Datadog APM
Cloud APM with code-level distributed tracing and correlation to logs/metrics.
Pinpoint
Real-time tracing and topology for large-scale Java, PHP, Python services
Pinpoint provides real-time application performance monitoring, visualizing distributed system topology, code-level transaction traces, and resource metrics for Java, PHP, and Python without code changes and with minimal overhead.
Overview
Overview
Pinpoint is designed for DevOps, SRE, and engineering teams that manage large‑scale microservice architectures written in Java, PHP, or Python. It offers instant visibility into transaction flows across distributed components, helping identify bottlenecks and failures without modifying source code.
Core Capabilities
The platform visualizes system topology via ServerMap, tracks active threads in real time, and presents request/response patterns with scatter charts. Detailed CallStack views give code‑level insight, while the Inspector panel reports CPU, memory, GC, TPS, and JVM arguments. Built‑in modules cover URI metrics, infrastructure health, and error analysis. Agents automatically instrument supported frameworks and databases, adding roughly 3 % overhead.
Deployment
Pinpoint can be started with a quick‑start guide or deployed at scale using the provided Kubernetes manifests (pinpoint‑kubernetes). It runs on JDK 8+ and aligns with collector versions as documented. Comprehensive installation and compatibility tables ensure smooth integration into existing environments.
Highlights
Zero‑code‑change agents for Java, PHP, and Python
Interactive ServerMap visualizing real‑time topology
Code‑level call‑stack tracing with ~3% overhead
Built‑in resource metrics and error‑analysis dashboards
Pros
- Real‑time distributed tracing with visual topology
- Broad support for frameworks, databases, and messaging systems
- Minimal performance impact (~3% overhead)
- Easy Kubernetes deployment via provided manifests
Considerations
- Primary focus on Java; PHP/Python support via separate agents
- Requires JDK 8+ and compatible collector versions
- UI may become cluttered in extremely large topologies
- Community support mainly through GitHub and Chinese chat groups
Managed products teams compare with
When teams consider Pinpoint, these hosted platforms usually appear on the same shortlist.
Looking for a hosted option? These are the services engineering teams benchmark against before choosing open source.
Fit guide
Great for
- Organizations running microservice architectures in Java, PHP, or Python
- Teams needing instant visibility into transaction flows without code changes
- Companies deploying to Kubernetes and seeking integrated APM
- Engineers who want detailed call‑stack analysis and resource metrics
Not ideal when
- Projects limited to a single monolithic application
- Environments that only use .NET or Go services
- Teams requiring a hosted SaaS APM with managed dashboards
- Scenarios demanding sub‑millisecond tracing overhead
How teams use it
Identify latency bottlenecks in a multi‑service transaction
Pinpoint visualizes the call chain, highlighting slow nodes and thread usage, enabling targeted optimization.
Monitor real‑time health of a Kubernetes‑deployed microservice fleet
ServerMap and active‑thread charts show live status, alerting operators to spikes before users are impacted.
Debug intermittent errors across heterogeneous services
Error‑analysis view correlates exceptions with specific endpoints and code locations for rapid root‑cause resolution.
Assess resource consumption during peak traffic
Inspector panel reports CPU, memory, GC, and TPS per service, guiding capacity planning.
Tech snapshot
Java70%
TypeScript24%
HTML6%
Shell1%
CSS1%
JavaScript1%
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to modify my application code to use Pinpoint?
No, agents instrument supported runtimes automatically; deployment is configuration‑only.
Which Java versions are supported?
Pinpoint requires JDK 8 or newer; collector and web components follow the version matrix in the documentation.
Can Pinpoint be run on Kubernetes?
Yes, a ready‑made helm chart (pinpoint‑kubernetes) is provided for easy installation.
What is the performance overhead?
Typical overhead is around 3 % of CPU and memory usage.
Is there a hosted SaaS version?
Pinpoint is self‑hosted; no official SaaS offering is provided.
Project at a glance
Active- Stars
- 13,802
- Watchers
- 13,802
- Forks
- 3,773
LicenseApache-2.0
Repo age11 years old
Last commit12 hours ago
Primary languageJava
Last synced 12 hours ago