What is Lightstep?
Lightstep was founded in 2015 by engineers who co-created the OpenTracing and OpenTelemetry standards, building a distributed tracing and observability platform. ServiceNow acquired Lightstep in 2021 (reported at roughly $512 million) and has since rebranded the product as ServiceNow Cloud Observability; lightstep.com now 301-redirects to ServiceNow's site.
Read the full overview
Sources checked 27 September 2026: redirect check on lightstep.com (forwards to servicenow.com), documentation (shows the ServiceNow rebrand banner).
LightstepMonitoring & ObservabilityDistributed tracing pioneer, now ServiceNow Cloud Observability
Key capabilities
- Distributed tracing: OpenTelemetry-based tracing across microservices.
- Change intelligence: Correlating deploys and config changes with incidents.
- ServiceNow integration: Bundled with ServiceNow's IT workflow and ITSM products.
Where Lightstep fits
Confirm whether you're buying it standalone or as part of a broader ServiceNow contract, and check current OpenTelemetry compatibility and data retention terms directly with ServiceNow sales.
Positioning and limitations
Evaluate this as ServiceNow Cloud Observability, sold through ServiceNow's enterprise sales motion and bundled with its broader IT workflow platform, not as a standalone Lightstep product or price point.
The Lightstep name is now legacy branding; a real evaluation means talking to ServiceNow about Cloud Observability pricing and how it fits an existing (or new) ServiceNow relationship.
“Distributed tracing pioneer, now ServiceNow Cloud Observability”
Technical details
- Access
- See vendor
- Source model
- Commercial
- License
- Commercial
- Founded
- 2015
- Headquarters
- San Francisco, USA
- Pricing model
- Contact sales
- API
- Available
- Website
- www.servicenow.com ↗
What to verify
Start from the users, systems and operating responsibilities the tool needs to support.
- Confirm current features, licensing and support terms.
- Validate deployment, data location and access control.
- Test integrations, exports and recovery workflows.
Reviews of Lightstep
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