	-	✓
High-cardinality attribute exploration	-	-
Sampling
Tail-based / dynamic sampling	-	-
Instrumentation
Auto-instrumentation	-	Agent-based
Correlation
Correlate traces with metrics/logs	-	-
Deployment
Hosting	Cloud + self-hosted	Self-hosted only
Architecture
Storage backend	object storage	In-memory, Apache Cassandra, Elasticsearch, OpenSearch

Core

Trace role

Grafana TempoTrace backend / store

ZipkinTrace backend / store

Standards

OpenTelemetry support

Grafana TempoOTLP ingest

Zipkin-

Multi-protocol (Jaeger + Zipkin + OTLP)

Grafana Tempo✓

Zipkin✓

Query

Trace search / filter by attributes

Grafana Tempo-

Zipkin✓

Service dependency graph

Grafana Tempo-

Zipkin✓

High-cardinality attribute exploration

Grafana Tempo-

Zipkin-

Sampling

Tail-based / dynamic sampling

Grafana Tempo-

Zipkin-

Instrumentation

Auto-instrumentation

Grafana Tempo-

ZipkinAgent-based

Correlation

Correlate traces with metrics/logs

Grafana Tempo-

Zipkin-

Deployment

Hosting

Grafana TempoCloud + self-hosted

ZipkinSelf-hosted only

Architecture

Storage backend

Grafana Tempoobject storage

ZipkinIn-memory, Apache Cassandra, Elasticsearch, OpenSearch

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Grafana Tempo

Leader

Grafana Tempo is an open-source distributed tracing backend designed for high-scale trace collection using only object storage, integrating with Grafana, Prometheus, and Loki. It supports industry-standard tracing protocols and eliminates the need for expensive database infrastructure.

Independently observed

Zipkin

Collects timing and dependency data from instrumented applications to troubleshoot latency issues. Provides a web interface for querying traces by service, operation, tags, or duration, and displays how requests flow through the service architecture.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Grafana Tempo

Leader

from $19/moHybridFree tier

Open source (free). Grafana Cloud integration from $19/month or $25k/year enterprise.

Open SourceFree
Grafana Cloud Pro$19/mo
- Platform fee includes limited trace retention and usage
- 30 days retention for traces
- 8x5 email support
Grafana Cloud EnterpriseContact sales
- Custom retention
- Premium support
- Deployment flexibility (Public Cloud, Federal Cloud, Bring Your Own Cloud)

as of 2026-08-01verify ↗

Zipkin

Open source

as of 2026-08-14verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	Grafana Tempo	Zipkin
WebPlatforms	✓	✓
macOSPlatforms	✗	✓
LinuxPlatforms	✗	✓
CLIPlatforms	✓	✗
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	✗
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✓
On-premiseDeployment	✗	✓

Platforms

Web

Grafana Tempo✓

Zipkin✓

macOS

Grafana Tempo✗

Zipkin✓

Linux

Grafana Tempo✗

Zipkin✓

CLI

Grafana Tempo✓

Zipkin✗

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

Grafana Tempo✓

Zipkin✗

Self-hosted

Grafana Tempo✓

Zipkin✓

On-premise

Grafana Tempo✗

Zipkin✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Grafana Tempo

Leader

7 total

Grafana
Prometheus
Loki
Jaeger
Zipkin
OpenTelemetry
OpenCensus

Independently observed

Zipkin

10 total

HTTP
Kafka
Apache ActiveMQ
gRPC
RabbitMQ
Apache Pulsar
Elasticsearch
Apache Cassandra
OpenSearch
Brave

Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.