Elastic APM vs Jaeger

Elastic APM9.4Visit Jaeger6.7Visit

Higher score Elastic APM #1 in Application Performance Monitoring 9.4/10 Free plan · 14-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 5 of 5 features Visit Elastic APM

vs

Jaeger #28 in Application Performance Monitoring 6.7/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 3 of 5 features Visit Jaeger

• Elastic APM fits best

  Open, hybrid APM with broad observability

• Jaeger fits best

  Open-source distributed tracing infrastructure

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Side by side

Feature	Elastic APM 9.4/10 Visit ↗	Jaeger 6.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	6.7
Ranking	#1 in Application Performance Monitoring	#28 in Application Performance Monitoring
Best for	Open, hybrid APM with broad observability	Open-source distributed tracing infrastructure
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free
Starting price	$99/mo	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	14 days	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms	Web, Linux, Windows, macOS	Web, Linux, Windows, macOS
Support	Phone, Docs · 24/7	Community, Docs
Integrations	4 integrations	8 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Elastic APM 5/5 · Jaeger 3/5
Distributed tracing	✓	✓
Transaction tracing	✓	✓
Dependency mapping	✓	✓
Real user monitoring	✓ (best)	—
Log correlation	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Specs
Deployment model	Hybrid	Self_hosted
Our review
Pros	Distributed tracing, transaction views, and service dependency maps Free self-managed Elastic Stack deployment OpenTelemetry ingestion plus logs, metrics, traces, and RUM	OTLP and Zipkin ingestion support Topology graphs and trace-derived performance metrics Flexible storage and Kubernetes deployment support
Cons	Usage-based pricing can vary with ingestion volume Self-managed deployment requires Elastic Stack administration Full-stack observability costs $0.09 per GB ingested monthly	Focused on tracing rather than broader APM coverage Self-hosted deployment requires infrastructure ownership No RUM or log correlation capabilities
Our verdict	Elastic APM monitors application performance across services, databases, external HTTP calls, errors, traces, logs, and metrics. It is designed for teams managing distributed applications across web, API, iOS, Android, and self-hosted… Read the review →	Jaeger is an open-source distributed tracing platform for developers and platform teams operating microservices and other distributed applications. It collects and visualizes traces, supports trace search and query APIs, and helps teams… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Elastic APM — where it wins

  • Distributed tracing, transaction views, and service dependency maps
  • Free self-managed Elastic Stack deployment
  • OpenTelemetry ingestion plus logs, metrics, traces, and RUM

  Where it doesn't

  • Usage-based pricing can vary with ingestion volume
  • Self-managed deployment requires Elastic Stack administration
  • Full-stack observability costs $0.09 per GB ingested monthly

• Jaeger — where it wins

  • OTLP and Zipkin ingestion support
  • Topology graphs and trace-derived performance metrics
  • Flexible storage and Kubernetes deployment support

  Where it doesn't

  • Focused on tracing rather than broader APM coverage
  • Self-hosted deployment requires infrastructure ownership
  • No RUM or log correlation capabilities

• Elastic APM9.4/10 · Free plan · 14-day trial

  A flexible APM for teams that want open deployment and broad observability.

  Visit Elastic APMFull verdict →
• Jaeger6.7/10 · Free plan

  A focused, self-hosted tracing platform for teams operating microservices.

  Visit JaegerFull verdict →