Web Development · head to head
Carrd vs Cortex
Cortex
Developer Tools
Internal developer portal that scores service ownership and maturity rather than just cataloguing services
- From
- On request
- Free plan
- No
The short version
- Only Carrd has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Carrd free tier strictly limited to 3 sites; any additional sites require upgrading to Pro; 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.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Carrd and Cortex actually diverge.
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 Carrd
Nothing recorded that Cortex does not also cover.
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.
Carrd
- Indie makers and solopreneurs building personal portfolios or landing pagesnot Cortex
- Small business owners requiring minimal online presence at low costnot Cortex
- Link-in-bio alternatives for social media profiles and contact pagesnot Cortex
- Email capture pages for newsletters or lead magnetsnot Cortex
- Cost-conscious teams requiring a cheap website alternative to Webflow or Squarespacenot 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 Carrd
- An organisation where ownership of production services is genuinely unknown after reorganisations or acquisitionsnot Carrd
- Enforcing production readiness standards on new services at creation time rather than at incident reviewnot Carrd
- Replacing a self-hosted Backstage that is consuming a full-time engineer or two just to stay upgradednot Carrd
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Carrd
- Free tier strictly limited to 3 sites; any additional sites require upgrading to Pro
- Pro plan includes Carrd branding removal but still lacks advanced features (e-commerce, multi-step funnels, complex forms)
- Single-page design only; does not support multi-page websites or complex site structures
- Limited template library compared to competitors like Leadpages or Unbounce
- Annual payment required for Pro tier; no monthly payment option
- No native A/B testing, analytics dashboard or conversion optimisation tools built-in
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
Carrd
Free- FreeFree
- 3 sites
- Responsive design
- Templates and blank pages
- Pro$19/year
- Unlimited sites
- Custom domain with SSL
- Contact forms
Cortex
On request- Cortex$undefined/year
- Service catalogue and ownership mapping
- Scorecards and initiatives
- Self-service templates
Which should you pick?
Choose Cortex if
- You need service catalogue.
- You work on Web, API.
- You also want scorecards.
Questions people ask
- Is Carrd or Cortex better?
- Neither clearly leads. Carrd 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, Carrd or Cortex?
- Carrd has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Carrd and On request for Cortex.
- Does Carrd or Cortex run on more platforms?
- Carrd runs on Web, Mobile. Cortex runs on Web, API.
- Can I use Carrd for free?
- Yes. Carrd has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Cortex starts at On request.
- What is Carrd best used for?
- Carrd is most often used for indie makers and solopreneurs building personal portfolios or landing pages, small business owners requiring minimal online presence at low cost, link-in-bio alternatives for social media profiles and contact pages, email capture pages for newsletters or lead magnets. Of those, indie makers and solopreneurs building personal portfolios or landing pages and small business owners requiring minimal online presence at low cost are not what Cortex is typically brought in for.
- What can Carrd do that Cortex cannot?
- Cortex covers Service catalogue, Scorecards, Initiatives, Self-service templates.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Carrd: How much does Carrd cost?
Carrd is free for up to 3 sites. The Pro plan costs $19/year and enables unlimited sites with custom domains, forms and integrations.
SourceCortex: 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.
Carrd: Can I use Carrd for e-commerce?
Carrd's Pro plan supports payment forms with Stripe integration, but it is not a full e-commerce platform. Single-product sales or payment collection is possible, but inventory management and complex product catalogs are not supported.
SourceCortex: Is pricing published?
No. Cortex requires a sales conversation and prepares a custom proposal.
Carrd: Can I create multi-page websites with Carrd?
No. Carrd is designed for single-page sites only. For multi-page websites, you would need to use a full website builder like Webflow or Squarespace.
SourceCortex: 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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