Overview

Uptrace is an OpenTelemetry-native observability platform for teams that want traces, metrics, and logs in one place. It suits developers and operations teams who need shared querying, dashboards, and alerting, with either Cloud or self-hosted deployment.

Its breadth is the central advantage: one platform can cover several telemetry types and connect them to monitors. The trade-off is that Cloud retention, usage charges, and data-at-rest protections deserve close attention before adoption.

Key features

Uptrace combines distributed and transaction tracing with metrics and logs. UQL queries spans and logs, while a PromQL-compatible engine handles metrics; this gives teams distinct query paths suited to their data rather than forcing everything through one query language.

Dashboards can draw on spans, events, logs, and metrics, and can be built in the UI or YAML. That flexibility suits both interactive dashboard work and configuration-driven workflows. Metric and error monitors can send notifications through email, Slack, PagerDuty, and other channels. The product also supports dependency mapping, log correlation, and real user monitoring.

Grafana can use Uptrace as a Prometheus and Tempo data source, and a built-in MCP server connects it with AI assistants. These integrations extend how teams can use their telemetry, though the core value remains the unified observability workspace.

Pricing

Uptrace has a freemium model, a 14-day trial, and paid plans starting at $39 per month. Cloud and self-hosted plans have different limits and retention terms, so the right entry point depends on where data should live and how much arrives.

Uptrace Cloud: Free, with 50 GB/month included, then $0.075/GB; unlimited users, services, and hosts; 5,000 timeseries/month; and 28-day default retention. It is a low-friction way to try the hosted service, but the included ingestion and timeseries caps can matter as monitoring expands. Cold storage can extend retention up to 100 weeks.
Community: $0 forever, with unlimited usage, 14 days of data retention, basic alerting, and community support. It is aimed at individuals; shorter retention and basic alerting make it less suited to teams needing production support.
Starter: $39 per month, up to 50 GB/day, custom data retention, two-factor authentication, and email support. This fits side projects that need more controlled retention and a support channel.
Team: $199 per month, up to 200 GB/day, RBAC, alert routing, and faster support. It is the stated production default, with access controls and routing that better fit shared operational ownership.
Business: $499 per month, up to 500 GB/day, OIDC/SAML single sign-on, and priority support. Reliability- and compliance-focused teams get stronger identity and support options, at a substantial step up in price.
Enterprise: Custom pricing for custom usage, Kafka and scaling, audit logs, and dedicated support. It is for organizations with scale or governance requirements beyond the fixed tiers.

Cloud data resides in Hetzner data centers in Germany, with redundant backups in Finland. Telemetry is encrypted in transit via SSL/TLS and database backups are encrypted, but most live database data is not encrypted at rest. On-premises deployment keeps telemetry within the customer's infrastructure; SOC 2 certification is available on request. Support is offered by email or scheduled call and typically responds within a few hours.

Platforms

Uptrace supports API, Linux, macOS, Windows, web, and self-hosted environments. Self-hosted installation options include Docker, Ansible, and Kubernetes; precompiled binaries are available for Linux, macOS, and Windows, with Linux packages for amd64 and arm64. This range gives teams deployment flexibility, while self-hosting places infrastructure responsibility with the customer.

Who it's for

Uptrace is strongest for teams already working with OpenTelemetry that want tracing, metrics, and logs together, plus dashboards and alerting in the same platform. Individuals can start with Community, side projects with Starter, production teams with Team, and organizations prioritizing reliability and compliance with Business. Teams requiring telemetry to remain inside their own infrastructure have an on-premises path; those choosing Cloud should be comfortable with its retention and encryption profile.

Pros and cons

Pro: Traces, metrics, and logs share one platform, with query engines suited to spans/logs and metrics respectively; this reduces the need to split core observability work across separate tools.
Pro: Cloud and self-hosted deployment options, including Docker, Ansible, and Kubernetes, let teams choose where telemetry is managed.
Con: Cloud includes only 50 GB/month and 5,000 timeseries/month on the free tier, with additional ingestion charged at $0.075/GB; growing workloads can outpace the free allowance.
Con: Cloud defaults to 28-day retention, and most live database data is not encrypted at rest, which may rule it out for some retention or security requirements.
Con: Self-hosting keeps telemetry in the customer's infrastructure but makes that deployment choice a responsibility to weigh against Cloud's managed option.

Alternatives

Distributed Tracing Tools, Application Performance Monitoring, Observability Platforms, and Container Monitoring are useful category roundups for comparing tools by focus.

Grafana Cloud Application Observability is worth comparing for a hosted freemium option; its Free plan includes 2,232 host hours, while Pro charges $0.025 per host hour plus a $19 monthly platform fee.
Tracetest is a free alternative with an open-source edition from Kubeshop; choose it when that project is a better fit than Uptrace's combined observability platform.
Apache SkyWalking is a free, self-hosted open-source observability platform for readers prioritizing that deployment model.
Honeycomb is another freemium option; its free plan includes up to 20 million events/month, 100 million metrics data points/month, and two triggers.
Hubble is a free open-source observability layer of Cilium and requires Cilium to be installed.
Jaeger is a free, 100% open-source, cloud-native project for readers seeking that approach.
SigNoz offers freemium plans, including a self-hosted community edition where infrastructure, storage, scaling, upgrades, and backups are self-managed.
VictoriaLogs offers a free open-source edition for single-node or cluster deployments under the Apache License 2.0.

Verdict

Choose Uptrace if your team wants an OpenTelemetry-native home for traces, metrics, and logs with flexible dashboards, query options, and alerting—and you can match a Cloud or self-hosted plan to your operating needs. Look elsewhere if Cloud's 28-day default retention or limited at-rest encryption is unacceptable, or if the usage caps and tier prices do not suit your workload.

	cAdvisor	Uptrace
Free plan	No	Yes
Free trial	No	Yes
Paid from	—	$39/mo
Open source	No	No
Platforms	Linux, Web	api, Linux, macOS, self-hosted, Web, Windows
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Supported platforms	Linux, web UI, REST API	—
Container metrics	Yes	—
Runtime events	Yes	—

cAdvisor vs Uptrace

cAdvisor

Uptrace