How to Build Your Own Zipkin
Replace Zipkin with a custom build. A distributed tracing system
Build Difficulty: 5/5
Build a working replacement in a weekend with AI tools
Estimated Timeline
Based on 20 features at Weekend Project difficulty, expect about One weekend with AI-assisted development.
Recommended Tech Stack
Full-stack React framework with API routes and server components
PostgreSQL database, auth, and real-time subscriptions
Utility-first styling for rapid UI development
Key Features to Replicate
Top features across 7 categories. See all 20 features
Data Collection(5 features)
Report trace data to Zipkin via Apache ActiveMQ
Report trace data to Zipkin via gRPC
Report trace data to Zipkin via HTTP
Report trace data to Zipkin via Kafka
Report trace data to Zipkin via RabbitMQ
Search and Filtering(4 features)
Query traces based on duration
Query traces based on operation name
Query traces based on service attributes
Query traces based on tags
Analytics(3 features)
Identifies aggregate behavior including error paths or calls to deprecated services
Identifies whether or not operations failed
Summarizes percentage of time spent in a service
Storage(3 features)
Persistently store data with Apache Cassandra backend
Persistently store data with Elasticsearch backend
Store trace data in-memory
Core Functionality(2 features)
Gathers timing data needed to troubleshoot latency problems in service architectures
Allows lookup of trace data with direct jump to trace ID from log files
Visualization(2 features)
Presents a diagram showing how many traced requests went through each application
User interface for viewing and querying trace data
Integration(1 features)
Configuration of tracers or instrumentation libraries for application instrumentation
Cost Calculator
Pricing data not available for Zipkin. Check their website for current pricing.