Top 10 Lightstep Alternatives in 2026: Complete Comparison Guide

ServiceNow announced the sunset of Lightstep (Cloud Observability) effective March 1, 2026. If you're a Lightstep user, you're facing a forced migration with no direct replacement offered by ServiceNow.

Several factors are driving teams to evaluate Lightstep alternatives:

1. Forced migration - March 2026 EOL deadline approaching with no migration path from ServiceNow
2. Cost optimization - Opportunity to reduce observability spending by 60-90% with modern platforms
3. Vendor lock-in concerns - Avoid future platform sunsets by choosing OpenTelemetry-native solutions
4. OpenTelemetry standardization - Move to vendor-neutral instrumentation that works across platforms
5. Data sovereignty - Teams need self-hosted or regional deployment options for compliance

In this guide, we'll explore ten OpenTelemetry-native alternatives to Lightstep that address these concerns, from open source platforms to specialized SaaS solutions. We'll include real cost comparisons, migration code snippets, and technical analysis to help you choose the right replacement and migrate before the March 2026 deadline.

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The Lightstep Sunset: What You Need to Know

The clock is ticking. ServiceNow has officially announced the sunset of Lightstep (rebranded as ServiceNow Cloud Observability), with the service reaching End-of-Life (EOL) by March 1, 2026.

For engineering teams that relied on Lightstep for its pioneering work in distributed tracing and OpenTelemetry (OTel), this is a critical turning point. You need a replacement that respects your existing OTel instrumentation, handles high-cardinality data without breaking the bank, and doesn't trap you in a proprietary agent ecosystem.

This guide analyzes the Top 10 Lightstep alternatives for 2026, focusing on:

• OpenTelemetry compatibility - Native OTel support vs translation layers
• Migration ease - How quickly can you switch without rewriting code?
• Total cost of ownership - Real pricing for production workloads
• High-cardinality support - Can it handle user IDs, request IDs at scale?
• Vendor lock-in risk - Will you face this problem again in 3 years?

Bottom line: OpenObserve emerges as the best drop-in replacement, offering significant cost savings while maintaining OpenTelemetry-native architecture and distributed tracing capabilities.

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Why This Guide Exists

As observability requirements evolve in 2026, Lightstep users face a forced migration due to ServiceNow's March 1, 2026 end-of-life announcement. With no direct replacement or migration path provided by ServiceNow, teams must evaluate alternatives quickly.

Evidence from Real Migrations:

• Cost reduction: - Production data shows dramatic savings when moving from Lightstep to modern OpenTelemetry-native alternatives.

• Migration timeline: Fast with OTel - Teams using OpenTelemetry can migrate quickly by changing collector configuration. This is significantly faster than platforms that need new instrumentation.

• OpenTelemetry-native prevents lock-in - Vendor-neutral instrumentation using OpenTelemetry standards enables future flexibility. You're not rewriting code or learning proprietary agents if you need to switch platforms again.

• Unified observability simplifies operations - Logs, metrics, and traces in one platform reduces tool sprawl, context switching, and correlation complexity that teams experienced with fragmented monitoring stacks.

What Lightstep Users Need to Replicate

Lightstep was known for several key capabilities that any replacement must match:

• OpenTelemetry pioneer - Lightstep was an early contributor to OpenTelemetry and built its platform as OTel-native from day one
• Distributed tracing excellence - High-cardinality trace data at scale without performance penalties or cost explosions
• Unified observability - Logs, metrics, and traces correlated in a single platform with powerful cross-signal queries
• Change Intelligence - Deployment tracking and automatic correlation between changes and performance impacts
• Service dependency mapping - Visual representation of service relationships and data flows
• SQL-based querying - Accessible query language for both developers and SREs

Your replacement platform needs to match these capabilities while avoiding the vendor lock-in risk that led to this forced migration.

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What to Look for in a Lightstep Alternative

When evaluating observability platforms to replace Lightstep, assess these critical dimensions:

Criterion	Why It Matters	What to Evaluate
OpenTelemetry Native	Ensures easy migration without code changes	Native OTLP support vs translation layers that add complexity
Migration Timeline	March 2026 deadline approaching fast	Can you complete migration quickly with your team size?
Cost Structure	Opportunity to reduce observability spend	Transparent pricing vs usage-based surprises and hidden fees
Distributed Tracing	Core Lightstep capability you can't lose	High-cardinality support, trace quality, sampling strategies
Data Ownership	Avoid future vendor lock-in scenarios	Self-hosted deployment option available or SaaS-only?
Unified Observability	Reduce tool sprawl and context switching	Logs, metrics, traces in one platform with correlation
Query Capabilities	Investigation efficiency during incidents	SQL/PromQL vs proprietary query languages requiring training
Service Maps	Dependency visualization and troubleshooting	Automatic topology mapping from trace data
Integration Ecosystem	Works with your existing infrastructure	Cloud providers, databases, Kubernetes, CI/CD tools
Vendor Stability	Avoid another sudden platform sunset	Long-term viability, funding, community support, roadmap
Scalability	Handle growing data volumes	Performance at 2x, 5x, 10x current data volumes
High-Cardinality Support	Modern app requirements (user IDs, request IDs)	Cost and performance impact of high-cardinality dimensions

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Top 10 Lightstep Alternatives

Jump to comparison table for Lightstep alternatives comparison.

1. OpenObserve (The Drop-in Replacement)

OpenObserve is the best Lightstep alternative for teams wanting unified observability with OpenTelemetry-native architecture, no vendor lock-in, and 90% cost savings. It delivers the same distributed tracing capabilities Lightstep users rely on, but with transparent pricing and self-hosting options.

Why OpenObserve is the best Lightstep alternative:

OpenObserve isn't just similar to Lightstep - it's architecturally compatible. Both platforms are:

• Built for OpenTelemetry from day one
• Designed for high-cardinality distributed tracing at scale
• Focused on unified observability (logs, metrics, traces)
• Using SQL-based query languages (vs proprietary DSLs)

The difference? OpenObserve gives you complete data ownership through self-hosting options.

OpenObserve Pros:

• True Drop-in Replacement: Migration from Lightstep requires changing one config file in your OpenTelemetry Collector - no application code changes needed
• OpenTelemetry-Native: Native OTLP support means seamless integration with your existing OTel instrumentation
• High-Cardinality Friendly: Handles user-level dimensions and request IDs without performance degradation or cost explosions
• Unified Observability: Logs, metrics, and traces in one platform with powerful correlation capabilities
• SQL + PromQL Querying: Familiar query languages instead of proprietary syntax requiring training
• Self-Hosted or Cloud: Deploy on your infrastructure for complete control, or use managed cloud for simplicity
• Transparent Pricing: Ingestion-based pricing model with no hidden per-host or per-metric fees

OpenObserve Cons:

• Community maturity: While the core platform is battle-tested, the AI agent community is newer compared to established vendors

Migration from Lightstep:

Easiest migration path of any alternative. If you're using OpenTelemetry (which Lightstep users are):

1. Sign up for OpenObserve (cloud or self-hosted in 10 minutes)
2. Update your OpenTelemetry Collector exporter configuration (change endpoint URL and auth token)
3. Restart collector - data immediately flows to OpenObserve
4. Rebuild dashboards (OpenObserve provides similar visualization capabilities)
5. Set up alerts (SQL-based, often simpler than Lightstep's UI-based approach)

Best For:

Teams seeking a Lightstep replacement that maintains OpenTelemetry-native architecture, matches distributed tracing capabilities, and dramatically reduces costs without sacrificing functionality. Ideal for organizations wanting data ownership through self-hosting while avoiding vendor lock-in.

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2. Grafana Stack (LGTM)

Grafana Stack (Loki for logs, Grafana for visualization, Tempo for traces, Mimir/Prometheus for metrics) is a popular open-source Lightstep alternative composed of best-in-class tools.

Grafana Stack Pros:

• Best Visualization: Grafana dashboards are industry-leading with extensive customization options
• Open Source & Vendor-Neutral: No proprietary formats or lock-in across the stack
• Tempo for Tracing: OpenTelemetry-native distributed tracing with excellent performance
• Large Ecosystem: Thousands of integrations, plugins, and community dashboards
• Flexible Deployment: Self-host components individually or use managed Grafana Cloud
• Prometheus Standard: Industry-standard metrics collection and querying (PromQL)

Grafana Stack Cons:

• Not a single unified product like Lightstep - requires managing multiple components
• Operational complexity increases significantly at scale (4 different systems)
• Correlation across logs/metrics/traces requires manual setup
• Steeper learning curve than unified platforms

Migration from Lightstep:

Configure OpenTelemetry Collector to export traces to Tempo, metrics to Prometheus/Mimir, and logs to Loki. More complex than single-platform alternatives due to multiple destinations.

Best For:

Teams wanting maximum flexibility and best-in-class visualization who are comfortable managing multiple components. Good for organizations with strong infrastructure teams or using Grafana Cloud to reduce operational burden.

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3. Honeycomb

Honeycomb is a modern Lightstep alternative focused on high-cardinality observability and debugging distributed systems.

Honeycomb Pros:

• Excellent for Distributed Tracing: Purpose-built for understanding complex request flows across microservices
• High-Cardinality Native: Handles millions of unique dimension values (user IDs, request IDs) without performance issues
• Fast Exploratory Queries: Rapid ad-hoc querying enables real-time investigation during incidents
• OpenTelemetry Native: Built from ground up to ingest and leverage OpenTelemetry data
• BubbleUp Feature: Automatically surfaces anomalies and patterns in high-cardinality data
• Developer-Centric UX: Designed around developer and SRE workflows rather than infrastructure-only monitoring

Honeycomb Cons:

• SaaS-only (no self-hosted option)
• Less focus on traditional dashboards (more investigation-oriented)
• Pricing scales with event volume (can grow quickly with high traffic)
• Logs and metrics support still evolving compared to tracing strength

Migration from Lightstep:

Straightforward for OpenTelemetry users. Update collector configuration to send traces to Honeycomb. Strong documentation for Lightstep migration scenarios.

Best For:

Teams prioritizing distributed tracing excellence and high-cardinality debugging capabilities over traditional dashboard-heavy monitoring. Ideal for microservices architectures where understanding request flows is critical.

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4. Datadog

Datadog is a comprehensive Lightstep alternative offering all-in-one observability with extensive integrations and enterprise features.

Datadog Pros:

• Most Comprehensive Platform: Covers infrastructure, APM, logs, traces, RUM, synthetics, and security in one platform
• 700+ Integrations: Extensive integration marketplace for cloud providers, databases, and frameworks
• Mature APM: Deep application performance monitoring with code-level insights
• Enterprise-Grade: Strong governance, compliance, and multi-tenancy capabilities
• Excellent UX: Polished interface with powerful visualization and alerting

Datadog Cons:

• Very Expensive: Often more expensive than Lightstep, with complex multi-vector pricing
• Vendor Lock-in: Proprietary agents and data formats make switching difficult
• Cost Surprises: Usage-based pricing can lead to unexpected bills with traffic spikes
• OpenTelemetry Support Limited: Treats OTel metrics as expensive "custom metrics"

Migration from Lightstep:

Requires Datadog agents or OpenTelemetry Collector configured for Datadog. More complex than OTel-native alternatives due to Datadog's proprietary ingestion formats.

Best For:

Enterprise teams with large budgets prioritizing ecosystem breadth and polished UX over cost optimization. Good if observability budget isn't constrained and you value comprehensive built-in features.

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5. New Relic

New Relic is a SaaS observability platform offering unified logs, metrics, traces, and APM with OpenTelemetry support.

New Relic Pros:

• Unified Platform: Full-stack observability in single SaaS platform
• Strong APM: Deep code-level performance insights and error tracking
• OpenTelemetry Support: Native OTLP ingestion simplifies migration
• Per-GB Pricing: More predictable than per-host models (though still usage-based)
• Developer-Friendly: Good documentation and onboarding experience

New Relic Cons:

• Proprietary Translation: Translates OpenTelemetry data into New Relic format (vendor lock-in)
• Costs Scale Quickly: Per-GB pricing grows fast with verbose logging or high trace volumes
• SaaS-Only: No self-hosted option for data sovereignty
• Historical Billing Issues: Past controversies around retroactive pricing changes

Migration from Lightstep:

OpenTelemetry Collector can send data directly to New Relic via OTLP. Simpler than Datadog but creates some vendor lock-in through data format translation.

Best For:

Teams wanting a familiar SaaS experience similar to Lightstep with strong APM capabilities and willing to accept usage-based pricing for operational simplicity.

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6. Chronosphere

Chronosphere is a cloud-native observability platform built by ex-Uber engineers, focused on controlling costs at scale while supporting OpenTelemetry.

Chronosphere Pros:

• Built for Scale: Created by engineers who built M3 at Uber for handling massive metric volumes
• Cost Controls: Native cost visibility and controls to prevent observability bill explosions
• OpenTelemetry Compatible: Works with OTel Collector and standard instrumentation
• High-Cardinality Metrics: Handles modern application requirements without performance degradation
• Governance Features: Strong multi-tenancy and access controls for large organizations
• Query Performance: Fast queries even on large datasets

Chronosphere Cons:

• Primarily metrics-focused (traces and logs less mature than competitors)
• Enterprise pricing (not as cost-effective as open source alternatives)
• Smaller ecosystem compared to established players
• SaaS-focused (limited self-hosted options)

Migration from Lightstep:

OpenTelemetry Collector can export metrics to Chronosphere. Straightforward for metrics migration, but you'll need additional solutions for comprehensive tracing that Lightstep provided.

Best For:

Large-scale environments generating massive metric volumes where cost control and governance are critical. Good for teams migrating from Lightstep who want enterprise support but need better cost predictability.

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7. Jaeger

Jaeger is an open-source distributed tracing platform and graduated CNCF project, offering core tracing capabilities without logs or metrics.

Jaeger Pros:

• Completely Free: Open source with no licensing costs whatsoever
• CNCF Graduated: Proven stability and community support through Cloud Native Computing Foundation
• OpenTelemetry Native: Built as the reference implementation for OpenTelemetry tracing
• Battle-Tested: Used in production by thousands of organizations globally
• Flexible Storage: Supports Cassandra, Elasticsearch, Kafka, and Badger backends
• Lightweight: Focused solely on distributed tracing without feature bloat

Jaeger Cons:

• Tracing Only: No logs or metrics - requires separate tools for unified observability
• Basic UI: Functional but less polished than commercial alternatives
• Self-Hosted Only: Requires managing infrastructure (no managed SaaS option)
• Limited Advanced Features: Missing some of Lightstep's Change Intelligence and correlation features

Migration from Lightstep:

Simple for OpenTelemetry users. Point collector traces to Jaeger endpoint. However, you'll need additional tools for logs and metrics that Lightstep provided.

Best For:

Teams needing just distributed tracing at zero cost and comfortable with self-hosting. Often paired with Prometheus (metrics) and Grafana Loki (logs) for complete observability.

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8. Elastic Observability

Elastic Observability (part of Elastic Stack/ELK) provides unified logs, metrics, APM, and traces with powerful search capabilities.

Elastic Observability Pros:

• Powerful Search: Elasticsearch excels at full-text and structured log search
• Unified Platform: Logs, metrics, APM, and traces in single stack
• Flexible Deployment: Self-hosted, managed Elastic Cloud, or hybrid
• Large Ecosystem: Extensive integrations with Beats and Logstash
• Security + Observability: Strong overlap with SIEM capabilities for security teams

Elastic Observability Cons:

• Expensive at Scale: Elasticsearch clusters require significant infrastructure investment
• Operational Complexity: Managing Elasticsearch at scale requires expertise
• Storage Costs: Full-fidelity data retention gets expensive quickly
• OpenTelemetry Support: Works but not as seamless as OTel-native platforms

Migration from Lightstep:

OpenTelemetry Collector can export to Elastic APM. Requires more operational setup than simpler alternatives due to Elasticsearch cluster management.

Best For:

Teams with heavy log analytics requirements or existing Elasticsearch investments who want to consolidate observability into their ELK stack.

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9. Dynatrace

Dynatrace is an enterprise APM and observability platform with AI-powered automation and root cause analysis.

Dynatrace Pros:

• Automatic Instrumentation: OneAgent automatically discovers and instruments applications
• Davis AI: AI engine reduces alert noise through intelligent root cause analysis
• Enterprise-Grade: Handles very large, complex enterprise environments
• Hybrid Support: Works across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid infrastructures
• Low Maintenance: Highly automated requiring minimal configuration

Dynatrace Cons:

• Very Expensive: Premium enterprise pricing, often higher than Lightstep
• Proprietary Technology: OneAgent and data formats create vendor lock-in
• Complex Licensing: Unit-based pricing model can be difficult to predict
• OpenTelemetry: Supports OTel but pushes proprietary OneAgent approach

Migration from Lightstep:

Requires deploying OneAgent (Dynatrace's proprietary agent) rather than continuing with OpenTelemetry Collector. More disruptive migration than OTel-native alternatives.

Best For:

Large enterprises with complex environments prioritizing automation and willing to pay premium prices for reduced operational overhead.

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10. Splunk Observability Cloud

Splunk Observability Cloud (formerly SignalFx) offers real-time metrics, APM, and infrastructure monitoring focused on cloud-native environments.

Splunk Observability Pros:

• Real-Time Streaming: NoSample architecture provides full-fidelity, real-time telemetry
• Strong Metrics: Excellent time-series metrics handling and analytics
• Enterprise Features: Robust access controls, compliance, and security capabilities
• Splunk Ecosystem: Integrates with Splunk platform for unified security and observability
• Mature Platform: Proven at scale in large enterprise environments

Splunk Observability Cons:

• Expensive: Data-volume-based pricing can be prohibitively expensive
• Complexity: Splunk's enterprise focus adds complexity for smaller teams
• Storage Costs: Full-fidelity streaming requires significant storage investment
• OpenTelemetry: Supports OTel but historically pushed proprietary instrumentation

Migrating from Lightstep to OpenObserve

OpenObserve has first-class support for OpenTelemetry, which means no vendor lock-in and seamless integration with your existing instrumentation. Your applications don't change. Your OpenTelemetry instrumentation doesn't change. Only the collector destination changes.

O2 supports standardized telemetry collection (i.e., FluentBit, OpenTelemetry, Logstash) ensuring seamless integration. It exposes APIs for ingestion, search, and more, allowing programmatic access to everything. OpenObserve works with any object storage such as S3 or GCS and stores data in open formats, avoiding vendor lock-in on collection and storage.

Migration Path

1. Point your OTel collectors to OpenObserve

Already using OpenTelemetry? Just update your exporter endpoint. No re-instrumentation required.

After (OpenObserve Configuration):

exporters:
  otlphttp/openobserve:
    endpoint: https://your-org.openobserve.ai/api/default/
    headers:
      Authorization: "Basic ${OPENOBSERVE_TOKEN}"
      stream-name: "default"

2. Run both platforms in parallel

Test OpenObserve with your production traffic while Lightstep still runs. Validate data quality and dashboard parity before fully committing.

3. Complete migration

Once validated, migrate all workloads to OpenObserve.

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Why Migration is Seamless

SQL/PromQL querying - Universal languages your team already knows. No proprietary DSL to learn.

OpenTelemetry-native - Your existing instrumentation works as-is. No agent rewrites or application changes.

Self-hosted or cloud - Deploy however your team prefers. Cloud for simplicity, self-hosted for complete control.

Similar visualization - Familiar observability workflows. Dashboards, service maps, trace views work the same way.

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Need Help?

Talk to our team for a personalized migration plan. We'll help you:

• Validate technical feasibility for your specific setup
• Recreate your critical dashboards and alerting rules
• Accelerate the migration process with hands-on support

Contact us for migration support

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Comparison Table: Lightstep Alternatives

Tool	Deployment	OTel Native	Pricing Model	Migration Ease	Best For
OpenObserve	Cloud / Self-hosted	Yes	Ingestion-based	Very Easy (1 config change)	Drop-in Lightstep replacement with 90% cost savings
Grafana Stack	Cloud / Self-hosted	Yes	Modular (LGTM)	Moderate (Multiple components)	Maximum flexibility and best visualization
Honeycomb	SaaS only	Yes	Event-based	Very Easy (OTel-native)	High-cardinality tracing excellence
Datadog	SaaS only	Supported	Host/Usage-based	Moderate (More complex)	Enterprise teams with unlimited budget
New Relic	SaaS only	Yes	Per-GB	Easy (OTel-native)	Familiar SaaS with strong APM
Chronosphere	SaaS / Cloud	Compatible	Enterprise	Moderate (Metrics-focused)	Large-scale metrics with cost controls
Jaeger	Self-hosted	Yes	Free (Open source)	Easy (Traces only)	Distributed tracing only (no logs/metrics)
Elastic	Cloud / Self-hosted	Supported	Data-volume	Moderate (Operational complexity)	Log-heavy workloads with search focus
Dynatrace	SaaS / Hybrid	Supported	Unit-based	Moderate (OneAgent required)	Large enterprises needing automation
Splunk	SaaS / On-prem	Supported	Data-volume	Moderate (Complex pricing)	Security + Observability convergence

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Conclusion

With ServiceNow's March 1, 2026 Lightstep end-of-life deadline approaching, teams have an opportunity to modernize their observability stack while dramatically reducing costs and avoiding future vendor lock-in.

Key Takeaways

1. OpenObserve is the best drop-in replacement for Lightstep

For most teams, OpenObserve offers the optimal combination of:

• OpenTelemetry-native architecture (easy migration - just change collector config)
• Similar distributed tracing capabilities (high-cardinality support, service maps, unified observability)
• Data ownership through self-hosting option
• No vendor lock-in risk

2. OpenTelemetry-native platforms prevent future lock-in

Choose alternatives that support OpenTelemetry natively (OpenObserve, Honeycomb, Jaeger, Grafana) rather than platforms that translate OTel data into proprietary formats (Datadog, Dynatrace). This ensures you can switch platforms again in the future without rewriting application code.

3. Migration is straightforward with OpenTelemetry

If you're already using OpenTelemetry (which Lightstep users are), migration to OTel-native platforms like OpenObserve requires just updating your collector configuration. No application code changes, no re-instrumentation.

4. Start migration now

With the EOL deadline approaching, begin your evaluation and pilot testing immediately. Most teams can validate OpenObserve in a test environment within days.

Recommended Action Plan

1. This week: Sign up for OpenObserve free trial and test with a non-critical service
2. Next week: Update OpenTelemetry Collector config and validate data flow
3. Following weeks: Build dashboards and alerts, run parallel with Lightstep
4. Complete migration: Gradually move production workloads to OpenObserve

Whether you choose OpenObserve or another alternative, prioritize OpenTelemetry-native platforms to avoid rewriting instrumentation and ensure long-term flexibility.

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Take the Next Step

Ready to explore the best Lightstep alternative?

Try OpenObserve: Download or sign up for OpenObserve Cloud with a 14-day free trial.

Talk to our team: Schedule a migration consultation to get a personalized plan for your Lightstep replacement.

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FAQ: Lightstep Alternatives

Why is ServiceNow shutting down Lightstep?

ServiceNow acquired Lightstep but decided to discontinue it without providing a replacement. The official reason wasn't detailed publicly, but it's part of their portfolio rationalization. For you, this means finding an alternative before March 1, 2026.

I'm using Lightstep right now - what should I do?

Start testing alternatives immediately. Most migrations take 2-4 weeks, so:

• This month: Test OpenObserve or another OTel-native platform with a non-prod service
• Next month: Validate data volume handling and build critical dashboards
• Following months: Migrate production workloads gradually

Will I lose all my historical data when Lightstep shuts down?

Yes, unless you export it now. ServiceNow stops accepting data after March 1, 2026. Use Lightstep's export APIs to save critical traces you need for compliance or debugging. Most teams only export essential data since full historical migration is rarely necessary.

Do I have to rewrite all my instrumentation code?

No. If you're using OpenTelemetry (most Lightstep users are), just update your OTel Collector config to point to the new platform. Zero application code changes. Only if you're using Lightstep-specific SDKs (rare) would you need to re-instrument.

How long does it actually take to migrate from Lightstep?

2-4 weeks realistically:

• Week 1: Setup and testing
• Week 2: Build dashboards, run parallel with Lightstep
• Week 3-4: Migrate production services

Some vendors claim "migrations in an hour" - that's just the config change. Budget a month to do it properly with dashboard recreation and validation.

What happens if I miss the March 2026 deadline?

ServiceNow stops accepting telemetry. Your observability goes dark - zero visibility into production. Set up at least a basic OTel-native platform (even free Jaeger) as a fallback to avoid complete blindness.

Can I keep using OpenTelemetry after migrating?

Yes - that's the whole point. Your OTel instrumentation continues working unchanged. This is why we recommend OTel-native platforms (OpenObserve, Honeycomb, Jaeger) over proprietary ones (Datadog, Dynatrace) that translate OTel into their formats. Keeps you flexible for future switches.

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