Zipkin
Zipkin is an open-source distributed tracing system originally created at Twitter and maintained by the OpenZipkin volunteer organization. It helps software engineers and DevOps teams troubleshoot latency in microservices architectures through trace collection, visualization, and multi-language instrumentation libraries.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Zipkin does
Zipkin is an open-source distributed tracing system originally created at Twitter and now maintained by the OpenZipkin volunteer organization. It collects timing data (spans) from instrumented microservices-based applications and provides trace lookup and visualization capabilities for troubleshooting latency problems in distributed service architectures. The platform consists of a Zipkin Server that ingests spans over HTTP, Kafka, RabbitMQ, and Scribe transports, persists them in pluggable storage backends (in-memory, MySQL, Cassandra, Elasticsearch), and exposes a Web UI with dependency graph visualization and per-service latency analysis. The product suite includes language-specific instrumentation libraries (Brave for Java, zipkin-js, zipkin-go, zipkin-ruby, py_zipkin, zipkin4net for C#, zipkin-php, zipkin-finagle for Scala) plus framework integrations such as Spring Cloud Sleuth and Micrometer Tracing. Cloud-specific extensions provide native integration with AWS SQS, Kinesis, X-Ray, and Elasticsearch Service, as well as GCP Stackdriver. The B3 propagation format (X-B3 HTTP headers) has effectively become a cross-project standard, and OpenZipkin publishes APIs and data formats that allow alternative backends (Apache SkyWalking, Jaeger, Pitchfork) to ingest Zipkin-format data.
Zipkin operates on a free, open-source distribution model with no licensing fees, no pricing tiers, and no commercial revenue stream. Distribution is entirely self-service through Docker Hub, Maven Central, Homebrew, and GitHub releases. Adoption is community-led and product-led: developers discover Zipkin through GitHub, documentation at zipkin.io, Gitter chat, Google Groups, and the @zipkinproject Twitter account. There is no corporate sales motion, no sales team, no parent company, and no evidence of venture or private equity funding. The primary users are software engineers and DevOps teams building and operating distributed microservices architectures who need to diagnose latency issues and understand service dependencies.
There is no commercial entity behind Zipkin in the conventional sense. OpenZipkin is a volunteer-run OSS organization that stewards code, documentation, specifications, and community support. As such, there is no headcount, no M&A history, no funding rounds, no executive team, and no revenue. The project is actively maintained with regular releases and community engagement, but the absence of a corporate structure means traditional company-level metrics do not apply.
Zipkin firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Zipkin
- Website
- https://zipkin.io
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- Zipkin is an open-source distributed tracing system originally created at Twitter and maintained by the OpenZipkin volunteer organization. It helps software engineers and DevOps teams troubleshoot latency in microservices architectures through trace collection, visualization, and multi-language instrumentation libraries.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Zipkin industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Distributed Tracing
- NAICS
- Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (518)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Distributed Tracing (HDABAJAD)
Keywords
Where Zipkin is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Markets served
Zipkin business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D, Operations
Revenue model
- Open Source Core Product: OpenZipkin is a free, open-source distributed tracing system maintained by a volunteer organization. There is no commercial revenue model for the core product.
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
Zipkin product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Zipkin is a distributed tracing system that collects timing data (spans) from instrumented microservices and provides lookup and visualization capabilities for troubleshooting latency problems. It offers a web UI with dependency diagrams, query by service/operation/tags/duration, and integrates with multiple transport protocols and storage backends. The product is free, open-source software maintained by the OpenZipkin volunteer organization.
Product overview
OpenZipkin is a distributed tracing system organized as a core server platform with multiple language-specific instrumentation libraries. The Zipkin Server provides trace collection, storage (Cassandra, Elasticsearch, MySQL, or in-memory), and a Web UI for visualization. It supports multiple transport options including HTTP, Kafka, RabbitMQ, and Scribe. The product suite includes instrumentation libraries for Java (Brave, Spring Cloud Sleuth, Micrometer Tracing), JavaScript, Python, Ruby, Go, C#, PHP, Scala, and Lua. Cloud-specific extensions provide native integration with AWS services (SQS, Kinesis, X-Ray) and GCP Stackdriver. The system also supports alternative servers like Apache SkyWalking and Jaeger that accept Zipkin format data.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Zipkin Server
Companies that use Zipkin
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Zipkin technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration17 records
Feature7 records
Zipkin partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core.
- AWS (Amazon Web Services)coreOpenZipkin provides official extensions for AWS SQS collector, Kinesis collector, Elasticsearch AWS storage, and X-Ray storage. Enables native Zipkin integration with AWS cloud infrastructure.
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP)coreOpenZipkin provides official extension for GCP Stackdriver storage integration, enabling Zipkin trace data storage in Google Cloud's observability platform.
- Apache KafkacoreKafka is supported as both a transport (collector) and storage backend. Community-contributed zipkin-storage-kafka extension supports aggregation and indexing via Kafka Streams.
- Apache CassandracoreCassandra was the original storage backend for Zipkin at Twitter and remains a natively supported option. Also community-supported via brave-cassandra instrumentation.
- ElasticsearchcoreElasticsearch is a natively supported storage backend for Zipkin. AWS Elasticsearch Service extension also available for cloud deployments.
- MySQLcoreMySQL is a natively supported storage backend option for Zipkin, providing a relational database alternative to NoSQL options.
- RabbitMQcoreRabbitMQ is supported as a transport option for span collection, in addition to HTTP and Kafka.
- Spring Cloud (VMware)coreSpring Cloud Sleuth provides Zipkin instrumentation for Spring and Spring Cloud applications with support for HTTP, RabbitMQ, Kafka, and Redis transports.
Scale indicators2 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Zipkin competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- OpenTelemetry: CNCF-governed vendor-neutral standard for traces, metrics, and logs instrumentation. OpenTelemetry already supports B3 propagation and competes with Zipkin on the instrumentation layer; many users adopt OpenTelemetry collectors instead of running the Zipkin server.
- Honeycomb: Commercial observability platform focused on high-cardinality, event-based debugging for production microservices. Honeycomb targets the same engineering persona as Zipkin but with a proprietary SaaS offering rather than a free OSS server.
- ServiceNow Cloud Observability (Lightstep): Lightstep, originally a direct Zipkin-style tracing startup, is now part of ServiceNow's observability suite. It competes with Zipkin in distributed tracing for microservices and brings commercial funding to a historically Zipkin-adjacent product.
Direct peers
- Jaeger: CNCF-graduated open-source distributed tracing system. Jaeger exposes partial Zipkin HTTP POST compatibility, making it a direct functional alternative for end-to-end request tracing in microservices.
- Apache SkyWalking: Apache top-level open-source APM and tracing platform. SkyWalking exposes the same HTTP POST endpoints and Kafka topic as Zipkin and bundles the Zipkin Lens UI, positioning it as a drop-in Zipkin-compatible backend.
- Grafana Tempo: Open-source distributed tracing backend from Grafana Labs, tightly integrated with Prometheus, Loki, and the Grafana stack. Tempo targets the same microservices latency-debugging use case as Zipkin with a cost-efficient object-storage architecture.
Broad incumbents
- Datadog: Commercial cloud observability platform named alongside Zipkin in the distributed tracing market forecast. Datadog bundles distributed tracing with APM, infrastructure monitoring, and logs, competing with Zipkin for enterprise observability budgets.
- Dynatrace: Enterprise observability and APM platform named alongside Zipkin in the distributed tracing market. Dynatrace offers AI-driven root-cause analysis for microservices latency, competing with Zipkin at the higher end of the enterprise market.
- AWS X-Ray: AWS-managed distributed tracing service. Zipkin's zipkin-aws module includes an X-Ray storage extension, and the two are directly interoperable, making X-Ray a first-party cloud alternative for AWS-native deployments.
- New Relic: Commercial observability platform explicitly cited as a peer vendor in the distributed tracing market. New Relic's APM and tracing product overlaps with Zipkin's microservices troubleshooting use case, but as part of a much broader commercial suite.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Zipkin social profiles
Digital presenceZipkin financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Zipkin leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Zipkin funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Zipkin M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Zipkin
What does Zipkin do?
Zipkin is a distributed tracing system that collects timing data (spans) from instrumented microservices and provides lookup and visualization capabilities for troubleshooting latency problems. It offers a web UI with dependency diagrams, query by service/operation/tags/duration, and integrates with multiple transport protocols and storage backends. The product is free, open-source software maintained by the OpenZipkin volunteer organization.
Is Zipkin a public or private company?
Zipkin is a private company. It is classified as unknown and is currently operating.
When was Zipkin founded?
Zipkin was founded in -1.
Where is Zipkin based?
Zipkin is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Zipkin make money?
One revenue line is on record: open Source Core Product.
Who are Zipkin's main competitors?
Emerging players on record are OpenTelemetry, Honeycomb and ServiceNow Cloud Observability (Lightstep). Direct peers are Jaeger, Apache SkyWalking and Grafana Tempo. Broad incumbents are Datadog, Dynatrace, AWS X-Ray and New Relic.
Does Zipkin have an API?
Yes. Zipkin exposes a REST API for span collection and trace retrieval. Spans can be submitted via HTTP POST endpoints (/api/v1/spans and /api/v2/spans) accepting thrift, JSON, or proto formats. The API also provides endpoints for querying traces by service, operation name, tags, and duration. The Zipkin Query Service provides a JSON API for finding and retrieving traces, primarily consumed by the Web UI. Developer documentation is at zipkin.io/zipkin-api.
What industry is Zipkin in?
Zipkin's product category is Distributed Tracing. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDABAJAD, Distributed Tracing. Its NAICS code is 518 and its SIC code is 7372.