Head-to-head · Distributed Tracing Tools
Grafana Cloud Traces vs Tracekit
Grafana Cloud Traces leads on 1 check, Tracekit on 0, and 5 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 6 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.
Our verdict
- Highest scoreGrafana Cloud Traces · 7.7/10
- Lowest starting priceGrafana Cloud Traces · $19/mo
- Free planboth
- Most featuresGrafana Cloud Traces · 3 of 3
Grafana Cloud Traces scores higher on our rubric for distributed tracing tools: 7.7 against 7.6 out of 10; our editors rank them #15 and #16.
Grafana Cloud Traces is cheaper to start at $19/mo against $24/mo. On pricing basis, Grafana Cloud Traces gives you Usage where Tracekit offers Traces.
Grafana Cloud Traces is the better fit for managed Tempo tracing in Grafana Cloud. Tracekit is the better fit for AI-assisted trace investigation.
- Grafana Cloud Traces fits best
Managed Tempo tracing in Grafana Cloud
- Tracekit fits best
AI-assisted trace investigation
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Side by side
| Feature | Grafana Cloud Traces 7.7/10 Visit ↗ | Tracekit 7.6/10 Visit ↗ |
|---|---|---|
| At a glance | ||
| Editor score | 7.7 | 7.6 |
| Ranking | #15 in Distributed Tracing Tools | #16 in Distributed Tracing Tools |
| Best for | Managed Tempo tracing in Grafana Cloud | AI-assisted trace investigation |
| Pricing model | Free plan + paid | Free plan + paid |
| Starting price | $19/mo (best) | $24/mo |
| Free plan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Deployment | Cloud | Cloud, Browser extension |
| Platforms | Web | Web |
| Support | Email, Community, Docs | Email, Community, Docs |
| Integrations | 6 integrations | 8 integrations |
| Built for | Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise | Solo, Small business, Mid-market |
| Features Grafana Cloud Traces 3/3 · Tracekit 2/3 | ||
| OpenTelemetry support | ✓ | ✓ |
| Service map | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tail-based sampling | ✓ (best) | Not checked yet |
| Specs | ||
| Trace retention | 30 days | 30 days |
| Deployment model | Cloud | Cloud |
| Pricing basis | Usage | Traces |
| Our review | ||
| Pros |
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| Cons |
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| Our verdict | Grafana Cloud Traces is a fully managed distributed tracing backend powered by Grafana Tempo. It stores and queries application traces, with TraceQL search, service map visualization, metrics generated from spans, and links between traces,… Read the review → |
Tracekit is a cloud observability platform for developers and small teams investigating distributed application performance. It follows requests across browsers, services, databases, and external calls through OpenTelemetry-compatible… Read the review → |
Strengths and trade-offs
Grafana Cloud Traces — where it wins
- TraceQL search with service maps and span-derived metrics
- Supports OpenTelemetry, Zipkin, and Jaeger ingestion
- Connects traces with Grafana Logs and Grafana Metrics
Where it doesn't
- Pro pricing adds usage charges beyond the included 50 GB
- Enterprise pricing is custom rather than published
- Cloud deployment may not suit teams requiring self-hosted tracing
Tracekit — where it wins
- AI-assisted root-cause analysis and natural-language trace search
- Trace waterfalls, dependency maps, and P50/P95/P99 latency analysis
- OpenTelemetry ingestion and broad alert notification integrations
Where it doesn't
- Cloud deployment only
- Free plan limits usage to 200K traces per month
- Tail sampling is configured through the OpenTelemetry Collector
- Grafana Cloud Traces7.7/10 · Free plan
A managed Tempo backend with strong TraceQL, protocol support, and a usage-based upgrade path.
Visit Grafana CloudFull verdict → - Tracekit7.6/10 · Free plan
A cloud tracing platform pairing detailed investigation tools with AI-assisted root-cause analysis.
Visit TracekitFull verdict →
All distributed tracing tools comparisons → · Full ranking →
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Last updated · How we research and update