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Head-to-head · Distributed Tracing Tools

OpenZipkin vs VictoriaTraces

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 4 checks side by side
Higher score OpenZipkin #7 in Distributed Tracing Tools 8.6/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 2 of 3 features Visit OpenZipkin
VictoriaTraces #8 in Distributed Tracing Tools 8.5/10 Open source ✓ 2 of 3 features Visit VictoriaTraces

OpenZipkin leads on 0 checks, VictoriaTraces on 0, and 4 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 4 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoreOpenZipkin · 8.6/10
  • Free planonly OpenZipkin

OpenZipkin scores higher on our rubric for distributed tracing tools: 8.6 against 8.5 out of 10; our editors rank them #7 and #8.

OpenZipkin is the better fit for teams wanting simple open-source Zipkin tracing. VictoriaTraces is the better fit for scalable self-hosted trace storage.

  • OpenZipkin fits best

    Teams wanting simple open-source Zipkin tracing

  • VictoriaTraces fits best

    Scalable self-hosted trace storage

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature OpenZipkin 8.6/10 Visit ↗ VictoriaTraces 8.5/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 8.6 8.5
Ranking #7 in Distributed Tracing Tools #8 in Distributed Tracing Tools
Best for Teams wanting simple open-source Zipkin tracing Scalable self-hosted trace storage
Pricing model Free Free
Starting price Free plan Open source
Free plan ✓ (best) Not checked yet
Free trial — —
Deployment Cloud, Self-hosted Self-hosted
Support Community, Docs Community, Docs
Integrations 10 integrations 7 integrations
Built for Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features OpenZipkin 2/3 · VictoriaTraces 2/3
OpenTelemetry support ✓ ✓
Service map ✓ ✓
Tail-based sampling — —
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
  • Search traces by service, operation, tags, duration, or trace ID
  • Dependency diagrams and web trace views clarify service behavior
  • Supports HTTP, Kafka, gRPC, RabbitMQ, and configurable storage backends
  • 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 managing the Java executable, Docker, or source setup
  • OpenTelemetry OTLP/HTTP ingestion is provided through an experimental extension
  • No documented tail-sampling capability for trace volume control
  • 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

OpenZipkin is an open-source distributed tracing system for service architectures. It collects, stores, searches, and visualizes trace data through a web UI and query API. Teams can look up traces by service, operation, tags, duration, or…

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 →
  1. OpenZipkinDistributed Tracing Tools 8.6Free plan
  2. VictoriaTracesDistributed Tracing Tools 8.5Open source

Strengths and trade-offs

  • OpenZipkin — where it wins

    • Search traces by service, operation, tags, duration, or trace ID
    • Dependency diagrams and web trace views clarify service behavior
    • Supports HTTP, Kafka, gRPC, RabbitMQ, and configurable storage backends

    Where it doesn't

    • Self-hosted deployment requires managing the Java executable, Docker, or source setup
    • OpenTelemetry OTLP/HTTP ingestion is provided through an experimental extension
    • No documented tail-sampling capability for trace volume control

  • 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

More comparisons

All distributed tracing tools comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026

Last updated · How we research and update