diff --git a/backend/Cargo.toml b/backend/Cargo.toml
index eb433dc1f..f158106bb 100644
--- a/backend/Cargo.toml
+++ b/backend/Cargo.toml
@@ -15,8 +15,14 @@ halo2 = [
   "dep:snark-verifier",
   "dep:halo2_solidity_verifier",
 ]
+estark-starky = ["dep:starky"]
 estark-polygon = ["dep:pil-stark-prover"]
-plonky3 = ["dep:powdr-plonky3", "dep:p3-commit", "dep:p3-matrix", "dep:p3-uni-stark"]
+plonky3 = [
+  "dep:powdr-plonky3",
+  "dep:p3-commit",
+  "dep:p3-matrix",
+  "dep:p3-uni-stark",
+]
 stwo = ["dep:stwo-prover"]
 
 # Enable AVX or Neon accordingly in backends that support them.
@@ -35,25 +41,29 @@ powdr-backend-utils.workspace = true
 
 powdr-plonky3 = { path = "../plonky3", optional = true }
 
-starky = { git = "https://github.com/0xEigenLabs/eigen-zkvm.git", rev = "cf405b2e2cecb8567cfd083a55936b71722276d5" }
+starky = { git = "https://github.com/0xEigenLabs/eigen-zkvm.git", rev = "cf405b2e2cecb8567cfd083a55936b71722276d5", optional = true }
 pil-stark-prover = { git = "https://github.com/powdr-labs/pil-stark-prover.git", rev = "769b1153f3ae2d7cbab4c8acf33865ed13f8a823", optional = true }
 
 # TODO change this once Halo2 releases 0.3.1
 #halo2_proofs = { git = "https://github.com/privacy-scaling-explorations/halo2", tag = "v0.3.0", features = ["circuit-params"] }
-halo2_proofs = { git = "https://github.com/powdr-labs/halo2.git", rev = "fb8087565115ff38da4074b9d1777e9a97222caa", features = ["circuit-params"], optional = true }
-halo2_curves = { version = "0.6.1", package = "halo2curves", optional = true}
+halo2_proofs = { git = "https://github.com/powdr-labs/halo2.git", rev = "fb8087565115ff38da4074b9d1777e9a97222caa", features = [
+  "circuit-params",
+], optional = true }
+halo2_curves = { version = "0.6.1", package = "halo2curves", optional = true }
 # TODO change this once Halo2 releases 0.3.1 and snark-verifier uses it
 #snark-verifier = { git = "https://github.com/privacy-scaling-explorations/snark-verifier", tag = "v2024_01_31" }
 snark-verifier = { git = "https://github.com/powdr-labs/snark-verifier.git", rev = "55012261fd4b0b8d21b581a9782d05258afe4104", optional = true }
-halo2_solidity_verifier = { git = "https://github.com/powdr-labs/halo2-solidity-verifier.git", rev = "ecae7fd2f62178c18b5fe18011630aa71da3371f", features = ["evm"], optional = true }
+halo2_solidity_verifier = { git = "https://github.com/powdr-labs/halo2-solidity-verifier.git", rev = "ecae7fd2f62178c18b5fe18011630aa71da3371f", features = [
+  "evm",
+], optional = true }
 
 p3-commit = { git = "https://github.com/plonky3/Plonky3.git", rev = "2192432ddf28e7359dd2c577447886463e6124f0", features = [
-    "test-utils",
+  "test-utils",
 ], optional = true }
-p3-matrix = { git = "https://github.com/plonky3/Plonky3.git", rev = "2192432ddf28e7359dd2c577447886463e6124f0", optional = true } 
-p3-uni-stark = { git = "https://github.com/plonky3/Plonky3.git", rev = "2192432ddf28e7359dd2c577447886463e6124f0", optional = true } 
+p3-matrix = { git = "https://github.com/plonky3/Plonky3.git", rev = "2192432ddf28e7359dd2c577447886463e6124f0", optional = true }
+p3-uni-stark = { git = "https://github.com/plonky3/Plonky3.git", rev = "2192432ddf28e7359dd2c577447886463e6124f0", optional = true }
 # TODO: Change this to main branch when the `andrew/dev/update-toolchain` branch is merged,the main branch is using "nightly-2024-01-04", not compatiable with plonky3
-stwo-prover = { git= "https://github.com/starkware-libs/stwo.git",optional=true, rev="52d050c18b5dbc74af40214b3b441a6f60a20d41" }
+stwo-prover = { git = "https://github.com/starkware-libs/stwo.git", optional = true, rev = "52d050c18b5dbc74af40214b3b441a6f60a20d41" }
 
 strum = { version = "0.24.1", features = ["derive"] }
 log = "0.4.17"
diff --git a/backend/src/lib.rs b/backend/src/lib.rs
index d7e8e7790..21a33fe36 100644
--- a/backend/src/lib.rs
+++ b/backend/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,14 +1,16 @@
 #![deny(clippy::print_stdout)]
 
+#[cfg(feature = "estark-starky")]
 mod estark;
 #[cfg(feature = "halo2")]
 mod halo2;
 #[cfg(feature = "plonky3")]
 mod plonky3;
+#[cfg(feature = "stwo")]
+mod stwo;
 
 mod composite;
 mod field_filter;
-mod stwo;
 
 use powdr_ast::analyzed::Analyzed;
 use powdr_executor::{constant_evaluator::VariablySizedColumn, witgen::WitgenCallback};
@@ -36,12 +38,16 @@ pub enum BackendType {
     #[cfg(feature = "estark-polygon")]
     #[strum(serialize = "estark-polygon-composite")]
     EStarkPolygonComposite,
+    #[cfg(feature = "estark-starky")]
     #[strum(serialize = "estark-starky")]
     EStarkStarky,
+    #[cfg(feature = "estark-starky")]
     #[strum(serialize = "estark-starky-composite")]
     EStarkStarkyComposite,
+    #[cfg(feature = "estark-starky")]
     #[strum(serialize = "estark-dump")]
     EStarkDump,
+    #[cfg(feature = "estark-starky")]
     #[strum(serialize = "estark-dump-composite")]
     EStarkDumpComposite,
     #[cfg(feature = "plonky3")]
@@ -78,11 +84,16 @@ impl BackendType {
             BackendType::EStarkPolygonComposite => Box::new(
                 composite::CompositeBackendFactory::new(estark::polygon_wrapper::Factory),
             ),
+            #[cfg(feature = "estark-starky")]
             BackendType::EStarkStarky => Box::new(estark::starky_wrapper::Factory),
+            #[cfg(feature = "estark-starky")]
             BackendType::EStarkStarkyComposite => Box::new(
                 composite::CompositeBackendFactory::new(estark::starky_wrapper::Factory),
             ),
+            // We need starky here because the dump backend uses some types that come from starky.
+            #[cfg(feature = "estark-starky")]
             BackendType::EStarkDump => Box::new(estark::DumpFactory),
+            #[cfg(feature = "estark-starky")]
             BackendType::EStarkDumpComposite => {
                 Box::new(composite::CompositeBackendFactory::new(estark::DumpFactory))
             }
@@ -90,6 +101,14 @@ impl BackendType {
             BackendType::Plonky3 => Box::new(plonky3::Factory),
             #[cfg(feature = "stwo")]
             BackendType::Stwo => Box::new(stwo::StwoProverFactory),
+            #[cfg(not(any(
+                feature = "halo2",
+                feature = "estark-polygon",
+                feature = "estark-starky",
+                feature = "plonky3",
+                feature = "stwo"
+            )))]
+            _ => panic!("Empty backend."),
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/cli-rs/Cargo.toml b/cli-rs/Cargo.toml
index cf5d8d760..a51599107 100644
--- a/cli-rs/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cli-rs/Cargo.toml
@@ -8,9 +8,10 @@ homepage = { workspace = true }
 repository = { workspace = true }
 
 [features]
-default = []
+default = ["plonky3"]
 halo2 = ["powdr-pipeline/halo2"]
 plonky3 = ["powdr-pipeline/plonky3"]
+estark-starky = ["powdr-pipeline/estark-starky"]
 estark-polygon = ["powdr-pipeline/estark-polygon", "powdr-riscv/estark-polygon"]
 
 [dependencies]
diff --git a/cli/Cargo.toml b/cli/Cargo.toml
index c3b94d487..4484ff865 100644
--- a/cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -9,14 +9,15 @@ repository = { workspace = true }
 default-run = "powdr"
 
 [features]
-default = [] # halo2 is disabled by default
+default = ["plonky3"]
 halo2 = ["powdr-backend/halo2", "powdr-pipeline/halo2"]
 plonky3 = ["powdr-backend/plonky3", "powdr-pipeline/plonky3"]
+estark-starky = ["powdr-backend/estark-starky", "powdr-pipeline/estark-starky"]
 estark-polygon = [
   "powdr-backend/estark-polygon",
   "powdr-pipeline/estark-polygon",
 ]
-stwo=["powdr-backend/stwo","powdr-pipeline/stwo"]
+stwo = ["powdr-backend/stwo", "powdr-pipeline/stwo"]
 
 simd = ["powdr-backend/simd", "powdr-pipeline/simd"]
 
@@ -37,6 +38,8 @@ tracing-subscriber = { version = "0.3.17", features = ["std", "env-filter"] }
 tracing-forest = { version = "0.1.6", features = ["ansi", "smallvec"] }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
+powdr-pipeline = { workspace = true, features = ["estark-starky"] }
+
 tempfile = "3.6"
 
 test-log = "0.2.12"
diff --git a/pipeline/Cargo.toml b/pipeline/Cargo.toml
index 2136661c8..0aba7d6d3 100644
--- a/pipeline/Cargo.toml
+++ b/pipeline/Cargo.toml
@@ -8,9 +8,10 @@ homepage = { workspace = true }
 repository = { workspace = true }
 
 [features]
-default = []                                      # halo2 is disabled by default
+default = []
 halo2 = ["powdr-backend/halo2"]
 plonky3 = ["powdr-backend/plonky3"]
+estark-starky = ["powdr-backend/estark-starky"]
 estark-polygon = ["powdr-backend/estark-polygon"]
 stwo = ["powdr-backend/stwo"]
 
diff --git a/pipeline/src/test_util.rs b/pipeline/src/test_util.rs
index c91005941..0236b00dc 100644
--- a/pipeline/src/test_util.rs
+++ b/pipeline/src/test_util.rs
@@ -5,13 +5,17 @@ use powdr_number::{
     KoalaBearField,
 };
 use powdr_pil_analyzer::evaluator::{self, SymbolLookup};
+use std::env;
 use std::path::PathBuf;
-use std::{env, fs};
 
 use std::sync::Arc;
 
 use crate::pipeline::Pipeline;
+
+#[cfg(feature = "estark-starky")]
 use crate::verify::verify;
+#[cfg(feature = "estark-starky")]
+use std::fs;
 
 pub fn resolve_test_file(file_name: &str) -> PathBuf {
     PathBuf::from(format!("../test_data/{file_name}"))
@@ -102,6 +106,15 @@ pub fn asm_string_to_pil<T: FieldElement>(contents: &str) -> Arc<Analyzed<T>> {
         .unwrap()
 }
 
+#[cfg(not(feature = "estark-starky"))]
+pub fn run_pilcom_with_backend_variant(
+    _pipeline: Pipeline<GoldilocksField>,
+    _backend_variant: BackendVariant,
+) -> Result<(), String> {
+    Ok(())
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "estark-starky")]
 pub fn run_pilcom_with_backend_variant(
     pipeline: Pipeline<GoldilocksField>,
     backend_variant: BackendVariant,
@@ -153,6 +166,14 @@ pub fn gen_estark_proof(pipeline: Pipeline<GoldilocksField>) {
     }
 }
 
+#[cfg(not(feature = "estark-starky"))]
+pub fn gen_estark_proof_with_backend_variant(
+    _pipeline: Pipeline<GoldilocksField>,
+    _backend_variant: BackendVariant,
+) {
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "estark-starky")]
 pub fn gen_estark_proof_with_backend_variant(
     pipeline: Pipeline<GoldilocksField>,
     backend_variant: BackendVariant,
@@ -438,6 +459,14 @@ pub fn assert_proofs_fail_for_invalid_witnesses_pilcom(
     assert!(run_pilcom_with_backend_variant(pipeline, BackendVariant::Composite).is_err());
 }
 
+#[cfg(not(feature = "estark-starky"))]
+pub fn assert_proofs_fail_for_invalid_witnesses_estark(
+    _file_name: &str,
+    _witness: &[(String, Vec<u64>)],
+) {
+}
+
+#[cfg(feature = "estark-starky")]
 pub fn assert_proofs_fail_for_invalid_witnesses_estark(
     file_name: &str,
     witness: &[(String, Vec<u64>)],
diff --git a/pipeline/tests/asm.rs b/pipeline/tests/asm.rs
index 6590682f5..d963bace9 100644
--- a/pipeline/tests/asm.rs
+++ b/pipeline/tests/asm.rs
@@ -334,6 +334,7 @@ fn pil_at_module_level() {
     regular_test(f, Default::default());
 }
 
+#[cfg(feature = "estark-starky")]
 #[test]
 fn read_poly_files() {
     let asm_files = ["asm/vm_to_block_unique_interface.asm", "asm/empty.asm"];
diff --git a/pipeline/tests/powdr_std.rs b/pipeline/tests/powdr_std.rs
index b9c7b8125..45ca57f2f 100644
--- a/pipeline/tests/powdr_std.rs
+++ b/pipeline/tests/powdr_std.rs
@@ -105,6 +105,7 @@ fn arith_large_test() {
     // Running gen_estark_proof(f, Default::default())
     // is too slow for the PR tests. This will only create a single
     // eStark proof instead of 3.
+    #[cfg(feature = "estark-starky")]
     pipeline
         .with_backend(powdr_backend::BackendType::EStarkStarky, None)
         .compute_proof()
diff --git a/plonky3/src/prover.rs b/plonky3/src/prover.rs
index a143d3e3c..85eef3a34 100644
--- a/plonky3/src/prover.rs
+++ b/plonky3/src/prover.rs
@@ -77,10 +77,14 @@ where
             .sum()
     }
 
-    /// Commit to the quotient polynomial across all tables.
+    /// Computes the quotient polynomials for each table and commits to them.
     ///
-    /// Returns a single commitment and the prover data.
-    fn commit_to_quotient(
+    /// # Side effects
+    /// Samples a random challenge and observes the commitment.
+    ///
+    /// # Returns
+    /// The commitment and the prover data.
+    fn compute_and_commit_to_quotient(
         &self,
         state: &mut ProverState<'a, T>,
         proving_key: Option<&StarkProvingKey<T::Config>>,
@@ -92,8 +96,8 @@ where
             .tables
             .iter()
             .enumerate()
-            .flat_map(|(index, (name, i))| {
-                i.quotient_domains_and_chunks(
+            .flat_map(|(index, (name, table))| {
+                table.quotient_domains_and_chunks(
                     index,
                     state,
                     proving_key
@@ -461,15 +465,16 @@ where
     multi_table.observe_instances(challenger);
 
     let mut state = ProverState::new(&multi_table, pcs, challenger);
-    let mut stage = Stage {
+
+    // run the first stage
+    state = state.run_stage(Stage {
         id: 0,
         air_stages: stage_0,
-    };
+    });
 
     assert!(stage_count >= 1);
     // generate all stages starting from the second one based on the witgen callback
     for stage_id in 1..stage_count {
-        state = state.run_stage(stage);
         // get the challenges drawn at the end of the previous stage
         let local_challenges = &state.processed_stages.last().unwrap().challenge_values;
         let CallbackResult { air_stages } =
@@ -478,15 +483,12 @@ where
         assert_eq!(air_stages.len(), multi_table.table_count());
 
         // go to the next stage
-        stage = Stage {
+        state = state.run_stage(Stage {
             id: stage_id,
             air_stages,
-        };
+        });
     }
 
-    // run the last stage
-    state = state.run_stage(stage);
-
     // sanity check that the last stage did not create any challenges
     assert!(state
         .processed_stages
@@ -497,7 +499,8 @@ where
     // sanity check that we processed as many stages as expected
     assert_eq!(state.processed_stages.len() as u8, stage_count);
 
-    let (quotient_commit, quotient_data) = multi_table.commit_to_quotient(&mut state, proving_key);
+    let (quotient_commit, quotient_data) =
+        multi_table.compute_and_commit_to_quotient(&mut state, proving_key);
 
     let commitments = Commitments {
         traces_by_stage: state
diff --git a/plonky3/src/symbolic_builder.rs b/plonky3/src/symbolic_builder.rs
index a19716269..e8f0ab01f 100644
--- a/plonky3/src/symbolic_builder.rs
+++ b/plonky3/src/symbolic_builder.rs
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ use p3_uni_stark::Entry;
 use p3_uni_stark::SymbolicExpression;
 use p3_uni_stark::SymbolicVariable;
 
+// TODO: This function iterates over all constraints, we should instead store the
+// max degree in `ConstraintSystem`.
 #[instrument(name = "infer log of constraint degree", skip_all)]
 pub fn get_log_quotient_degree<F, A>(air: &A, public_values_counts: &[usize]) -> usize
 where
diff --git a/plonky3/src/verifier.rs b/plonky3/src/verifier.rs
index b7ac6d608..b54a626eb 100644
--- a/plonky3/src/verifier.rs
+++ b/plonky3/src/verifier.rs
@@ -133,6 +133,8 @@ where
 
     let pcs = config.pcs();
 
+    // TODO: Instead of hashing each commit separately, we could hash a summary of all the commitments,
+    // like a hash that is precomputed at setup phase.
     for table in tables.values() {
         if let Some(preprocessed_commit) = table.preprocessed_commit() {
             challenger.observe(preprocessed_commit.clone());
@@ -211,7 +213,7 @@ where
                     move |StageOpenedValues { local, next }| {
                         (
                             // choose the correct preprocessed commitment based on the degree in the proof
-                            // this could be optimized by putting the preproccessed commitments in a merkle tree
+                            // this could be optimized by putting the preprocessed commitments in a merkle tree
                             // and have the prover prove that it used commitments matching the lengths of the traces
                             // this way the verifier does not need to have all the preprocessed commitments for all sizes
                             table.preprocessed_commit().expect("a preprocessed commitment was expected because a preprocessed opening was found").clone(),