OpenTracing vs Zipkin: What are the differences?

Introduction

OpenTracing and Zipkin are both distributed tracing systems that help in monitoring and troubleshooting complex microservices architectures. However, there are several key differences between these two systems that set them apart.

1. Data Collection and Storage: In OpenTracing, a service can send trace data to multiple backends, including Zipkin, Jaeger, and more. OpenTracing is an open standard that provides APIs and instrumentation guidelines, but it doesn't include its own storage or data persistence mechanism. On the other hand, Zipkin is a fully featured distributed tracing system that collects and stores trace data in its own storage backend, typically based on Elasticsearch.

2. Instrumentation: OpenTracing provides a vendor-neutral instrumentation API, which means that it is compatible with multiple tracing systems. This allows developers to switch between different tracing backends without changing their code. Zipkin, on the other hand, has its own instrumentation libraries and agents that need to be used for tracing applications.

3. Community and Adoption: OpenTracing has a larger community and wider industry adoption compared to Zipkin. OpenTracing is supported by several major tracing systems including Jaeger, Zipkin, and more. It has a rich ecosystem of tracing libraries and tools built around it. Zipkin, while popular, might have a relatively smaller community and fewer ecosystem integrations compared to OpenTracing.

4. Querying and Visualization: Zipkin provides a web-based user interface that allows users to query and visualize trace data. It offers features like trace search, dependency graphs, and waterfall views. OpenTracing, being an API specification, doesn't provide its own user interface. It relies on the user's choice of tracing backend or tool for querying and visualization of trace data.

5. Compatibility: OpenTracing provides compatibility with multiple tracing systems and has a higher level of interoperability. This allows users to mix and match tracing systems and use different tools for different parts of their architecture. Zipkin, however, is a standalone tracing system with its own ecosystem, making it less compatible and interoperable with other tracing systems.

6. Maturity and Stability: OpenTracing has been in development for a longer period of time and has established itself as a robust and mature tracing standard. It has gone through multiple iterations and improvements, addressing various use cases and industry requirements. Zipkin, while also a mature tracing system, may not have the same level of maturity and stability as OpenTracing due to its narrower scope and smaller community.

In summary, OpenTracing is an open standard for distributed tracing that provides compatibility and flexibility, whereas Zipkin is a standalone tracing system with its own instrumentation and storage backend. OpenTracing has a larger community, wider industry adoption, and a more mature ecosystem, while Zipkin offers its own web-based user interface and a dedicated set of tracing features.