Is Aikido or Cortex better?

Neither clearly leads. Aikido starts at Free and Cortex at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Aikido or Cortex?

Aikido has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Aikido and On request for Cortex.

Does Aikido or Cortex run on more platforms?

Aikido runs on Web, CI/CD, IDE. Cortex runs on Web, API.

Can I use Aikido for free?

Yes. Aikido has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Cortex starts at On request.

What is Aikido best used for?

Aikido is most often used for developer-friendly security integrated into pr workflows, automated vulnerability remediation with context-aware alerts, consolidation of fragmented security tools across development lifecycle, cloud infrastructure security posture monitoring. Of those, developer-friendly security integrated into pr workflows and automated vulnerability remediation with context-aware alerts are not what Cortex is typically brought in for.

What can Aikido do that Cortex cannot?

Aikido covers Static Application Security Testing (SAST), Software Composition Analysis (SCA), AutoFix, Secrets detection. Cortex covers Service catalogue, Scorecards, Initiatives, Self-service templates.

Cybersecurity · head to head

Aikido vs Cortex

Aikido

Cybersecurity

Unified security platform automating vulnerability detection and fixing across development

From: Free
Free plan: Yes

Full review Website

Cortex

Developer Tools

Internal developer portal that scores service ownership and maturity rather than just cataloguing services

From: On request
Free plan: No

Full review Website

The short version

Only Aikido has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
Each has a real cost: Aikido free plan includes fair-usage limits on repos and container images; Cortex pricing is quote only, so a platform team cannot build a business case or compare against the true cost of self-hosted Backstage without entering a sales cycle first.
They diverge on capability: Aikido covers Static Application Security Testing (SAST), Cortex covers Service catalogue.
Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Aikido and Cortex actually diverge.

Attributes where Aikido and Cortex differ
Attribute	Aikido	Cortex
Starting price	Free	On request
Pricing model	Subscription with free tier	quote
Free tier	Yes	No
Platforms	Web, CI/CD, IDE	Web, API
Category	Cybersecurity	Developer Tools
Founded	2022	Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Aikido

Static Application Security Testing (SAST)
Software Composition Analysis (SCA)
AutoFix
Secrets detection
Cloud Security Posture Management
AI-powered penetration testing
Device protection
False positive reduction

Only in Cortex

Service catalogue
Scorecards
Initiatives
Self-service templates
Query language
Eng intelligence
Integrations layer
On-call and ownership mapping

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Aikido

Developer-friendly security integrated into PR workflowsnot Cortex
Automated vulnerability remediation with context-aware alertsnot Cortex
Consolidation of fragmented security tools across development lifecyclenot Cortex
Cloud infrastructure security posture monitoringnot Cortex
Supply chain attack prevention and malware detectionnot Cortex

Cortex

A platform team that needs to prove to leadership how far a Kubernetes or framework migration has actually progressed across hundreds of servicesnot Aikido
An organisation where ownership of production services is genuinely unknown after reorganisations or acquisitionsnot Aikido
Enforcing production readiness standards on new services at creation time rather than at incident reviewnot Aikido
Replacing a self-hosted Backstage that is consuming a full-time engineer or two just to stay upgradednot Aikido

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Aikido

Free plan includes fair-usage limits on repos and container images
Pricing increases significantly with user and repository scale
Advanced features like penetration testing and VM scanning limited to higher tiers
Device protection limited to Development environments only
Requires multiple plan tiers for full platform coverage

Cortex

Pricing is quote only, so a platform team cannot build a business case or compare against the true cost of self-hosted Backstage without entering a sales cycle first.
The catalogue is only as accurate as the metadata you supply, so an organisation with inconsistent repository conventions spends its first quarter cleaning data before any scorecard means anything.
Scorecards create political friction: publishing a per-team grade turns an engineering standard into a performance metric, and teams will game the rules rather than fix the underlying issue.
It is closed source and hosted, so organisations with strict data residency or air-gap requirements have limited options compared with running Backstage themselves.
Value scales with organisation size, so a company with fifty engineers and thirty services will find the catalogue tells them nothing they did not already know while still paying an enterprise contract.

Pricing, plan by plan

Aikido

Free

DeveloperFree
- Up to 2 users
- Dependency scanning (SCA)
- SAST and AI SAST
Pro$600/month
- Up to 10 users
- All Basic features
- On-premise scanning
Advanced$600/month
- Up to 10 users
- All Pro features
- Broker for internal apps
Enterprise$null/custom
- Custom pricing for tailored modules
- Dedicated account management
- Custom SLAs

Cortex

On request

Cortex$undefined/year
- Service catalogue and ownership mapping
- Scorecards and initiatives
- Self-service templates

Which should you pick?

Choose Aikido if

You need static application security testing (sast).
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, CI/CD, IDE.
You also want software composition analysis (sca).

Aikido review

Choose Cortex if

You need service catalogue.
You work on Web, API.
You also want scorecards.

Cortex review

Questions people ask

Is Aikido or Cortex better?: Neither clearly leads. Aikido starts at Free and Cortex at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Aikido or Cortex?: Aikido has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Aikido and On request for Cortex.
Does Aikido or Cortex run on more platforms?: Aikido runs on Web, CI/CD, IDE. Cortex runs on Web, API.
Can I use Aikido for free?: Yes. Aikido has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Cortex starts at On request.
What is Aikido best used for?: Aikido is most often used for developer-friendly security integrated into pr workflows, automated vulnerability remediation with context-aware alerts, consolidation of fragmented security tools across development lifecycle, cloud infrastructure security posture monitoring. Of those, developer-friendly security integrated into pr workflows and automated vulnerability remediation with context-aware alerts are not what Cortex is typically brought in for.
What can Aikido do that Cortex cannot?: Aikido covers Static Application Security Testing (SAST), Software Composition Analysis (SCA), AutoFix, Secrets detection. Cortex covers Service catalogue, Scorecards, Initiatives, Self-service templates.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Aikido: What is included in Aikido's free Developer plan?

The free Developer plan includes up to 2 users with SAST, SCA, secrets detection, cloud scanning, and license risk detection. Fair-usage limits apply: 10 repos, 2 container images, 1 domain, and 1 cloud account.

Source

Cortex: How is Cortex different from Backstage?

Backstage is an open source framework you build and staff. Cortex is a hosted product with scorecards and initiatives out of the box and no platform team required to keep it running.

Aikido: What is AutoFix and how does it work?

AutoFix is Aikido's automated vulnerability remediation feature that identifies vulnerabilities and suggests or applies specific code fixes automatically, reducing manual remediation effort.

Source

Cortex: Is pricing published?

No. Cortex requires a sales conversation and prepares a custom proposal.

Aikido: How many false positives does Aikido reduce?

Aikido reduces false positives by 99%, using AI-powered context awareness to filter noise and focus on vulnerabilities that present real business risk.

Source

Cortex: Can it self-host?

It is offered as a hosted product; on-premise arrangements are handled through sales rather than published.

Aikido: What integrations does Aikido support?

Aikido integrates with Jira, Linear, Slack, Teams, GitHub, GitLab, and other popular development tools to fit into existing workflows.

Source

Cortex: What is the main adoption risk?

Bad or missing service metadata. The catalogue and every scorecard on top of it inherit whatever quality your repositories already have.

Aikido vs Cortex

Aikido

Cortex

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Aikido

Only in Cortex

What people use each for

Aikido

Cortex

Where each one falls short

Aikido

Cortex

Pricing, plan by plan

Aikido

Cortex

Which should you pick?

Choose Aikido if

Choose Cortex if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Aikido

More on Cortex

Keep looking

Other head to heads