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Developer Tools · head to head

Cortex vs LiquidPlanner

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
LiquidPlanner logo

LiquidPlanner

Project Management

Predictive project management

From
On request
Free plan
No
Visit LiquidPlannerFull review

The short version

  • LiquidPlanner is a predictive project management solution.
  • LiquidPlanner starts at $15/mo; Cortex prices on request.
  • Only Cortex lists service catalogue; only LiquidPlanner lists predictive scheduling.
  • Where LiquidPlanner falls short: rebranded to Tempo Portfolio Manager; the pricing page shows no published figures, only an early access sign-up.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cortex and LiquidPlanner actually diverge.

Attributes where Cortex and LiquidPlanner differ
AttributeCortexLiquidPlanner
Pricing modelQuoteSubscription
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsProject Management

Identical on both: starting price (On request), 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 LiquidPlanner

  • Predictive scheduling
  • Resource management
  • Time tracking
  • Analytics
  • Workload management
  • Jira
  • Salesforce
  • Slack

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

LiquidPlanner

  • Productivitynot Cortex
  • Collaborationnot Cortex
  • Task managementnot Cortex
  • Organizationnot 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

LiquidPlanner

  • Rebranded to Tempo Portfolio Manager; the pricing page shows no published figures, only an early access sign-up

Pricing, plan by plan

Cortex

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

LiquidPlanner

On request
  • Essentials$15/mo
    • Project management
    • Basic scheduling
  • Professional$25/mo
    • Predictive scheduling
    • Resource management
    • Analytics

Which should you pick?

Choose Cortex if

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

Choose LiquidPlanner if

  • You need predictive scheduling.
  • You also want resource management.
LiquidPlanner review

Questions people ask

Is Cortex or LiquidPlanner better?
Neither clearly leads. Cortex starts at On request and LiquidPlanner at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cortex or LiquidPlanner?
Cortex starts at On request and LiquidPlanner at On request.
Does Cortex or LiquidPlanner run on more platforms?
Cortex runs on Web, API. LiquidPlanner 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 LiquidPlanner is typically brought in for.
What can Cortex do that LiquidPlanner cannot?
Cortex covers Service catalogue, Scorecards, Initiatives, Self-service templates. LiquidPlanner covers Predictive scheduling, Resource management, Time tracking, Analytics.

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.

LiquidPlanner: How is Tempo timesheets pricing calculated for my organization?

Pricing is per-user per month and scales based on organization size. For 1-10 users: $1.00/user; 11-100 users: $5.21/user; 101-250 users: $3.66/user; scaling down to $0.25-$0.39/user for organizations with 5,000+ users.

Source
Cortex: Is pricing published?

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

LiquidPlanner: What license matching requirement exists for Tempo?

Your Tempo license size must match your Jira license size, with a user defined as anyone who can log into Jira.

Source
Cortex: Can it self-host?

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

LiquidPlanner: Is there a free trial for Tempo timesheets?

Yes, Tempo offers a free trial available through the Atlassian Marketplace.

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.

LiquidPlanner: What deployment options are available for Tempo?

Both Cloud and Data Center deployment options are offered, with annual billing available.

Source
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