Zero of fourteen models named Backstage first on the direct prompt; one named Palo Alto Networks Cortex Cloud. Both were named by all fourteen models and Backstage carries 67 labels and Palo Alto Networks Cortex Cloud 47, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Named in one category this edition.
Named in twelve categories this edition.
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the internal developer portals page.
Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, Backstage and Palo Alto Networks Cortex Cloud were named in the same answer 114 times, of the 197 answers naming Backstage and the 239 naming Palo Alto Networks Cortex Cloud. In those answers Palo Alto Networks Cortex Cloud took the first choice nine times and Backstage twenty-nine.
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | ||||||
| GPT-5.4 mini | ||||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | ||||||
| Perplexity Sonar | ||||||
| Grok 4.1 Fast | ||||||
| Mistral Small | ||||||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | ||||||
| Llama 4 Maverick | ||||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | ||||||
| Kimi K2 | ||||||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | ||||||
| MiniMax M2.5 | ||||||
| GPT-6 Luna | ||||||
| Muse Glimmer 30B |
Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Strongly Avoid ... Backstage is a framework, not a finished product. Many organizations treat it as such and end up disappointed.” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · hard negative
“At 500 people, avoid self-hosting raw Backstage unless you have a dedicated, well-funded Developer Experience team.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · scale prompt · hard negative
“Why Not Backstage for Mid-Sized Companies? ... it's generally not ideal for mid-sized B2B companies” Kimi K2 · paraphrase prompt · hard negative
“Backstage - an open-source developer portal framework created by Spotify that acts as a central interface for services, documentation, and engineering workflows.” Llama 4 Maverick · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“Compare a self-managed Backstage option, a managed Backstage option such as Roadie, and configurable commercial portals such as Port and Cortex.” GPT-6 Luna · scale prompt · first choice
“Backstage is often treated as the portal framework standard and a starting point for teams that want full control” Perplexity Sonar · comparative prompt · first choice
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.
“No public pricing (sales-led), so harder to budget for — generally not ideal if budget transparency matters.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · soft negative
“Cortex: Exceptional for governance and scorecards... Cortex is a market leader with polished reporting and initiative tracking.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · scale prompt · first choice
“Cortex is a microservices-focused platform that offers a range of features, but its pricing is not explicitly stated.” Llama 4 Maverick · budget prompt · first choice
“My default recommendation: Cortex if you want a managed SaaS portal that's opinionated, quick to roll out” GPT-5.4 mini · direct prompt · first choice
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.