# Backstage vs polar

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

| | Backstage | polar |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 79/100 ✓ | 71/100 |
| Rank in category | #8 of 166 in Developer Tools | #1 of 13 in Billing |
| GitHub stars | 34 739 ✓ | 10 436 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +57 | +157 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 14 ✓ | 1 |
| Latest release | v1.57.0-next.0 · 27 Oct 2026 ✓ | @polar-sh/cli@3.0.0 · 16 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

Backstage scores 79/100 against 71/100 for polar, so it is the safer default.

Backstage ships more often: 14 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for polar.

polar is growing faster right now (+157 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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