# Grafana Tempo vs Jaeger

| Attribute | Grafana Tempo | Jaeger |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 62.9 (60% (medium)) | 59.2 (38% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 87 | 96 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 73 | 1,141 |
| adoption.github_stars | 5,455 | 23,144 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | A backend that collects execution traces from microservice-based applications and provides analysis tools to understand system behavior and diagnose issues. Teams use it to track how requests move through their services and identify where delays or errors occur. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"both","trace_role":"backend","otel_support":"ingest","multi_protocol":true,"storage_backend":"object storage"}` | `{"hosting":"both","trace_role":"platform","service_map":true,"otel_support":"native","trace_search":true,"tail_sampling":true,"storage_backend":"Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, Cassandra, Badger, ClickHouse, Kafka (buffer), memory"}` |
| integrations.count | 7 | 7 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Grafana"},{"name":"Prometheus"},{"name":"Loki"},{"name":"Jaeger"},{"name":"Zipkin"},{"name":"OpenTelemetry"},{"name":"OpenCensus"}]` | `[{"name":"Elasticsearch"},{"name":"OpenSearch"},{"name":"Cassandra"},{"name":"ClickHouse"},{"name":"Badger"},{"name":"Kafka"},{"name":"Memory"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | Go |
| license.spdx | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"hybrid","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Open Source","description":"Grafana Tempo open source (AGPLv3)","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Grafana Cloud Pro","features":["Platform fee includes limited trace retention and usage","30 days retention for traces","8x5 email support"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":19,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Grafana Cloud Enterprise","features":["Custom retention","Premium support","Deployment flexibility (Public Cloud, Federal Cloud, Bring Your Own Cloud)"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":25000,"period":"year","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":true}],"summary":"Open source (free). Grafana Cloud integration from $19/month or $25k/year enterprise.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://grafana.com/oss/tempo/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-01T14:57:40.524Z","startingPrice":{"amount":19,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.jaegertracing.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T15:24:51.164Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 5 | 28 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v3.0.3","date":"2026-08-13T20:37:13Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.0.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v2.10.8","date":"2026-08-13T20:37:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.10.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v2.9.5","date":"2026-08-13T20:37:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.9.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v2.9.4","date":"2026-07-24T12:29:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.9.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v2.10.7","date":"2026-06-12T16:28:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.10.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v3.0.2","date":"2026-06-09T16:30:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.0.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v2.10.6","date":"2026-06-08T21:43:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.10.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v3.0.0","date":"2026-05-28T15:09:13Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v3.0.0-rc.1","date":"2026-05-06T15:23:02Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.0.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v2.10.5","date":"2026-04-23T18:14:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.10.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v2.9.2","date":"2026-04-23T22:24:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.9.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v2.8.4","date":"2026-04-23T22:25:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.8.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v2.10.4","date":"2026-04-13T11:20:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.10.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v2.10.3","date":"2026-03-17T17:52:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.10.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v2.10.2","date":"2026-03-12T15:04:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.10.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v2.10.1","date":"2026-02-17T11:49:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.10.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v2.10.0","date":"2026-01-26T17:59:35Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v2.8.3","date":"2026-01-20T19:47:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.8.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v2.9.1","date":"2026-01-20T19:48:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.9.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/grafana/tempo/releases/tag/v2.10.0-rc.0","date":"2026-01-15T21:09:22Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.10.0-rc.0"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v2.20.0","date":"2026-07-20T03:34:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.20.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v2.19.0","date":"2026-06-03T14:25:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.19.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v2.18.0","date":"2026-05-13T16:01:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.18.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v2.17.0","date":"2026-03-30T20:07:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.17.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v2.16.0","date":"2026-03-07T12:49:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.16.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v2.15.1","date":"2026-02-09T00:17:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.15.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v2.15.0","date":"2026-02-06T19:06:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v2.14.1","date":"2026-01-02T18:36:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.14.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v2.14.0","date":"2026-01-02T02:29:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.14.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v1.76.0","date":"2025-12-03T16:31:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.76.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v1.75.0","date":"2025-11-18T18:23:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.75.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v1.74.0","date":"2025-10-02T12:06:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.74.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v1.73.0","date":"2025-09-03T18:48:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.73.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v1.72.0","date":"2025-08-06T19:05:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.72.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v1.71.0","date":"2025-07-05T00:57:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.71.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v1.70.0","date":"2025-06-10T18:43:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.70.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v1.69.0","date":"2025-05-09T21:55:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.69.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v1.68.0","date":"2025-04-05T10:21:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.68.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v1.67.0","date":"2025-03-08T05:56:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.67.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger/releases/tag/v1.66.0","date":"2025-02-06T19:03:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.66.0"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.iso27001 | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 7.4 | 7.8 |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |
| security.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":2,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fjaegertracing%2Fjaeger&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":"MODERATE"}` |

## Capabilities (Distributed Tracing Tools)

| Capability | Grafana Tempo | Jaeger |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Trace role | Trace backend / store | SaaS platform |
| **Standards** |  |  |
| OpenTelemetry support | OTLP ingest | OTel-native |
| 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 | - | - |
| **Correlation** |  |  |
| Correlate traces with metrics/logs | - | - |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud + self-hosted | Cloud + self-hosted |
| **Architecture** |  |  |
| Storage backend | object storage | Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, Cassandra, Badger, ClickHouse, Kafka (buffer), memory |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T17:01:10.949Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*