Grafana Tempo review
A self-hosted Tempo backend for Grafana-centered tracing and trace analysis.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Grafana Tempo is an open-source distributed tracing backend for teams operating microservices and other distributed systems. It ingests trace data through OpenTelemetry, Jaeger, and Zipkin protocols, stores traces in object storage, and supports TraceQL searches. Teams already working with Grafana can use Tempo for trace visualization, while its self-hosted deployment model fits organizations that want control over their tracing infrastructure.
Its strongest advantage is ecosystem fit. Tempo connects with Grafana, Grafana Mimir, Prometheus, Grafana Loki, OpenTelemetry, Jaeger, Zipkin, Kafka, Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, and Microsoft Azure Blob Storage. It can generate span metrics and service graphs, giving teams additional ways to examine distributed-system behavior beyond individual traces. Tail-based sampling is available through Alloy or the OpenTelemetry Collector, and deployments can use monolithic or microservices modes.
Tempo is open source with a free plan, and the published product details describe configurable self-managed retention through object storage rather than fixed product tiers. Grafana Cloud Traces is a separate managed offering with usage pricing, so organizations should distinguish that service from the Tempo OSS backend when evaluating operating responsibility and cost. Tempo is a strong fit for Grafana-based teams comfortable running Linux or self-hosted infrastructure. Teams seeking a broadly verified set of platforms or a single managed tracing product should consider alternatives with a closer fit to those requirements.
Grafana Tempo pros and cons
- Where it wins
- OpenTelemetry, Jaeger, and Zipkin ingestion support
- TraceQL, service graphs, and span metrics in one backend
- Object-storage retention with monolithic or microservices deployment
- Where it doesn't
- Self-managed deployment requires Linux or API-based infrastructure
- Grafana Cloud Traces is a separate managed offering
- Platform coverage is narrower than some distributed tracing tools
Grafana Tempo fact sheet, pricing and score →
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