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SPECIFICTION
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Sematext Tracing

sematext.com

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Spec score 7.7 #19 of 32 in Distributed Tracing Tools

What it is

Sematext Tracing is an OpenTelemetry-based distributed tracing service for monitoring and troubleshooting microservices and distributed systems. It accepts OTLP over HTTP or gRPC and works with OpenTelemetry Collectors, Jaeger, Zipkin, and compatible instrumentation. Users can filter traces by service, operation, latency, errors, or custom attributes, then inspect waterfalls and spans. Error rates, error types, and stack traces appear within the related request trace, while a Service Map depicts application dependencies and communication patterns. Performance views include latency breakdowns, P50/P95/P99 percentiles, RED metrics, and database query insights. Head-based sampling can retain errors and high-latency requests while sampling normal traffic at lower rates. Alerts can use latency thresholds, error rates, or custom span attributes. The product lists support for languages and frameworks including Java, Python, Go, .NET, Swift, Android, Spring, Django, Rails, React, Vue, and Svelte. Deployment options include Kubernetes, Docker, containers, or bare metal. Pricing is based on spans; the listed starting price is $17.10/mo (annual), and a 14-day trial is available without a credit card. There is no free plan.

Spec sheet

Product
Sematext Tracing is an OpenTelemetry-based distributed tracing solution for monitoring and troubleshooting microservices and distributed systems.Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com
Deployment
The product page says it can be deployed on Kubernetes, Docker, containers, or bare metal.Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com
Trial
The Tracing page offers a 14-day free trial with no credit card required.Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com
Support
The product page links to production support, and the company page says Sematext provides production support for Elasticsearch, the ELK/Elastic Stack, and Apache Solr.Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com
Headquarters
The product page lists Brooklyn, NY, USA as the company location.Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com
Alerting
Users can set alerts on latency thresholds, error rates, or custom span attributes and integrate them with incident management workflows.Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com
Company history
Sematext’s company history says it launched as Sematext International in Spring 2010.Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com
Languages and frameworks
The product lists support for Java, Python, Node.js, Go, .NET, Ruby, JavaScript/TypeScript, iOS/Swift, Android, Spring, Django, Express, Rails, React, Vue, and Svelte.Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com
Performance insights
Tracing provides latency breakdowns, P50/P95/P99 percentiles, RED metrics, and database query performance insights.Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com
Plans and limits
Pricing depends on plan tier, daily span volume, and retention; the pricing page specifies 2M, 5M, and 20M spans/day tiers and 1-day Basic versus 7-day Standard/Pro retention.Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com
Root cause analysis
The product displays error rates, error types, and stack traces in the context of a full request trace.Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com
Sampling
Users can configure head-based sampling to always sample errors and high-latency requests while sampling normal traffic at lower rates.Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com
Service map
The Service Map visualizes application architecture, dependencies, and communication patterns from OpenTelemetry trace data.Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com
Trace collection
It accepts traces using OTLP over HTTP or gRPC and works with OpenTelemetry Collectors, Jaeger, Zipkin, and OTLP-compatible instrumentation.Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com
Trace search
Users can search and filter traces by service, operation, latency, errors, and custom attributes, and inspect waterfall and span-level details.Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com

Plans and prices

Basic Price not published per month; billed monthly based on actual usage 2M spans/day included · 1 day retention Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com
Pro Price not published per month; billed monthly based on actual usage 20M spans/day tier · 7 days retention Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com
Standard Price not published per month; billed monthly based on actual usage 5M spans/day tier · 7 days retention Read 7 Oct 2026 · sematext.com

Every Sematext Tracing plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Accepts OTLP over HTTP or gRPC.
  • Searches traces by service, latency, errors, and attributes.
  • Service Map visualizes dependencies and communication.
  • Includes latency percentiles and database query insights.
  • 14-day trial requires no credit card.

Limits

  • No free plan is listed.
  • Starting price is $17.10/mo (annual).
  • Basic retention is one day.
  • Tail-based sampling is not supported.

Who it suits

It suits teams monitoring instrumented microservices that want trace search, service maps, and latency or error alerts. Teams should assess whether the listed span tiers and retention periods fit their workload.

Verdict

Sematext Tracing combines trace investigation with service mapping, performance views, and configurable sampling. Its span-based pricing, one-day Basic retention, and lack of a free plan are important fit considerations.

Where Specifiction places it

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