What is AWS X-Ray?
AWS X-Ray is a distributed tracing service that tracks requests through distributed applications. The service visualizes the path of a request through all participating services and identifies bottlenecks and error sources.
Important notice (as of July 2026): The classic AWS X-Ray SDKs and the X-Ray Daemon have been in maintenance mode since February 25, 2026, receiving only critical bug fixes and security updates until end of support on February 25, 2027. AWS is driving migration to OpenTelemetry as the primary instrumentation standard; the X-Ray service itself remains in place, continues to process traces, and is being extended with native OpenTelemetry support and CloudWatch integrations such as Transaction Search.
Core Features
- Service Map: Visual representation of all services and their connections
- Trace Analysis: Detailed view of individual requests with latency breakdown
- Error Analysis: Automatic detection and grouping of errors
- Annotations: Custom metadata on traces for better filtering
- Sampling: Configurable sampling rules for cost-effective tracing
- OpenTelemetry support: Native ingestion of traces from OpenTelemetry instrumentation (e.g., via ADOT) as a replacement for the classic SDKs
Typical Use Cases
Performance Debugging: An API endpoint is slow. X-Ray shows that most of the latency occurs in a downstream database call, allowing the team to optimize the query specifically.
Error Analysis: Sporadic errors occur. X-Ray groups affected traces and shows that they originate from a specific service or Lambda function. The trace leads directly to the cause.
Architecture Understanding: New team members use the Service Map to understand application architecture. The visualization shows dependencies and communication patterns.
Benefits
- Deep insights into distributed applications without your own tracing infrastructure
- Native integration with Lambda, API Gateway, ECS, and other AWS services
- Correlation of traces with CloudWatch Logs, metrics, and Application Signals
- Future-proof path via OpenTelemetry instrumentation instead of proprietary SDKs
Integration with innFactory
As an AWS reseller, innFactory supports you with AWS X-Ray: application instrumentation, migration from classic X-Ray SDKs to OpenTelemetry, sampling strategy, service map analysis, and performance optimization.
Typical Use Cases
Frequently Asked Questions
Are the classic X-Ray SDKs still the recommended solution?
No. The AWS X-Ray SDKs (Java, Node.js, Python, .NET, Go, Ruby) and the X-Ray Daemon have been in maintenance mode since February 2026 (critical bug fixes and security patches only, end of support in February 2027). AWS recommends OpenTelemetry for new instrumentation, for example via the AWS Distro for OpenTelemetry (ADOT).
How does X-Ray differ from CloudWatch Application Signals?
AWS X-Ray collects and visualizes individual traces. Amazon CloudWatch Application Signals builds on top of that, providing an application-centric, automated view of services and their dependencies, including Transaction Search, often based on OpenTelemetry data.
Does X-Ray work with serverless applications?
Yes, X-Ray can still be enabled natively with AWS Lambda, API Gateway, and other serverless services. For new projects, instrumenting via OpenTelemetry is recommended instead of the classic X-Ray SDKs.
How much performance overhead does X-Ray create?
X-Ray is designed for minimal overhead. In production environments, sampling is typically used, tracing only a fraction of requests.
What does AWS X-Ray cost?
Billing is split between traces recorded, retrieved, and scanned, each with a monthly free tier. Details and current rates are available on the official pricing page.
Note: All product information on this page has been compiled with care, but is provided without guarantee and may be outdated or incomplete. Cloud services evolve rapidly — features, pricing, SLAs, and availability change frequently. Authoritative and up-to-date information can only be found on the official product page of AWS (official documentation). This page does not represent an offer by AWS.