head to head · open source
zipkin vs OpenReplay
zipkin has 17,476 GitHub stars, 3,092 forks, 175 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. OpenReplay has 13,090 stars, 879 forks, 180 open issues and last shipped yesterday. zipkin leads on adoption by 34% (17,476 vs 13,090 stars). zipkin is written in Java under Apache-2.0; OpenReplay is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. zipkin has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, OpenReplay 7%. OpenReplay 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 | OpenReplay | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 13K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Custom / other |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-08-06 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 879 |
| 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 OpenReplay if
- You want the OpenReplay feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and OpenReplay 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 OpenReplay
Français Español Русский العربية Session replay for developers The most advanced session replay for building delightful web apps. OpenReplay is an open source session replay suite you can host yourself, that lets you see what users do on your web app, helping you troubleshoot issues faster. Session replay. OpenReplay replays what users do, but not only. It also shows you what went under the hood, how your website or app behaves by capturing network activity, console logs, JS errors, store actions/state, page speed metrics, cpu/memory usage and much more. Low footprint . With a 26KB (.br) tracker that…
read the full OpenReplay overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is zipkin or OpenReplay more popular?
zipkin has 17,476 GitHub stars and OpenReplay has 13,090. zipkin has the larger community by that measure.
Are zipkin and OpenReplay free?
Both are open source. zipkin is licensed under Apache-2.0, and OpenReplay has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between zipkin and OpenReplay?
zipkin is written in Java and OpenReplay in TypeScript. 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 OpenReplay?
Choose zipkin if you want the larger community (17,476 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose OpenReplay if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.