BackstagevsWinter CMS
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Backstage | Winter CMS | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 78/100 | 62/100 |
| Rank in category | #8 of 166 in Developer Tools | #16 of 42 in Content Management |
| GitHub stars | 34 734 | 1 522 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +52 | +2 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 14 | 7 |
| Latest release | v1.57.0-next.0 · 27 Oct 2026 | v1.2.14 · 19 Aug 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Typescript | PHP |
Which one should you pick?
Backstage scores 78/100 against 62/100 for Winter CMS, so it is the safer default.
Backstage ships more often: 14 stable releases in the past year, against 7 for Winter CMS.
If you want the quickest setup, Winter CMS is easier to run; Backstage needs more configuration.
Backstage is growing faster right now (+52 stars in 30 days).
Backstage details →Winter CMS details →