Best Platform Engineering Software in 2026
Updated
In short: Backstage is ranked #1 of 27 as of 2 October 2026, ahead of Port and Cycloid. The best-ranked option with a free plan is Port. The lowest first paid tier on this page is Terraform at $0.10/mo.
27 platform engineering software ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
| # | Platform | Score | Why | From | Free plan | Paid from | Self-service provisioning | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Backstage | 8.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 2 | Port | 8.8 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $30/mo | Yes | 30 /user/mo | — | View |
| 3 | Cycloid | 8.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $45/mo | No | 29 /user/mo | — | View |
| 4 | Pulumi | 8.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $40/mo | Yes | — | — | View |
| 5 | Terraform | 8.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $0.10/mo | Yes | — | — | View |
| 6 | Cortex | 8.2 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | — | View |
| 7 | Roadie | 8.1 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $24/mo | No | 24 /user/mo | — | View |
| 8 |  Upbound | 8.1 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $1,000/mo | Yes | — | Yes | View |
| 9 |  StackGen | 7.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | — | — | Yes | View |
| 10 | Northflank | 7.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 11 | Devtron Release Orchestration | 7.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $499/mo | Yes | — | — | View |
| 12 |  Humanitec | 7.1 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $1,979/mo | No | — | — | View |
| 13 |  Porter | 6.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $6/mo | No | — | — | View |
| 14 | Qovery | 6.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $299/mo | No | — | — | View |
| 15 |  Sealos | 6.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $7/mo | No | — | Yes | View |
| 16 | Mia-Platform Console | 6.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | — | View |
| 17 | Spacelift | 6.3 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | $1666.67/mo | Yes | — | — | View |
| 18 | Scalr | 6.2 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 19 |  Kratix | 6.1 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 20 | KubeSphere | 5.9 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | Yes | — | — | View |
| 21 |  Wayfinder | 5.7 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 22 | Terrateam | 5.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | Yes | — | — | View |
| 23 | KubeVela | 5.6 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | Free | — | — | — | View |
| 24 | Rafay Kubernetes Operations Platform | 5.5 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | — | View |
| 25 | Crossplane | 5.4 | RecognisedAPIDocumented | — | — | — | — | View |
Is your platform on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which platform engineering software is ranked first on Inferse?
Backstage is ranked #1 of 27 with a score of 8.9. Port is second and Cycloid third.
How many of these have a free plan?
12 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, Terraform has the lowest first paid tier we found: $0.10/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes, open and connectable first: a public API, open-source code, the depth of its documentation and a free tier to try it on. Model lists are sorted by the figure in their title, exactly as each provider publishes it. Paid placements never change a rank.