What should I use for service dependency mapping

For service dependency mapping, the best choice depends on what kind of environment you’re mapping and what you want to do with the map.

Good options by use case

• Simple architecture diagrams:
  Use draw.io (diagrams.net) or Lucidchart

  • Easy to create manually
  • Good for documentation and presentations

• Automated discovery in cloud / microservices:
  Use ServiceNow Discovery, Dynatrace, Datadog APM, New Relic, or AppDynamics

  • Can detect service-to-service calls
  • Better for dynamic environments
  • Often includes runtime dependency graphs

• Open-source / observability-based mapping:
  Use OpenTelemetry + a backend like Grafana Tempo, Jaeger, Prometheus, or Kiali

  • Good if you want tracing-based dependency visibility
  • Best for Kubernetes and distributed systems

• Kubernetes service mesh environments:
  Use Kiali with Istio

  • Excellent for visualizing service relationships
  • Shows traffic flows and health

• CMDB / enterprise dependency management:
  Use ServiceNow CMDB or similar ITSM tools

  • Useful if you need governance, change management, and impact analysis

My general recommendation

If you want accurate, living dependency mapping, use distributed tracing tools:

• OpenTelemetry for instrumentation
• Jaeger or Grafana Tempo for traces
• Kiali if you’re on Kubernetes with Istio

If you want, I can recommend the best tool for your stack if you tell me:

1. Cloud/on-prem
2. Kubernetes or not
3. Microservices or monolith
4. Whether you need automatic discovery or manual diagrams