Developer Tools · head to head
Cortex vs Deno
Cortex
Developer Tools
Internal developer portal that scores service ownership and maturity rather than just cataloguing services
- From
- On request
- Rated
- -
Deno
Developer Tools
A fast, open-source, fully Node-compatible JS runtime with TypeScript baked right in
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Deno has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: 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.; Deno egress bandwidth overage costs $0.20/GB which can become expensive for high-traffic applications
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Cortex and Deno actually diverge.
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Developer Tools).
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 Cortex
- Service catalogue
- Scorecards
- Initiatives
- Self-service templates
- Query language
- Eng intelligence
- Integrations layer
- On-call and ownership mapping
Only in Deno
Nothing recorded that Cortex does not also cover.
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Cortex
- A platform team that needs to prove to leadership how far a Kubernetes or framework migration has actually progressed across hundreds of servicesnot Deno
- An organisation where ownership of production services is genuinely unknown after reorganisations or acquisitionsnot Deno
- Enforcing production readiness standards on new services at creation time rather than at incident reviewnot Deno
- Replacing a self-hosted Backstage that is consuming a full-time engineer or two just to stay upgradednot Deno
Deno
- Running TypeScript natively without transpilation overheadnot Cortex
- Migrating Node.js applications to secure-by-default runtimenot Cortex
- Deploying edge functions and serverless containers seamlesslynot Cortex
- Consolidating developer tools into single binarynot Cortex
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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.
Deno
- Egress bandwidth overage costs $0.20/GB which can become expensive for high-traffic applications
- CPU time overage is $0.10/hour on Pro and Builder tiers, adding to costs for compute-intensive workloads
- Enterprise pricing is not disclosed; requires sales contact
Pricing, plan by plan
Cortex
On request- Cortex$undefined/year
- Service catalogue and ownership mapping
- Scorecards and initiatives
- Self-service templates
Deno
Free- FreeFree
- 1 million requests/month
- 20GB egress bandwidth
- 10 apps
- Pro$20/month
- 5 million requests/month
- 200GB egress
- 50 apps
- Builder$200/month
- 25 million requests/month
- 2,000GB egress
- 10,000 apps
- Enterprise$null/month
- Custom limits on all metrics
- 99.95% reliability SLA
- Email support with SLA
Which should you pick?
Choose Cortex if
- You need service catalogue.
- You work on Web, API.
- You also want scorecards.
Questions people ask
- Is Cortex or Deno better?
- Neither clearly leads. Cortex starts at On request and Deno at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Cortex or Deno?
- Deno has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Cortex and Free for Deno.
- Does Cortex or Deno run on more platforms?
- Cortex runs on Web, API. Deno runs on Web.
- Can I use Deno for free?
- Yes. Deno has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Cortex starts at On request.
- What is Cortex best used for?
- Cortex is most often used for a platform team that needs to prove to leadership how far a kubernetes or framework migration has actually progressed across hundreds of services, an organisation where ownership of production services is genuinely unknown after reorganisations or acquisitions, enforcing production readiness standards on new services at creation time rather than at incident review, replacing a self-hosted backstage that is consuming a full-time engineer or two just to stay upgraded. Of those, a platform team that needs to prove to leadership how far a kubernetes or framework migration has actually progressed across hundreds of services and an organisation where ownership of production services is genuinely unknown after reorganisations or acquisitions are not what Deno is typically brought in for.
- What can Cortex do that Deno cannot?
- Cortex covers Service catalogue, Scorecards, Initiatives, Self-service templates.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
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.
Deno: How much does Deno Deploy cost?
Deno Deploy offers a free tier at $0/month, Pro at $20/month, and Builder at $200/month. Enterprise has custom pricing. All plans include base request and bandwidth limits, with overage charges for additional usage.
SourceCortex: Is pricing published?
No. Cortex requires a sales conversation and prepares a custom proposal.
Deno: What are Deno Deploy's overage charges?
Egress bandwidth overages cost $0.20 per GB. CPU time overages are $0.10 per hour on Pro and Builder tiers. Memory time and KV database operations also incur charges beyond included limits.
SourceCortex: Can it self-host?
It is offered as a hosted product; on-premise arrangements are handled through sales rather than published.
Deno: How many apps can I deploy on Deno's free plan?
The free tier includes 10 apps with up to 1 concurrent build. Pro tier supports 50 apps with 3 concurrent builds, and Builder supports 10,000 apps with 20 concurrent builds.
SourceCortex: 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.
Deno: How many team members can access Deno Deploy?
The free tier supports up to 3 team members. Pro supports 10 team members. Builder supports 25 team members. Enterprise has custom seat limits.
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