Uptrace is an open-source application performance monitoring platform that collects OpenTelemetry traces, metrics, and logs into a single UI. It ships as forever-free self-hosted software with Docker, Kubernetes, and Ansible deployment paths, and as paid Uptrace Cloud for teams that prefer managed hosting.[1][2][3]
Quick verdict
Open-source APM for traces, metrics, and logs in one UI Uptrace unifies distributed tracing, metrics, and logs with dashboards, alerting, and SQL-like and PromQL-style querying on ClickHouse storage. It is AGPL-3.0 licensed, actively maintained, and documents migration from Datadog most directly, which suits teams standardizing on OpenTelemetry.[1][2][3]
What Uptrace covers
Traces, metrics, and logs share one UI with faceted filters, a service graph, and chart annotations.[1]
More than 50 pre-built dashboards are created automatically once metrics start arriving.[1]
Monitoring on spans, logs, and metrics sends notifications via Email, Slack, WebHook, and Alertmanager.[1]
A SQL-like language aggregates spans and a PromQL-like language aggregates metrics.[1]
Data arrives over OpenTelemetry plus Prometheus, Vector, Fluent Bit, and CloudWatch ingestion paths, and Grafana can use Uptrace as a Tempo or Prometheus datasource.[1]
Single sign-on works through OpenID Connect with documented Keycloak, Google Cloud, and Cloudflare setups, and users and projects can be managed via YAML config.[1]
Who it fits
Teams paying Datadog or New Relic bills fit the documented switching story, since Uptrace publishes comparison and migration guides aimed at both.[1][2]
Teams already standardized on OpenTelemetry fit the DSN onboarding, which takes a connection string in the SDK and starts receiving spans, metrics, and logs.[1][2]
Teams that want telemetry data on their own infrastructure fit the self-hosted tier, which keeps storage in the ClickHouse and PostgreSQL instances they operate.[1][2]
Limits to weigh
Self-hosting runs ClickHouse for telemetry plus PostgreSQL for metadata behind Docker, Kubernetes, or Ansible, so it asks for more operational attention than the managed cloud.[1][2]
The repository is licensed AGPL-3.0, a strong copyleft license, so teams with license policies should review its terms before adopting it.[1]
SSO provider guides were inspected but per-plan SSO availability was not verified, so confirm it on your tier before relying on it.[1]
Replacing your current stack
The official site publishes a Compare Uptrace vs Datadog page and a Migrating from Datadog guide, plus the same treatment for New Relic.[1]
Uptrace states it can process billions of spans and metrics on a single server at a fraction of proprietary cost; treat that as the vendor's own claim, not an independent benchmark.[1]
Datadog is the incumbent Uptrace documents against most directly, and the repository shows active maintenance with v2.1.0-rc.1 released 2026-10-07.[1][2]
Questions worth asking
Is Uptrace really free?
How do I run Uptrace myself?
Does Uptrace document replacing Datadog?
What license does Uptrace use?
The uptrace/uptrace repository is licensed under the GNU Affero General Public License v3.0 (AGPL-3.0). Review the license text against your policy before adopting it.[1]
Sources and editorial review
Source research. Reviewed on October 13, 2026. Written by Sanjib Sah. AI assisted; reviewed by a human editor.
We have not run or tested this product.
- Uptrace: OpenTelemetry APM, Logs, and Infrastructure Monitoring
official · Observed October 13, 2026
Homepage positioning as an OpenTelemetry APM for traces, metrics, logs, and infrastructure monitoring, with self-hosted and cloud options and a no-login demo.
- Uptrace: Open Source APM [Forever Free]
official · Observed October 13, 2026
Forever-free self-hosted open-source APM tier; page navigation lists Compare Uptrace vs Datadog, New Relic, Grafana, Dynatrace and Migrating from Datadog and New Relic guides.
- Uptrace Pricing
official · Observed October 13, 2026
Free self-hosted tier and paid Uptrace Cloud billed by spans and metrics volume with annual billing; migration support from Datadog and New Relic.
- Getting started with Uptrace
official · Observed October 13, 2026
Cloud signup or self-hosting via a project DSN, OpenTelemetry SDK instrumentation for spans, metrics, and logs, and Ansible, Kubernetes, and Docker deployment guides.
- uptrace/uptrace on GitHub
official · Observed October 13, 2026
Repository identity uptrace/uptrace, Go language, AGPL-3.0 license, homepage uptrace.dev, active maintenance with push on 2026-10-08 and v2.1.0-rc.1 released 2026-10-07.
- uptrace/uptrace README
official · Observed October 13, 2026
Single UI for traces, metrics, and logs; 50-plus auto-created dashboards; alerting via Email, Slack, WebHook, and Alertmanager; SQL-like span queries and PromQL-like metric queries; ingestion via OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Vector, Fluent Bit, and CloudWatch; Grafana compatibility; YAML user management; SSO via OpenID Connect with Keycloak, Google Cloud, and Cloudflare; ClickHouse plus PostgreSQL storage; Docker quickstart.
- uptrace/uptrace releases
official · Observed October 13, 2026
Active release history with v2.1.0-rc.1 published 2026-10-07 and v2.0.3 in May 2026; no archived or discontinued markers.