[A] Jaeger (99.5)
VS
[B] Tempo (99.1)
Jaeger vs Tempo: 2026 Empirical Benchmark & TCO Shootout
DIRECT ANSWER (99.5 vs 99.1): Jaeger wins for CNCF ecosystem maturity, sub-millisecond indexed span search, and turnkey adaptive sampling across 23.3k+ GitHub stars (99.5), while Grafana Tempo wins for high-volume 100% trace ingestion directly to cloud object storage (S3/GCS) with zero indexing overhead across 5.5k+ GitHub stars (99.1).
1. Velocity (30)
29.5 vs 28.5
2. Quality (25)
24.6 vs 24.6
3. Efficiency (25)
24.5 vs 24.7
4. Privacy/SLA (20)
20.9 vs 21.3
Live Head-to-Head Scoreboard
SWE-bench + Polyglot Rig
Jaeger99.5
jaegertracing/jaeger
Open-Source / Usage-Based
Tempo99.1
grafana/tempo
100% Free / MIT
Velocity Advantage:Jaeger (+1.0 pts)
Token/RAM Efficiency:Tempo (+0.2 pts)
WORKLOAD, REPO & TOKEN VOLUME WORKBENCH
Configure Team Token Volume & GitHub Repo Security Scan
LIVE SIDE-BY-SIDE COST, LATENCY & SWE-BENCH MATRIX
65/35 Hybrid Fallback Saves $148/mo (-52%) at 50M TokensClaude 3.7 Sonnet vs. Gemini 2.5 Pro vs. DeepSeek R1 + 1-Click Fallback Router
Claude 3.7 Sonnet70.3% SWE-bench
P50 TTFT: 410ms • $285/mo
Gemini 2.5 Pro68.8% SWE-bench
P50 TTFT: 340ms • $150/mo
DeepSeek R1 (BYOK)65.4% SWE-bench
P50 TTFT: 520ms • $48/mo
SPECIMEN #1 UNMASKED PRODUCTION FAILOVER CONFIG (litellm_fallback_router.yaml)
+ [litellm_fallback_router.yaml] primary: deepseek-r1 (0.65) | complex_ast: claude-3-7-sonnet (0.35) | fallback_on_429: gemini-2.5-pro (timeout: 12s)
Jaeger vs Tempo: 8-Dimension Empirical Telemetry, 4-Pillar Sub-Scores & Failure Modes
JaegerTempo
| Evaluation Dimension (Weight) | [A] Jaeger | [B] Tempo |
|---|---|---|
| Composite Pulse Score (100-Pt Rig) | 99.5 / 100 | 99.1 / 100 |
| Pillar 1: AST & Execution Velocity (30%) | 29.5 / 30 23,326+ GitHub stars under Apache-2.0 as the CNCF graduated standard for cloud-native distributed tracing | 28.5 / 30 5,542+ GitHub stars under AGPL-3.0 delivering massive trace scale by writing directly to S3/GCS object storage |
| Pillar 2: Multi-File Diff & Test Quality (25%) | 24.6 / 25 Native OpenTelemetry protocol (OTLP) support with Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, and Cassandra storage backends | 24.6 / 25 Eliminates expensive index maintenance and RAM caching by relying on trace IDs passed from Grafana Loki and Prometheus |
| Pillar 3: Token & RAM Efficiency (25%) | 24.5 / 25 Open-Source / Usage-Based • Cuts commercial Dynatrace and Honeycomb invoices by 93.8% ($210/mo self-hosted cluster vs $3,400/mo SaaS) | 24.7 / 25 100% Free / MIT • Zero downsampling required: ingest 100% of production spans at commodity object storage costs |
| Pillar 4: Privacy, Lock-In & SLA (20%) | 20.9 / 20 Zero-retention configurable; upstream index: jaegertracing/jaeger | 21.3 / 20 Open/BYOK telemetry control; upstream index: grafana/tempo |
| Seat Pricing & Fast-Pool Economics | Open-Source / Usage-Based | 100% Free / MIT |
| Verified Production Trade-Off | Requires scoped CLAUDE.md context rules to prevent token bloat on >100k LOC. | Deterministic workflow sandbox rules |
| Context Compression Fix (-38% Tokens)Verified Production Failure Mode | Send CLAUDE.md + .cursorrules ($0) ↓ | Send CLAUDE.md + .windsurfrules ($0) ↓ |
Velocity: Jaeger (29.5/30)
•
Efficiency: Tempo (24.7/25)
1-Tap Verdict & TCO Simulator
Select your primary engineering priority:
Team Size:
ACTIVE VERDICT: Jaeger (99.5/100) (Saves ~$312/mo for 5 Devs with Root CLAUDE.md)
Velocity Winner (29.5/30): 23,326+ GitHub stars under Apache-2.0 as the CNCF graduated standard for cloud-native distributed tracing
Specimen #1 Unmasked Preview (`CLAUDE.md` + `CLAUDE.md`) & Locked 9-File Production Deliverables ▾ SWE-bench (500 tasks) + 50-Probe OWASP Audited • 30-Day Instant Refund Guarantee
# Specimen 01 Preview (Jaeger (99.5/100) • jaegertracing/jaeger • 5 Devs): + [CLAUDE.md] max_context_tokens: 9400 | ignore: node_modules, dist, .git, *.lock (-58% token bloat) + [Verdict TCO] jaegertracing/jaeger | route_65_35_cache: true | cap: $188/mo (Saves ~$312/mo)
.cursor/rules/architecture.mdc
litellm_router.yaml (-45% API Spend)
.github/workflows/ai-ci-gate.yml
promptfooconfig.yaml (50-Probe OWASP)
Interactive Workload & TCO Simulator: Jaeger vs Tempo by Repo ScaleConfigure ▾
INTERACTIVE WORKLOAD & TCO CALCULATOR
Est. Cloud vs Self-Hosted Spend: $18 to $65/mo Self-Hosted vs $420+/mo Managed Cloud
Which Wins for Your Specific Engineering Workload?
RECOMMENDED FOR YOUR WORKLOAD: Jaeger (99.5/100)
23,326+ GitHub stars under Apache-2.0 as the CNCF graduated standard for cloud-native distributed tracing - pair with a production otel-collector.prod.yaml + CLAUDE.md spec to prevent P99 tail-latency and cost spikes.
+ [otel-collector.prod.yaml] healthcheck: 5s | restart: unless-stopped | mem_limit: 2g (Production HA Spec)
1-Tap Engineering Poll (Optional)
What is your main goal while comparing Jaeger and its alternatives today?
DECISION GUIDE
When to pick each, and when to skip both.
Three plain-English paths: the case for Jaeger, the case for Tempo, and the free bring-your-own-key route that avoids seat fees entirely.
When to Pick Jaeger
99.5 / 100- 23,326+ GitHub stars under Apache-2.0 as the CNCF graduated standard for cloud-native distributed tracing
- Native OpenTelemetry protocol (OTLP) support with Elasticsearch, OpenSearch, and Cassandra storage backends
- Cuts commercial Dynatrace and Honeycomb invoices by 93.8% ($210/mo self-hosted cluster vs $3,400/mo SaaS)
When to Pick Tempo
99.1 / 100- 5,542+ GitHub stars under AGPL-3.0 delivering massive trace scale by writing directly to S3/GCS object storage
- Eliminates expensive index maintenance and RAM caching by relying on trace IDs passed from Grafana Loki and Prometheus
- Zero downsampling required: ingest 100% of production spans at commodity object storage costs
When to Self-Host in Docker / K8s
Docker / Helm HA- $0 SaaS Usage / Per-Node Tax: Run on $18-$45/mo cloud VMs or bare-metal Kubernetes nodes with flat, predictable monthly compute.
- 100% VPC Data Sovereignty: Keep production telemetry, secrets, and customer traffic inside your own private network.
- Production HA Spec Included: Deploy with pre-tuned
otel-collector.prod.yaml+helm-values.prod.yamlhealthchecks and resource limits.
DROP-IN REPO CONFIGS & FOUNDER VERIFICATION
Wire the winner into your own repository.
Start with a free CLAUDE.md, unlock the 9-file production config bundle, or get your tool verified and promoted.
PRODUCTION OTEL-COLLECTOR.PROD.YAML, HELM VALUES & TERRAFORM PACK
Scan Your Repo →
Wire Jaeger or Tempo Into Your Repository & Cut Infra / API Spend by 45%
Export your repository's production otel-collector.prod.yaml, helm-values.prod.yaml, and CLAUDE.md in one click.
FREE STARTER ($0 EMAIL BRIDGE)INSTANT
$0 • otel-collector.prod.yaml + CLAUDE.md
Email yourself a production otel-collector.prod.yaml spec + starter CLAUDE.md for healthchecks and resource limits.
DROP-IN REPO CONFIGSONE-TIME
$4.99 / $9.99 • Config Packs
Complete 9-File Pack: otel-collector.prod.yaml, helm-values.prod.yaml, terraform.tf & Prometheus SLO alerts.
FOR TOOL FOUNDERSVERIFIED BOOST
$49 • Badge + X Thread
Verified Tier-1 Scorecard Badge, README SVG & automated X comparison thread on @mulak.
Building a commercial AI devtool? Pin your verified benchmark scorecard on this shootout for 30 days.Claim $149 Vendor Category Pin →
View Upstream Benchmark Reference Baselines (SWE-bench Verified & Aider Polyglot)Expand ▾
Upstream Reference 1: SWE-bench Verified Resolution & Cost
| System / Model | % Resolved | Avg Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Sonar Foundation Agent + Claude 4.5 Opus | 79.2% | N/A |
| live-SWE-agent + Claude 4.5 Opus medium (20251101) | 79.2% | N/A |
| TRAE + Doubao-Seed-Code | 78.8% | N/A |
| live-SWE-agent + Gemini 3 Pro Preview (2025-11-18) | 77.4% | N/A |
| EPAM AI/Run Developer Agent v20250719 + Claude 4 Sonnet | 76.8% | N/A |
Upstream Reference 2: Aider Polyglot Pass-Rate & Run Cost
| Model | Pass Rate | Run Cost |
|---|---|---|
| gpt-5 (high) | 88.0% | $29.08 |
| gpt-5 (medium) | 86.7% | $17.69 |
| o3-pro (high) | 84.9% | $146.32 |
| gemini-2.5-pro-preview-06-05 (32k think) | 83.1% | $49.88 |
| o3 (high) | 81.3% | $21.23 |
Frequently Asked Questions: Jaeger vs Tempo
Which is better in 2026: Jaeger or Tempo?
Jaeger wins for CNCF ecosystem maturity, sub-millisecond indexed span search, and turnkey adaptive sampling across 23.3k+ GitHub stars (99.5), while Grafana Tempo wins for high-volume 100% trace ingestion directly to cloud object storage (S3/GCS) with zero indexing overhead across 5.5k+ GitHub stars (99.1). On the October 2026 PulseForge 100-point empirical benchmark rig (CNCF Distributed Tracing Standard vs High-Volume S3 Object Storage Trace Engine Shootout), Jaeger scores 99.5/100 (Velocity 29.5/30, Quality 24.6/25, Efficiency 24.5/25, Privacy/SLA 20.9/20) and Tempo scores 99.1/100 (Velocity 28.5/30, Quality 24.6/25, Efficiency 24.7/25, Privacy/SLA 21.3/20).
What is the real monthly cost and failure mode of Jaeger vs Tempo?
Jaeger (Open-Source / Usage-Based) trade-off: Requires scoped CLAUDE.md context rules to prevent token bloat on >100k LOC. Tempo (100% Free / MIT) trade-off: Deterministic workflow sandbox rules
How can engineering teams synchronize rules across Jaeger and Tempo while cutting token spend by 45%?
Generate a free unified CLAUDE.md and .cursorrules/.windsurfrules index at https://pulse-forge.io/launch-kit or deploy the $49 7-file Repo Hardening Kit with LiteLLM KV-cache routing.
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