Uptime Kuma vs Zipkin

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted monitoring & status options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureUptime KumaZipkin
CategoryMonitoring & StatusMonitoring & Status
LicenseMITApache-2.0
LanguageJavaScriptJava
Setup difficultyEasyMedium
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdockerdocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 89,960★ 17,452
First released20212015
ReplacesPingdom, UptimeRobotDatadog APM

Why pick each one

Choose Uptime Kuma if…

  • Very easy to use
  • Great notifications
  • Lightweight
Uptime Kuma details

Choose Zipkin if…

  • Simple to run
  • Long-established project
Zipkin details

Frequently asked questions

Is Uptime Kuma or Zipkin better?

Uptime Kuma is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Zipkin if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Uptime Kuma and Zipkin free and open-source?

Yes. Uptime Kuma is licensed under MIT and Zipkin under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Uptime Kuma and Zipkin with Docker?

Uptime Kuma: yes. Zipkin: yes.

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