Developer Tools · head to head
Cortex vs Microsoft Edge
Cortex
Developer Tools
Internal developer portal that scores service ownership and maturity rather than just cataloguing services
- From
- On request
- Free plan
- No
Microsoft Edge
Technology
Microsoft's Chromium-based browser, distinguished by IE mode for legacy applications and by its integration with Microsoft 365 management.
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
The short version
- Only Microsoft Edge 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.; Microsoft Edge outside the European Economic Area, Edge cannot be uninstalled from Windows, and Windows components such as Widgets, help links and taskbar search results open in it whatever the default browser is set to, so an organisation standardising on Chrome still has to manage and patch Edge.
- They diverge on capability: Cortex covers Service catalogue, Microsoft Edge covers Internet Explorer mode.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Cortex and Microsoft Edge actually diverge.
| Attribute | Cortex | Microsoft Edge |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | On request | Free |
| Pricing model | quote | free |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Web, API | Web |
| Category | Developer Tools | Technology |
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 Microsoft Edge
- Internet Explorer mode
- Enterprise Mode Site List
- Entra ID integration
- Purview DLP for browsing
- Intune and Group Policy
- Vertical tabs and Workspaces
- Sleeping tabs
- Chrome extension compatibility
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 Microsoft Edge
- An organisation where ownership of production services is genuinely unknown after reorganisations or acquisitionsnot Microsoft Edge
- Enforcing production readiness standards on new services at creation time rather than at incident reviewnot Microsoft Edge
- Replacing a self-hosted Backstage that is consuming a full-time engineer or two just to stay upgradednot Microsoft Edge
Microsoft Edge
- A Windows estate with intranet applications that still require Internet Explorer, where IE mode buys years before a rewritenot Cortex
- Microsoft 365 organisations that want browser sessions covered by Purview DLP and conditional access without a separate secure browser productnot Cortex
- Fleets managed through Intune that need one browser configured by the same console as the rest of the desktopnot Cortex
- Users who work with many tabs at once and want vertical tabs and automatic tab suspension without installing extensionsnot 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.
Microsoft Edge
- Outside the European Economic Area, Edge cannot be uninstalled from Windows, and Windows components such as Widgets, help links and taskbar search results open in it whatever the default browser is set to, so an organisation standardising on Chrome still has to manage and patch Edge.
- It is Chromium downstream, so Manifest V3 applies exactly as it does in Chrome; full-strength blocking extensions cannot run, and Microsoft's add-ons store adds a second review process rather than a workaround.
- Almost all of its advantage is conditional on Microsoft 365 and Entra ID; a Google Workspace or AWS-centred organisation gets Chromium plus Microsoft's promotional surfaces and none of the Purview, Intune or conditional access value.
- Consumer-facing features including Copilot, the Discover pane, shopping notifications and sidebar apps default to on and reappear after feature updates, so suppressing them requires a maintained policy set rather than a one-off configuration.
- IE mode is a bridge with a maintenance owner attached: the Enterprise Mode Site List must be curated by somebody, and MSHTML receives security fixes but no new capability, so an application parked there gains nothing and its eventual rewrite is only deferred.
- By default browsing data feeds Microsoft services for Copilot, Discover and shopping features, which in a regulated environment turns the deployment into a policy exercise before it can be approved.
Pricing, plan by plan
Cortex
On request- Cortex$undefined/year
- Service catalogue and ownership mapping
- Scorecards and initiatives
- Self-service templates
Microsoft Edge
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Microsoft Edge review.
Which should you pick?
Choose Cortex if
- You need service catalogue.
- You work on Web, API.
- You also want scorecards.
Choose Microsoft Edge if
- You need internet explorer mode.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want enterprise mode site list.
Questions people ask
- Is Cortex or Microsoft Edge better?
- Neither clearly leads. Cortex starts at On request and Microsoft Edge at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Cortex or Microsoft Edge?
- Microsoft Edge has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Cortex and Free for Microsoft Edge.
- Does Cortex or Microsoft Edge run on more platforms?
- Cortex runs on Web, API. Microsoft Edge runs on Web.
- Can I use Microsoft Edge for free?
- Yes. Microsoft Edge 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 Microsoft Edge is typically brought in for.
- What can Cortex do that Microsoft Edge cannot?
- Cortex covers Service catalogue, Scorecards, Initiatives, Self-service templates. Microsoft Edge covers Internet Explorer mode, Enterprise Mode Site List, Entra ID integration, Purview DLP for browsing.
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.
Microsoft Edge: Can I uninstall Edge from Windows?
In the European Economic Area, yes, because the Digital Markets Act requires it. Elsewhere you cannot, and several Windows components will continue to open it regardless of your default browser.
Cortex: Is pricing published?
No. Cortex requires a sales conversation and prepares a custom proposal.
Microsoft Edge: How long will Internet Explorer mode be supported?
Microsoft has committed to supporting IE mode in Edge through at least 2029. It is a migration window rather than a permanent home, since the underlying MSHTML engine gets security fixes but no new capability.
Cortex: Can it self-host?
It is offered as a hosted product; on-premise arrangements are handled through sales rather than published.
Microsoft Edge: Do Chrome extensions work?
Yes. Edge installs extensions from the Chrome Web Store as well as its own store. Manifest V3 restrictions apply identically, so extensions that Chrome no longer supports do not work here either.
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.
Microsoft Edge: Is it worth deploying if we are not a Microsoft 365 organisation?
Usually not for the management features, which depend on Entra ID, Intune and Purview. Without that stack it is Chromium with a different interface and additional Microsoft promotion.
Microsoft Edge: Does it run on Linux?
Yes, there are official Linux builds. Some Windows-specific features, including IE mode, are not available there.
Related pages
More on Microsoft Edge
Other head to heads
- Cortex vs Backstage
- Cortex vs OpsLevel
- Cortex vs Earthly
- Cortex vs Spacelift
- Cortex vs Atlantis
- Cortex vs Depot
- Cortex vs Nix
- Cortex vs SonarQube
- Cortex vs Keycloak
- Cortex vs Ona (formerly Gitpod)
- Cortex vs Vite
- Cortex vs Bazel
- Cortex vs Dagger
- Cortex vs Deep Code
- Cortex vs Deno
- Cortex vs Fig
- Cortex vs Frappe
- Cortex vs Git
- Cortex vs Mozilla Firefox
- Cortex vs Google Chrome
- Cortex vs Safari
- Cortex vs Kubernetes
- Cortex vs Thought Machine
- Cortex vs Productboard
- Cortex vs Apache Hadoop
- Cortex vs Asana
- Cortex vs Figma
- Cortex vs Docker
- Cortex vs Notion
- Cortex vs Datadog
- Cortex vs Redis
- Cortex vs Segment
- Cortex vs Supabase
- Cortex vs Confluent Cloud
- Microsoft Edge vs Backstage
- Microsoft Edge vs OpsLevel
- Microsoft Edge vs Earthly
- Microsoft Edge vs Spacelift
- Microsoft Edge vs Atlantis
- Microsoft Edge vs Depot
- Microsoft Edge vs Nix
- Microsoft Edge vs SonarQube
- Microsoft Edge vs Keycloak
- Microsoft Edge vs Ona (formerly Gitpod)
- Microsoft Edge vs Vite
- Microsoft Edge vs Bazel
- Microsoft Edge vs Dagger
- Microsoft Edge vs Deep Code
- Microsoft Edge vs Deno
- Microsoft Edge vs Fig
- Microsoft Edge vs Frappe
- Microsoft Edge vs Git
- Microsoft Edge vs Mozilla Firefox
- Microsoft Edge vs Google Chrome
- Microsoft Edge vs Safari
- Microsoft Edge vs Kubernetes
- Microsoft Edge vs Thought Machine
- Microsoft Edge vs Productboard
- Microsoft Edge vs Apache Hadoop
- Microsoft Edge vs Asana
- Microsoft Edge vs Figma
- Microsoft Edge vs Docker
- Microsoft Edge vs Notion
- Microsoft Edge vs Datadog
- Microsoft Edge vs Redis
- Microsoft Edge vs Segment
- Microsoft Edge vs Supabase
- Microsoft Edge vs Confluent Cloud