Last updated: March 2026
TraceKit vs AWS X-Ray
AWS X-Ray provides native distributed tracing for Lambda, ECS, EKS, and other AWS services. TraceKit delivers full-stack APM that works across any cloud, not just AWS.
Feature Comparison
| Feature | TraceKit | AWS X-Ray |
|---|---|---|
| Tracing | ||
| Distributed Tracing | Yes (full APM) | Yes (core feature) |
| Multi-Cloud Support | No (AWS only) | |
| Monitoring | ||
| Live Code Monitoring | Yes -- breakpoints without redeploy | |
| Frontend Observability | ||
| Session Replay | Yes (linked to traces) | |
| Browser Error Tracking | ||
| Platform | ||
| Setup Time | Under 5 minutes | 5-15 minutes (per service) |
| Pricing | ||
| Pricing Model | $29/month flat | $5/million traces + $1/million recorded |
Pricing Comparison
TraceKit
$29/month
Flat monthly
One price includes distributed tracing, error tracking, live code monitoring, session replay, custom metrics, dashboards, and alerts. Works on any cloud.
Hidden costs: None. What you see is what you pay.
AWS X-Ray
$5 per million traces scanned, $1 per million traces recorded
Pay-per-trace
Free tier includes 100,000 traces recorded and 1 million scanned per month. Additional AWS services have separate billing.
Hidden costs: Trace volume grows with application scale. X-Ray only covers tracing -- full observability requires multiple AWS services.
Pricing pain points with AWS X-Ray
- Pay-per-trace pricing scales with application throughput
- X-Ray only covers tracing -- other AWS services billed separately
- AWS-only lock-in
Why teams switch to TraceKit
Multi-Cloud Freedom
X-Ray only works within AWS. TraceKit works on any cloud.
Live Code Monitoring
Set live breakpoints in production code. X-Ray shows trace timings but cannot debug your running code.
Full-Stack APM at Flat Cost
$29/month for tracing, error tracking, session replay, and live debugging.
Common AWS X-Ray pain points
AWS Lock-In
Deeply integrated with AWS, but not portable to other clouds.
No Frontend Monitoring
No browser error tracking, session replay, or frontend performance monitoring.
When AWS X-Ray might be a better fit
- You are fully committed to AWS
- You need native Lambda, ECS, and EKS tracing with zero configuration
- You want costs on your AWS bill
Frequently Asked Questions
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Pricing and feature information is based on publicly available data as of March 2026. Check AWS's website for the latest.