# Backstage vs Drone CI

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | Backstage | Drone CI |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 79/100 | 79/100 |
| Rank in category | #8 of 166 in Developer Tools | #4 of 28 in CI/CD |
| GitHub stars | 34 739 | 38 755 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +57 | +321 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 14 ✓ | 6 |
| Latest release | v1.57.0-next.0 · 27 Oct 2026 ✓ | v2.28.2 · 20 Apr 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

Backstage and Drone CI score the same (79/100), so the choice comes down to the details below.

Backstage ships more often: 14 stable releases in the past year, against 6 for Drone CI.

If you want the quickest setup, Drone CI is easier to run; Backstage needs more configuration.

Drone CI is growing faster right now (+321 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Backstage](https://selfhost.directory/project/backstage) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/backstage.md)
- [Drone CI](https://selfhost.directory/project/drone-ci) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/drone-ci.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/backstage-vs-drone-ci