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Developer Tools · head to head

Backstage vs SentinelOne Singularity

Backstage logo

Backstage

Developer Tools

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

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
SentinelOne Singularity logo

SentinelOne Singularity

Cybersecurity

Autonomous AI-powered endpoint security

From
$5.83/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Backstage has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; SentinelOne Singularity deployment and configuration requires professional services ($5,000 to $25,000)
  • They diverge on capability: Backstage covers Software catalogue, SentinelOne Singularity covers Behavioral AI.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Backstage and SentinelOne Singularity actually diverge.

Attributes where Backstage and SentinelOne Singularity differ
AttributeBackstageSentinelOne Singularity
Starting priceFree$5.83/month
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeUnknown
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Self-hosted, Linux, Docker, KubernetesWindows, macOS, Linux, Cloud, Mobile
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity
FoundedUnknown2013

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

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 SentinelOne Singularity

  • Behavioral AI
  • Autonomous response
  • ActiveEDR
  • Storyline technology
  • Rollback remediation
  • Ranger IoT
  • Cloud workload protection
  • Identity security

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

SentinelOne Singularity

  • Endpoint Securitynot Backstage
  • Edrnot Backstage
  • Xdrnot 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.

SentinelOne Singularity

  • Deployment and configuration requires professional services ($5,000 to $25,000)
  • Optional modules like Ranger and Vigilance add to total cost of ownership
  • Complex pricing tiers make budgeting difficult for large deployments

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 Backstage$undefined/year
    • Packaged commercial distribution from Spotify
    • Spotify premium plugins including Soundcheck and Insights
    • Simplified setup and managed upgrade path

SentinelOne Singularity

$5.83/month
  • Singularity Core$5.83/month per endpoint
    • Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP)
    • Malware prevention
    • Threat isolation
  • Singularity Control$6.67/month per endpoint
    • All Core features
    • Device control
    • Firewall control
  • Singularity Complete$8.25/month per endpoint
    • All Control features
    • Endpoint Detection and Response
    • XDR capabilities
  • Singularity Commercial$17.5/month per endpoint
    • All Complete features
    • Identity protection
    • Cloud protection

Which should you pick?

Choose Backstage if

  • You need software catalogue.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Self-hosted, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes.
  • You also want software templates.
Backstage review

Choose SentinelOne Singularity if

  • You need behavioral ai.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux, Cloud, Mobile.
  • You also want autonomous response.
SentinelOne Singularity review

Questions people ask

Is Backstage or SentinelOne Singularity better?
Neither clearly leads. Backstage starts at Free and SentinelOne Singularity at $5.83/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Backstage or SentinelOne Singularity?
Backstage has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Backstage and $5.83/month for SentinelOne Singularity.
Does Backstage or SentinelOne Singularity run on more platforms?
Backstage runs on Web, Self-hosted, Linux, Docker, Kubernetes. SentinelOne Singularity runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Cloud, Mobile.
Can I use Backstage for free?
Yes. Backstage has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. SentinelOne Singularity starts at $5.83/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 SentinelOne Singularity is typically brought in for.
What can Backstage do that SentinelOne Singularity cannot?
Backstage covers Software catalogue, Software templates, TechDocs, Plugin architecture. SentinelOne Singularity covers Behavioral AI, Autonomous response, ActiveEDR, Storyline technology.

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.

SentinelOne Singularity: What does SentinelOne Singularity XDR cover?

Singularity XDR unifies detection and response across endpoints, cloud, identity, network, and mobile, providing centralized visibility and automated response across all attack surfaces.

Source
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.

SentinelOne Singularity: How does SentinelOne correlate data across security tools?

Singularity normalizes data from endpoints, identity, cloud, and third-party security tools into a unified data layer, enabling automatic correlation of signals without manual integration.

Source
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.

SentinelOne Singularity: Can SentinelOne integrate with existing security tools?

Yes, Singularity Marketplace provides pre-built, one-click integrations with email, network, firewall, and SaaS security tools, avoiding vendor lock-in while extending detection capabilities.

Source
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.

SentinelOne Singularity: What is the pricing model for SentinelOne Singularity?

SentinelOne pricing ranges from $5.83 to $17.50 per endpoint per month across five tiers, with optional add-on modules and enterprise pricing available on request.

Source
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