# Backstage vs paymenter

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

| | Backstage | paymenter |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 79/100 ✓ | 68/100 |
| Rank in category | #8 of 166 in Developer Tools | #3 of 13 in Billing |
| GitHub stars | 34 740 ✓ | 2 811 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +58 | +500 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 14 | 14 |
| Latest release | v1.57.0-next.0 · 27 Oct 2026 ✓ | v1.5.9 · 2 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Typescript | PHP |

## Which one should you pick?

Backstage scores 79/100 against 68/100 for paymenter, so it is the safer default.

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

paymenter is growing faster right now (+500 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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