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Cybersecurity · head to head

Akeyless vs Cortex

Akeyless logo

Akeyless

Cybersecurity

Runtime identity security at agentic scale

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Cortex logo

Cortex

Developer Tools

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

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Akeyless has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Akeyless pricing is usage-based and complex, requires sales consultation; 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: Akeyless covers Secrets management, Cortex covers Service catalogue.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Akeyless and Cortex actually diverge.

Attributes where Akeyless and Cortex differ
AttributeAkeylessCortex
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelUsage-based pricing units that vary by product modulequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsCloud, Hybrid, On-PremisesWeb, API
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools

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 Akeyless

  • Secrets management
  • Machine identity
  • AI agent identity
  • Certificate management
  • Privileged access management
  • Multi-vault governance
  • Encryption and KMS
  • Password manager

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.

Akeyless

  • Securing AI agents with dedicated identity trackingnot Cortex
  • Managing machine-to-machine credentials at scalenot Cortex
  • Automating PKI and certificate lifecyclenot Cortex
  • Implementing just-in-time privileged accessnot 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 Akeyless
  • An organisation where ownership of production services is genuinely unknown after reorganisations or acquisitionsnot Akeyless
  • Enforcing production readiness standards on new services at creation time rather than at incident reviewnot Akeyless
  • Replacing a self-hosted Backstage that is consuming a full-time engineer or two just to stay upgradednot Akeyless

Where each one falls short

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

Akeyless

  • Pricing is usage-based and complex, requires sales consultation
  • Free tier is very limited with restricted access
  • No transparent pricing published for enterprise features
  • Pricing model varies significantly by product module

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

Akeyless

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Limited feature access
    • Restricted usage quotas
  • Enterprise$undefined/custom
    • Custom pricing based on usage
    • Unlimited resource quotas
    • Full feature access

Cortex

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Akeyless if

  • You need secrets management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud, Hybrid, On-Premises.
  • You also want machine identity.
Akeyless review

Choose Cortex if

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

Questions people ask

Is Akeyless or Cortex better?
Neither clearly leads. Akeyless 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, Akeyless or Cortex?
Akeyless has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Akeyless and On request for Cortex.
Does Akeyless or Cortex run on more platforms?
Akeyless runs on Cloud, Hybrid, On-Premises. Cortex runs on Web, API.
Can I use Akeyless for free?
Yes. Akeyless has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Cortex starts at On request.
What is Akeyless best used for?
Akeyless is most often used for securing ai agents with dedicated identity tracking, managing machine-to-machine credentials at scale, automating pki and certificate lifecycle, implementing just-in-time privileged access. Of those, securing ai agents with dedicated identity tracking and managing machine-to-machine credentials at scale are not what Cortex is typically brought in for.
What can Akeyless do that Cortex cannot?
Akeyless covers Secrets management, Machine identity, AI agent identity, Certificate management. Cortex covers Service catalogue, Scorecards, Initiatives, Self-service templates.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Akeyless: What pricing model does Akeyless use?

Akeyless uses usage-based pricing units that vary by product. For example, Secrets Management is priced by clients, Certificate Management by managed certificates, Encryption by transactions, and PAM by users. Contact sales for a custom quote.

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.

Akeyless: Does Akeyless support hybrid deployment?

Yes, Akeyless offers Pure SaaS cloud-managed deployment and Hybrid SaaS with on-premise gateways and zero-knowledge encryption for sensitive environments.

Source
Cortex: Is pricing published?

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

Akeyless: How does Akeyless handle AI agent identities?

Akeyless provides dedicated AI agent identity tracking with runtime access control, allowing organizations to manage AI agent access separately from human and machine identities.

Source
Cortex: Can it self-host?

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

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.

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