Developer Tools · head to head
Cortex vs Sumsub
Cortex
Developer Tools
Internal developer portal that scores service ownership and maturity rather than just cataloguing services
- From
- On request
- Free plan
- No
Sumsub
Cybersecurity
Identity verification and AML screening priced per verification
- From
- $1.35/verification
- 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.; Sumsub the published per-verification rate is undercut by a monthly minimum of 149 or 299 dollars, so low volume businesses pay a much higher effective rate than the headline suggests.
- They diverge on capability: Cortex covers Service catalogue, Sumsub covers Document verification.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Cortex and Sumsub actually diverge.
Identical on both: 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 Sumsub
- Document verification
- AML screening
- KYB verification
- No-code flow builder
- Transaction monitoring
- Travel Rule
- Fraud and duplicate detection
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 Sumsub
- An organisation where ownership of production services is genuinely unknown after reorganisations or acquisitionsnot Sumsub
- Enforcing production readiness standards on new services at creation time rather than at incident reviewnot Sumsub
- Replacing a self-hosted Backstage that is consuming a full-time engineer or two just to stay upgradednot Sumsub
Sumsub
- A crypto exchange needing KYC plus Travel Rule handling under one contractnot Cortex
- A gambling operator entering several European markets and needing document coverage without a separate vendor per countrynot Cortex
- A fintech that wants a published price it can model in a business case before speaking to a salespersonnot Cortex
- A marketplace verifying both individual sellers and the companies behind them without buying two productsnot 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.
Sumsub
- The published per-verification rate is undercut by a monthly minimum of 149 or 299 dollars, so low volume businesses pay a much higher effective rate than the headline suggests.
- You are billed per verification attempt in most configurations, meaning applicant drop-off and resubmissions cost money without producing a customer.
- Pass rates and document support vary noticeably by country, and a market that works well in Europe can produce materially worse rejection rates in parts of Africa and South East Asia.
- The AML screening tier bundles list coverage that large institutions would normally buy separately and tune, giving less control over match thresholds than a dedicated screening vendor.
- The company originated in Russia before restructuring to a UK entity, and some financial institutions still raise that history in vendor risk review, which can slow or block procurement at conservative banks.
Pricing, plan by plan
Cortex
On request- Cortex$undefined/year
- Service catalogue and ownership mapping
- Scorecards and initiatives
- Self-service templates
Sumsub
$1.35/verification- Basic$1.35/verification
- 149 USD minimum monthly spend
- Document verification and liveness
- No-code flow builder
- Compliance$1.85/verification
- 299 USD minimum monthly spend
- Everything in Basic
- AML sanctions and PEP screening
- Enterprise$undefined/year
- Negotiated volume rate
- Custom jurisdictions and languages
- Dedicated support
Which should you pick?
Choose Cortex if
- You need service catalogue.
- You work on Web, API.
- You also want scorecards.
Choose Sumsub if
- You need document verification.
- You work on Web, iOS, Android.
- You also want aml screening.
Questions people ask
- Is Cortex or Sumsub better?
- Neither clearly leads. Cortex starts at On request and Sumsub at $1.35/verification, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Cortex or Sumsub?
- Cortex starts at On request and Sumsub at $1.35/verification.
- Does Cortex or Sumsub run on more platforms?
- Cortex runs on Web, API. Sumsub 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 Sumsub is typically brought in for.
- What can Cortex do that Sumsub cannot?
- Cortex covers Service catalogue, Scorecards, Initiatives, Self-service templates. Sumsub covers Document verification, AML screening, KYB verification, No-code flow builder.
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.
Sumsub: What does a verification actually cost?
1.35 USD on Basic and 1.85 USD on Compliance, but with 149 and 299 USD monthly minimums respectively. Below roughly 110 or 160 checks a month you are paying the minimum, not the rate.
Cortex: Is pricing published?
No. Cortex requires a sales conversation and prepares a custom proposal.
Sumsub: Do failed verifications get charged?
Attempts are generally billable, so a poor onboarding funnel raises your bill. Confirm the exact resubmission policy in your contract.
Cortex: Can it self-host?
It is offered as a hosted product; on-premise arrangements are handled through sales rather than published.
Sumsub: Does it cover business verification?
Yes, KYB with company registry lookups and beneficial owner resolution is part of the platform rather than a separate product.
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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- Sumsub vs Ona (formerly Gitpod)
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- Sumsub vs Fig
- Sumsub vs Frappe
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- Sumsub vs Jumio
- Sumsub vs Socure
- Sumsub vs Signicat
- Sumsub vs iDenfy
- Sumsub vs Trulioo
- Sumsub vs Veriff
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- Sumsub vs Quantexa
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- Sumsub vs NICE Actimize
- Sumsub vs Yoti
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- Sumsub vs Mimecast
- Sumsub vs Motorola Vigilant
- Sumsub vs Nessus
- Sumsub vs NordPass
- Sumsub vs One Identity