OpenObserve vs Uptrace
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
OpenObserve
Open-source observability platform for logs, metrics and traces
VS
Uptrace
OpenTelemetry-based tracing, metrics, and logs tool
| Feature | OpenObserve | Uptrace |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools & Git | Monitoring & Status |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | BSL-1.1 |
| Language | TypeScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, binary | docker, kubernetes, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 20,592 | ★ 4,256 |
| First released | 2023 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Datadog, Elasticsearch | Datadog, New Relic |
Why pick each one
Choose OpenObserve if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 20.6k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is OpenObserve or Uptrace better?
Neither is universally better. OpenObserve has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are OpenObserve and Uptrace free and open-source?
Yes. OpenObserve is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Uptrace under BSL-1.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OpenObserve and Uptrace with Docker?
OpenObserve: yes. Uptrace: yes.