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Grafana Tempo vs OpenObserve

Grafana Tempo: Object-storage-backed distributed tracing backend with TraceQL search and trace-derived metrics. OpenObserve: Single-binary Rust observability platform storing logs, metrics and traces as Parquet on object storage.

key differences

  • Grafana Tempo is primarily a columnar / OLAP database; OpenObserve is search engine.
  • Grafana Tempo is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than OpenObserve (≤ 1 PB).
  • Only OpenObserve has joins, full-text search, json, role-based access.

choose grafana-tempo for

  • +Distributed tracing for microservices
  • +Storing full-fidelity OpenTelemetry traces
  • +Deriving service-level metrics from spans

best at · Observability

choose openobserve for

  • +Self-hosted Datadog or Elastic replacement
  • +Kubernetes logs and traces on S3
  • +Small teams needing one observability tool
  • +Front-end RUM and session replay with backend logs

best at · Observability, Search, Time-series

Grafana TempoObject-storage-backed distributed tracing backend with TraceQL search and trace-derived metrics.
OpenObserveSingle-binary Rust observability platform storing logs, metrics and traces as Parquet on object storage.
overview
Primary model
Columnar / OLAP
Search Engine
Also supports
Time-Series
Time-Series, Columnar / OLAP
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
Grafana Labs
OpenObserve Inc.
First release
2020
2023
Latest version
3.1.1 (Oct 21, 2026)
1.1.2 (Oct 20, 2026)
License
Open source (copyleft)GNU AGPL v3.0
Open source (copyleft)GNU AGPL v3.0 (open source); Enterprise is commercial
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
14.1
20.4
Rank
#239
#156
GitHub stars
5.5K
22.5K
Stack Overflow questions
25
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Massive (Multi-PB)
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
Native
Multi-region
None
None
ACID
None
None
Consistency
Eventual
Eventual
Schema
Schemaless
Schemaless
Architecture
Single node, Distributed, Shared storage
Single node, Distributed, Shared storage
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
✓
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
AWS, Google Cloud, Azure
AWS
capabilities
Transactions
—
—
Joins
—
✓
Secondary indexes
—
—
Full-text search
—
✓
Vector search
—
—
Geospatial
—
—
JSON
—
✓
Change data capture
—
—
Triggers
—
—
Stored procedures
—
—
Materialized views
—
—
TTL / expiry
✓
✓
Pub/Sub
—
—
Columnar storage
✓
✓
In-memory
—
—
Durable persistence
✓
✓
Compression
✓
✓
Encryption at rest
—
—
Role-based access
—
✓
Time travel
—
—
Branching
—
—
Online schema changes
—
—
Streaming ingest
✓
✓
Offline sync
—
—
Runs in WebAssembly
—
—
interfaces
Query languages
TraceQL
SQL, PromQL
Client languages
–
–
Best for
Observability
Observability, Search, Time-series
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

Grafana Tempo vs OpenObserve: FAQ

What is the difference between Grafana Tempo and OpenObserve?

Grafana Tempo: Object-storage-backed distributed tracing backend with TraceQL search and trace-derived metrics. OpenObserve: Single-binary Rust observability platform storing logs, metrics and traces as Parquet on object storage. Grafana Tempo is primarily a columnar / OLAP database; OpenObserve is search engine. Grafana Tempo is built for larger datasets (Multi-PB) than OpenObserve (≤ 1 PB). Only OpenObserve has joins, full-text search, json, role-based access.

When should I choose Grafana Tempo over OpenObserve?

Choose Grafana Tempo for distributed tracing for microservices, storing full-fidelity OpenTelemetry traces and deriving service-level metrics from spans. Choose OpenObserve for self-hosted Datadog or Elastic replacement; kubernetes logs and traces on S3; and small teams needing one observability tool.

Is Grafana Tempo or OpenObserve more popular?

OpenObserve ranks #156 on the WhichDB Score (20.4/100) and Grafana Tempo ranks #239 (14.1/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are Grafana Tempo and OpenObserve open source?

Yes. Grafana Tempo is open source. License: GNU AGPL v3.0. Yes. OpenObserve is open source. License: GNU AGPL v3.0 (open source); Enterprise is commercial.