Backstage is a full internal developer platform you deploy and maintain. Bivvy is a CLI tool you drop into a repo. They solve different layers of the developer experience.
Backstage is a React app you deploy on servers with a database and plugin ecosystem. Bivvy is a single binary. Install it, add a config file, done.
Backstage answers "what services exist and who owns them." Bivvy answers "now make this one work on my machine." They're complementary, not competitive.
Most teams don't need a full internal developer portal. They need their setup scripts to stop breaking. Bivvy gives you environment consistency without the platform overhead.
| Capability | Bivvy | Backstage |
|---|---|---|
| Local env setup | Core purpose - install deps, run setup, ensure state | Not in scope |
| Declarative state | Checks, change detection, idempotent re-runs | Not in scope |
| Service catalog | Not in scope | Inventory of all services, ownership, health |
| Project scaffolding | Not in scope | Software templates for new services |
| Plugin ecosystem | Template libraries | PagerDuty, Datadog, Kubernetes, CI/CD, etc. |
| Infrastructure required | None - CLI runs locally | Servers, database, deployment pipeline |
| Shared config | extends: for org-wide inheritance | Centralized catalog and templates |
| Time to value | Minutes - install CLI, add config | Weeks/months - deploy, configure, adopt |
There's a huge gap between cobbled-together setup scripts and a full Backstage deployment. Most teams live in that gap: too many repos for manual setup, not enough scale to justify a platform.
Bivvy fills exactly this space. extends: and template_sources: give you org-wide environment management without deploying infrastructure. One YAML file per repo, one shared base config for consistency.
# Inherit the company base config extends: "https://internal.co/bivvy/base.yml" # Use company-approved templates template_sources: company: "https://internal.co/bivvy/templates" # Project-specific steps steps: ruby: template: company/ruby-service db: template: company/postgres
If your team does run Backstage, bivvy slots right in. A developer finds a service in the Backstage catalog, clones it, and runs bivvy run to get a working environment. Backstage handles discovery and documentation. Bivvy handles the local machine.
For teams that can't justify Backstage, bivvy gives you the environment consistency piece - the part developers feel every day - without the platform overhead.
# Found the service in Backstage ❯ git clone payments-api && cd payments-api # Bivvy takes it from here ❯ bivvy run ⛺ bivvy v1.0.0 • default workflow • 6 steps • env: development [1/6] ruby — Ruby toolchain (via mise) ✓ Satisfied (✓ ruby --version succeeded) [2/6] gems — Bundle install ✓ Satisfied (ran successfully 4 minutes ago) [3/6] postgres — PostgreSQL ✓ Satisfied (✓ pg_isready succeeded) [4/6] redis — Redis ✓ Satisfied (✓ redis-cli ping succeeded) [5/6] migrate — Database migrations ✓ Satisfied (ran successfully 4 minutes ago) [6/6] env — Load .env ✓ Satisfied (✓ .env present) Total: 312ms • 6 run • 0 skipped • 6 already satisfied
You don't need to deploy infrastructure to make developer setup consistent. Bivvy gives you the piece that matters most - working environments on every machine - with a single CLI tool.