Best Distributed Tracing Tools in 2026
Updated
Distributed tracing tools help you follow requests as they pass between services and inspect application behavior across those paths. Compared on OpenTelemetry support, service maps, tail-based sampling, and trace retention, the entries surface capabilities relevant to collecting and working with traces. Deployment model can inform setup considerations, while free-plan availability, paid-from pricing, and pricing basis help with cost comparisons. Grafana Cloud Traces, Tracekit, and Tracetest are among the products shown. Consider how you plan to deploy tracing and how long or selectively you need to retain trace data, then weigh the listed features against your team's requirements.
Distributed Tracing Tools, one module each.A lit port is something its maker publishes; 21 of 21 with a known API signal have a public API.
- 01 Grafana Cloud Traces API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.3Free
- 02 Oracle Log Analytics API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.3Free
- 03 Tracekit API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.3$24/mo
- 04 Uptrace API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.3$39/mo
- 05 VictoriaLogs API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.3Free
- 06 AppSignal API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.2$23.25/mo
- 07 AWS X-Ray API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.2Free
- 08 Baselime API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.2Free
- 09 Honeycomb API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.2$150/mo
- 10 Jaeger API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.2Free
- 11 Sentry Performance API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.2Free
- 12 SigNoz API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.2$19/mo
- 13 Tracetest API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.2Free
- 14 Apache SkyWalking API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.1Free
- 15 Hubble API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.1Free
- 16 Tencent Cloud Application Performance Management API yesDOCS 7.0
- 17 DataBuff API yesDOCS 6.9
- 18 Elastic Observability API yesDOCS 6.9
- 19 Google Cloud Trace API yesDOCS 6.7$0.20/mo
- 20 Sematext Tracing API yesDOCS 6.7
- 21 SolarWinds Observability API yesFREE noDOCS 6.7$5/mo
- 22 Grafana Cloud Application Observability FREE yesDOCS 5.9$0.03/mo
- 23 Grafana k6 FREE yesDOCS 5.9$19/mo
- 24 Hypertrace FREE yesDOCS 5.9Free
- 25 Pinpoint FREE yesDOCS 5.9Free
Compare all 25 in a table
| # | Platform | Score | Free plan | From | Free plan | Paid from | OpenTelemetry support | Service map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Grafana Cloud Traces | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | Yes | 19 /mo | Yes | Yes |
| 2 | Oracle Log Analytics | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | Yes | |||
| 3 | Tracekit | 7.3 | Free plan | $24/mo | Yes | 24 /mo | Yes | Yes |
| 4 | Uptrace | 7.3 | Free plan | $39/mo | Yes | 39 /mo | ||
| 5 | VictoriaLogs | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Yes | ||
| 6 | AppSignal | 7.2 | Free plan | $23.25/mo | Yes | 23.25 /mo | ||
| 7 | AWS X-Ray | 7.2 | Free plan | Free | No | Yes | Yes | |
| 8 | Baselime | 7.2 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Yes | ||
| 9 | Honeycomb | 7.2 | Free plan | $150/mo | Yes | 150 /mo | ||
| 10 | Jaeger | 7.2 | Free plan | Free | Yes | |||
| 11 | Sentry Performance | 7.2 | Free plan | Free | Yes | 26 /mo | Yes | |
| 12 | SigNoz | 7.2 | Free plan | $19/mo | Yes | 49 /mo | ||
| 13 | Tracetest | 7.2 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 14 | Apache SkyWalking | 7.1 | Free plan | Free | Yes | |||
| 15 | Hubble | 7.1 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 16 | Tencent Cloud Application Performance Management | 7.0 | Yes | Yes | Yes | |||
| 17 | DataBuff | 6.9 | Yes | Yes | ||||
| 18 | Elastic Observability | 6.9 | Yes | |||||
| 19 | Google Cloud Trace | 6.7 | $0.20/mo | No | ||||
| 20 | Sematext Tracing | 6.7 | No | 17.1 /mo | Yes | Yes | ||
| 21 | SolarWinds Observability | 6.7 | No | $5/mo | No | 5 /mo | ||
| 22 | Grafana Cloud Application Observability | 5.9 | Free plan | $0.03/mo | Yes | |||
| 23 | Grafana k6 | 5.9 | Free plan | $19/mo | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
| 24 | Hypertrace | 5.9 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Yes | ||
| 25 | Pinpoint | 5.9 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Is your platform on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored, and a sponsored row is labelled as paid.