# Backstage vs Steward

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

| | Backstage | Steward |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 79/100 ✓ | 46/100 |
| Rank in category | #8 of 166 in Developer Tools | #2 of 2 in Cloud |
| GitHub stars | 34 739 ✓ | 201 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +57 ✓ | +0 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 14 ✓ | 6 |
| Latest release | v1.57.0-next.0 · 27 Oct 2026 ✓ | v0.4.0 · 4 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

Backstage scores 79/100 against 46/100 for Steward, so it is the safer default.

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

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

Backstage is growing faster right now (+57 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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