OpenObserve
activeby OpenObserve Inc. · since 2023 · also known as O2, ZincObserve
Single-binary Rust observability platform storing logs, metrics and traces as Parquet on object storage.
Overview
OpenObserve, originally ZincObserve from the team behind ZincSearch, is an observability platform that ingests logs, metrics, traces, real-user monitoring and session replays and stores them as Parquet files on S3-compatible storage. It queries them with SQL through Apache DataFusion, plus PromQL for metrics. It ships as one binary with built-in UI, dashboards, alerts and ingestion pipelines, positioning itself as a cheaper replacement for Elasticsearch and Kibana or for SaaS tools such as Datadog. The open-source build is AGPL-3.0; the Enterprise edition, free below a daily ingest threshold, adds SSO, RBAC and federated search, and OpenObserve Cloud is the hosted option.
Strengths & trade-offs
Strengths
- +Logs, metrics, traces, RUM and dashboards in one binary
- +Parquet on object storage keeps retention cost low
- +SQL for log analytics instead of a bespoke query language
- +Elasticsearch-compatible ingest lets existing shippers point at it
- +Simple single-node start with a path to HA clusters
Trade-offs
- −AGPL-3.0 licence, with SSO and RBAC in the commercial edition
- −Young project; APIs and storage formats have changed quickly
- −Broad scope means some features are shallower than specialised tools
- −Object-storage reads make cold queries slower than local indexes
Great 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
Think twice for
- −Relevance-ranked document search
- −Transactional workloads
- −Organisations that cannot accept AGPL
Capabilities
Native or official first-party support · 9 of 25 tracked
Scale & consistency
- Comfortable data size
- Large · ≤ 1 PB
- Horizontal scaling
- Native
- Multi-region
- No
- Transactions
- None
- Consistency
- Eventual
- Schema
- Schemaless
- Architecture
- Single node, Distributed, Shared storage
- Query languages
- SQL, PromQL
Stateless ingesters and queriers over object storage; HA mode uses NATS and a metadata store.
Deployment
available on · AWS
Ecosystem
Alternatives to OpenObserve
Label-indexed log aggregation: Prometheus-style streams, chunks on object storage, LogQL queries.
openobserve vs grafana-loki →Lucene-based distributed search and analytics engine for text, vectors, logs and metrics.
openobserve vs elasticsearch →OpenTelemetry-native APM and observability platform storing logs, metrics and traces in ClickHouse.
openobserve vs signoz →Rust telemetry datalake for logs, metrics and traces on S3, queried with SQL.
openobserve vs parseable →Log database from the VictoriaMetrics team: schemaless ingestion, LogsQL and low RAM and disk use.
openobserve vs victorialogs →Apache-licensed, foundation-governed fork of Elasticsearch for search, vectors and observability.
openobserve vs opensearch →OpenObserve FAQ
What is OpenObserve?
OpenObserve is a search engine database by OpenObserve Inc., first released in 2023. OpenObserve, originally ZincObserve from the team behind ZincSearch, is an observability platform that ingests logs, metrics, traces, real-user monitoring and session replays and stores them as Parquet files on S3-compatible storage. It queries them with SQL through Apache DataFusion, plus PromQL for metrics. It ships as one binary with built-in UI, dashboards, alerts and ingestion pipelines, positioning itself as a cheaper replacement for Elasticsearch and Kibana or for SaaS tools such as Datadog. The open-source build is AGPL-3.0; the Enterprise edition, free below a daily ingest threshold, adds SSO, RBAC and federated search, and OpenObserve Cloud is the hosted option.
Is OpenObserve open source?
Yes. OpenObserve is open source. License: GNU AGPL v3.0 (open source); Enterprise is commercial.
Does OpenObserve support ACID transactions?
No. OpenObserve does not provide ACID transactions; its consistency model is eventual.
Does OpenObserve scale horizontally?
OpenObserve scales horizontally out of the box, with built-in sharding or partitioning. It is comfortable at large scale (≤ 1 PB).
How can I run OpenObserve?
You can self-host it and use the vendor's managed cloud. Managed offerings include OpenObserve Cloud. It is available on AWS.
What is OpenObserve best for?
OpenObserve is a strong fit for self-hosted Datadog or Elastic replacement; kubernetes logs and traces on S3; and small teams needing one observability tool. Think twice for relevance-ranked document search.
What are the best alternatives to OpenObserve?
Common alternatives to OpenObserve include Grafana Loki, Elasticsearch, SigNoz, Parseable and VictoriaLogs. The right choice depends on your workload, scale and hosting; WhichDB's smart match ranks them against your requirements.
How popular is OpenObserve?
OpenObserve ranks #156 of 844 databases on the WhichDB Score (20.4/100), and #13 among search engine databases. The score combines public adoption signals such as package downloads, GitHub activity, job posts and developer discussion.