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Developer Tools · head to head

Cortex vs Deno Deploy

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
Deno Deploy logo

Deno Deploy

Cloud

Serverless JavaScript at the edge

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Deno Deploy 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 Deploy smaller ecosystem compared to AWS Lambda with fewer third-party integrations
  • They diverge on capability: Cortex covers Service catalogue, Deno Deploy covers Edge Functions.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cortex and Deno Deploy actually diverge.

Attributes where Cortex and Deno Deploy differ
AttributeCortexDeno Deploy
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteUnknown
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, APICloud/Web
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCloud
FoundedUnknown2021

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 Cortex

  • Service catalogue
  • Scorecards
  • Initiatives
  • Self-service templates
  • Query language
  • Eng intelligence
  • Integrations layer
  • On-call and ownership mapping

Only in Deno Deploy

  • Edge Functions
  • Deno KV
  • Automatic HTTPS
  • Global Distribution
  • Zero Config Deploy
  • Git Integration
  • Instant Rollbacks
  • Web Standard APIs

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 Deploy
  • An organisation where ownership of production services is genuinely unknown after reorganisations or acquisitionsnot Deno Deploy
  • Enforcing production readiness standards on new services at creation time rather than at incident reviewnot Deno Deploy
  • Replacing a self-hosted Backstage that is consuming a full-time engineer or two just to stay upgradednot Deno Deploy

Deno Deploy

  • API endpointsnot Cortex
  • Edge functionsnot Cortex
  • Static sitesnot Cortex
  • Real-time appsnot 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 Deploy

  • Smaller ecosystem compared to AWS Lambda with fewer third-party integrations
  • Less mature than established serverless platforms; newer company and platform
  • 1GB deployment size limit may restrict larger applications
  • 512MB memory limit lower than some competitors for memory-intensive workloads
  • Smaller user base and community compared to Lambda or Netlify

Pricing, plan by plan

Cortex

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

Deno Deploy

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 1M requests/month
    • 100GB outbound bandwidth
    • 50ms CPU time per request
  • Pro$20/month
    • Unlimited requests
    • 5GB KV storage
    • Priority support

Which should you pick?

Choose Cortex if

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

Choose Deno Deploy if

  • You need edge functions.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Cloud/Web.
  • You also want deno kv.
Deno Deploy review

Questions people ask

Is Cortex or Deno Deploy better?
Neither clearly leads. Cortex starts at On request and Deno Deploy at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cortex or Deno Deploy?
Deno Deploy has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Cortex and Free for Deno Deploy.
Does Cortex or Deno Deploy run on more platforms?
Cortex runs on Web, API. Deno Deploy runs on Cloud/Web.
Can I use Deno Deploy for free?
Yes. Deno Deploy 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 Deploy is typically brought in for.
What can Cortex do that Deno Deploy cannot?
Cortex covers Service catalogue, Scorecards, Initiatives, Self-service templates. Deno Deploy covers Edge Functions, Deno KV, Automatic HTTPS, Global Distribution.

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 Deploy: What does Deno Deploy's free tier include?

Deno Deploy free tier includes 1 million requests per month, 100 GB of outbound bandwidth, 50 milliseconds of CPU time per request, 50 custom domains, 1 GiB of KV storage, and up to 5 team members.

Source
Cortex: Is pricing published?

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

Deno Deploy: What are Deno Deploy's Pro plan features and pricing?

Deno Deploy Pro costs $20/month and removes request limits, increases KV storage to 5GB, and includes priority support. Additional storage beyond 5GB costs $0.75/GiB.

Source
Cortex: Can it self-host?

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

Deno Deploy: What are the deployment size and memory limits for Deno Deploy?

The total size of all files within a deployment (source files and static files) should not exceed 1 gigabyte. Applications have a maximum memory allocation of 512MB.

Source
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.

Deno Deploy: Does Deno Deploy support TypeScript natively?

Yes. Deno Deploy runs TypeScript natively with zero-configuration TypeScript support. Code can be written in TypeScript or JavaScript and runs on the same V8 engine.

Source
Deno Deploy: What security features does Deno Deploy provide?

Deno Deploy features an opt-in permission system to mitigate supply chain attacks. Permissions can be explicitly granted for file, network, and environment access, running code securely by default.

Source
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