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OpenObserve vs ZincSearch

OpenObserve: Single-binary Rust observability platform storing logs, metrics and traces as Parquet on object storage. ZincSearch: Lightweight single-binary full-text search engine in Go with Elasticsearch-compatible ingest.

key differences

  • Licensing: OpenObserve is open source (copyleft) (GNU AGPL v3.0 (open source); Enterprise is commercial); ZincSearch is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0).
  • OpenObserve is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than ZincSearch (≤ 100 GB).
  • Horizontal scaling is native in OpenObserve and none in ZincSearch.
  • Only OpenObserve has joins, ttl / expiry, columnar storage, compression, role-based access.

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

choose zincsearch for

  • +Small application search
  • +Lightweight replacement for a single Elasticsearch node
  • +Developer and test environments

best at · Search

OpenObserveSingle-binary Rust observability platform storing logs, metrics and traces as Parquet on object storage.
ZincSearchLightweight single-binary full-text search engine in Go with Elasticsearch-compatible ingest.
overview
Primary model
Search Engine
Search Engine
Also supports
Time-Series, Columnar / OLAP
Document
Type
Database engine
Database engine
Status
Active
Active
Developer
OpenObserve Inc.
ZincSearch community (originally Zinc Labs, now OpenObserve)
First release
2023
2021
Latest version
1.1.2 (Oct 20, 2026)
0.4.11 (Sep 12, 2026)
License
Open source (copyleft)GNU AGPL v3.0 (open source); Enterprise is commercial
Open source (permissive)Apache License 2.0
Free tier
✓
✓
popularity
WhichDB Score
20.4
5.1
Rank
#156
#390
GitHub stars
22.5K
17.9K
Stack Overflow questions
–
–
scale & guarantees
Comfortable data size
Large (≤ 1 PB)
Small (≤ 100 GB)
Horizontal scaling
Native
None
Multi-region
None
None
ACID
None
None
Consistency
Eventual
Eventual
Schema
Schemaless
Schemaless
Architecture
Single node, Distributed, Shared storage
Single node, Client server
deployment
Self-hosted
✓
✓
Vendor-managed cloud
✓
—
Serverless
—
—
Embedded
—
—
Edge
—
—
Clouds
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
SQL, PromQL
Elasticsearch-style Query DSL (subset)
Client languages
–
Go, Python, JavaScript
Best for
Observability, Search, Time-series
Search
Add more to this comparisonNot sure either fits? Try smart match

OpenObserve vs ZincSearch: FAQ

What is the difference between OpenObserve and ZincSearch?

OpenObserve: Single-binary Rust observability platform storing logs, metrics and traces as Parquet on object storage. ZincSearch: Lightweight single-binary full-text search engine in Go with Elasticsearch-compatible ingest. Licensing: OpenObserve is open source (copyleft) (GNU AGPL v3.0 (open source); Enterprise is commercial); ZincSearch is open source (permissive) (Apache License 2.0). OpenObserve is built for larger datasets (≤ 1 PB) than ZincSearch (≤ 100 GB). Horizontal scaling is native in OpenObserve and none in ZincSearch.

When should I choose OpenObserve over ZincSearch?

Choose OpenObserve for self-hosted Datadog or Elastic replacement; kubernetes logs and traces on S3; and small teams needing one observability tool. Choose ZincSearch for small application search; lightweight replacement for a single Elasticsearch node; and developer and test environments.

Is OpenObserve or ZincSearch more popular?

OpenObserve ranks #156 on the WhichDB Score (20.4/100) and ZincSearch ranks #390 (5.1/100). Popularity is not fit: check the requirements that matter for your project.

Are OpenObserve and ZincSearch open source?

Yes. OpenObserve is open source. License: GNU AGPL v3.0 (open source); Enterprise is commercial. Yes. ZincSearch is open source. License: Apache License 2.0.