BackstagevsTransformer Lab
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Backstage | Transformer Lab | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 78/100 | 61/100 |
| Rank in category | #8 of 166 in Developer Tools | #12 of 25 in LLM Inference |
| GitHub stars | 34 736 | 5 200 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +54 | +3 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 14 | 9 |
| Latest release | v1.57.0-next.0 · 27 Oct 2026 | v0.40.1 · 19 Jun 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Python |
Which one should you pick?
Backstage scores 78/100 against 61/100 for Transformer Lab, so it is the safer default.
Backstage ships more often: 14 stable releases in the past year, against 9 for Transformer Lab.
If you want the quickest setup, Transformer Lab is easier to run; Backstage needs more configuration.
Backstage is growing faster right now (+54 stars in 30 days).
Backstage details →Transformer Lab details →