Jaeger vs Pinpoint APM
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Jaeger | Pinpoint APM |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 97 · Excellent | 93 · Excellent |
| Category | Monitoring & Status | Monitoring & Status |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 23,234 | ★ 13,872 |
| First released | 2017 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Datadog APM, New Relic | New Relic, Dynatrace |
What are Jaeger and Pinpoint APM?
Jaeger
Jaeger is a distributed tracing system used to monitor and troubleshoot transactions in complex microservice architectures. It supports trace collection, sampling, and root-cause analysis through a rich UI.
- Distributed transaction tracing
- Service dependency graphs
- Adaptive sampling
- OpenTelemetry compatible
Pinpoint APM
Pinpoint is an open-source application performance management tool for large-scale distributed systems written in Java, PHP, and Python. It traces transactions across components to diagnose performance issues.
- Distributed transaction tracing
- Application topology maps
- Real-time monitoring
- Agent-based instrumentation
Jaeger vs Pinpoint APM: key differences
Jaeger is written in Go, while Pinpoint APM is built with Java. Jaeger is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Pinpoint APM. Pinpoint APM is the more established project (first released 2015), while Jaeger arrived in 2017.
Why pick each one
Choose Jaeger if…
- CNCF graduated project
- Mature and widely adopted
Watch out for
- Storage backend required
- Focused only on traces
Choose Pinpoint APM if…
- Detailed call-stack tracing
- Good for large JVM systems
Watch out for
- Heavy infrastructure needs
- Complex setup
Frequently asked questions
Is Jaeger or Pinpoint APM better?
Jaeger is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Pinpoint APM if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Jaeger and Pinpoint APM free and open-source?
Yes. Jaeger is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Pinpoint APM under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Jaeger and Pinpoint APM with Docker?
Jaeger: yes. Pinpoint APM: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Jaeger or Pinpoint APM?
Jaeger has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Pinpoint APM. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.