head to head · open source
zipkin vs gf
zipkin has 17,476 GitHub stars, 3,092 forks, 175 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. gf has 13,294 stars, 1,731 forks, 148 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. zipkin leads on adoption by 31% (17,476 vs 13,294 stars). zipkin is written in Java under Apache-2.0; gf is written in Go under MIT. zipkin has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, gf 13%. gf was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (tracing), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| zipkin | gf | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 13K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Java | Go |
| Last push | 2026-08-06 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 1.7K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick zipkin if
- You weight community size — 17K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick gf if
- You want the gf feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and gf fits your workflow better
About zipkin
zipkin Zipkin is a distributed tracing system. It helps gather timing data needed to troubleshoot latency problems in service architectures. Features include both the collection and lookup of this data. If you have a trace ID in a log file, you can jump directly to it. Otherwise, you can query based on attributes such as service, operation name, tags and duration. Some interesting data will be summarized for you, such as the percentage of time spent in a service, and whether operations failed. The Zipkin UI also presents a dependency diagram showing how many traced requests went through each application. This…
read the full zipkin overview →
About gf
English 简体中文 GoFrame is a powerful framework for faster, easier, and more efficient project development. Use it as a full application framework, or pick individual components as needed. Installation GoFrame requires Go 1.23 or later. In an existing module, add the framework: Install the gf CLI: Usage Create main.go : Run it: Open To scaffold a project with the gf CLI: Documentation Official Site: Official Site(en): 国内镜像： Mirror Site: Mirror Site: Offline Docs GoDoc API: Doc Source: Contributors 💖 Thanks to all the contributors who made GoFrame possible 💖 License GoFrame is licensed under the MIT License, 100%…
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Frequently asked questions
Is zipkin or gf more popular?
zipkin has 17,476 GitHub stars and gf has 13,294. zipkin has the larger community by that measure.
Are zipkin and gf free?
Both are open source. zipkin is licensed under Apache-2.0 and gf under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between zipkin and gf?
zipkin is written in Java and gf in Go. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, zipkin or gf?
Choose zipkin if you want the larger community (17,476 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose gf if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.