diff --git a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-static/scenario.ts b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-static/scenario.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..af9609ab863b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-static/scenario.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import * as Sentry from '@sentry/node';
+import { loggingTransport } from '@sentry-internal/node-integration-tests';
+
+Sentry.init({
+  traceLifecycle: 'static',
+  dsn: 'https://public@dsn.ingest.sentry.io/1337',
+  release: '1.0',
+  tracesSampleRate: 1.0,
+  transport: loggingTransport,
+});
+
+Sentry.startSpan({ name: 'test_span' }, () => undefined);
diff --git a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-static/test.ts b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-static/test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d0b64a9393bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-static/test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+import { SENTRY_SEGMENT_NAME_SOURCE } from '@sentry/conventions/attributes';
+import { afterAll, expect, test } from 'vitest';
+import { cleanupChildProcesses, createRunner } from '../../../../utils/runner';
+
+afterAll(() => {
+  cleanupChildProcesses();
+});
+
+test('sends a manually started root span with source custom', async () => {
+  await createRunner(__dirname, 'scenario.ts')
+    .expect({
+      transaction: {
+        transaction: 'test_span',
+        transaction_info: { source: 'custom' },
+        contexts: {
+          trace: {
+            span_id: expect.any(String),
+            trace_id: expect.any(String),
+            data: { [SENTRY_SEGMENT_NAME_SOURCE]: 'custom' },
+          },
+        },
+      },
+    })
+    .start()
+    .completed();
+});
diff --git a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-static/with-children/scenario.ts b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-static/with-children/scenario.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..3e43091b62c8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-static/with-children/scenario.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+import * as Sentry from '@sentry/node';
+import { SENTRY_LINK_TYPE } from '@sentry/conventions/attributes';
+import { loggingTransport } from '@sentry-internal/node-integration-tests';
+
+Sentry.init({
+  traceLifecycle: 'static',
+  dsn: 'https://public@dsn.ingest.sentry.io/1337',
+  tracesSampleRate: 1.0,
+  transport: loggingTransport,
+  release: '1.0.0',
+});
+
+Sentry.startSpan({ name: 'test-span', op: 'test' }, segmentSpan => {
+  Sentry.startSpan({ name: 'test-child-span', op: 'test-child' }, () => {
+    // noop
+  });
+
+  const inactiveSpan = Sentry.startInactiveSpan({
+    name: 'test-inactive-span',
+    links: [{ context: segmentSpan.spanContext(), attributes: { [SENTRY_LINK_TYPE]: 'some_relation' } }],
+  });
+  inactiveSpan.end();
+
+  Sentry.startSpanManual({ name: 'test-manual-span' }, span => {
+    span.end();
+  });
+});
+
+void Sentry.flush();
diff --git a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-static/with-children/test.ts b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-static/with-children/test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9ddbf4f7e629
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-static/with-children/test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,108 @@
+import { SDK_VERSION, SEMANTIC_ATTRIBUTE_SENTRY_SAMPLE_RATE } from '@sentry/core';
+import { SENTRY_LINK_TYPE, SENTRY_OP, SENTRY_ORIGIN, SENTRY_SEGMENT_NAME_SOURCE } from '@sentry/conventions/attributes';
+import { expect, test } from 'vitest';
+import { EXPECTED_SDK_NAME } from '../../../../../utils';
+import { assertSentryTransaction } from '../../../../../utils/assertions';
+import { createRunner } from '../../../../../utils/runner';
+
+test('sends a transaction envelope with correct envelope header', async () => {
+  await createRunner(__dirname, 'scenario.ts')
+    .expectHeader({
+      transaction: {
+        sent_at: expect.any(String),
+        sdk: {
+          name: EXPECTED_SDK_NAME,
+          version: SDK_VERSION,
+        },
+        trace: expect.objectContaining({
+          public_key: 'public',
+          sample_rate: '1',
+          sampled: 'true',
+          trace_id: expect.stringMatching(/^[\da-f]{32}$/),
+          transaction: 'test-span',
+        }),
+      },
+    })
+    .start()
+    .completed();
+});
+
+test('sends a transaction with correct spans for a manually started span with children', async () => {
+  await createRunner(__dirname, 'scenario.ts')
+    .expect({
+      transaction: transaction => {
+        const rootSpanId = transaction.contexts?.trace?.span_id;
+        const traceId = transaction.contexts?.trace?.trace_id;
+
+        assertSentryTransaction(transaction, {
+          transaction: 'test-span',
+          transaction_info: { source: 'custom' },
+          release: '1.0.0',
+          environment: 'production',
+          sdk: { name: EXPECTED_SDK_NAME, version: SDK_VERSION },
+          contexts: {
+            trace: {
+              span_id: expect.stringMatching(/^[\da-f]{16}$/),
+              trace_id: expect.stringMatching(/^[\da-f]{32}$/),
+              op: 'test',
+              origin: 'manual',
+              status: 'ok',
+              data: {
+                [SENTRY_OP]: 'test',
+                [SENTRY_ORIGIN]: 'manual',
+                [SENTRY_SEGMENT_NAME_SOURCE]: 'custom',
+                [SEMANTIC_ATTRIBUTE_SENTRY_SAMPLE_RATE]: 1,
+              },
+            },
+          },
+        });
+
+        expect(transaction.spans).toEqual([
+          {
+            description: 'test-child-span',
+            op: 'test-child',
+            origin: 'manual',
+            data: { [SENTRY_OP]: 'test-child', [SENTRY_ORIGIN]: 'manual' },
+            parent_span_id: rootSpanId,
+            trace_id: traceId,
+            span_id: expect.stringMatching(/^[\da-f]{16}$/),
+            start_timestamp: expect.any(Number),
+            timestamp: expect.any(Number),
+            status: 'ok',
+          },
+          {
+            description: 'test-inactive-span',
+            origin: 'manual',
+            data: { [SENTRY_ORIGIN]: 'manual' },
+            parent_span_id: rootSpanId,
+            trace_id: traceId,
+            span_id: expect.stringMatching(/^[\da-f]{16}$/),
+            start_timestamp: expect.any(Number),
+            timestamp: expect.any(Number),
+            status: 'ok',
+            links: [
+              {
+                attributes: { [SENTRY_LINK_TYPE]: 'some_relation' },
+                sampled: true,
+                span_id: rootSpanId,
+                trace_id: traceId,
+              },
+            ],
+          },
+          {
+            description: 'test-manual-span',
+            origin: 'manual',
+            data: { [SENTRY_ORIGIN]: 'manual' },
+            parent_span_id: rootSpanId,
+            trace_id: traceId,
+            span_id: expect.stringMatching(/^[\da-f]{16}$/),
+            start_timestamp: expect.any(Number),
+            timestamp: expect.any(Number),
+            status: 'ok',
+          },
+        ]);
+      },
+    })
+    .start()
+    .completed();
+});
diff --git a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage/scenario.ts b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage/scenario.ts
index af9609ab863b..c2186df94b7f 100644
--- a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage/scenario.ts
+++ b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage/scenario.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import * as Sentry from '@sentry/node';
 import { loggingTransport } from '@sentry-internal/node-integration-tests';
 
 Sentry.init({
-  traceLifecycle: 'static',
   dsn: 'https://public@dsn.ingest.sentry.io/1337',
   release: '1.0',
   tracesSampleRate: 1.0,
diff --git a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage/test.ts b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage/test.ts
index d616c04c457d..ad5143480748 100644
--- a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage/test.ts
+++ b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage/test.ts
@@ -9,35 +9,14 @@ afterAll(() => {
 test('sends a manually started root span with source custom', async () => {
   await createRunner(__dirname, 'scenario.ts')
     .expect({
-      transaction: {
-        transaction: 'test_span',
-        transaction_info: { source: 'custom' },
-        contexts: {
-          trace: {
-            span_id: expect.any(String),
-            trace_id: expect.any(String),
-            data: { [SENTRY_SEGMENT_NAME_SOURCE]: 'custom' },
-          },
-        },
-      },
-    })
-    .start()
-    .completed();
-});
-
-test("doesn't change the name for manually started spans even if attributes triggering inference are set", async () => {
-  await createRunner(__dirname, 'scenario.ts')
-    .expect({
-      transaction: {
-        transaction: 'test_span',
-        transaction_info: { source: 'custom' },
-        contexts: {
-          trace: {
-            span_id: expect.any(String),
-            trace_id: expect.any(String),
-            data: { [SENTRY_SEGMENT_NAME_SOURCE]: 'custom' },
-          },
-        },
+      span: container => {
+        const segment = container.items.find(span => span.is_segment);
+        expect(segment?.name).toBe('test_span');
+        expect(segment?.span_id).toEqual(expect.any(String));
+        expect(segment?.trace_id).toEqual(expect.any(String));
+        expect(segment?.start_timestamp).toEqual(expect.any(Number));
+        expect(segment?.end_timestamp).toEqual(expect.any(Number));
+        expect(segment?.attributes[SENTRY_SEGMENT_NAME_SOURCE]).toEqual({ type: 'string', value: 'custom' });
       },
     })
     .start()
diff --git a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-streamed/scenario.ts b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage/with-children/scenario.ts
similarity index 96%
rename from dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-streamed/scenario.ts
rename to dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage/with-children/scenario.ts
index ce3f914d51b8..f84a5df779dd 100644
--- a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-streamed/scenario.ts
+++ b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage/with-children/scenario.ts
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@ import { loggingTransport } from '@sentry-internal/node-integration-tests';
 Sentry.init({
   dsn: 'https://public@dsn.ingest.sentry.io/1337',
   tracesSampleRate: 1.0,
-  traceLifecycle: 'stream',
   integrations: [Sentry.spanStreamingIntegration()],
   transport: loggingTransport,
   release: '1.0.0',
diff --git a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-streamed/test.ts b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage/with-children/test.ts
similarity index 98%
rename from dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-streamed/test.ts
rename to dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage/with-children/test.ts
index 87a40fa69b3f..f873cb97a41b 100644
--- a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage-streamed/test.ts
+++ b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/basic-usage/with-children/test.ts
@@ -13,8 +13,8 @@ import {
   SENTRY_ORIGIN,
 } from '@sentry/conventions/attributes';
 import { expect, test } from 'vitest';
-import { createRunner } from '../../../../utils/runner';
-import { EXPECTED_SDK_NAME } from '../../../../utils';
+import { createRunner } from '../../../../../utils/runner';
+import { EXPECTED_SDK_NAME } from '../../../../../utils';
 
 test('sends a streamed span envelope with correct envelope header', async () => {
   await createRunner(__dirname, 'scenario.ts')
diff --git a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/with-nested-spans-static/scenario.ts b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/with-nested-spans-static/scenario.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c372394e37e5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/with-nested-spans-static/scenario.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+import * as Sentry from '@sentry/node';
+import { loggingTransport } from '@sentry-internal/node-integration-tests';
+
+Sentry.init({
+  traceLifecycle: 'static',
+  dsn: 'https://public@dsn.ingest.sentry.io/1337',
+  release: '1.0',
+  tracesSampleRate: 1.0,
+  transport: loggingTransport,
+});
+
+Sentry.startSpan({ name: 'root_span' }, () => {
+  Sentry.startSpan(
+    {
+      name: 'span_1',
+      attributes: {
+        foo: 'bar',
+        baz: [1, 2, 3],
+      },
+    },
+    () => undefined,
+  );
+
+  // span_2 doesn't finish
+  Sentry.startInactiveSpan({ name: 'span_2' });
+
+  Sentry.startSpan({ name: 'span_3' }, () => {
+    // span_4 is the child of span_3 but doesn't finish.
+    Sentry.startInactiveSpan({ name: 'span_4', attributes: { qux: 'quux' } });
+
+    // span_5 is another child of span_3 but finishes.
+    Sentry.startSpan({ name: 'span_5' }, () => undefined);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/with-nested-spans-static/test.ts b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/with-nested-spans-static/test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..c01b837db5f7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/with-nested-spans-static/test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+import type { SpanJSON } from '@sentry/core';
+import { afterAll, expect, test } from 'vitest';
+import { assertSentryTransaction } from '../../../../utils/assertions';
+import { cleanupChildProcesses, createRunner } from '../../../../utils/runner';
+
+afterAll(() => {
+  cleanupChildProcesses();
+});
+
+test('should report finished spans as children of the root transaction.', async () => {
+  await createRunner(__dirname, 'scenario.ts')
+    .expect({
+      transaction: transaction => {
+        const rootSpanId = transaction.contexts?.trace?.span_id;
+        const span3Id = transaction.spans?.[1]?.span_id;
+
+        expect(rootSpanId).toEqual(expect.any(String));
+        expect(span3Id).toEqual(expect.any(String));
+
+        assertSentryTransaction(transaction, {
+          transaction: 'root_span',
+          spans: [
+            {
+              description: 'span_1',
+              data: {
+                foo: 'bar',
+                baz: [1, 2, 3],
+              },
+              parent_span_id: rootSpanId,
+            },
+            {
+              description: 'span_3',
+              parent_span_id: rootSpanId,
+              data: {},
+            },
+            {
+              description: 'span_5',
+              parent_span_id: span3Id,
+              data: {},
+            },
+          ] as SpanJSON[],
+        });
+      },
+    })
+    .start()
+    .completed();
+});
diff --git a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/with-nested-spans/scenario.ts b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/with-nested-spans/scenario.ts
index c372394e37e5..ce103213161b 100644
--- a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/with-nested-spans/scenario.ts
+++ b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/with-nested-spans/scenario.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ import * as Sentry from '@sentry/node';
 import { loggingTransport } from '@sentry-internal/node-integration-tests';
 
 Sentry.init({
-  traceLifecycle: 'static',
   dsn: 'https://public@dsn.ingest.sentry.io/1337',
   release: '1.0',
   tracesSampleRate: 1.0,
diff --git a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/with-nested-spans/test.ts b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/with-nested-spans/test.ts
index c01b837db5f7..2fe870bfba64 100644
--- a/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/with-nested-spans/test.ts
+++ b/dev-packages/node-integration-tests/suites/public-api/startSpan/with-nested-spans/test.ts
@@ -1,45 +1,46 @@
-import type { SpanJSON } from '@sentry/core';
 import { afterAll, expect, test } from 'vitest';
-import { assertSentryTransaction } from '../../../../utils/assertions';
 import { cleanupChildProcesses, createRunner } from '../../../../utils/runner';
 
 afterAll(() => {
   cleanupChildProcesses();
 });
 
-test('should report finished spans as children of the root transaction.', async () => {
+test('should report finished spans as children of the root span.', async () => {
   await createRunner(__dirname, 'scenario.ts')
     .expect({
-      transaction: transaction => {
-        const rootSpanId = transaction.contexts?.trace?.span_id;
-        const span3Id = transaction.spans?.[1]?.span_id;
+      span: container => {
+        const segment = container.items.find(span => span.is_segment);
+        // Streamed spans arrive in completion order; compare the original creation order.
+        const spans = container.items
+          .filter(span => !span.is_segment)
+          .sort((a, b) => a.start_timestamp - b.start_timestamp);
+        const rootSpanId = segment?.span_id;
+        const span3Id = spans.find(span => span.name === 'span_3')?.span_id;
 
         expect(rootSpanId).toEqual(expect.any(String));
         expect(span3Id).toEqual(expect.any(String));
 
-        assertSentryTransaction(transaction, {
-          transaction: 'root_span',
-          spans: [
-            {
-              description: 'span_1',
-              data: {
-                foo: 'bar',
-                baz: [1, 2, 3],
-              },
-              parent_span_id: rootSpanId,
+        expect(segment?.name).toBe('root_span');
+        expect(segment?.start_timestamp).toEqual(expect.any(Number));
+        expect(segment?.end_timestamp).toEqual(expect.any(Number));
+        expect(spans).toMatchObject([
+          {
+            name: 'span_1',
+            attributes: {
+              foo: { type: 'string', value: 'bar' },
+              baz: { type: 'array', value: [1, 2, 3] },
             },
-            {
-              description: 'span_3',
-              parent_span_id: rootSpanId,
-              data: {},
-            },
-            {
-              description: 'span_5',
-              parent_span_id: span3Id,
-              data: {},
-            },
-          ] as SpanJSON[],
-        });
+            parent_span_id: rootSpanId,
+          },
+          {
+            name: 'span_3',
+            parent_span_id: rootSpanId,
+          },
+          {
+            name: 'span_5',
+            parent_span_id: span3Id,
+          },
+        ]);
       },
     })
     .start()