An open source observability framework and toolkit for generating, collecting, and exporting telemetry data (traces, metrics, and logs) from cloud-native applications in a vendor-neutral way.
What is OpenTelemetry?
An open source observability framework and toolkit for generating, collecting, and exporting telemetry data (traces, metrics, and logs) from cloud-native applications in a vendor-neutral way.
SubcategoryObservability / Telemetry Framework
VersionSpecification v1.60.0
PriceFree
What is OpenTelemetry?
Introduction to OpenTelemetry — what it does and who it is for.
What do you need to run OpenTelemetry?
System requirements, OS support, and hardware needs for OpenTelemetry.
OpenTelemetry SDKs run on a supported language runtime, and the optional Collector can be deployed via Docker, Kubernetes, or a standalone binary.
| Operating system | LinuxmacOSWindows |
|---|---|
| Devices | DesktopServer |
Programming languages
- ✓.NET/C#
- ✓C#
- ✓Erlang/Elixir
- ✓Go
- ✓Java
- ✓JavaScript (Node.js)
- ✓Kotlin
- ✓PHP
- ✓Python
- ✓Ruby
- ✓Rust
- ✓Swift
How much does OpenTelemetry cost?
Pricing plans, license type, and availability for OpenTelemetry.
OpenTelemetry is free and open source, with no cost to use.
| Price summary | Free (Open Source) |
|---|---|
| License details | Apache License 2.0 for code; documentation/website content CC-BY-4.0. |
| Availability | Available |
What is OpenTelemetry used for?
Key features, use cases, and capabilities of OpenTelemetry.
OpenTelemetry provides vendor-neutral APIs/SDKs for traces, metrics, and logs, auto/manual instrumentation across 12+ languages, an OTel Collector, OTLP protocol, and semantic conventions.
Key features
- ✓Vendor-neutral APIs/SDKs for traces, metrics, logs
- ✓auto/manual instrumentation across 12+ languages
- ✓OpenTelemetry Collector
- ✓OTLP protocol
- ✓semantic conventions
- ✓compatibility layers for OpenTracing/OpenCensus migration
- ✓broad exporter ecosystem
Use cases
- ✓Distributed tracing across microservices, instrumenting apps for performance monitoring, unified metrics/logs/traces pipelines, migrating legacy OpenTracing/OpenCensus instrumentation.
Who should use OpenTelemetry?
Target users, industries, and ideal use cases for OpenTelemetry.
OpenTelemetry serves software developers, DevOps/SRE engineers, and platform teams instrumenting cloud-native applications.
| Target audience | Software Developers, DevOps/SRE Engineers, Platform Teams Building Observability Into Cloud-native Applications |
|---|---|
| Integration complexity | Moderate |
How is OpenTelemetry deployed?
Deployment options, API, and hosting for OpenTelemetry.
OpenTelemetry SDKs are embedded in application code; its Collector can be self-hosted via Docker, Kubernetes, or standalone binary.
| API integration | ✓ |
|---|---|
| Open source | ✓ |
| Self-hosting | ✓ |
How do you get started with OpenTelemetry?
Installation and onboarding steps for OpenTelemetry.
Developers can start via language-specific guides at opentelemetry.io/docs or the OpenTelemetry Demo application.
What are the pros and cons of OpenTelemetry?
Balanced review of strengths and weaknesses of OpenTelemetry.
On TrustRadius, OpenTelemetry has an aggregate rating of 6/10 (2 reviews); no extractable pros/cons text was available.
Where can you learn more about OpenTelemetry?
Documentation, support, and official links for OpenTelemetry.
Resources include opentelemetry.io/docs, the open-telemetry GitHub org, and CNCF Slack/Stack Overflow.
| Website | Website |
|---|---|
| Documentation | Documentation |
| Source code | Source code |
| Install | Install |
| Demo | Demo |
Frequently asked questions
What is OpenTelemetry?
OpenTelemetry — An open source observability framework and toolkit for generating, collecting, and exporting telemetry data (traces, metrics, and logs) from cloud-native applications in a vendor-neutral way.
Is OpenTelemetry free?
OpenTelemetry is free and open source, with no cost to use.
What is OpenTelemetry used for?
OpenTelemetry provides vendor-neutral APIs/SDKs for traces, metrics, and logs, auto/manual instrumentation across 12+ languages, an OTel Collector, OTLP protocol, and semantic conventions.
Where can I get OpenTelemetry?
You can get OpenTelemetry via the official website, the install page, GitHub and a live demo. See the resources section on this page for direct links.
Who should use OpenTelemetry?
OpenTelemetry serves software developers, DevOps/SRE engineers, and platform teams instrumenting cloud-native applications.
What do you need to run OpenTelemetry?
OpenTelemetry SDKs run on a supported language runtime, and the optional Collector can be deployed via Docker, Kubernetes, or a standalone binary.
How do you get started with OpenTelemetry?
Developers can start via language-specific guides at opentelemetry.io/docs or the OpenTelemetry Demo application.
How is OpenTelemetry deployed?
OpenTelemetry SDKs are embedded in application code; its Collector can be self-hosted via Docker, Kubernetes, or standalone binary.
Who developed OpenTelemetry?
OpenTelemetry is developed by Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) open source community project; formed by the merger of OpenTracing and OpenCensus.
What are the pros and cons of OpenTelemetry?
On TrustRadius, OpenTelemetry has an aggregate rating of 6/10 (2 reviews); no extractable pros/cons text was available.