# Backstage vs Cortex

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Backstage

| Attribute | Backstage | Cortex |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 60.3 (66% (medium)) | 47.1 (56% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | - |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 518 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 34,602 | - |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | 8,721 | - |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Backstage provides a centralized platform where development teams can discover and manage software components, automate service creation, and access integrated tools and documentation. It is indexed under Internal Developer Platforms.","source":"https://backstage.io","question":"What is Backstage?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Backstage is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://backstage.io","question":"Is Backstage free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to Backstage. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://backstage.io","question":"What platforms does Backstage support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Backstage can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://backstage.io","question":"Can Backstage be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 3 integrations for Backstage, including GitHub, MCP servers and TechDocs. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://backstage.io","question":"What does Backstage integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Backstage is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage","question":"Is Backstage open source?","confidence":0.99}]` | `[{"answer":"A platform for building and managing AI software factories, with focus on production AI operations and governance. It is indexed under Internal Developer Platforms.","source":"https://www.cortex.io","question":"What is Cortex?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Cortex does not publish its prices. Pricing is quoted on request, so the figure depends on your seat count and requirements. We record this as a pricing-transparency signal rather than guessing a number. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.cortex.io/pricing","question":"How much does Cortex cost?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to Cortex. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.cortex.io/pricing","question":"What platforms does Cortex support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for Cortex, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://www.cortex.io/pricing","question":"Can Cortex be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 and ISO 27001 for Cortex. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Cortex not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.cortex.io/security","question":"What security certifications does Cortex have?","confidence":0.48}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | A framework that consolidates infrastructure tools, services, and documentation into a single development environment, enabling teams to efficiently manage their microservices and infrastructure. | Platform that helps engineering teams manage AI agents, enforce development standards, maintain compliance, and provide self-service golden paths for developers and automated systems to ship faster with less risk |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"self","rbac_sso":true,"tech_docs":true,"api_access":true,"scaffolding":true,"provisioning":true,"platform_shape":"orchestrator","plugin_ecosystem":true,"software_catalog":true,"integration_breadth":"Kubernetes, cloud platforms (AWS, Azure), SCM systems (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket","self_service_actions":true}` | `{"hosting":"cloud","rbac_sso":true,"api_access":true,"scorecards":true,"scaffolding":true,"provisioning":true,"platform_shape":"portal","plugin_ecosystem":true,"software_catalog":true,"integration_breadth":"Cloud platforms, CI/CD, security tools, observability platforms, ticketing syste","self_service_actions":true}` |
| integrations.count | 9 | 50 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"MCP servers"},{"name":"TechDocs"},{"name":"Kubernetes","native":true,"category":"infrastructure","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"GitLab","native":true,"category":"scm","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Bitbucket","native":true,"category":"scm","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Azure DevOps","native":true,"category":"scm","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Confluence","native":false,"category":"documentation","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Stack Overflow","native":false,"category":"documentation","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"AWS S3","native":false,"category":"storage","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Azure Blob Storage","native":false,"category":"storage","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"MkDocs","native":true,"category":"documentation","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Bitbucket Cloud","category":"scm"},{"name":"Bitbucket Server","category":"scm"},{"name":"Sentry","category":"monitoring"},{"name":"Cloudflare Access","category":"identity"},{"name":"Elasticsearch","category":"search"}]` | `[{"name":"Datadog"},{"name":"Backstage"},{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"GitLab"},{"name":"Slack"},{"name":"Jira"},{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"Kubernetes"},{"name":"Okta"},{"name":"ServiceNow"},{"name":"Grafana"},{"name":"New Relic"},{"name":"Jenkins"},{"name":"ArgoCD"},{"name":"CircleCI"},{"name":"Prometheus"},{"name":"Snyk"},{"name":"Semgrep"},{"name":"SonarQube"},{"name":"Azure Active Directory"},{"name":"Entra ID"},{"name":"Microsoft Teams"},{"name":"Checkmarx"},{"name":"Veracode"},{"name":"Wiz"},{"name":"FireHydrant"},{"name":"Incident.io"},{"name":"OpsGenie"},{"name":"Rootly"},{"name":"Azure Resources"},{"name":"Google Cloud"},{"name":"Humanitec"},{"name":"Coralogix"},{"name":"Dynatrace"},{"name":"Instana"},{"name":"Rollbar"},{"name":"Sentry"},{"name":"Splunk Observability Cloud"},{"name":"Sumo Logic"},{"name":"BambooHR"},{"name":"ClickUp"},{"name":"Workday"},{"name":"LaunchDarkly"},{"name":"Apiiro"},{"name":"Codecov"},{"name":"Mend"},{"name":"ServiceNow Cloud Observability"},{"name":"Syntasso Kratix Enterprise"},{"name":"Google Observability Cloud"}]` |
| language.primary | TypeScript | - |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | - |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | `{"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://backstage.io","retrievedAt":"2026-10-13T15:17:29.897Z"}` | `{"type":"quote","summary":"Custom per-seat pricing. Contact sales for a quote.","sourceUrl":"https://www.cortex.io/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-10-07T13:53:28.352Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | no |
| pricing.model | open_source | quote |
| pricing.price_level | free | unknown |
| pricing.transparent | yes | no |
| release.cadence_days | 3 | - |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.56.0-next.2","date":"2026-10-06T19:39:05Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.56.0-next.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.56.0-next.1","date":"2026-09-29T12:39:50Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.56.0-next.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.55.3","date":"2026-09-29T14:48:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.55.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.55.2","date":"2026-09-25T10:35:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.55.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.54.9","date":"2026-09-25T09:58:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.54.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.50.7","date":"2026-09-25T09:27:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.50.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.56.0-next.0","date":"2026-09-22T17:09:55Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.56.0-next.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.55.1","date":"2026-09-21T15:13:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.55.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.55.0","date":"2026-09-15T14:22:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.55.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.54.8","date":"2026-09-15T16:26:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.54.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.50.6","date":"2026-09-15T16:06:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.50.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.54.7","date":"2026-09-11T10:50:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.54.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.49.7","date":"2026-09-11T11:55:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.49.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.55.0-next.2","date":"2026-09-08T22:51:08Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.55.0-next.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.55.0-next.1","date":"2026-09-01T19:58:09Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.55.0-next.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.51.3","date":"2026-08-29T09:25:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.51.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.50.5","date":"2026-08-29T10:53:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.50.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.49.6","date":"2026-08-29T11:21:57Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.49.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.54.6","date":"2026-08-28T08:26:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.54.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/backstage/backstage/releases/tag/v1.53.2","date":"2026-08-28T16:42:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.53.2"}]` | - |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.certifications | - | `[{"name":"SOC 2 Type II","status":"active"},{"name":"ISO/IEC 27001:2022","status":"active"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.iso27001 | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 6.5 | - |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |
| security.trust_center | - | https://www.cortex.io/solutions/compliance-audits |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=%40backstage%2Fcli&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | - |

## Capabilities (Internal Developer Platforms)

| Capability | Backstage | Cortex |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Portal vs orchestrator | Orchestrator | Portal |
| Software / service catalog | ✓ | ✓ |
| Self-service actions / golden paths | ✓ | ✓ |
| Templated service scaffolding | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Governance** |  |  |
| Production-readiness scorecards | - | ✓ |
| **Orchestration** |  |  |
| Workload spec / infra abstraction | - | - |
| Drives infra provisioning | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| Plugin / extension ecosystem | ✓ | ✓ |
| Public API / webhooks | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Integration** |  |  |
| Cloud/CI/K8s/observability breadth | Kubernetes, cloud platforms (AWS, Azure), SCM systems (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket | Cloud platforms, CI/CD, security tools, observability platforms, ticketing syste |
| **Security** |  |  |
| RBAC + SSO/SAML/SCIM | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Docs** |  |  |
| Integrated tech docs | ✓ | - |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Self-hosted only | Cloud only |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T18:31:05.059Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*