---
id: opentelemetry-exporter-zipkin
version: "1.44.0"
license: Apache-2.0
license_treatment: permissive
maintenance: active
---

# opentelemetry-exporter-zipkin — Zipkin Span Exporters for OpenTelemetry

License: permissive · Maintenance: active · Downloads: 215.4K/mo

## What it is and what it does

This package is a convenience installer that bundles two OpenTelemetry Zipkin exporters: one using JSON serialization and one using protobuf over HTTP. It simplifies initial setup by installing both formats at once, though the documentation recommends switching to the specific exporter package once you've chosen your serialization method to avoid unnecessary dependencies.

It integrates with OpenTelemetry's standard tracer provider and span processor architecture, allowing you to export distributed trace spans to a Zipkin backend for visualization and analysis. The package itself is a thin wrapper; the actual export logic lives in its two runtime dependencies.

Use it for:

- Set up distributed tracing in a Python service to send spans to a Zipkin backend for observability.
- Quickly prototype trace export configuration before committing to a specific serialization format.
- Integrate OpenTelemetry tracing into existing Python applications that already use Zipkin for monitoring.
- Export traces from microservices to a centralized Zipkin instance for cross-service request tracing.

## Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts above — verify before relying.

Installs a convenience bundle of OpenTelemetry Zipkin exporters (JSON and protobuf-HTTP serialization formats) for sending trace spans to Zipkin backends.

Yes, if you need Zipkin trace export from Python and haven't yet decided between JSON and protobuf serialization. The low install friction, active maintenance, permissive license, and zero known vulnerabilities make it a safe choice. However, once you've settled on a serialization method, consider switching to the specific exporter package to reduce dependencies.

## Install

pip install opentelemetry-exporter-zipkin
uv add opentelemetry-exporter-zipkin
poetry add opentelemetry-exporter-zipkin

## Installing opentelemetry-exporter-zipkin

Before you install: Low friction installation with a pure-Python wheel. Actively maintained as of 2026-07-16 with recent release activity (29 days old). Requires Python 3.10 or later.

License in practice: Licensed under Apache-2.0 (permissive), allowing use in commercial and proprietary projects with minimal restrictions.

Quickstart:

pip install opentelemetry-exporter-zipkin

from opentelemetry.exporter.zipkin.json import ZipkinExporter
from opentelemetry.sdk.trace import TracerProvider
from opentelemetry.sdk.trace.export import SimpleSpanProcessor

zipkin_exporter = ZipkinExporter(localServiceName="my-service")
TracerProvider().add_span_processor(SimpleSpanProcessor(zipkin_exporter))

Requires Python 3.10 or later; Zipkin backend must be running and accessible at the configured endpoint.

Verify before relying:

- Whether the bundle's convenience trade-off (installing both JSON and proto-HTTP exporters) is worth the extra dependencies for typical use cases.
- Performance characteristics and overhead of the exporters when handling high-volume trace data.

## Package facts

- License: Apache-2.0 (permissive)
- Python support: supports_current
- Install friction: low
- Maintenance: active
- Downloads: 215.4K/month (top 15,000 on PyPI)
- Known vulnerabilities: none known

## Tags

zipkin exporter opentelemetry, opentelemetry trace export, distributed tracing zipkin, span exporter setup, opentelemetry instrumentation, zipkin integration python, observability tracing export, observability, distributed-tracing, opentelemetry

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