Apache SkyWalking vs VictoriaTraces

Apache SkyWalking9.4Visit VictoriaTraces8.5Visit

Higher score Apache SkyWalking #1 in Distributed Tracing Tools 9.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 3 features Visit site

vs

VictoriaTraces #8 in Distributed Tracing Tools 8.5/10 Open source ✓ 2 of 3 features Visit VictoriaTraces

• Apache SkyWalking fits best

  Broad, self-hosted observability teams

• VictoriaTraces fits best

  Scalable self-hosted trace storage

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Side by side

Feature	Apache SkyWalking 9.4/10 Visit ↗	VictoriaTraces 8.5/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	8.5
Ranking	#1 in Distributed Tracing Tools	#8 in Distributed Tracing Tools
Best for	Broad, self-hosted observability teams	Scalable self-hosted trace storage
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Free plan	Open source
Free plan	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Support	Community, Docs	Community, Docs
Integrations	7 integrations	7 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Apache SkyWalking 0/3 · VictoriaTraces 2/3
OpenTelemetry support	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Service map	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Tail-based sampling	Not checked yet	—
Specs
Trace retention	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Deployment model	Self_hosted	Self_hosted
Pricing basis	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Combines tracing, topology maps, metrics, logs, profiling, and browser monitoring. Connects OpenTelemetry, Zipkin, Prometheus, Telegraf, and Zabbix telemetry. Supports Docker, Kubernetes, service meshes, eBPF, and multiple storage systems.	Accepts OTLP over HTTP and gRPC, plus Jaeger and Tempo-compatible APIs Supports single-binary and horizontally scalable cluster deployments Combines trace exploration, dependency queries, retention, alerting, and multi-tenancy
Cons	Self-hosted deployment requires teams to operate the OAP backend and web interfaces. Its broad scope may exceed the needs of teams seeking tracing only. A hosted SaaS workflow is not the product's deployment model.	Self-hosted deployment requires teams to operate the infrastructure Tail-based sampling is planned rather than currently supported Requires familiarity with the VictoriaMetrics observability ecosystem
Our verdict	Apache SkyWalking is an open-source application performance monitoring and observability platform for distributed, microservices, cloud-native, and container-based applications. It is aimed at teams that want to run their own observability… Read the review →	VictoriaTraces is an open-source distributed tracing database from VictoriaMetrics for SRE, DevOps, observability, and platform engineering teams managing distributed systems. It ingests OpenTelemetry trace data over OTLP HTTP and gRPC,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Apache SkyWalking — where it wins

  • Combines tracing, topology maps, metrics, logs, profiling, and browser monitoring.
  • Connects OpenTelemetry, Zipkin, Prometheus, Telegraf, and Zabbix telemetry.
  • Supports Docker, Kubernetes, service meshes, eBPF, and multiple storage systems.

  Where it doesn't

  • Self-hosted deployment requires teams to operate the OAP backend and web interfaces.
  • Its broad scope may exceed the needs of teams seeking tracing only.
  • A hosted SaaS workflow is not the product's deployment model.

• VictoriaTraces — where it wins

  • Accepts OTLP over HTTP and gRPC, plus Jaeger and Tempo-compatible APIs
  • Supports single-binary and horizontally scalable cluster deployments
  • Combines trace exploration, dependency queries, retention, alerting, and multi-tenancy

  Where it doesn't

  • Self-hosted deployment requires teams to operate the infrastructure
  • Tail-based sampling is planned rather than currently supported
  • Requires familiarity with the VictoriaMetrics observability ecosystem

• Apache SkyWalking9.4/10 · Free plan

  A broad self-hosted stack that connects traces, topology, metrics, logs, profiles, and alerts.

  Visit siteFull verdict →
• VictoriaTraces8.5/10 · Open source

  A flexible self-hosted tracing backend for teams operating scalable observability infrastructure.

  Visit VictoriaTracesFull verdict →