Spotify backstage alternative: compare Port to Backstage

It isn’t ready to use: organizations implementing Backstage face significant challenges with development effort, time, and maintainability. Gartner notes that many organizations mistakenly believe Backstage is a ready-to-use portal, leading to disillusionment and potential abandonment of the project when additional work is required, leading those teams to look for a backstage replacement.

Customizing and maintaining Backstage demands substantial developer resources. The process involves manual creation of static YAML files to populate the software catalog, which can deter adoption and presents significant maintainability issues. Additionally, the fixed data model limits flexibility and customizability, complicating real-time data integration for use cases like incident management and API monitoring. The reliance on static configurations, which need constant updates, can result in outdated information and operational inefficiencies.

Backstage has limited support for developer self-service actions and critical day-2 operations tasks. Despite the presence of plugins, many issues, such as the fixed data model and manual data ingestion, remain unresolved. The lack of ongoing support or maintenance for plugins can introduce security vulnerabilities. While Spotify reported high internal adoption rates, other organizations have experienced significantly lower adoption due to Backstage's inflexibility and limited functionality.