# Jaeger

> Apache-2.0 CNCF distributed tracing, OTLP-native

**Category:** Observability  
**Pricing:** open-source  
**URL:** https://www.jaegertracing.io  
**GitHub:** https://github.com/jaegertracing/jaeger  
**Added:** 2026-10-15

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## The Hook

Jaeger stores and searches distributed traces: point your OpenTelemetry SDKs at it over OTLP and you get a UI to follow one request across services, find slow spans and see service dependencies.

## What's Good

Apache-2.0 (jaegertracing/jaeger), CNCF graduated, release v2.22.0. Jaeger v2 is built on the OpenTelemetry Collector, so it speaks OTLP over gRPC (4317) and HTTP (4318) and reuses Collector config. One `docker run` gives you the all-in-one with UI and in-memory storage for local debugging, including traces from your own agents. Documented support for Elasticsearch, Cassandra and ClickHouse backends with a published version policy. ★~23k.

## The Catch

Traces only — metrics and logs live elsewhere, so most teams pair it with Prometheus/Grafana or pick an all-in-one such as SigNoz. In-memory storage is for local use; production means running and sizing a storage backend yourself. v2 configuration differs from v1 CLI flags, so older guides may not match.

## Verdict

The default self-hosted trace backend for OpenTelemetry — start with all-in-one, then budget for the storage.