We evaluated both Jaeger and Zipkin for distributed tracing.
Zipkin:
- Lightweight
- Simpler UI
- Easier to get started
Jaeger:
- Native support for OpenTelemetry
- Richer UI with dependency graph
- Better scalability in larger setups
We chose Jaeger, especially with OpenTracing/OpenTelemetry convergence.
Tip: Start small with a single service and build out from there.