# Grafana Tempo vs Zipkin

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Grafana Tempo

| Attribute | Grafana Tempo | Zipkin |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 62.9 (60% (medium)) | 43 (38% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 87 | 0 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 73 | 1,426 |
| adoption.github_stars | 5,455 | 17,453 |
| 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. | 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. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"both","trace_role":"backend","otel_support":"ingest","multi_protocol":true,"storage_backend":"object storage"}` | `{"hosting":"self","trace_role":"backend","service_map":true,"trace_search":true,"multi_protocol":true,"storage_backend":"In-memory, Apache Cassandra, Elasticsearch, OpenSearch","auto_instrumentation":"agent"}` |
| integrations.count | 7 | 10 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Grafana"},{"name":"Prometheus"},{"name":"Loki"},{"name":"Jaeger"},{"name":"Zipkin"},{"name":"OpenTelemetry"},{"name":"OpenCensus"}]` | `[{"name":"HTTP"},{"name":"Kafka"},{"name":"Apache ActiveMQ"},{"name":"gRPC"},{"name":"RabbitMQ"},{"name":"Apache Pulsar"},{"name":"Elasticsearch"},{"name":"Apache Cassandra"},{"name":"OpenSearch"},{"name":"Brave"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | Java |
| license.spdx | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"mac":true,"web":true,"linux":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","sourceUrl":"https://zipkin.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T15:27:18.245Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | - |
| release.cadence_days | 5 | 15 |
| 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/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.6.1","date":"2026-04-08T19:00:52Z","type":"stable","version":"3.6.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.6.0","date":"2026-03-23T21:13:45Z","type":"stable","version":"3.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.5.1","date":"2025-04-27T20:51:04Z","type":"stable","version":"3.5.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.5.0","date":"2025-02-16T18:23:14Z","type":"stable","version":"3.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.4.4","date":"2025-02-16T17:20:25Z","type":"stable","version":"3.4.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.4.3","date":"2025-01-06T22:48:34Z","type":"stable","version":"3.4.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.4.2","date":"2024-10-08T12:46:38Z","type":"stable","version":"3.4.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.4.1","date":"2024-08-04T06:44:30Z","type":"stable","version":"3.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.4.0","date":"2024-05-26T02:06:56Z","type":"stable","version":"3.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.3.1","date":"2024-05-25T11:57:58Z","type":"stable","version":"3.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.3.0","date":"2024-04-16T17:01:19Z","type":"stable","version":"3.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.2.1","date":"2024-04-13T18:22:45Z","type":"stable","version":"3.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.2.0","date":"2024-04-13T02:00:36Z","type":"stable","version":"3.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.1.1","date":"2024-03-07T07:02:48Z","type":"stable","version":"3.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.1.0","date":"2024-02-26T12:33:27Z","type":"stable","version":"3.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.0.6","date":"2024-02-09T02:47:27Z","type":"stable","version":"3.0.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.0.5","date":"2024-01-25T02:23:59Z","type":"stable","version":"3.0.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.0.4","date":"2024-01-17T19:16:37Z","type":"stable","version":"3.0.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.0.3","date":"2024-01-15T00:55:42Z","type":"stable","version":"3.0.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin/releases/tag/3.0.2","date":"2024-01-13T10:27:29Z","type":"stable","version":"3.0.2"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.iso27001 | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 7.4 | 4.2 |
| 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":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,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (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 |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T17:22:58.997Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*