diff --git a/discover.categories b/discover.categories
--- a/discover.categories
+++ b/discover.categories
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 org.kde.plasma.libdiscover libdiscover IDENTIFIER [LIBDISCOVER_LOG]
 org.kde.plasma.discover discover IDENTIFIER [DISCOVER_LOG]
+org.kde.plasma.libdiscover.backend libdiscover backend IDENTIFIER [LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG]
diff --git a/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/CMakeLists.txt b/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/CMakeLists.txt
--- a/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -2,7 +2,9 @@
 
 add_subdirectory(runservice)
 
-add_library(packagekit-backend MODULE PackageKitBackend.cpp
+#packagekit-backend
+set (packagekit-backend_SRCS
+    PackageKitBackend.cpp
     PackageKitResource.cpp
     AppPackageKitResource.cpp
     PKTransaction.cpp
@@ -12,7 +14,10 @@
     LocalFilePKResource.cpp
     TransactionSet.cpp
     pkui.qrc
-)
+    )
+ecm_qt_declare_logging_category(packagekit-backend_SRCS HEADER libdiscover_backend_debug.h IDENTIFIER LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG CATEGORY_NAME org.kde.plasma.libdiscover.backend)
+
+add_library(packagekit-backend MODULE ${packagekit-backend_SRCS})
 
 target_link_libraries(packagekit-backend PRIVATE Discover::Common Qt5::Core PK::packagekitqt5 KF5::ConfigGui KF5::KIOCore KF5::Archive AppStreamQt)
 install(TARGETS packagekit-backend DESTINATION ${PLUGIN_INSTALL_DIR}/discover)
@@ -23,7 +28,13 @@
 endif()
 
 #notifier
-add_library(DiscoverPackageKitNotifier MODULE PackageKitNotifier.cpp)
+set (DiscoverPackageKitNotifier_SRCS
+    PackageKitNotifier.cpp
+)
+ecm_qt_declare_logging_category(DiscoverPackageKitNotifier_SRCS HEADER libdiscover_backend_debug.h IDENTIFIER LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG CATEGORY_NAME org.kde.plasma.libdiscover.backend)
+
+add_library(DiscoverPackageKitNotifier MODULE ${DiscoverPackageKitNotifier_SRCS})
+
 target_link_libraries(DiscoverPackageKitNotifier PRIVATE PK::packagekitqt5 Discover::Notifiers KF5::I18n KF5::Notifications KF5::ConfigCore)
 set_target_properties(DiscoverPackageKitNotifier PROPERTIES INSTALL_RPATH ${CMAKE_INSTALL_FULL_LIBDIR}/plasma-discover)
 
diff --git a/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/LocalFilePKResource.cpp b/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/LocalFilePKResource.cpp
--- a/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/LocalFilePKResource.cpp
+++ b/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/LocalFilePKResource.cpp
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include <PackageKit/Details>
 #include <utils.h>
 #include "config-paths.h"
+#include "libdiscover_backend_debug.h"
 
 LocalFilePKResource::LocalFilePKResource(QUrl path, PackageKitBackend* parent)
     : PackageKitResource(path.toString(), path.toString(), parent)
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@
         else
             qWarning() << "could not find an executable desktop file for" << m_path << "among" << files;
     });
-    connect(transaction2, &PackageKit::Transaction::finished, this, [] {qDebug() << "."; });
+    connect(transaction2, &PackageKit::Transaction::finished, this, [] {qCDebug(LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG) << "."; });
 }
 
 void LocalFilePKResource::invokeApplication() const
diff --git a/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/PKTransaction.cpp b/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/PKTransaction.cpp
--- a/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/PKTransaction.cpp
+++ b/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/PKTransaction.cpp
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 #include "PackageKitMessages.h"
 #include "utils.h"
 #include "LocalFilePKResource.h"
+#include "libdiscover_backend_debug.h"
 #include <resources/AbstractResource.h>
 #include <QDebug>
 #include <QTimer>
@@ -83,7 +84,7 @@
                 //FIXME this state shouldn't exist
                 qWarning() << "Installing no packages found!";
                 for(auto app : m_apps) {
-                    qDebug() << "app" << app << app->state() << static_cast<PackageKitResource*>(app)->packages();
+                    qCDebug(LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG) << "app" << app << app->state() << static_cast<PackageKitResource*>(app)->packages();
                 }
 
                 setStatus(Transaction::DoneWithErrorStatus);
@@ -98,7 +99,7 @@
     };
     Q_ASSERT(m_trans);
 
-//     connect(m_trans.data(), &PackageKit::Transaction::statusChanged, this, [this]() { qDebug() << "state..." << m_trans->status(); });
+//     connect(m_trans.data(), &PackageKit::Transaction::statusChanged, this, [this]() { qCDebug(LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG) << "state..." << m_trans->status(); });
     connect(m_trans.data(), &PackageKit::Transaction::package, this, &PKTransaction::packageResolved);
     connect(m_trans.data(), &PackageKit::Transaction::finished, this, &PKTransaction::cleanup);
     connect(m_trans.data(), &PackageKit::Transaction::errorCode, this, &PKTransaction::errorFound);
diff --git a/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/PackageKitBackend.cpp b/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/PackageKitBackend.cpp
--- a/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/PackageKitBackend.cpp
+++ b/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/PackageKitBackend.cpp
@@ -54,6 +54,7 @@
 
 #include "utils.h"
 #include "config-paths.h"
+#include "libdiscover_backend_debug.h"
 
 DISCOVER_BACKEND_PLUGIN(PackageKitBackend)
 
@@ -208,7 +209,7 @@
                 }
             }
 
-            qDebug() << "no packages for" << component.id();
+            qCDebug(LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG) << "no packages for" << component.id();
             continue;
         }
         neededPackages += pkgNames;
@@ -221,7 +222,7 @@
         neededPackages.removeDuplicates();
         resolvePackages(neededPackages);
     } else {
-        qDebug() << "empty appstream db";
+        qCDebug(LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG) << "empty appstream db";
         if (PackageKit::Daemon::backendName() == QLatin1String("aptcc") || PackageKit::Daemon::backendName().isEmpty()) {
             checkForUpdates();
         }
@@ -395,7 +396,7 @@
 void PackageKitBackend::checkForUpdates()
 {
     if (PackageKit::Daemon::global()->offline()->updateTriggered()) {
-        qDebug() << "Won't be checking for updates again, the system needs a reboot to apply the fetched offline updates.";
+        qCDebug(LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG) << "Won't be checking for updates again, the system needs a reboot to apply the fetched offline updates.";
         return;
     }
 
@@ -497,7 +498,7 @@
                 }
             }
 //             if (!pkg)
-//                 qDebug() << "could not find" << host << deprecatedHost;
+//                 qCDebug(LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG) << "could not find" << host << deprecatedHost;
         }
     }
     return new ResultsStream(QStringLiteral("PackageKitStream-url"), pkg ? QVector<AbstractResource*>{pkg} : QVector<AbstractResource*>{});
diff --git a/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/PackageKitNotifier.cpp b/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/PackageKitNotifier.cpp
--- a/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/PackageKitNotifier.cpp
+++ b/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/PackageKitNotifier.cpp
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include <KConfigGroup>
 
 #include "pk-offline-private.h"
+#include "libdiscover_backend_debug.h"
 
 PackageKitNotifier::PackageKitNotifier(QObject* parent)
     : BackendNotifierModule(parent)
@@ -104,7 +105,7 @@
     if (!QFile::exists(QStringLiteral(PK_OFFLINE_RESULTS_FILENAME))) {
         return;
     }
-    qDebug() << "found offline update results at " << PK_OFFLINE_RESULTS_FILENAME;
+    qCDebug(LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG) << "found offline update results at " << PK_OFFLINE_RESULTS_FILENAME;
 
     KDesktopFile file(QStringLiteral(PK_OFFLINE_RESULTS_FILENAME));
     KConfigGroup group(&file, PK_OFFLINE_RESULTS_GROUP);
@@ -173,7 +174,7 @@
 
 void PackageKitNotifier::setupGetUpdatesTransaction(PackageKit::Transaction* trans)
 {
-    qDebug() << "using..." << trans << trans->tid().path();
+    qCDebug(LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG) << "using..." << trans << trans->tid().path();
 
     trans->setProperty("normalUpdates", 0);
     trans->setProperty("securityUpdates", 0);
@@ -314,5 +315,5 @@
 {
     PackageKit::Transaction* t = qobject_cast<PackageKit::Transaction*>(sender());
     t->setProperty("requireRestart", qMax<int>(t->property("requireRestart").toInt(), type));
-    qDebug() << "RESTART" << type << "is required for package" << packageID;
+    qCDebug(LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG) << "RESTART" << type << "is required for package" << packageID;
 }
diff --git a/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/PackageKitUpdater.cpp b/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/PackageKitUpdater.cpp
--- a/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/PackageKitUpdater.cpp
+++ b/libdiscover/backends/PackageKitBackend/PackageKitUpdater.cpp
@@ -30,6 +30,8 @@
 #include <KConfigGroup>
 #include <KLocalizedString>
 
+#include "libdiscover_backend_debug.h"
+
 int percentageWithStatus(PackageKit::Transaction::Status status, uint percentage)
 {
     const auto was = percentage;
@@ -43,12 +45,12 @@
         };
         const auto idx = statuses.value(status, -1);
         if (idx < 0) {
-            qDebug() << "Status not present" << status << "among" << statuses   .keys() << percentage;
+            qCDebug(LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG) << "Status not present" << status << "among" << statuses   .keys() << percentage;
             return -1;
         }
         percentage = (idx * 100 + percentage) / 2 /*the maximum in statuses*/;
     }
-    qDebug() << "reporting progress with status:" << status << percentage << was;
+    qCDebug(LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG) << "reporting progress with status:" << status << percentage << was;
     return percentage;
 }
 
@@ -198,7 +200,7 @@
 
 void PackageKitUpdater::finished(PackageKit::Transaction::Exit exit, uint /*time*/)
 {
-//     qDebug() << "update finished!" << exit << time;
+//     qCDebug(LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG) << "update finished!" << exit << time;
     if (!m_proceedFunctions.isEmpty())
         return;
     const bool cancel = exit == PackageKit::Transaction::ExitCancelled;
@@ -373,7 +375,7 @@
         case PackageKit::Transaction::StatusCancel:
             return AbstractBackendUpdater::Done;
         default:
-            qDebug() << "unknown packagekit status" << t;
+            qCDebug(LIBDISCOVER_BACKEND_LOG) << "unknown packagekit status" << t;
             return AbstractBackendUpdater::None;
     }
     Q_UNREACHABLE();