Developer Tools · head to head
Cortex vs Resolver
Cortex
Developer Tools
Internal developer portal that scores service ownership and maturity rather than just cataloguing services
- From
- On request
- Free plan
- No
Resolver
Cybersecurity
Risk, incident and investigations platform for corporate security and operational risk teams, owned by Kroll
- From
- On request
- Free plan
- No
The short version
- 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.; Resolver kroll ownership since 2022 means the product is sold alongside risk consulting services, so buyers who want software with no services attach should expect that conversation and should price the licence separately in negotiation.
- They diverge on capability: Cortex covers Service catalogue, Resolver covers Incident management.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Cortex and Resolver actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (On request), pricing model (quote), free tier (No), 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 Resolver
- Incident management
- Investigations
- Enterprise risk management
- Internal audit
- Compliance and obligations
- Business continuity
- Risk Event Management
- Configurable dashboards
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 Resolver
- An organisation where ownership of production services is genuinely unknown after reorganisations or acquisitionsnot Resolver
- Enforcing production readiness standards on new services at creation time rather than at incident reviewnot Resolver
- Replacing a self-hosted Backstage that is consuming a full-time engineer or two just to stay upgradednot Resolver
Resolver
- A national retailer consolidating store incident reporting, loss prevention cases and investigations into one system with defensible evidence handlingnot Cortex
- A bank that needs operational risk events captured against a risk and control register rather than in spreadsheets and emailnot Cortex
- A university security operations centre running dispatch, case management and clery-style reporting from a single recordnot Cortex
- An organisation that already retains Kroll for investigations and wants case intake and vendor handoff in the same platformnot 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.
Resolver
- Kroll ownership since 2022 means the product is sold alongside risk consulting services, so buyers who want software with no services attach should expect that conversation and should price the licence separately in negotiation.
- Configuration flexibility comes at the cost of implementation time, with deployments commonly running several months and typically requiring vendor or partner services, so the first-year cost is well above the annual licence.
- Module-based pricing means the platform gets expensive quickly once you add audit, compliance and continuity to a security-led purchase, and modules bought later rarely carry the discount of the original deal.
- The IT and cyber compliance side is thinner than dedicated tools, so organisations chasing SOC 2 or ISO 27001 evidence automation will find it does not replace a Drata or Vanta.
- Reporting is capable but the drag and drop builder has a real learning curve, and organisations that do not train an internal administrator end up raising support tickets for changes that should be self-service.
Pricing, plan by plan
Cortex
On request- Cortex$undefined/year
- Service catalogue and ownership mapping
- Scorecards and initiatives
- Self-service templates
Resolver
On request- Resolver Core$undefined/year
- Priced by modules selected and number of users
- Annual or multi-year enterprise agreement
- Implementation and configuration quoted separately
Which should you pick?
Choose Cortex if
- You need service catalogue.
- You work on Web, API.
- You also want scorecards.
Choose Resolver if
- You need incident management.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want investigations.
Questions people ask
- Is Cortex or Resolver better?
- Neither clearly leads. Cortex starts at On request and Resolver at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Cortex or Resolver?
- Cortex starts at On request and Resolver at On request.
- Does Cortex or Resolver run on more platforms?
- Cortex runs on Web, API. Resolver runs on Web, iOS, Android.
- 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 Resolver is typically brought in for.
- What can Cortex do that Resolver cannot?
- Cortex covers Service catalogue, Scorecards, Initiatives, Self-service templates. Resolver covers Incident management, Investigations, Enterprise risk management, Internal audit.
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.
Resolver: Who owns Resolver?
Kroll, which acquired it in 2022. It is marketed as a Kroll business and sold alongside Kroll risk and investigations services.
Cortex: Is pricing published?
No. Cortex requires a sales conversation and prepares a custom proposal.
Resolver: What does Resolver cost?
Pricing is not published. It is quoted by module and user count on an annual or multi-year enterprise agreement, with implementation charged separately.
Cortex: Can it self-host?
It is offered as a hosted product; on-premise arrangements are handled through sales rather than published.
Resolver: Is Resolver a SOC 2 compliance tool?
No. It is a risk, incident and investigations platform. Automated evidence collection for security certifications is not its strength.
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.
Resolver: How long does implementation take?
Months rather than weeks for a multi-module deployment, and most customers use vendor or partner services to configure it.
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- Resolver vs Frappe
- Resolver vs Git
- Resolver vs LogicManager
- Resolver vs Diligent
- Resolver vs MetricStream
- Resolver vs NICE Actimize
- Resolver vs Omada Identity
- Resolver vs Sardine
- Resolver vs Silent Eight
- Resolver vs Splunk Enterprise Security
- Resolver vs Varonis Data Security Platform
- Resolver vs OneTrust
- Resolver vs Rhombus Systems
- Resolver vs Trulioo
- Resolver vs ESET NOD32 Antivirus
- Resolver vs ExpressVPN
- Resolver vs Falco
- Resolver vs Fenergo
- Resolver vs Google Authenticator
- Resolver vs Grype