What is Subtrace used for?

Subtrace is a network inspector for backend servers that lets developers see HTTP request details such as payloads, headers, status and latency with a single command. It is a good fit for debugging production API issues and inspecting traffic between backend services.

Is Subtrace open source?

Yes. Subtrace is open source under the BSD-3-Clause licence. Its source code is on GitHub at subtrace/subtrace and is written mainly in Go.

Yes. Subtrace is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

What are some alternatives to Subtrace?

Similar open-source tools in the Monitoring & Observability category include Sloth, Prometheus and Sentry. SaaS products in the same category include Amazon CloudWatch, AppDynamics and Axiom.

Is Subtrace actively maintained?

The most recent commit to Subtrace was on 28 January 2026. The project has 3.1k stars on GitHub.

Subtrace: open-source monitoring & observability

About Subtrace

Subtrace is a network inspector for backend services. Its aim is to let developers look at the HTTP requests flowing through any server using a single command, showing details such as payloads, headers, status codes, latency and logs in one place so production issues can be diagnosed faster.

The project currently runs on Linux, while macOS support is in private beta with a waitlist. Guides are provided for Docker, Docker Compose and Kubernetes, and the project maintains documentation and a Discord community. It is written in Go and released under the BSD-3-Clause licence.

Key features

HTTP request inspection in any server
Full payload, headers and status visibility
Latency and log details per request
Single-command setup
Guides for Docker, Compose and Kubernetes

Good fit for

→Debugging production API issues
→Inspecting traffic between backend services

Built with: Go
Tags: observability; monitoring; http; devtools; backend; debugging; go

Subtrace: questions and answers

What is Subtrace used for?: Subtrace is a network inspector for backend servers that lets developers see HTTP request details such as payloads, headers, status and latency with a single command. It is a good fit for debugging production API issues and inspecting traffic between backend services.
Is Subtrace open source?: Yes. Subtrace is open source under the BSD-3-Clause licence. Its source code is on GitHub at subtrace/subtrace and is written mainly in Go.
Is Subtrace free?: Yes. Subtrace is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
What are some alternatives to Subtrace?: Similar open-source tools in the Monitoring & Observability category include Sloth, Prometheus and Sentry. SaaS products in the same category include Amazon CloudWatch, AppDynamics and Axiom.
Is Subtrace actively maintained?: The most recent commit to Subtrace was on 28 January 2026. The project has 3.1k stars on GitHub.