head to head · open source
zipkin vs odd-platform
zipkin has 17,475 GitHub stars, 3,092 forks, 175 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. odd-platform has 1,441 stars, 152 forks, 135 open issues and last shipped 17 days ago. zipkin leads on adoption by 1,113% (17,475 vs 1,441 stars). zipkin is written in Java under Apache-2.0; odd-platform is written in Java under Apache-2.0. zipkin has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, odd-platform 11%. odd-platform was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | odd-platform | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Java | Java |
| Last push | 2026-08-06 | 2026-10-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 152 |
| 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 odd-platform if
- You want the odd-platform feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and odd-platform 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 odd-platform
Next Gen Data Discovery and Data Observability Platform Website • LinkedIn • Slack • Documentation • Blog • Demo Demo Play with our demo app! Introduction ODD is an open source data discovery and observability tool for data teams that helps to efficiently democratise data, power collaboration and reduce time on data discovery through modern user friendly environment. Key wins Shorten data discovery phase Have transparency on how and by whom the data is used Foster data culture by continuous compliance and data quality monitoring Accelerate data insights Know the sources of your dashboards and ad hoc reports…
read the full odd-platform overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is zipkin or odd-platform more popular?
zipkin has 17,475 GitHub stars and odd-platform has 1,441. zipkin has the larger community by that measure.
Are zipkin and odd-platform free?
Both are open source. zipkin is licensed under Apache-2.0 and odd-platform under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between zipkin and odd-platform?
zipkin is written in Java and odd-platform in Java. 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 odd-platform?
Choose zipkin if you want the larger community (17,475 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose odd-platform if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.