Span & Signal

Chapter 3 · Backends

Where your telemetry comes to rest.

OpenTelemetry produces the data; a backend stores, indexes and lets you query it. Here are 12 widely used options — open-source and commercial — compared on the things that matter.

12 of 12 backends

?How to choose

Four questions to ask before you sign anything.

  1. 1

    Which signals do you need first?

    Many teams start with metrics and traces, then add logs. A single-signal tool can be the right first step.

  2. 2

    Who runs it?

    Self-hosting trades licence cost for engineering time. Managed services trade the opposite way.

  3. 3

    How do you pay for cardinality?

    Per host, per GB ingested, per event, per active series — pricing models reward very different data shapes.

  4. 4

    Does it speak OTLP natively?

    Native OTLP keeps your instrumentation portable. With a Collector in front, you can switch later either way.