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Head-to-head · Distributed Tracing Tools

SigNoz vs OpenZipkin

  • Updated Oct 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 4 checks side by side
Higher score SigNoz #3 in Distributed Tracing Tools 9.1/10 Free plan · 30-day trial Free planFree trial✓ 0 of 3 features Visit SigNoz
OpenZipkin #7 in Distributed Tracing Tools 8.6/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 2 of 3 features Visit OpenZipkin

SigNoz leads on 0 checks, OpenZipkin 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 scoreSigNoz · 9.1/10
  • Free planboth
  • Free trialonly SigNoz
  • Most featuresOpenZipkin · 2 of 3

SigNoz scores higher on our rubric for distributed tracing tools: 9.1 against 8.6 out of 10; our editors rank them #3 and #7.

On deployment model, SigNoz gives you Hybrid where OpenZipkin offers Self_hosted.

SigNoz is the better fit for full-stack tracing on a modest budget. OpenZipkin is the better fit for teams wanting simple open-source Zipkin tracing.

  • SigNoz fits best

    Full-stack tracing on a modest budget

  • OpenZipkin fits best

    Teams wanting simple open-source Zipkin tracing

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 SigNoz 9.1/10 Visit ↗ OpenZipkin 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.1 8.6
Ranking #3 in Distributed Tracing Tools #7 in Distributed Tracing Tools
Best for Full-stack tracing on a modest budget Teams wanting simple open-source Zipkin tracing
Pricing model Free plan + paid Free
Starting price $49/mo Free plan
Free plan ✓ ✓
Free trial 30 days —
Deployment Cloud, Self-hosted Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms Web Web
Support Live chat, Email, Community Community, Docs
Integrations 45+ integrations 10 integrations
Built for Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features SigNoz 0/3 · OpenZipkin 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 Hybrid Self_hosted
Pricing basis Not checked yet Not checked yet
Our review
Pros
  • Combines traces, logs, metrics, alerts, and infrastructure visibility
  • OpenTelemetry support with flamegraphs, dependency maps, and trace funnels
  • Unlimited teammates and hosts on the $49 monthly Teams plan
  • 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
Cons
  • Teams pricing grows with telemetry ingestion volume
  • Community Edition requires customer-managed deployment
  • Advanced enterprise support and security features are reserved for Enterprise
  • 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
Our verdict

SigNoz is an open-source observability platform for engineering teams monitoring cloud-native applications. It brings application performance monitoring, distributed tracing, logs, metrics, dashboards, alerts, and infrastructure visibility…

Read the review →

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 →
  1. SigNozDistributed Tracing Tools 9.1Free plan · 30-day trial
  2. OpenZipkinDistributed Tracing Tools 8.6Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • SigNoz — where it wins

    • Combines traces, logs, metrics, alerts, and infrastructure visibility
    • OpenTelemetry support with flamegraphs, dependency maps, and trace funnels
    • Unlimited teammates and hosts on the $49 monthly Teams plan

    Where it doesn't

    • Teams pricing grows with telemetry ingestion volume
    • Community Edition requires customer-managed deployment
    • Advanced enterprise support and security features are reserved for Enterprise

  • 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

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