diff --git a/backend/qualibrate_app/api/__main__.py b/backend/qualibrate_app/api/__main__.py
index 272218ed..c05787c2 100644
--- a/backend/qualibrate_app/api/__main__.py
+++ b/backend/qualibrate_app/api/__main__.py
@@ -1,14 +1,13 @@
 from fastapi import APIRouter
 
-from qualibrate_app.api.routes import project_router, storage_router
+from qualibrate_app.api.routes import (
+    other_router,
+    project_router,
+    storage_router,
+)
 
 api_router = APIRouter()
 
-
-@api_router.get("/")
-def ping() -> str:
-    return "pong"
-
-
+api_router.include_router(other_router)
 api_router.include_router(project_router)
 api_router.include_router(storage_router)
diff --git a/backend/qualibrate_app/api/core/schemas/health.py b/backend/qualibrate_app/api/core/schemas/health.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..76f0ee98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/qualibrate_app/api/core/schemas/health.py
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+from typing import Optional
+
+from packaging.version import InvalidVersion, Version
+from pydantic import BaseModel, ConfigDict, Field, HttpUrl, computed_field
+
+
+class RunnerVersionValid(BaseModel):
+    """
+    Status payload describing the Runner service that the app talks to.
+
+    Use it to surface the runner URL we tried, what version it reported,
+    and whether that version matches the app contract.
+    """
+
+    model_config = ConfigDict(
+        title="RunnerVersionValid",
+        json_schema_extra={
+            "examples": [
+                {
+                    "url": "https://runner.example.com",
+                    "version": "1.4.0",
+                    "is_valid": True,
+                },
+                {
+                    "url": "http://localhost:9000",
+                    "version": None,
+                    "is_valid": False,
+                },
+            ]
+        },
+    )
+
+    url: Optional[HttpUrl] = Field(
+        default=None,
+        description="Base URL of the Runner service that was contacted.",
+    )
+    version: Optional[str] = Field(
+        default=None,
+        description="Semantic version string returned by Runner meta endpoint.",
+        examples=["1.4.0", "v1.4.0"],
+    )
+    is_valid: bool = Field(
+        description="True if Runner version is compatible with the app."
+    )
+
+
+class HealthCheck(BaseModel):
+    """
+    End to end health snapshot joining frontend, backend, and Runner status.
+
+    The `is_valid` field confirms that the frontend and backend versions match
+    after stripping a leading 'v' from the frontend string.
+    """
+
+    model_config = ConfigDict(
+        title="HealthCheck",
+        json_schema_extra={
+            "examples": [
+                {
+                    "frontend_version": "v1.4.0",
+                    "backend_version": "1.4.0",
+                    "runner_status": {
+                        "url": "https://runner.example.com",
+                        "version": "1.4.0",
+                        "is_valid": True,
+                    },
+                    "is_valid": True,
+                },
+                {
+                    "frontend_version": "v1.5.0",
+                    "backend_version": "1.4.0",
+                    "runner_status": {
+                        "url": "http://localhost:9000",
+                        "version": None,
+                        "is_valid": False,
+                    },
+                    "is_valid": False,
+                },
+            ]
+        },
+    )
+
+    frontend_version: str = Field(
+        description=(
+            "Version string from the frontend client, often prefixed with 'v'."
+        ),
+        examples=["v1.4.0", "1.4.0"],
+    )
+    backend_version: str = Field(
+        description="Installed backend package version.",
+        examples=["1.4.0"],
+    )
+    runner_status: RunnerVersionValid
+    "Status of the external Runner service."
+
+    @computed_field
+    def is_valid(self) -> bool:
+        """
+        True if the frontend and backend versions match, ignoring a leading 'v'.
+        """
+        try:
+            Version(self.frontend_version)
+        except InvalidVersion:
+            return False
+        return self.frontend_version.lstrip("v") == self.backend_version
diff --git a/backend/qualibrate_app/api/core/utils/runner.py b/backend/qualibrate_app/api/core/utils/runner.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..60e6a449
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/qualibrate_app/api/core/utils/runner.py
@@ -0,0 +1,114 @@
+from collections.abc import MutableMapping
+from typing import Any, Optional
+from urllib.parse import urljoin
+
+import requests
+from packaging.version import Version
+from qualibrate_config.models import QualibrateConfig
+
+from qualibrate_app.api.core.schemas.health import RunnerVersionValid
+from qualibrate_app.api.core.utils.request_utils import get_runner_config
+from qualibrate_app.versions_matching import APP2RUNNER_VERSIONS
+
+
+def validate_runner_version(
+    app_version: str, runner_version: Optional[str]
+) -> bool:
+    """Validate that a Runner version is compatible with the app version.
+
+    The validation is based on the mapping defined in
+    ``APP2RUNNER_VERSIONS``. Each app version corresponds to a minimum
+    and maximum supported Runner version. Pre-release Runner versions
+    are handled specially: they are allowed only if they are not below
+    the minimum required app base version and not above the maximum
+    supported Runner version.
+
+    Args:
+        app_version (str): The backend app version string, e.g. "1.4.0".
+        runner_version (Optional[str]): The version string reported by
+            the Runner service. If ``None``, the function immediately
+            returns ``False``.
+
+    Returns:
+        bool: True if the Runner version is valid for the given app
+        version, otherwise False.
+
+    Examples:
+        >>> validate_runner_version("1.4.0", "1.4.0")
+        True
+        >>> validate_runner_version("1.4.0", None)
+        False
+        >>> validate_runner_version("1.4.0", "2.0.0")
+        False
+    """
+    if runner_version is None:
+        return False
+    app_v = Version(app_version)
+    runner_range = APP2RUNNER_VERSIONS.get(app_v)
+    if runner_range is None:
+        runner_range = APP2RUNNER_VERSIONS.get(Version(app_v.base_version))
+    if runner_range is None:
+        return False
+    runner_v = Version(runner_version)
+    if not runner_v.is_prerelease:
+        return runner_range[0] <= runner_v <= runner_range[1]
+    return (
+        runner_range[0] <= Version(app_v.base_version)
+        and runner_v <= runner_range[1]
+    )
+
+
+def get_runner_status(
+    app_version: str,
+    settings: QualibrateConfig,
+    cookies: MutableMapping[str, Any],
+) -> RunnerVersionValid:
+    """
+    Query the Runner meta endpoint and validate its version against the app.
+
+    Args:
+        app_version: Backend application version used as the contract reference.
+        settings: App configuration that includes Runner address and timeout.
+        cookies: Auth cookies to forward to the Runner call.
+
+    Returns:
+        Runner base URL, reported version, and compatibility flag.
+
+    Notes:
+        If the Runner is unreachable or returns a non OK status,
+        the result will carry `is_valid=False` and `version=None`.
+    """
+    try:
+        runner_config = get_runner_config(settings)
+    except RuntimeError:
+        return RunnerVersionValid(
+            version=None,
+            url=None,
+            is_valid=False,
+        )
+    invalid_runner = RunnerVersionValid(
+        version=None,
+        url=runner_config.address,
+        is_valid=False,
+    )
+    try:
+        response = requests.get(
+            urljoin(runner_config.address_with_root, "meta"),
+            cookies=cookies,
+            timeout=runner_config.timeout,
+        )
+    except requests.exceptions.RequestException:
+        return invalid_runner
+    if response.status_code != requests.codes.ok:
+        return invalid_runner
+    try:
+        data = response.json()
+        runner_v = data.get("version")
+        return RunnerVersionValid(
+            version=runner_v,
+            url=runner_config.address,
+            is_valid=validate_runner_version(app_version, runner_v),
+        )
+
+    except requests.exceptions.JSONDecodeError:
+        return invalid_runner
diff --git a/backend/qualibrate_app/api/routes/__init__.py b/backend/qualibrate_app/api/routes/__init__.py
index b9371c35..3b1cb2b8 100644
--- a/backend/qualibrate_app/api/routes/__init__.py
+++ b/backend/qualibrate_app/api/routes/__init__.py
@@ -2,11 +2,12 @@
 
 from qualibrate_app.api.routes.branch import branch_router
 from qualibrate_app.api.routes.data_file import data_file_router
+from qualibrate_app.api.routes.other import other_router
 from qualibrate_app.api.routes.project import project_router
 from qualibrate_app.api.routes.root import root_router
 from qualibrate_app.api.routes.snapshot import snapshot_router
 
-__all__ = ["project_router", "storage_router"]
+__all__ = ["other_router", "project_router", "storage_router"]
 
 storage_router = APIRouter()
 
diff --git a/backend/qualibrate_app/api/routes/other.py b/backend/qualibrate_app/api/routes/other.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..0ac9f23f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/qualibrate_app/api/routes/other.py
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+from importlib.metadata import version
+from typing import Annotated, Union
+
+from fastapi import APIRouter, Cookie, Depends, Query
+from qualibrate_config.models import QualibrateConfig
+
+from qualibrate_app.api.core.schemas.health import HealthCheck
+from qualibrate_app.api.core.utils.runner import get_runner_status
+from qualibrate_app.config import get_settings
+
+other_router = APIRouter(tags=["other"])
+
+
+@other_router.get("/")
+def ping() -> str:
+    return "pong"
+
+
+@other_router.get(
+    "/health",
+    summary="Health and version compatibility check",
+    response_model=HealthCheck,
+    responses={
+        200: {
+            "description": "Health snapshot",
+            "content": {
+                "application/json": {
+                    "examples": {
+                        "ok_all_match": {
+                            "summary": (
+                                "All services healthy and versions match"
+                            ),
+                            "value": {
+                                "frontend_version": "v1.4.0",
+                                "backend_version": "1.4.0",
+                                "runner_status": {
+                                    "url": "https://runner.example.com",
+                                    "version": "1.4.0",
+                                    "is_valid": True,
+                                },
+                                "is_valid": True,
+                            },
+                        },
+                        "runner_down_or_mismatch": {
+                            "summary": "Runner down or incompatible version",
+                            "value": {
+                                "frontend_version": "v1.5.0",
+                                "backend_version": "1.4.0",
+                                "runner_status": {
+                                    "url": "http://localhost:9000",
+                                    "version": None,
+                                    "is_valid": False,
+                                },
+                                "is_valid": False,
+                            },
+                        },
+                    }
+                }
+            },
+        }
+    },
+)
+def health(
+    frontend_version: Annotated[
+        str,
+        Query(
+            ...,
+            description=(
+                "Client supplied frontend version. A leading 'v' is allowed "
+                "and will be ignored for the comparison. Should be extracted "
+                "from `manifest.json`"
+            ),
+            examples=["v1.4.0", "1.4.0"],
+        ),
+    ],
+    settings: Annotated[QualibrateConfig, Depends(get_settings)],
+    qualibrate_token: Annotated[
+        Union[str, None],
+        Cookie(
+            alias="Qualibrate-Token",
+            description=(
+                "Session token, forwarded to Runner for authenticated "
+                "meta calls."
+            ),
+        ),
+    ] = None,
+) -> HealthCheck:
+    """
+    Returns backend version, compares it to the provided frontend version, and
+    reports Runner reachability and version compatibility.
+    """
+    cookies = (
+        {"Qualibrate-Token": qualibrate_token}
+        if qualibrate_token is not None
+        else {}
+    )
+    app_v = version("qualibrate_app")
+    return HealthCheck(
+        backend_version=app_v,
+        frontend_version=frontend_version,
+        runner_status=get_runner_status(app_v, settings, cookies=cookies),
+    )
diff --git a/backend/qualibrate_app/versions_matching.py b/backend/qualibrate_app/versions_matching.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3fcc2232
--- /dev/null
+++ b/backend/qualibrate_app/versions_matching.py
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+from packaging.version import Version
+
+APP2RUNNER_VERSIONS: dict[Version, tuple[Version, Version]] = {
+    Version("0.3.6"): (Version("0.3.6"), Version("0.4.0")),
+    Version("0.4.0"): (Version("0.4.0"), Version("0.4.0")),
+}