Developer Tools · head to head
Cortex vs Recraft
Cortex
Developer Tools
Internal developer portal that scores service ownership and maturity rather than just cataloguing services
- From
- On request
- Free plan
- No
Recraft
Design
AI image and vector generation for design teams
- From
- Free
- Free plan
- Yes
The short version
- Recraft is free; Cortex prices on request.
- Where Recraft falls short: free plan images are owned by Recraft and made publicly visible; commercial ownership rights only apply while subscribed to a paid plan.
- Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Cortex and Recraft actually diverge.
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 Recraft
Nothing recorded that Cortex does not also cover.
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 Recraft
- An organisation where ownership of production services is genuinely unknown after reorganisations or acquisitionsnot Recraft
- Enforcing production readiness standards on new services at creation time rather than at incident reviewnot Recraft
- Replacing a self-hosted Backstage that is consuming a full-time engineer or two just to stay upgradednot Recraft
Recraft
- AI-powered image generation and design creationnot Cortex
- Commercial-licensed asset creation for businessesnot 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
Recraft
- Free plan images are owned by Recraft and made publicly visible; commercial ownership rights only apply while subscribed to a paid plan
- Subscription credits reset every month and do not carry over, unlike separately purchased top-up credits which never expire
- Refunds are only considered within 30 days and only if fewer than 30 credits have been used
- Annual billing is required to get the 20% discount over paying monthly
Pricing, plan by plan
Cortex
On request- CortexOn request
- Service catalogue and ownership mapping
- Scorecards and initiatives
- Self-service templates
Recraft
FreeNo published plan breakdown. See the Recraft review.
Which should you pick?
Choose Cortex if
- You need service catalogue.
- You work on Web, API.
- You also want scorecards.
Questions people ask
- Is Cortex or Recraft better?
- Neither clearly leads. Cortex starts at On request and Recraft at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Cortex or Recraft?
- Recraft has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Cortex and Free for Recraft.
- Does Cortex or Recraft run on more platforms?
- Cortex runs on Web, API. Recraft runs on Web.
- Can I use Recraft for free?
- Yes. Recraft 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 Recraft is typically brought in for.
- What can Cortex do that Recraft cannot?
- Cortex covers Service catalogue, Scorecards, Initiatives, Self-service templates.
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.
Recraft: Is Recraft free?
Recraft offers a free plan where images generated are publicly visible in the community gallery and not licensed for commercial use. Paid plans (Basic, Pro, Teams) unlock full ownership and commercial rights but specific prices are not published.
SourceCortex: Is pricing published?
No. Cortex requires a sales conversation and prepares a custom proposal.
Recraft: How does Recraft's credit system work?
Recraft charges based on monthly credit allocation included with each plan. Additional top-up credits can be purchased separately and never expire, used automatically after monthly credits run out.
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
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- Recraft vs GitHub
- Recraft vs Backstage
- Recraft vs OpsLevel
- Recraft vs Earthly
- Recraft vs Spacelift
- Recraft vs Atlantis
- Recraft vs Depot
- Recraft vs Envoy
- Recraft vs Istio
- Recraft vs Nix
- Recraft vs SonarQube
- Recraft vs Ona (formerly Gitpod)
- Recraft vs Tilt
- Recraft vs Vim
- Recraft vs WarpBuild
- Recraft vs Webpack
- Recraft vs Avo
- Recraft vs Azure DevOps
- Recraft vs Xara Designer Pro+
- Recraft vs Adobe Creative Cloud
- Recraft vs CorelDRAW Graphics Suite
- Recraft vs Krea
- Recraft vs Magnific
- Recraft vs Framer
- Recraft vs Playground AI
- Recraft vs Figma
- Recraft vs Procreate
- Recraft vs Affinity Designer
- Recraft vs Canva
- Recraft vs Webflow
- Recraft vs Gravit Designer
- Recraft vs Inkscape
- Recraft vs Krita
- Recraft vs Linearity Curve
- Recraft vs Adobe Illustrator
- Recraft vs Adobe XD