Developer Tools · head to head
Backstage vs Evidence
Backstage
Developer Tools
Open source internal developer portal framework created and open sourced by Spotify
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
Evidence
Business Intelligence
Business intelligence as code for teams and AI agents
- From
- $2500/month
- Free plan
- No
The short version
- Backstage is free; Evidence starts at $2500/mo.
- Only Backstage lists software catalogue; only Evidence lists analytics Agent.
- Where Evidence falls short: high starting price at $2,500/month limits small team adoption.
- Prices and features on this page were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Backstage and Evidence actually diverge.
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 Evidence
- Analytics Agent
- Code-based infrastructure
- Development environment
- Visualization tools
- Embedded analytics
- Enterprise security
- Multi-channel access
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 Evidence
- A platform team enforcing golden paths, so a new service is scaffolded with logging, CI and security defaults already wired innot Evidence
- A company consolidating scattered READMEs and Confluence pages into docs that live beside the code and cannot silently rot unnoticednot Evidence
- A regulated business that needs an auditable register of every running service, its owner and its data classificationnot Evidence
Evidence
- Building version-controlled analytics infrastructurenot Backstage
- Enabling AI agents to answer business questionsnot Backstage
- Delivering analytics through multiple channels (web, Slack, ChatGPT)not Backstage
- Embedding white-labeled analytics in productsnot 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
Evidence
- High starting price at $2,500/month limits small team adoption
- No freemium option for evaluation or learning
- Code-based approach has steeper learning curve than visual tools
- AI credits limited on Team plan; additional credits cost extra
- Requires Git workflow familiarity for effective collaboration
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
Evidence
$2500/month- Team$2,500/mo
- Unlimited users
- Monthly billing
- Analytics Agent
- EnterpriseOn request
- All Team features
- SSO/SAML authentication
- SCIM directory sync
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 Evidence if
- You need analytics agent.
- You work on Web, Embedded.
- You also want code-based infrastructure.
Questions people ask
- Is Backstage or Evidence better?
- Neither clearly leads. Backstage starts at Free and Evidence at $2500/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Backstage or Evidence?
- Backstage has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Backstage and $2500/month for Evidence.
- Does Backstage or Evidence run on more platforms?
- Backstage runs on Web, Self-hosted, Linux. Evidence runs on Web, Embedded.
- Can I use Backstage for free?
- Yes. Backstage has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Evidence starts at $2500/month.
- 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 Evidence is typically brought in for.
- What can Backstage do that Evidence cannot?
- Backstage covers Software catalogue, Software templates, TechDocs, Plugin architecture. Evidence covers Analytics Agent, Code-based infrastructure, Development environment, Visualization tools.
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.
Evidence: Does Evidence have per-user pricing?
No, Evidence offers one flat price for unlimited users at $2,500/month on the Team plan with a 30-day free trial.
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.
Evidence: How many AI credits come with Team plan?
Team plan includes 20,000 AI credits monthly at $0.01 per additional credit. Enterprise offers custom credit packages.
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.
Evidence: What is included in the Enterprise plan?
Enterprise adds SSO/SAML, SCIM directory sync, row-level access rules, embedding capabilities, and custom deployment options at custom pricing.
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.
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- Evidence vs Ansible
- Evidence vs Jenkins
- Evidence vs Frappe
- Evidence vs Refact
- Evidence vs Soketi
- Evidence vs Storybook
- Evidence vs Visual Studio Code
- Evidence vs Pants Build
- Evidence vs Swagger UI
- Evidence vs Buildkite
- Evidence vs Helix
- Evidence vs JetBrains IntelliJ IDEA
- Evidence vs JetBrains Rider
- Evidence vs Cube
- Evidence vs Zenlytic
- Evidence vs Hex
- Evidence vs Fabi
- Evidence vs Phocas
- Evidence vs Rill Data
- Evidence vs PostHog
- Evidence vs Mixpanel
- Evidence vs GoodData
- Evidence vs Grow
- Evidence vs Sisense
- Evidence vs MicroStrategy
- Evidence vs SAP BusinessObjects
- Evidence vs Snowplow
- Evidence vs Stripe Dashboard
- Evidence vs TIBCO Spotfire
- Evidence vs Yellowfin
- Evidence vs Zebra BI