Zipkin
A tracing system that visualizes how requests flow across services
- Also known as
- zipkin
What is Zipkin?
Zipkin captures detailed request tracking data from distributed systems, stores it using various backends, and provides a UI for searching traces by service, operation, and duration, along with visualization of service dependency diagrams.
Zipkin pricing
We don't have Zipkin's full plan breakdown yet (its pricing page resisted automated reading). Here's what we could confirm. Always check live pricing for exact numbers.
What Zipkin does
The capabilities that matter for distributed tracing tools, normalised so it lines up with every alternative. “-” means we haven't confirmed it, not that it's missing.
- Trace role
- Trace backend / store
- OpenTelemetry support
- -
- Multi-protocol (Jaeger + Zipkin + OTLP)
- ✓
- Trace search / filter by attributes
- ✓
- Service dependency graph
- ✓
- High-cardinality attribute exploration
- -
- Tail-based / dynamic sampling
- -
- Auto-instrumentation
- Agent-based
- Correlate traces with metrics/logs
- -
- Hosting
- Self-hosted only
- Storage backend
- In-memory, Apache Cassandra, Elasticsearch, OpenSearch
Platform & deployment
Independently observed- Web
- Self-hosted
Integrations (11)
Independently observed- Apache Kafka←
- HTTP
- Kafka
- Apache ActiveMQ
- gRPC
- RabbitMQ
- Apache Pulsar
- Elasticsearch
- Apache Cassandra
- OpenSearch
- Brave
Security & compliance
Known vulnerabilities: 0 (0 in the last 12 months) sourcea count reflects scale & disclosure, not quality
Zipkin FAQ
Common questions about Zipkin, answered from independent, dated evidence.
What is 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. It is indexed under Distributed Tracing Tools.
Source: https://zipkin.io
Is Zipkin free to use?
Zipkin is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.
Source: https://zipkin.io
What platforms does Zipkin support?
Zipkin supports the web, macOS and Linux. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.
Source: https://zipkin.io
Can Zipkin be self-hosted?
Yes. Zipkin can be deployed on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.
Source: https://zipkin.io
What does Zipkin integrate with?
We have confirmed 10 integrations for Zipkin, including HTTP, Kafka, Apache ActiveMQ, gRPC, RabbitMQ, Apache Pulsar, Elasticsearch and Apache Cassandra, plus 2 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.
Source: https://zipkin.io
Is Zipkin open source?
Yes. Zipkin is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.
Zipkin alternatives
Other distributed tracing tools we track, ranked by the same independent score.
- AWS X-RayUnified monitoring platform for collecting and analyzing metrics, logs, and traces from AWS infrastructure and applicationsmedium · 63%
- OpenTelemetryOpen source framework for collecting and exporting distributed system telemetry without vendor lock-inlow · 46%
- Grafana TempoA scalable distributed tracing backend optimized for cost and operational simplicitymedium · 58%
- HoneycombObservability platform for tracing and debugging distributed systems and AI workflows in productionmedium · 72%
- SigNozUnified observability platform consolidating logs, metrics, and traces on the OpenTelemetry standardmedium · 54%
- UptraceCost-efficient observability platform for application traces, metrics, and logsmedium · 69%
Compare Zipkin
Side by side against other distributed tracing tools, attribute by attribute, with a source on every value.
The vioscaleAI score: one lens on the evidence
Not user reviews and not a paid placement: a confidence-weighted blend of the independent signals below (adoption, activity, security posture, and more), which you can sort and re-weight yourself. Vendors can correct their listing but can never move their rank, and stars are weighted low as a vanity metric. It is one way to read the evidence for Zipkin, not the verdict.
| Signal | Score | Weight | Contribution | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Release cadence | 92 | 0.05 | 4.8 | ✓ |
| Capabilities | 58 | 0.06 | 3.6 | ✓ |
| Dependent projects | 53 | 0.06 | 3.3 | ✓ |
| Stars | 80 | 0.03 | 2.1 | ✓ |
| Integrations | 29 | 0.07 | 2.1 | ✓ |
| Security score | 42 | 0.04 | 1.8 | ✓ |
| Development activity | 0 | 0.09 | 0.0 | ✓ |
| Security posture | 0 | 0.12 | 0.0 | - |
| Package downloads | 0 | 0.14 | 0.0 | - |
| Developer Q&A activity | 0 | 0.06 | 0.0 | - |
Computed . Re-weight it by intent, or see the full method.
All data & sourcesshow ↓
Every value we hold, with its source, retrieval date, and confidence. This is the evidence behind the score: don't trust it, verify it.
Activity
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Commits last 30d | 0 | mediumsource · 2026-10-15 · 65% |
Adoption
Content
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Faq | 6 items | mediumsource · 2026-09-10 · 66% |
Features
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Capabilities | Hosting: self · Trace role: backend · Service map: Yes · Trace search: Yes · Multi protocol: Yes · Storage backend: In-memory, Apache Cassandra, Elasticsearch, OpenSearch | mediumsource · 2026-10-15 · 60% |
Integrations
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Count | 9 | mediumsource · 2026-10-15 · 60% |
Language
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | Java | highsource · 2026-10-15 · 90% |
License
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Spdx | Apache-2.0 | highsource · 2026-10-15 · 95% |
Pricing
Release
Reliability
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Status page | Yes | mediumsource · 2026-08-01 · 60% |
Security
Is Zipkin the right choice for you?
Tell us the job, the constraints and what you weigh most, and we will rank Zipkin against the rest of the distributed tracing tools we index, using the same dated evidence weighted your way.
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