Backstage Alternatives: Build, Buy, or Harness?

Backstage, originally developed by Spotify, is an open-source framework for internal developer portals (IDPs) that addresses challenges in platform engineering, such as onboarding and documentation management. However, maintaining and scaling Backstage requires significant engineering resources, leading many teams to explore alternatives. These alternatives typically fall into three categories: building and maintaining a self-hosted Backstage, opting for a managed Backstage service, or purchasing a commercial IDP like Harness. Commercial IDPs offer advantages such as faster implementation, built-in governance, and integration with existing CI/CD and infrastructure as code (IaC) systems, but require some trade-offs in customization and potential vendor lock-in. The decision between these options depends on factors like engineering capacity, governance needs, and desired level of control over the portal's functionality.