Developer Tools · head to head
Cortex vs Microsoft Sentinel
Cortex
Developer Tools
Internal developer portal that scores service ownership and maturity rather than just cataloguing services
- From
- On request
- Free plan
- No
Microsoft Sentinel
Cybersecurity
Cloud-native SIEM and SOAR solution
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
The short version
- Only Microsoft Sentinel 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 Sentinel billing is driven by the volume of log data ingested per day, so cost scales with log noise rather than with users or protected assets
- They diverge on capability: Cortex covers Service catalogue, Microsoft Sentinel covers AI-powered analytics.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Cortex and Microsoft Sentinel actually diverge.
| Attribute | Cortex | Microsoft Sentinel |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | On request | Free |
| Pricing model | quote | usage-based |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Category | Developer Tools | Cybersecurity |
| Founded | Unknown | 1975 |
Identical on both: platforms (Web, API), 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 Sentinel
- AI-powered analytics
- Fusion detection
- UEBA
- Automated response playbooks
- Threat intelligence
- Hunting queries
- Workbooks
- Incident management
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 Sentinel
- An organisation where ownership of production services is genuinely unknown after reorganisations or acquisitionsnot Microsoft Sentinel
- Enforcing production readiness standards on new services at creation time rather than at incident reviewnot Microsoft Sentinel
- Replacing a self-hosted Backstage that is consuming a full-time engineer or two just to stay upgradednot Microsoft Sentinel
Microsoft Sentinel
- Cloud-based security information and event management (SIEM)not Cortex
- Extended detection and response (XDR) across enterprise infrastructurenot Cortex
- Data ingestion and long-term security analyticsnot 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 Sentinel
- Billing is driven by the volume of log data ingested per day, so cost scales with log noise rather than with users or protected assets
- Commitment tier discounts require reserving daily ingestion capacity in advance, and a tier cannot be downgraded until 31 days have passed
- Commitment tiers start at 100 GB per day, above what smaller estates ingest
- Charges for Log Analytics, Logic Apps and Machine Learning are billed separately on top of Sentinel itself
- The free allowance is only up to 5 MB per user per day for selected Microsoft 365 security logs
- Promotional commitment pricing is time limited and locks in only until a stated end date
Pricing, plan by plan
Cortex
On request- Cortex$undefined/year
- Service catalogue and ownership mapping
- Scorecards and initiatives
- Self-service templates
Microsoft Sentinel
Free- Pay-As-You-Go$2.46/day
- Per GB ingested
- 90-day retention
- First 31 days free for new workspaces
- Commitment TiersFree
- 100GB to 50TB tiers
- Up to 65% discount
- Predictable billing
- Microsoft 365 E5Free
- Free data ingestion for M365 logs
- Bundled with E5 license
Which should you pick?
Choose Cortex if
- You need service catalogue.
- You work on Web, API.
- You also want scorecards.
Choose Microsoft Sentinel if
- You need ai-powered analytics.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api.
- You also want fusion detection.
Questions people ask
- Is Cortex or Microsoft Sentinel better?
- Neither clearly leads. Cortex starts at On request and Microsoft Sentinel at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Cortex or Microsoft Sentinel?
- Microsoft Sentinel has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Cortex and Free for Microsoft Sentinel.
- Does Cortex or Microsoft Sentinel run on more platforms?
- Cortex runs on Web, API. Microsoft Sentinel runs on Web, Api.
- Can I use Microsoft Sentinel for free?
- Yes. Microsoft Sentinel 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 Sentinel is typically brought in for.
- What can Cortex do that Microsoft Sentinel cannot?
- Cortex covers Service catalogue, Scorecards, Initiatives, Self-service templates. Microsoft Sentinel covers AI-powered analytics, Fusion detection, UEBA, Automated response playbooks.
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 Sentinel: How is Microsoft Sentinel pricing calculated?
Microsoft Sentinel uses a pay-as-you-go usage-based model where you pay only for data ingested, stored, and consumed. Flexible commitment tiers are available to reduce total cost of ownership, with specific rates not published on the public pricing page. Source: https://www.microsoft.com/security/business/siem-and-xdr/microsoft-sentinel/
SourceCortex: Is pricing published?
No. Cortex requires a sales conversation and prepares a custom proposal.
Microsoft Sentinel: Does Microsoft Sentinel require an Azure subscription?
Yes, Microsoft Sentinel requires a Microsoft Azure subscription to operate. Pricing is handled through Azure and varies based on data consumption and the commitment tier you select. Source: https://www.microsoft.com/security/business/siem-and-xdr/microsoft-sentinel/
SourceCortex: Can it self-host?
It is offered as a hosted product; on-premise arrangements are handled through sales rather than published.
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.
Related pages
More on Microsoft Sentinel
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