Cybersecurity · head to head
Chainguard vs Cortex
Chainguard
Cybersecurity
Secure-by-default open source software with hardened container images and libraries
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
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 Chainguard has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Chainguard containers Catalog at 19,000 USD/year expensive for teams under 10 people; 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: Chainguard covers Hardened container images, Cortex covers Service catalogue.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Chainguard and Cortex actually diverge.
| Attribute | Chainguard | Cortex |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | On request |
| Pricing model | Licensing by artifact type and team size | quote |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Platforms | Cloud, Container, VM | Web, API |
| Category | Cybersecurity | Developer 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 Chainguard
- Hardened container images
- CVE remediation SLA
- SLSA L2/L3 builds
- Sigstore signatures
- SBOM generation
- Language libraries
- VM images
- Artifact scanning
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.
Chainguard
- Deploying hardened container images with minimal attack surfacenot Cortex
- Meeting supply chain security requirements for regulated industriesnot Cortex
- Reducing CVE exposure with contractual remediation guaranteesnot Cortex
- Building secure language packages with automatic backportsnot Cortex
- Verifying artifact provenance with Sigstore signaturesnot 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 Chainguard
- An organisation where ownership of production services is genuinely unknown after reorganisations or acquisitionsnot Chainguard
- Enforcing production readiness standards on new services at creation time rather than at incident reviewnot Chainguard
- Replacing a self-hosted Backstage that is consuming a full-time engineer or two just to stay upgradednot Chainguard
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Chainguard
- Containers Catalog at 19,000 USD/year expensive for teams under 10 people
- Per-image pricing for containers requires custom quotes with no transparency
- Free tier limited to 5 container images for testing
- Libraries pricing by ecosystem and developer count lacks transparent per-developer cost
- VM image catalog pricing opacity makes cost estimation difficult
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
Chainguard
Free- Free TierFree
- Five container images to test and deploy
- Containers Per-Image$undefined/custom
- Licensed by quantity and type
- Base images, application images, AI/ML images, FIPS variants
- Custom pricing per image
- Containers Catalog$19000/year
- For 10-person engineering teams
- 2,000+ container images
- Contractual CVE remediation SLAs
- Libraries Licensing$undefined/custom
- Licensed by ecosystem (Python, Java, JavaScript)
- Licensed by developer count
- Unlimited pulls with no metering
Cortex
On request- Cortex$undefined/year
- Service catalogue and ownership mapping
- Scorecards and initiatives
- Self-service templates
Which should you pick?
Choose Chainguard if
- You need hardened container images.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Cloud, Container, VM.
- You also want cve remediation sla.
Choose Cortex if
- You need service catalogue.
- You work on Web, API.
- You also want scorecards.
Questions people ask
- Is Chainguard or Cortex better?
- Neither clearly leads. Chainguard 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, Chainguard or Cortex?
- Chainguard has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Chainguard and On request for Cortex.
- Does Chainguard or Cortex run on more platforms?
- Chainguard runs on Cloud, Container, VM. Cortex runs on Web, API.
- Can I use Chainguard for free?
- Yes. Chainguard has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Cortex starts at On request.
- What is Chainguard best used for?
- Chainguard is most often used for deploying hardened container images with minimal attack surface, meeting supply chain security requirements for regulated industries, reducing cve exposure with contractual remediation guarantees, building secure language packages with automatic backports. Of those, deploying hardened container images with minimal attack surface and meeting supply chain security requirements for regulated industries are not what Cortex is typically brought in for.
- What can Chainguard do that Cortex cannot?
- Chainguard covers Hardened container images, CVE remediation SLA, SLSA L2/L3 builds, Sigstore signatures. Cortex covers Service catalogue, Scorecards, Initiatives, Self-service templates.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Chainguard: How much is the Chainguard Containers Catalog?
The Containers Catalog is 19,000 USD per year for 10-person engineering teams, providing access to 2,000+ hardened container images.
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.
Chainguard: What SLAs does Chainguard offer?
Chainguard provides contractual CVE remediation SLAs: 7 days for critical vulnerabilities, 14 days for high/medium/low severity, all with priority support.
SourceCortex: Is pricing published?
No. Cortex requires a sales conversation and prepares a custom proposal.
Chainguard: Can I try Chainguard before purchasing?
Yes. The free tier includes five container images for testing and deployment, allowing hands-on evaluation.
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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- Cortex vs Bitwarden
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- Cortex vs Earthly
- Cortex vs Spacelift
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- Cortex vs Ona (formerly Gitpod)
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- Cortex vs Bazel
- Cortex vs Dagger
- Cortex vs Deep Code
- Cortex vs Deno
- Cortex vs Fig
- Cortex vs Frappe
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