Zipkin
A distributed tracing platform that captures and visualizes request flows across services
- Also known as
- zipkin
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.
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.
- OpenTelemetryAn open source framework providing standardized APIs and tools for instrumenting cloud-native applications to generate observability datalow · 48%
- Grafana TempoA cost-effective distributed tracing backend that scales with minimal infrastructure complexitymedium · 53%
- AWS X-Raymedium · 63%
- UptraceAn observability platform providing unified traces, metrics, and logs with predictable, usage-based pricing instead of complex enterprise licensingmedium · 60%
- HoneycombReal-time observability platform for debugging production systems and monitoring AI workloadsmedium · 73%
- SigNozObservability platform unifying traces, metrics, and logs with OpenTelemetry-native designmedium · 55%
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 | 26 | 0.07 | 1.9 | ✓ |
| 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 · 2026-09-11 · 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 · 2026-09-14 · 60% |
Integrations
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Count | 7 | mediumsource · 2026-09-14 · 60% |
Language
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Primary | Java | highsource · 2026-09-11 · 90% |
License
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Spdx | Apache-2.0 | highsource · 2026-09-11 · 95% |
Pricing
Release
Reliability
| Attribute | Value | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| Status page | Yes | mediumsource · 2026-08-01 · 60% |
Security
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