Spotify backstage alternative: compare Port to Backstage

Need a Spotify Backstage alternative that's hosted and simple to use? You've come to the right place - choose Port over Backstage for a comprehensive software catalog that fits your data model, inclusion of live data and K8s visibility as well as broad self-service developer actions and the ability to use your developer portal for workflow automation.

Software Catalog

Ability to accurately reflect data model / Number of blueprint/types

Bring your own data model: unlimited blueprints

6 pre-defined kinds: component, API, resource, system, domain and group

Accurate dependency reflection

Create dependencies between any data model element

Limited to relationships between the 6 kinds

Rich properties

JSON schema, JQ support, mirror properties, markdown, etc

Json schema only

API-based data ingestion

REST API, Terraform, GitOps, CI/CD

GitOps

Out of the box data ingestion (k8s, github, CI/CD, etc)

Software templates and self-service

Scaffolder

Custom self-service actions

Fallback & retry mechanism

Usage restriction policies

3rd party runners orchestration

Trigger via API

Kubernetes Catalog

Visibility for K8S objects

(doesn't support Cron jobs, not stateful, no events, etc)

Multi cluster support

CRD support (ArgoCD, Istio, etc)

(rigid dashboard, change requires coding)

Flexible K8s views and presentation

(rigid view, change requires coding)

Workflow automation

Event based subscriptions

TTL

Cron jobs

Scorecards (e.g. quality, reliability, maturity)

Define any scorecard, no-code

paid plugin, requires coding

Live integration with tools such as DataDog, Jira, PagerDuty etc

Native integration with CI/CD data

Grid report for managers

(planned for Q2 2023)

TechDocs

RBAC, Security & Audit

No-Code RBAC

(paid plugin)

RBAC on anything

Per-plugin implementation required

Custom roles definition

Activity & Audit log

SSO

Identity provider automatic ownership sync

(No support for Google Groups, Okta, or HR systems)

Previous-published policies view

Deployment method

Deployment method

SaaS. Can be deployed on customer's cloud account*

Self-managed, some plugins are SaaS

Global Search & Query

UI Search

Q3 2023

Global search and query including plugin data, K8s data and all catalog data

graph queries

basic query support, doesn't include plugin data

Dashboard & reports builder

Extensibility

Customizable pages and views

(requires coding)

Out-of-the-box plugins

Extensions using

Blueprints

Plugins

DevEx Center

Surveys

(paid plugin)

Knowledge Exchange

(paid plugin)

Granular usage insights

Paid plugin, only on page views and active users

*the ability to be deployed on customer's cloud account. To apply for the beta write to us at info@getport.io

Why do teams choose Port

Bring your own data model

Port’s software catalog uses an API to populate with all the data you need to accurately model your data, in minutes, with zero coding.

Full developer self-service

From scaffolding to day-2 operations, provisioning ephemeral environments and more, Port does it all.

Workflow automation

Easily automate devops routines based on Port’s software catalog and event subscription mechanism.

Easy to set up

No coding, no complex deployments, ready in minutes.

Compared to Backstage, the advantages of Port are a lower TCO, faster setup time, support for your data model without any coding and a software catalog for workflow automation.

Our blog

Announcing the GCP Exporter
Read more
Building an Internal Developer Portal for a Serverless Architecture 
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Internal Developer Portals: self-service actions using infrastructure as code and GitOps
Read more

Let us walk you through the platform and catalog the assets of your choice.

I’m ready, let’s start