DNSimple
DNSimple's origin name servers answer a quarter faster at p90 after erldns work
Comparison · Infra & APIs
AppSignal vs Jaeger
A side-by-side editorial comparison of AppSignal and Jaeger — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Shared themes:mcp
AppSignal vs Jaeger: at a glance
What is AppSignal?
AppSignal links incidents from GitHub and gives its MCP server cleaner metric series.
AppSignal spent late October on tracing: the service map left its feature flag, traces link to host metrics and deploys, and cross-app services show by name. November adds two connection points: pasting an incident URL into a GitHub issue or PR now links it back to the incident, and the AppSignal MCP returns metric time series in a format AI agents read more accurately. A batch of fixes for deploy, host and pod pages rounds it out.
What is Jaeger?
Jaeger 2.23 lets people and agents query traces in SQL.
Jaeger 2.23 adds a SQL query surface that compiles to its RFC 0005 structured filters, and the MCP search_traces tool now accepts a SQL statement. Storage search capabilities are exposed over api_v3 HTTP and gRPC, and ClickHouse now routes structured filters into SQL WHERE clauses. The release also breaks things: unused ClickHouse feature gates are gone, schema creation needs an explicit table engine, and the Gemini reference sidecar is removed.
AppSignal vs Jaeger: editorial side-by-side
AppSignal
5.0INFRA · APIS
AppSignal links incidents from GitHub and gives its MCP server cleaner metric series.
◆ Current state
AppSignal spent late October on tracing: the service map left its feature flag, traces link to host metrics and deploys, and cross-app services show by name. November adds two connection points: pasting an incident URL into a GitHub issue or PR now links it back to the incident, and the AppSignal MCP returns metric time series in a format AI agents read more accurately. A batch of fixes for deploy, host and pod pages rounds it out.
◆ Where it's heading
The product is stitching its views together and exposing them to the tools developers already use, GitHub on one side and AI agents via MCP on the other. Each release removes a step between seeing a problem and acting on it.
◆ Prediction
Expect more MCP tools or outputs aimed at agents, such as trace or incident data, following the metric series change.
Jaeger
3.8INFRA · APIS
Jaeger 2.23 lets people and agents query traces in SQL.
◆ Current state
Jaeger 2.23 adds a SQL query surface that compiles to its RFC 0005 structured filters, and the MCP search_traces tool now accepts a SQL statement. Storage search capabilities are exposed over api_v3 HTTP and gRPC, and ClickHouse now routes structured filters into SQL WHERE clauses. The release also breaks things: unused ClickHouse feature gates are gone, schema creation needs an explicit table engine, and the Gemini reference sidecar is removed.
◆ Where it's heading
Since merging MCP into the query service in July, Jaeger has been rebuilding search: trace summaries, then span search and pagination, now SQL. Each release makes the query layer more expressive and more usable by AI agents, while ClickHouse becomes the backend that gets the new capabilities first.
◆ Prediction
Expect the SQL surface and structured filters to move from new to beta or stable over the next releases, with more backends routing filters natively like ClickHouse does now.
Alternatives to AppSignal and Jaeger
Other Infra & APIs products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either AppSignal or Jaeger.
Scalar
Scalar's November 5 releases give each API document its own authentication settings
Algolia
Algolia's AI Assist now writes merchandising rules from a plain-language request
SoftEther VPN
SoftEther returns after 16 months with Windows ARM64 support and a pile of fixes.
Parse Server
Parse Server 9.11.1 alphas close two beforeSave advisories, one a server crash.
Bitbucket
Bitbucket Pipelines swaps stored credentials for step permissions and container tokens.
See all AppSignal alternatives → · See all Jaeger alternatives →
Recent activity from AppSignal and Jaeger
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 20h agoJaegerSQL queries for traces, in the API and the MCP tool ⚡
- 2d agoAppSignalAppSignal MCP returns metric time series your AI agent can read more accurately
- 2d agoAppSignalLink AppSignal incidents mentioned in GitHub issues and pull requests
- 4d agoAppSignalFixes for the number charts, deploy, host, and pod inspect pages
- 4d agoAppSignalSee services from your other apps by name in the error trace map
- 9d agoAppSignalJump from a trace to its host metrics and deploy
- 9d agoAppSignalOAuth tokens only see what you granted
- 1mo agoJaegerSpan search and pagination reach the query service
- 1mo agoJaegerClickHouse goes stable; unused v1 HTTP endpoints removed
- 3mo agoJaegerMCP merges into the query service; Elasticsearch 6 support removed ⚡
- 5mo agoJaegerLightweight trace-summaries endpoint arrives in the v3 API
- 5mo agoJaegerHeader forwarding to storage backends and UI base-path autodetection
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between AppSignal and Jaeger?
Both compete on the same themes — mcp — within Infra & APIs. AppSignal is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 3.8), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 1. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is AppSignal better than Jaeger?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. AppSignal is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 3.8), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 1. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to AppSignal?
Top AppSignal alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "AppSignal alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/appsignal for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Jaeger?
Top Jaeger alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Jaeger alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/jaeger for the full list with editorial commentary on each.