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Developer Tools · head to head

Cortex vs Shufti Pro

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
Full reviewWebsite
Shufti Pro logo

Shufti Pro

Cybersecurity

Identity verification and AML screening at the low cost end of the market

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

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.; Shufti Pro rates are not published despite the pay as you go framing, so the cost advantage over premium vendors has to be established through a quote rather than a price list.
  • They diverge on capability: Cortex covers Service catalogue, Shufti Pro covers Document verification.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cortex and Shufti Pro actually diverge.

Attributes where Cortex and Shufti Pro differ
AttributeCortexShufti Pro
PlatformsWeb, APIWeb, iOS, Android
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

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 Shufti Pro

  • Document verification
  • Facial biometrics
  • AML screening
  • KYB verification
  • Address verification
  • Age verification
  • Pay as you go option

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

Shufti Pro

  • A crypto exchange onboarding users in markets where premium vendors have poor document coveragenot Cortex
  • A gambling operator needing age assurance at high volume where per-check cost dominates the unit economicsnot Cortex
  • A gig economy platform verifying couriers whose documents are photographed on low end phonesnot Cortex
  • A startup that needs verification without signing an annual volume commitment before it knows its volumenot 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.

Shufti Pro

  • Rates are not published despite the pay as you go framing, so the cost advantage over premium vendors has to be established through a quote rather than a price list.
  • Accuracy on difficult document types trails the premium vendors, and the saving per check is often consumed by the manual review headcount handling the additional referrals.
  • The enterprise assurance profile is thinner than that of larger competitors, so regulated bank procurement teams frequently rule it out at the vendor risk stage rather than on capability.
  • Support responsiveness scales with contract size, and pay as you go customers have limited recourse when a document type suddenly starts failing in one market.
  • Country coverage is broad but uneven in depth, meaning the same product can perform very differently across two markets you are launching in simultaneously.

Pricing, plan by plan

Cortex

On request
  • Cortex$undefined/year
    • Service catalogue and ownership mapping
    • Scorecards and initiatives
    • Self-service templates

Shufti Pro

On request
  • Pay as you go$undefined/month
    • Consumption billing with no annual commitment
    • Rate quoted by sales, not published
    • Resubmission sessions stated as not billable
  • Monthly commitment$undefined/month
    • Lower per-verification rate against a volume commitment
    • AML screening and KYB priced as add-ons
    • Free trial available before contracting

Which should you pick?

Choose Cortex if

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

Choose Shufti Pro if

  • You need document verification.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want facial biometrics.
Shufti Pro review

Questions people ask

Is Cortex or Shufti Pro better?
Neither clearly leads. Cortex starts at On request and Shufti Pro at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cortex or Shufti Pro?
Cortex starts at On request and Shufti Pro at On request.
Does Cortex or Shufti Pro run on more platforms?
Cortex runs on Web, API. Shufti Pro 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 Shufti Pro is typically brought in for.
What can Cortex do that Shufti Pro cannot?
Cortex covers Service catalogue, Scorecards, Initiatives, Self-service templates. Shufti Pro covers Document verification, Facial biometrics, AML screening, KYB verification.

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.

Shufti Pro: Are failed attempts charged?

Shufti states that resubmission sessions are not charged and that billing follows successful verification attempts. Get that written into the contract, because it materially changes total cost.

Cortex: Is pricing published?

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

Shufti Pro: Is there a published price?

No. Plan structures are published but rates are quoted. Third party estimates put effective cost well below premium vendors.

Cortex: Can it self-host?

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

Shufti Pro: Can we start without a commitment?

Yes. A pay as you go option exists, which is unusual in this category and useful for early stage volume.

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.

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