Developer Tools · head to head
Backstage vs Deepnote
Backstage
Developer Tools
Open source internal developer portal framework created and open sourced by Spotify
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
Deepnote
Business Intelligence
Collaborative cloud workspace for data analytics and machine learning
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
The short version
- Deepnote is a collaborative cloud-based workspace.
- Backstage is free; Deepnote starts at $39/mo.
- Only Backstage lists software catalogue; only Deepnote lists collaborative notebooks.
- Where Deepnote falls short: free plan limited to 3 editors, restricting team usage.
- Prices and features on this page were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Backstage and Deepnote actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Backstage
- Software catalogue
- Software templates
- TechDocs
- Plugin architecture
- Kubernetes plugin
- Search
- Entity ownership model
- Auth provider integrations
Only in Deepnote
- Collaborative notebooks
- Interactive dashboards
- Data agent building
- Scheduled pipelines
- Model management
- 100+ integrations
- GPU support
- API deployment
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Backstage
- An engineering organisation past roughly a hundred services where nobody can reliably answer who owns a given service at two in the morningnot Deepnote
- A platform team enforcing golden paths, so a new service is scaffolded with logging, CI and security defaults already wired innot Deepnote
- A company consolidating scattered READMEs and Confluence pages into docs that live beside the code and cannot silently rot unnoticednot Deepnote
- A regulated business that needs an auditable register of every running service, its owner and its data classificationnot Deepnote
Deepnote
- Data exploration and analysis workflowsnot Backstage
- Building interactive business intelligence dashboardsnot Backstage
- Collaborative machine learning model developmentnot Backstage
- Automating ETL and data pipeline orchestrationnot Backstage
- Creating shareable reports without exportsnot Backstage
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Backstage
- Backstage is a framework rather than a product: there is no supported turnkey install, so getting to a usable portal means a TypeScript and React project your team owns, hosts and upgrades forever
- Upstream releases move quickly and plugin APIs have broken across major versions, so a customised deployment accumulates upgrade debt and teams routinely fall months behind on versions they cannot cheaply catch up on
- The catalogue is only as good as the YAML descriptors engineers remember to write; without enforcement the register drifts out of date, and a developer portal nobody trusts is abandoned faster than one that never existed
- Community plugin quality varies sharply, with many unmaintained or pinned to old core versions, so the plugin that made the business case may be the one blocking your next upgrade
- Spotify Portal, the packaged commercial route, publishes no price at all and is quoted as a custom annual subscription, so the only cost you can actually forecast up front is the self-hosted one, which is the option with the largest hidden staffing bill
Deepnote
- Free plan limited to 3 editors, restricting team usage
- Limited revision history on free plan compared to competitors
- Requires Team plan or higher for automated scheduling
- GPU support incurs additional charges beyond base subscription
- No mentioned offline capability
Pricing, plan by plan
Backstage
Free- Backstage (open source)Free
- Apache 2.0 licence
- Software catalogue, templates, TechDocs and search
- Full plugin ecosystem
- Spotify Portal for BackstageOn request
- Packaged commercial distribution from Spotify
- Spotify premium plugins including Soundcheck and Insights
- Simplified setup and managed upgrade path
Deepnote
Free- FreeFree
- Up to 3 editors
- Up to 5 projects
- Limited Deepnote AI
- Team$39/mo
- Unlimited viewers and notebooks
- Full Deepnote AI access
- Premium integrations
- EnterpriseOn request
- Everything in Team plan
- Custom contracts
- Priority support
Which should you pick?
Choose Backstage if
- You need software catalogue.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Self-hosted, Linux.
- You also want software templates.
Choose Deepnote if
- You need collaborative notebooks.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, API.
- You also want interactive dashboards.
Questions people ask
- Is Backstage or Deepnote better?
- Neither clearly leads. Backstage starts at Free and Deepnote at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Backstage or Deepnote?
- Backstage starts at Free and Deepnote at Free.
- Does Backstage or Deepnote run on more platforms?
- Backstage runs on Web, Self-hosted, Linux. Deepnote runs on Web, API.
- Can I use Backstage for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Backstage best used for?
- Backstage is most often used for an engineering organisation past roughly a hundred services where nobody can reliably answer who owns a given service at two in the morning, a platform team enforcing golden paths, so a new service is scaffolded with logging, ci and security defaults already wired in, a company consolidating scattered readmes and confluence pages into docs that live beside the code and cannot silently rot unnoticed, a regulated business that needs an auditable register of every running service, its owner and its data classification. Of those, an engineering organisation past roughly a hundred services where nobody can reliably answer who owns a given service at two in the morning and a platform team enforcing golden paths, so a new service is scaffolded with logging, ci and security defaults already wired in are not what Deepnote is typically brought in for.
- What can Backstage do that Deepnote cannot?
- Backstage covers Software catalogue, Software templates, TechDocs, Plugin architecture. Deepnote covers Collaborative notebooks, Interactive dashboards, Data agent building, Scheduled pipelines.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Backstage: Is Backstage free?
The project is Apache 2.0 with no licence fee. The real cost is engineering time; teams commonly dedicate one to two engineers permanently to running it.
Deepnote: What is included in the free Deepnote plan?
The free plan includes up to 3 editors, up to 5 projects, limited Deepnote AI, basic machines with 5 GB RAM, and 7-day revision history.
SourceBackstage: Do I need to write code to use it?
Yes. Configuring and extending a Backstage application is a TypeScript and React project. This is the single most common misjudgement buyers make.
Deepnote: What data sources can Deepnote integrate with?
Deepnote integrates with 100+ data sources including major data warehouses like Snowflake, BigQuery, and Redshift, as well as BI platforms like Looker, Tableau, and Power BI.
SourceBackstage: What is Spotify Portal for Backstage?
A commercial distribution from Spotify with premium plugins and support, generally available since October 2025 and sold as a quoted annual subscription with no published price.
Deepnote: Does Deepnote support collaboration?
Yes, Deepnote provides real-time collaborative notebooks where multiple team members can work simultaneously. The Team plan allows unlimited viewers and notebooks.
SourceBackstage: Who owns the project?
Spotify created and open sourced it; it is now a CNCF project, so the upstream roadmap is not solely Spotify controlled.
Deepnote: What compliance certifications does Deepnote have?
Deepnote is SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, and CCPA compliant and offers role-based access control, single sign-on, and directory synchronization.
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