# Backstage vs papernews

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

| | Backstage | papernews |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 78/100 ✓ | 38/100 |
| Rank in category | #8 of 166 in Developer Tools | #72 of 85 in Feed Reader |
| GitHub stars | 34 732 ✓ | 165 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +50 | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 14 ✓ | 0 |
| Latest release | v1.57.0-next.0 · 27 Oct 2026 | — |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Typescript | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

Backstage scores 78/100 against 38/100 for papernews, so it is the safer default.

Backstage ships more often: 14 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for papernews.

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

Backstage is growing faster right now (+50 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Backstage](https://selfhost.directory/project/backstage) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/backstage.md)
- [papernews](https://selfhost.directory/project/papernews) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/papernews.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/backstage-vs-papernews