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Technology · head to head

Canny vs OpsLevel

Canny logo

Canny

Technology

Capture, organize, and analyze product feedback

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
OpsLevel logo

OpsLevel

Developer Tools

Internal developer portal that scores service ownership and production readiness

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Canny has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Canny tracked user pricing model causes costs to balloon as product grows and engagement increases, creating perverse incentive where more successful feedback gathering means higher costs; OpsLevel opsLevel does not publish prices at all, not even a starting figure, so you cannot size a budget or compare against Backstage's zero licence cost without entering a sales cycle.
  • They diverge on capability: Canny covers Feedback boards, OpsLevel covers Service catalogue.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Canny and OpsLevel actually diverge.

Attributes where Canny and OpsLevel differ
AttributeCannyOpsLevel
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Claude AI (MCP)Web
CategoryTechnologyDeveloper Tools
Founded2015Unknown

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 Canny

  • Feedback boards
  • Voting system
  • Roadmap planning
  • Changelog
  • User segmentation
  • Status updates
  • Admin moderation
  • Analytics

Only in OpsLevel

  • Service catalogue
  • Scorecards and rubric
  • Checks
  • Campaigns
  • Self-service actions
  • Slack and Teams integration
  • Catalogue auto-enrichment
  • Deployment on request

What people use each for

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

Canny

  • Feature request managementnot OpsLevel
  • Product roadmappingnot OpsLevel
  • Customer feedback collectionnot OpsLevel
  • Changelog communicationnot OpsLevel
  • User engagementnot OpsLevel

OpsLevel

  • A platform team that needs to prove every production service has a named owner and an on-call rota before an auditnot Canny
  • Driving a fleet-wide migration such as a runtime upgrade across 400 services with a deadline and visible progressnot Canny
  • Giving developers a paved road to create a new service from a template without waiting on the platform teamnot Canny
  • An organisation where an incident took an hour to route because nobody could identify the owning teamnot Canny

Where each one falls short

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

Canny

  • Tracked user pricing model causes costs to balloon as product grows and engagement increases, creating perverse incentive where more successful feedback gathering means higher costs
  • Limited integrations on Core plan; must upgrade to Pro to connect with Jira and Linear
  • Lacks built-in analytics for identifying themes and patterns across hundreds of feedback requests without manual tagging
  • Customizations limited for public-facing interfaces regarding branding and information presentation
  • Autopilot AI cannot be linked to product knowledge bases to better understand products and improve function
  • Slow response times reported by users, affecting feedback management efficiency
  • Limited custom user fields and manual data updates require API access

OpsLevel

  • OpsLevel does not publish prices at all, not even a starting figure, so you cannot size a budget or compare against Backstage's zero licence cost without entering a sales cycle.
  • The Standard plan caps at 50 users, which is below the size at which service ownership becomes a real problem, so most genuine buyers land on Enterprise and its unpublished pricing.
  • Scores are only as honest as the metadata teams maintain; where ownership records go stale the rubric produces confident numbers about a catalogue that no longer reflects reality, and leadership acts on them.
  • It reports on quality rather than producing it, so it can generate friction between platform teams who set the rubric and product teams who see it as a scoreboard imposed on them without extra headcount to fix the findings.
  • As a hosted product it needs read access to source control, cloud accounts and observability tooling, which is a meaningful vendor review in regulated environments; on-premises exists but only on the Enterprise tier.

Pricing, plan by plan

Canny

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Up to 100 tracked users
    • Unlimited feedback
    • 1 board
  • Starter$400/month
    • 1,000 tracked users
    • Unlimited boards
    • Private boards
  • Growth$900/month
    • 5,000 tracked users
    • API access
    • SSO
  • Business$undefined/month
    • Unlimited tracked users
    • White label
    • SLA

OpsLevel

On request
  • Standard$undefined/year
    • Up to 50 users
    • Unlimited catalogued components
    • Scorecards, campaigns and the global rubric
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Unlimited users
    • Custom integrations
    • Customisable dashboards

Which should you pick?

Choose Canny if

  • You need feedback boards.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Claude AI (MCP).
  • You also want voting system.
Canny review

Choose OpsLevel if

  • You need service catalogue.
  • You also want scorecards and rubric.
OpsLevel review

Questions people ask

Is Canny or OpsLevel better?
Neither clearly leads. Canny starts at Free and OpsLevel at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Canny or OpsLevel?
Canny has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Canny and On request for OpsLevel.
Does Canny or OpsLevel run on more platforms?
Canny runs on Web, Claude AI (MCP). OpsLevel runs on Web.
Can I use Canny for free?
Yes. Canny has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. OpsLevel starts at On request.
What is Canny best used for?
Canny is most often used for feature request management, product roadmapping, customer feedback collection, changelog communication. Of those, feature request management and product roadmapping are not what OpsLevel is typically brought in for.
What can Canny do that OpsLevel cannot?
Canny covers Feedback boards, Voting system, Roadmap planning, Changelog. OpsLevel covers Service catalogue, Scorecards and rubric, Checks, Campaigns.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Canny: Does Canny offer a free plan?

Yes. Canny offers a free plan that allows collecting up to 100 feedback ideas. Free users get basic features without roadmap, changelog, or integrations.

Source
OpsLevel: How much does OpsLevel cost?

It does not publish pricing. Billing is per developer using the portal, with volume discounts, and a quote requires a sales conversation.

Canny: How is Canny priced?

Canny pricing scales based on tracked users. Core starts at $19/month (100 users, annual), Pro starts at $79/month (100 users, annual). Prices increase as tracked users grow.

Source
OpsLevel: How does it compare with Backstage?

Backstage has no licence fee but you staff a team to build and run it. OpsLevel is hosted with checks, campaigns and scorecards out of the box, and you pay per developer instead.

Canny: What is a tracked user in Canny?

A tracked user is anyone who posts, votes, or comments on your Canny board or embedded widget. Each unique end user counts once and the count accumulates.

Source
OpsLevel: Does it require writing catalogue YAML by hand?

No. It auto-discovers and enriches entries from connected systems, though teams still curate ownership and metadata.

Canny: What is Canny Autopilot?

Canny Autopilot is an AI feature that automatically captures feature requests from communication tools like Gong, Intercom, Slack, and Zendesk. It prioritizes requests by revenue impact.

Source
OpsLevel: Can it run on premises?

Yes, but only on the Enterprise plan.

Canny: Does Canny have a public roadmap feature?

Yes. Canny provides a public roadmap where customers can see what is planned, building, and shipped. Customers can vote on features and watch their feedback progress.

Source
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