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Developer Tools · head to head

Cortex vs Holistics

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
Visit CortexFull review
Holistics logo

Holistics

Business Intelligence

Self-service BI for data teams

From
$800/month
Free plan
No
Visit HolisticsFull review

The short version

  • Holistics is a self-service business intelligence platform.
  • Holistics starts at $800/mo; Cortex prices on request.
  • Only Cortex lists service catalogue; only Holistics lists data Modeling.
  • Where Holistics falls short: the entry plan is $960 per month billed monthly, which is a high floor for a BI tool.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cortex and Holistics actually diverge.

Attributes where Cortex and Holistics differ
AttributeCortexHolistics
Starting priceOn request$800/month
Pricing modelQuoteSubscription
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsBusiness Intelligence

Identical on both: free tier (No).

Not yet recorded: founded for Cortex.

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 Holistics

  • Data Modeling
  • Version Control
  • Scheduling
  • Caching
  • Embedding
  • BigQuery
  • Snowflake
  • Redshift

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

Holistics

  • Modelling business metrics in a code-defined semantic layer with Git version controlnot Cortex
  • Self-service exploration and dashboards for non-SQL usersnot Cortex
  • Embedding analytics into a customer-facing productnot 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

Holistics

  • The entry plan is $960 per month billed monthly, which is a high floor for a BI tool
  • Every plan includes only the first 10 users, with additional users charged at $15 per month each on Entry and Standard and $18 on the Security Compliance Suite
  • The Entry plan caps reports at 100, and each additional 100 reports costs $120 per month
  • Google SSO requires the Standard plan at $1,200 per month; enterprise SSO with SAML and SCIM provisioning requires the Security Compliance Suite at $2,400 per month
  • Row-based access control, IP whitelisting, pass-through authentication and user activity monitoring are all Security Compliance Suite features
  • Connecting Git version control to your own repository requires Standard; Entry only gets Holistics-hosted Git
  • White labelling, dynamic row-level permissions and unlimited dashboard viewers for embedded analytics are Custom Plan only, with no published price
  • Bank payments and custom payment terms are Custom Plan only, and custom infosec or legal paperwork is Enterprise plan only
  • The two months off discount requires yearly billing

Pricing, plan by plan

Cortex

On request
  • CortexOn request
    • Service catalogue and ownership mapping
    • Scorecards and initiatives
    • Self-service templates

Holistics

$800/month
  • Entry$800/mo
    • 100 reports
    • First 10 users included
    • Core self-service analytics
  • Standard$1,000/mo
    • Unlimited reports
    • First 10 users included
    • Custom charts
  • Security Compliance Suite$2,000/mo
    • Unlimited reports
    • First 10 users included
    • Granular access controls

Which should you pick?

Choose Cortex if

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

Choose Holistics if

  • You need data modeling.
  • You also want version control.
Holistics review

Questions people ask

Is Cortex or Holistics better?
Neither clearly leads. Cortex starts at On request and Holistics at $800/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cortex or Holistics?
Cortex starts at On request and Holistics at $800/month.
Does Cortex or Holistics run on more platforms?
Cortex runs on Web, API. Holistics runs on Web.
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 Holistics is typically brought in for.
What can Cortex do that Holistics cannot?
Cortex covers Service catalogue, Scorecards, Initiatives, Self-service templates. Holistics covers Data Modeling, Version Control, Scheduling, Caching.

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.

Holistics: How much do additional Holistics users cost?

Additional users cost $12.50 per month (yearly billing) or $15 per month (monthly billing) for Entry/Standard plans, and $15-18 per month for Security Suite.

Source
Cortex: Is pricing published?

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

Holistics: Can I purchase additional reports on Holistics?

Yes, additional 100-report blocks cost $100 per month (yearly) or $120 per month (monthly billing).

Source
Cortex: Can it self-host?

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

Holistics: Does Holistics support multiple data centers?

Yes, Holistics supports multiple data centers in US, EU, and APAC regions with pricing available for embedded analytics with unlimited dashboard viewers.

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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