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Developer Tools · head to head

Backstage vs Reportz

Backstage logo

Backstage

Developer Tools

Open source internal developer portal framework created and open sourced by Spotify

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit BackstageFull review
Reportz logo

Reportz

Business Intelligence

Per-dashboard marketing reporting at under ten dollars a client

From
$9.9/month
Free plan
No
Visit ReportzFull review

The short version

  • Backstage is free; Reportz starts at $9.9/mo.
  • Only Backstage lists software catalogue; only Reportz lists per-dashboard pricing.
  • Where Reportz falls short: there is no data modelling, SQL or warehouse layer, so cross-source analysis is limited to what the widget set already supports.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Backstage and Reportz actually diverge.

Attributes where Backstage and Reportz differ
AttributeBackstageReportz
Starting priceFree$9.9/month
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feePer month by dashboard count
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Self-hosted, LinuxWeb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsBusiness Intelligence

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 Reportz

  • Per-dashboard pricing
  • Unlimited users
  • Public share links
  • White labelling
  • Template library
  • Scheduled reports
  • Custom KPI widgets
  • Client management

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 Reportz
  • A platform team enforcing golden paths, so a new service is scaffolded with logging, CI and security defaults already wired innot Reportz
  • A company consolidating scattered READMEs and Confluence pages into docs that live beside the code and cannot silently rot unnoticednot Reportz
  • A regulated business that needs an auditable register of every running service, its owner and its data classificationnot Reportz

Reportz

  • A five-person SEO agency reporting to twenty five clients that cannot justify several hundred dollars a month for reporting softwarenot Backstage
  • A freelancer who needs one white-labelled dashboard per client and nothing elsenot Backstage
  • An agency giving clients a live link instead of a monthly PDF, without buying client seatsnot Backstage
  • A marketing team wanting a cheap always-on KPI screen fed from ad and analytics platformsnot 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

Reportz

  • The connector library is smaller than the established agency reporting tools, and if a platform you report on is missing there is no practical route to getting it added
  • Four Dots is a small agency-owned business rather than a funded software company, so API breakages and platform changes can take longer to fix than at larger vendors
  • There is no data modelling, SQL or warehouse layer, so cross-source analysis is limited to what the widget set already supports
  • Per-dashboard billing means an agency that builds several views per client loses the headline price advantage quickly
  • Documentation and support are thin compared with larger competitors, and complex setups often need direct email support rather than self-service answers

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

Reportz

$9.9/month
  • Consultant$9.9/mo
    • Priced per dashboard
    • Unlimited users
    • Unlimited data sources
  • Agency$99/mo
    • Around ten dashboards at the same per-dashboard rate
    • Unlimited users
    • Custom domain
  • Enterprise$742.5/mo
    • 75 dashboards
    • Volume rate
    • Unlimited users

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.
Backstage review

Choose Reportz if

  • You need per-dashboard pricing.
  • You also want unlimited users.
Reportz review

Questions people ask

Is Backstage or Reportz better?
Neither clearly leads. Backstage starts at Free and Reportz at $9.9/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Backstage or Reportz?
Backstage has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Backstage and $9.9/month for Reportz.
Does Backstage or Reportz run on more platforms?
Backstage runs on Web, Self-hosted, Linux. Reportz runs on Web.
Can I use Backstage for free?
Yes. Backstage has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Reportz starts at $9.9/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 Reportz is typically brought in for.
What can Backstage do that Reportz cannot?
Backstage covers Software catalogue, Software templates, TechDocs, Plugin architecture. Reportz covers Per-dashboard pricing, Unlimited users, Public share links, White labelling.

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.

Reportz: What does Reportz cost?

9.90 US dollars per dashboard per month, with unlimited users and data sources on every tier.

Backstage: 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.

Reportz: Is there a free plan?

No, but there is a fifteen day trial with no card required.

Backstage: 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.

Reportz: Who is behind it?

Four Dots, a digital marketing agency in Belgrade that built the tool for its own client reporting.

Backstage: 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.

Reportz: Can clients view without a login?

Yes, dashboards can be shared as a public link under your own domain.

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