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Developer Tools · head to head

Cortex vs Heroku

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
Heroku logo

Heroku

Cloud

Cloud Application Platform

From
$5/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; Heroku there is no free dyno tier; the cheapest Eco dyno is $5 per month
  • They diverge on capability: Cortex covers Service catalogue, Heroku covers Git-based deployment.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cortex and Heroku actually diverge.

Attributes where Cortex and Heroku differ
AttributeCortexHeroku
Starting priceOn request$5/month
Pricing modelquotesubscription
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, Api, Workers
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCloud
FoundedUnknown2007

Identical on both: free tier (No), 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 Heroku

  • Git-based deployment
  • Buildpacks
  • Dynos (containers)
  • Add-ons marketplace
  • Postgres database
  • Environment variables
  • Logging
  • API

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

Heroku

  • Application hostingnot Cortex
  • Database as a servicenot Cortex
  • CI/CD pipelinesnot Cortex
  • API deploymentnot 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.

Heroku

  • There is no free dyno tier; the cheapest Eco dyno is $5 per month
  • Eco dynos sleep after 30 minutes of inactivity, are restricted to personal accounts and allow only 2 process types
  • Free SSL and 10 process types start at the Basic dyno at $7 per month
  • Private and Shield dyno types require a Private Space, which is billed on top of the dynos
  • Private Space dynos start at $250 per month for Private-M and $500 per month for Private-L
  • Dyno prices are per dyno per month, so an app with several process types multiplies the bill

Pricing, plan by plan

Cortex

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

Heroku

$5/month
  • Eco Dyno$5/month
    • 0.5 GB RAM
    • Git/Docker deploy
    • Custom domains
  • Basic Dyno$7/month
    • 0.5 GB RAM
    • Always-on
    • Free SSL
  • Standard-1X Dyno$25/month
    • 0.5 GB RAM
    • Horizontal scaling
    • App metrics
  • Standard-2X Dyno$50/month
    • 1 GB RAM
    • Horizontal scaling
    • App metrics

Which should you pick?

Choose Cortex if

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

Choose Heroku if

  • You need git-based deployment.
  • You work on Web, Api, Workers.
  • You also want buildpacks.
Heroku review

Questions people ask

Is Cortex or Heroku better?
Neither clearly leads. Cortex starts at On request and Heroku at $5/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cortex or Heroku?
Cortex starts at On request and Heroku at $5/month.
Does Cortex or Heroku run on more platforms?
Cortex runs on Web, API. Heroku runs on Web, Api, Workers.
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 Heroku is typically brought in for.
What can Cortex do that Heroku cannot?
Cortex covers Service catalogue, Scorecards, Initiatives, Self-service templates. Heroku covers Git-based deployment, Buildpacks, Dynos (containers), Add-ons marketplace.

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.

Heroku: How much does Heroku cost?

Heroku dyno pricing starts at $5 per month USD for the Eco tier (with 30-minute inactivity sleep), $7 per month for Basic (always-on), and scales up to $1,500 per month for Performance-2XL with 126 GB RAM.

Source
Cortex: Is pricing published?

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

Heroku: What is the cheapest always-on Heroku plan?

The Basic Dyno at $7 per month USD is Heroku's cheapest always-on container option. It provides 0.5 GB RAM, free SSL, and support for 10 process types.

Source
Cortex: Can it self-host?

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

Heroku: How is Heroku Postgres priced?

Heroku Postgres Essential tier (shared resources) starts at $5-$20 per month for 1-32 GB disk. Standard tier (dedicated) ranges $50-$12,000 per month. Premium, Private, Shield, and Advanced tiers offer higher performance at corresponding prices.

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.

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