head to head · open source
zipkin vs openwolf
zipkin has 17,475 GitHub stars, 3,092 forks, 175 open issues and last shipped 3 months ago. openwolf has 2,401 stars, 212 forks, 56 open issues and last shipped 17 days ago. zipkin leads on adoption by 628% (17,475 vs 2,401 stars). zipkin is written in Java under Apache-2.0; openwolf is written in TypeScript under AGPL-3.0. zipkin has attracted 18% as many forks as stars, openwolf 9%. openwolf was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (observability), 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 | openwolf | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 17K | ★ 2.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Java | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-08-06 | 2026-10-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 3.1K | ⑂ 212 |
| 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 openwolf if
- You want the openwolf feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and openwolf 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 openwolf
OpenWolf Keep project memory across your coding agents. OpenWolf keeps task context, project maps and known fixes in one local folder. Help Claude Code, Codex and OpenCode continue saved work and find relevant code. Reduce repeated context and review recorded token usage by agent and model. Memory and indexing run locally without extra model calls. Hooks: Claude Code, Codex CLI · Plugin: OpenCode · Compatible hooks: Grok Build · Context only: Cursor, Gemini CLI, Antigravity What it does A coding session produces useful context: the task objective, files changed, failed tests and the next action. That information…
read the full openwolf overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is zipkin or openwolf more popular?
zipkin has 17,475 GitHub stars and openwolf has 2,401. zipkin has the larger community by that measure.
Are zipkin and openwolf free?
Both are open source. zipkin is licensed under Apache-2.0 and openwolf under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between zipkin and openwolf?
zipkin is written in Java and openwolf 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 openwolf?
Choose zipkin if you want the larger community (17,475 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose openwolf if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.