Roadie vs Backstage
Developer effectiveness for teams of all shapes and sizes.
Overview
Backstage is the best tool on the market for building Internal Developer Portals (IDPs). However, it requires significant investment to take the raw building blocks that Backstage offers and turn them into a true Internal Developer Portal.
With Roadie, we have taken the open-source version of Backstage and used it to build a comprehensive and maintenance-free IDP.
Feature comparison
Roadie
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Bring your own data model | Yes |
| Adding and updating Catalog items via YAML | Included in Roadie |
| Updating Catalog items in the UI | Included in Roadie |
| Adding and updating Catalog items via API | Included in Roadie |
| Out of the box data ingestion (k8s, GitHub, CI/CD, etc) | Included in Roadie |
| SCM Support | GitHub Cloud, GitHub Enterprise Server, Azure DevOps, GCP, GitLab Cloud, GitLab On-Prem, BitBucket Cloud, BitBucket Server |
| Syncing repositories as items in the Catalog | Included in Roadie |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Extensible through the creation of custom data sources in the UI | Included in Roadie |
| Operational reviews | Included in Roadie |
| Levels | Coming soon |
| Campaigns | Coming soon |
| Team-based rollups | Included in Roadie |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Self-serve actions | Included in Roadie |
| Custom self-serve actions | Included in Roadie |
| Custom field extensions | Included in Roadie |
| Fallback and retry | Included in Roadie |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Docs creation engine | TechDocs |
| Extensibility via plugins | Included in Roadie |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Available Plugins | 70+ |
| Secure access to on-prem infrastructure and resources | Included in Roadie |
| Theme customisation | Included in Roadie |
| Layout customisation | Included in Roadie |
| Catalog UI customisation | Yes |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Engine | OpenSearch, pg_search |
| Additional search collators | Atlassian Confluence |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| SSO | Included in Roadie |
| Entities created in the Catalog for each user and group | Included in Roadie |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Admin and non-Admin roles | Included in Roadie |
| Role assignment in the UI | Included in Roadie |
| Role assignment by identity provider token | Included in Roadie |
| Custom roles | Included in Roadie |
| Custom permissions policies | Included in Roadie |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Visualisation of cost data | Included in Roadie |
| Out of the box data ingestion | AWS, GCP |
| Attribution back to catalog components (inc. users and groups) | Included in Roadie |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Hosting | Included in Roadie |
| Upgrades to the latest version of Backstage | Included in Roadie |
| Analytics | Included in Roadie |
| Support | Email, Slack/Teams, and 24/7 On-call |
| Uptime guarantee | Included in Roadie |
Roadie Local
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Bring your own data model | Yes |
| Adding and updating Catalog items via YAML | Included in Roadie Local |
| Updating Catalog items in the UI | Included in Roadie Local |
| Adding and updating Catalog items via API | Included in Roadie Local |
| Out of the box data ingestion (k8s, GitHub, CI/CD, etc) | Included in Roadie Local |
| SCM Support | GitHub Cloud, GitHub Enterprise Server, Azure DevOps, GCP, GitLab Cloud, GitLab On-Prem, BitBucket Cloud, BitBucket Server |
| Syncing repositories as items in the Catalog | Included in Roadie Local |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Extensible through the creation of custom data sources in the UI | Included in Roadie Local |
| Operational reviews | Included in Roadie Local |
| Levels | Coming soon |
| Campaigns | Coming soon |
| Team-based rollups | Included in Roadie Local |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Self-serve actions | Included in Roadie Local |
| Custom self-serve actions | Included in Roadie Local |
| Custom field extensions | Included in Roadie Local |
| Fallback and retry | Included in Roadie Local |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Docs creation engine | TechDocs |
| Extensibility via plugins | Included in Roadie Local |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Available Plugins | 70+ |
| Secure access to on-prem infrastructure and resources | Included in Roadie Local |
| Theme customisation | Included in Roadie Local |
| Layout customisation | Included in Roadie Local |
| Catalog UI customisation | Included in Roadie Local |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Engine | OpenSearch, pg_search |
| Additional search collators | Atlassian Confluence |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| SSO | Included in Roadie Local |
| Entities created in the Catalog for each user and group | Included in Roadie Local |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Admin and non-Admin roles | Included in Roadie Local |
| Role assignment in the UI | Included in Roadie Local |
| Role assignment by identity provider token | Included in Roadie Local |
| Custom roles | Included in Roadie Local |
| Custom permissions policies | Included in Roadie Local |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Visualisation of cost data | Included in Roadie Local |
| Out of the box data ingestion | AWS, GCP |
| Attribution back to catalog components (inc. users and groups) | Included in Roadie Local |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Hosting | Not included in Roadie Local |
| Upgrades to the latest version of Backstage | Included in Roadie Local |
| Analytics | Not included in Roadie Local |
| Support | Email, Slack/Teams, and 24/7 On-call (optional) |
| Uptime guarantee | Not included in Roadie Local |
Backstage
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Bring your own data model | Yes, with some effort |
| Adding and updating Catalog items via YAML | Included in Backstage |
| Updating Catalog items in the UI | Not included in Backstage |
| Adding and updating Catalog items via API | Not included in Backstage |
| Out of the box data ingestion (k8s, GitHub, CI/CD, etc) | Included in Backstage |
| SCM Support | GitHub Cloud, GitHub Enterprise Server, Azure DevOps, GCP, GitLab Cloud, GitLab On-Prem, BitBucket Cloud, BitBucket Server, Gerrit |
| Syncing repositories as items in the Catalog | Not included in Backstage |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Extensible through the creation of custom data sources in the UI | Not included in Backstage |
| Operational reviews | Not included in Backstage |
| Levels | Not included in Backstage |
| Campaigns | Not included in Backstage |
| Team-based rollups | Not included in Backstage |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Self-serve actions | Included in Backstage |
| Custom self-serve actions | Included in Backstage |
| Custom field extensions | Included in Backstage |
| Fallback and retry | Included in Backstage |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Docs creation engine | TechDocs |
| Extensibility via plugins | Included in Backstage |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Available Plugins | Requires build |
| Secure access to on-prem infrastructure and resources | Included in Backstage |
| Theme customisation | Requires build |
| Layout customisation | Requires build |
| Catalog UI customisation | Requires build |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Engine | Backstage search |
| Additional search collators | Atlassian Confluence |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| SSO | Via OSS providers |
| Entities created in the Catalog for each user and group | Via OSS providers |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Admin and non-Admin roles | Included in Backstage |
| Role assignment in the UI | Not included in Backstage |
| Role assignment by identity provider token | Not included in Backstage |
| Custom roles | Not included in Backstage |
| Custom permissions policies | Not included in Backstage |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Visualisation of cost data | Included in Backstage |
| Out of the box data ingestion | Not included in Backstage |
| Attribution back to catalog components (inc. users and groups) | Included in Backstage |
| Feature | Included |
|---|---|
| Hosting | Not included in Backstage |
| Upgrades to the latest version of Backstage | Requires build |
| Analytics | Not included in Backstage |
| Support | via the OSS community |
| Uptime guarantee | Not included in Backstage |
| Feature by | Roadie | Roadie Local | Backstage |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get started | |||
| Software catalog | |||
| Bring your own data model | Yes | Yes | Yes, with some effort |
| Adding and updating Catalog items via YAML | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Included in Backstage |
| Updating Catalog items in the UI | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Not included in Backstage |
| Adding and updating Catalog items via API | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Not included in Backstage |
| Out of the box data ingestion (k8s, GitHub, CI/CD, etc) | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Included in Backstage |
| SCM Support | GitHub Cloud, GitHub Enterprise Server, Azure DevOps, GCP, GitLab Cloud, GitLab On-Prem, BitBucket Cloud, BitBucket Server | GitHub Cloud, GitHub Enterprise Server, Azure DevOps, GCP, GitLab Cloud, GitLab On-Prem, BitBucket Cloud, BitBucket Server | GitHub Cloud, GitHub Enterprise Server, Azure DevOps, GCP, GitLab Cloud, GitLab On-Prem, BitBucket Cloud, BitBucket Server, Gerrit |
| Syncing repositories as items in the Catalog | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Not included in Backstage |
| Scorecards | |||
| Extensible through the creation of custom data sources in the UI | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Not included in Backstage |
| Operational reviews | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Not included in Backstage |
| Levels | Coming soon | Coming soon | Not included in Backstage |
| Campaigns | Coming soon | Coming soon | Not included in Backstage |
| Team-based rollups | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Not included in Backstage |
| Scaffolder | |||
| Self-serve actions | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Included in Backstage |
| Custom self-serve actions | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Included in Backstage |
| Custom field extensions | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Included in Backstage |
| Fallback and retry | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Included in Backstage |
| TechDocs | |||
| Docs creation engine | TechDocs | TechDocs | TechDocs |
| Extensibility via plugins | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Included in Backstage |
| Other plugins and extensions | |||
| Available Plugins | 70+ | 70+ | Requires build |
| Secure access to on-prem infrastructure and resources | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Included in Backstage |
| Theme customisation | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Requires build |
| Layout customisation | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Requires build |
| Catalog UI customisation | Yes | Included in Roadie Local | Requires build |
| Search | |||
| Engine | OpenSearch, pg_search | OpenSearch, pg_search | Backstage search |
| Additional search collators | Atlassian Confluence | Atlassian Confluence | Atlassian Confluence |
| Users and Groups | |||
| SSO | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Via OSS providers |
| Entities created in the Catalog for each user and group | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Via OSS providers |
| Role-based Access Control | |||
| Admin and non-Admin roles | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Included in Backstage |
| Role assignment in the UI | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Not included in Backstage |
| Role assignment by identity provider token | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Not included in Backstage |
| Custom roles | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Not included in Backstage |
| Custom permissions policies | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Not included in Backstage |
| Cost Insights (in beta) | |||
| Visualisation of cost data | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Included in Backstage |
| Out of the box data ingestion | AWS, GCP | AWS, GCP | Not included in Backstage |
| Attribution back to catalog components (inc. users and groups) | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Included in Backstage |
| Non-feature extras | |||
| Hosting | Included in Roadie | Not included in Roadie Local | Not included in Backstage |
| Upgrades to the latest version of Backstage | Included in Roadie | Included in Roadie Local | Requires build |
| Analytics | Included in Roadie | Not included in Roadie Local | Not included in Backstage |
| Support | Email, Slack/Teams, and 24/7 On-call | Email, Slack/Teams, and 24/7 On-call (optional) | via the OSS community |
| Uptime guarantee | Included in Roadie | Not included in Roadie Local | Not included in Backstage |
Frequently asked questions
- Is Roadie SaaS or on-prem?
Both.
Most Roadie customers accessing our product via our SaaS portal. We have been running a SaaS version of Backstage since 2020 and it is every bit as customizable and secure as self-hosting Backstage.
We are also working on a self-hosted version of Roadie called Roadie Local. This is a locally runnable version of Roadie that can run on a single machine or be deployed on-prem in a private cloud.- Does Roadie support custom plugins?
Yes. Write a native Backstage plugin as normal and use our CLI to publish it to Roadie. It stays private to your company. Read more in our docs.
- Where is Roadie data stored?
- All data is stored within the EU and is encrypted at rest using AES-256 encryption algorithm. AWS KMS is used to manage and protect the encryption keys. Data is backed up to AWS S3 at least once per day.
- What level of support does Roadie provide?
- Growth plan customers gets a shared Slack or MS Teams channel. We pride ourselves on our responsiveness. We also deeply value customer feedback and prioritize your requests in our roadmap.
- Do you have a status page?
Our status page can be found at https://status.roadie.io/.
- How does Roadie count developers?
- We count "contributing users". These are developers who write the code which is tracked in the software catalog. People who don't write code can log in for free.
- How can Roadie connect back to our infrastructure?
Roadie Backstage plugins can securely connect back to your infrastructure APIs via a variety of mechanisms like OAuth2, token authentication by using a broker service. Learn more about how Roadie connects to your tools .
- What source control tools does Roadie support?
- We support GitHub Cloud and on-prem, GitLab Cloud and on-prem, BitBucket Cloud and Server, and Azure DevOps
- Has Roadie gained a SOC2 compliance?
Yes. Roadie has achieved SOC2 Type 2 compliance. You can read more about this on our blog.
- Is Roadie customizable?
- Roadie is extremely customizable. You can edit layouts, add and remove plugins, change the theme, run arbitrary code with the scaffolder, write your own plugins and more.