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Comparison · Analytics
Dagster vs Zipkin
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Dagster and Zipkin — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Dagster vs Zipkin: at a glance
What is Dagster?
Dagster is untangling itself from dbt-core so dbt Fusion can run without a fight.
Dagster's recent 1.13 releases follow two threads. dagster-dbt no longer installs dbt-core, and a dbt v2 extra installs the Fusion engine with clear errors if the two are mixed. The UI keeps gaining phone layouts, now covering code locations, sensors and schedules, while 1.13.29 also speeds up run logs, global search and the asset catalog. Dagster+ added capacity-based alert policies, and agents can retry code locations that fail to start.
What is Zipkin?
Zipkin's last release was January 2025 — a dependency bump, and then nothing.
The recent history is three consecutive maintenance releases whose entire content is dependency and base-image updates: 3.4.3 aligned Maven versions with the Docker images, 3.4.2 and 3.4.1 moved Spring Boot, Netty, Micrometer, Armeria, Alpine and the JRE forward to clear CVEs. The last release carrying a feature was 3.4 in May 2024, which added OpenSearch v2 as a storage backend using the existing ES_-prefixed environment variables.
Dagster vs Zipkin: editorial side-by-side
Dagster
5.0ANALYTICS
Dagster is untangling itself from dbt-core so dbt Fusion can run without a fight.
◆ Current state
Dagster's recent 1.13 releases follow two threads. dagster-dbt no longer installs dbt-core, and a dbt v2 extra installs the Fusion engine with clear errors if the two are mixed. The UI keeps gaining phone layouts, now covering code locations, sensors and schedules, while 1.13.29 also speeds up run logs, global search and the asset catalog. Dagster+ added capacity-based alert policies, and agents can retry code locations that fail to start.
◆ Where it's heading
The dbt work is a dependency reset with real consequences, because Fusion and dbt-core claim the same import namespace and overwrite each other silently. Dagster made the safe path the default and accepted a breaking change to do it. The rest of the window is operational hardening: resuming run workers on ECS, cross-account service discovery and clearer failure reasons when a run worker dies.
◆ Prediction
Weekly-style 1.13 releases should keep extending Fusion coverage in dagster-dbt, since metadata fetching there still degrades to warnings. Declarative Automation for jobs does not appear in these entries, so its exit from preview remains unconfirmed.
Zipkin
0.0ANALYTICS
Zipkin's last release was January 2025 — a dependency bump, and then nothing.
◆ Current state
The recent history is three consecutive maintenance releases whose entire content is dependency and base-image updates: 3.4.3 aligned Maven versions with the Docker images, 3.4.2 and 3.4.1 moved Spring Boot, Netty, Micrometer, Armeria, Alpine and the JRE forward to clear CVEs. The last release carrying a feature was 3.4 in May 2024, which added OpenSearch v2 as a storage backend using the existing ES_-prefixed environment variables.
◆ Where it's heading
This is a project in preservation rather than development. The pattern across the window — feature in May 2024, then three releases of purely defensive dependency work, then silence since January 2025 — describes a mature tracing server being kept safe to run rather than extended. The distributed-tracing work that would once have landed here now largely happens in OpenTelemetry, which Zipkin interoperates with rather than competes against.
◆ Prediction
The feed has produced nothing for nineteen months, so the honest read is that no next release is scheduled. If one comes, the shape of the last three says it will be another dependency and base-image refresh rather than new capability.
Alternatives to Dagster and Zipkin
Other Analytics 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 Dagster or Zipkin.
Delta Lake
Delta Lake's public stream is release mechanics; Kernel builds now carry a 4.5.0 label.
Grafana Loki
Loki 4.0 RC strips out legacy storage backends and the simple scalable mode.
OpenObserve
OpenObserve 1.2.0-rc1 opens a metrics v2 cycle with chart alerts and forecasts.
Keboola
Keboola connects GitHub organizations once, ending personal tokens for private repos.
dbt Core
dbt-core 1.13 drops Python 3.10 and learns to tolerate v2-only project config.
See all Dagster alternatives → · See all Zipkin alternatives →
Recent activity from Dagster and Zipkin
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 10h agoDagster1.13.29: more mobile layouts, faster search and catalog
- 6d agoDagster1.13.28: dbt v2 extra and retries for failed code locations
- 10d agoDagster1.13.27: mobile run details, bounded BigQuery Insights scans
- 27d agoDagster1.13.26: dagster-dbt stops installing dbt-core
- 1mo agoDagster1.13.25: phone layout for the Dagster UI, ECS run resumes
- 1mo agoDagster1.13.24: cross-account ECS discovery, snapshot column lineage
- 1y agoZipkinMaven versions realigned with the Docker images
- 2y agoZipkinSpring Boot, Netty and Micrometer updated to clear CVEs
- 2y agoZipkinDependency and base-image updates for CVEs
- 2y agoZipkinZipkin 3.4
- 2y agoZipkinSpring Boot 3.3 and Alpine 3.20, with an OpenSearch test image
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Dagster and Zipkin?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Dagster is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Dagster better than Zipkin?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Dagster is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 0.0), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Dagster?
Top Dagster alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Dagster alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/dagster for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Zipkin?
Top Zipkin alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Zipkin alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/zipkin for the full list with editorial commentary on each.