Jaeger vs Zipkin
open-source tracing — CNCF-graduated OTel-native vs. original simple-deploy
| Jaeger | Zipkin | |
|---|---|---|
| Summary | The CNCF graduated distributed tracing system, originally from Uber. The default open-source choice for traces. | The original open-source distributed tracing system, born at Twitter in 2012. Single-binary simplicity, still maintained. |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Java |
| GitHub stars (approx) | 23000 | 17000 |
| Categories | traces | traces |
| Replaces SaaS | datadog, new-relic, honeycomb | datadog, new-relic, honeycomb |
| Self-host deployment | docker, kubernetes (jaeger-operator) | single jar, docker, kubernetes |
| Commercial hosted option | no / self-host only | no / self-host only |
| Repository | https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger | https://github.com/openzipkin/zipkin |
| Freshness checked | 2026-05-17 | 2026-05-17 |
When to prefer Jaeger
You want the modern OpenTelemetry-native tracing backend with first-class OTLP ingestion, Cassandra/Elasticsearch/Badger storage options, and CNCF graduation behind it. Jaeger is the de-facto open-source tracing default for new deployments.
When to prefer Zipkin
You want the simplest possible tracing backend — single JAR/binary, minimal configuration, well-understood storage backends. Zipkin predates Jaeger, has fewer moving parts, and is still actively maintained for shops that don't need Jaeger's feature surface.