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No-Code · head to head

Corteza vs Whalesync

Corteza logo

Corteza

No-Code

Apache-licensed open source low-code platform, formerly Crust, positioned against Salesforce

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Whalesync logo

Whalesync

No-Code

Two-way real-time sync between no-code databases and SaaS tools

From
$40/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Corteza has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Corteza planet Crust is a small company of roughly a dozen or so people, so the entire commercial support capability behind Corteza is thin and a large deployment can outgrow the vendors ability to respond.; Whalesync pricing counts records held in sync rather than changes made, so a large but rarely edited catalogue costs the same as a highly active one and the economics punish exactly the datasets that need the least work.
  • They diverge on capability: Corteza covers Corteza Low Code, Whalesync covers Two-way sync.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Corteza and Whalesync actually diverge.

Attributes where Corteza and Whalesync differ
AttributeCortezaWhalesync
Starting priceFree$40/month
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feePer month by records in sync
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWeb, Linux, Self-hosted, DockerWeb

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (No-Code).

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 Corteza

  • Corteza Low Code
  • Automation and workflow
  • Bundled CRM
  • Case management
  • Federation
  • Role-based access control
  • Corteza Messaging and integrations
  • Self-hosted deployment

Only in Whalesync

  • Two-way sync
  • Live updates
  • Field mapping
  • Unlimited mappings
  • Backfill
  • Monitoring
  • Database connectors
  • Relational field support

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Corteza

  • A European public body that needs a case management system on servers inside its own jurisdiction with an auditable licence and no per-seat vendor feenot Whalesync
  • An NGO replacing a Salesforce donation that has run out, needing to keep the data model but remove the recurring costnot Whalesync
  • An integrator building a regulated vertical application it intends to resell, requiring a permissive licence it can ship commerciallynot Whalesync
  • A mid-size European company that wants one platform for internal applications and a sales pipeline without paying per seat as headcount growsnot Whalesync

Whalesync

  • A team that plans work in Notion but reports from Airtable and needs one edit to appear in both without anyone copying it acrossnot Corteza
  • A marketing site built in Webflow whose content is authored and managed in Airtable, kept in step continuously rather than republished on a schedulenot Corteza
  • A startup keeping a Postgres application database and an internal Airtable operations view aligned without building a sync servicenot Corteza
  • An agency keeping a client CRM and a project tracker consistent so account managers and delivery staff work from the same recordsnot Corteza

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Corteza

  • Planet Crust is a small company of roughly a dozen or so people, so the entire commercial support capability behind Corteza is thin and a large deployment can outgrow the vendors ability to respond.
  • No pricing is published for Planet Crusts support, hosting or implementation services, so the true running cost of a supported deployment cannot be estimated without a sales conversation.
  • The connector ecosystem is small compared with commercial low-code platforms, so integrations with common SaaS tools usually mean writing against the REST API rather than installing something.
  • Hiring is hard: almost nobody has Corteza on a CV, so you are training internal developers on a niche platform and you cannot easily replace them.
  • The bundled CRM is a starting point rather than a mature product, and teams that expect Salesforce-equivalent sales functionality out of the box will spend months building the gap themselves.

Whalesync

  • Pricing counts records held in sync rather than changes made, so a large but rarely edited catalogue costs the same as a highly active one and the economics punish exactly the datasets that need the least work.
  • The gap between the 1,000 record starter tier and the million record higher tiers is very wide with no published intermediate price, so a business at ten thousand records cannot tell what it will pay without contacting the vendor.
  • Bidirectional sync has conflict semantics, and when two people edit the same field in two tools within a sync interval one edit is lost, which is silent and only discovered when someone notices their change reverted.
  • It is a small company holding a live connection in the middle of operational data, so continuity risk is real and any team relying on it should keep an export routine and know how it would rebuild the mapping.
  • It syncs records between tools but does not transform or model data, so anything requiring aggregation, deduplication or business logic between the two ends still needs a separate tool or a warehouse.

Pricing, plan by plan

Corteza

Free
  • Corteza communityFree
    • Apache 2.0 licensed with no feature gating
    • Low-code builder, workflow engine, CRM and case management included
    • Self-hosted on your own infrastructure
  • Planet Crust support and services$undefined/year
    • Commercial support, hosting and implementation from Planet Crust
    • Custom application development
    • Training

Whalesync

$40/month
  • Starter$40/month
    • 1,000 records in sync
    • Live two-way sync
    • Unlimited mappings and row changes
  • Plus$undefined/month
    • Up to 1,000,000 records in sync
    • Live two-way sync
    • Unlimited mappings and row changes
  • Pro$undefined/month
    • Up to 1,000,000 records in sync
    • Priority support
    • Advanced field handling

Which should you pick?

Choose Corteza if

  • You need corteza low code.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker.
  • You also want automation and workflow.
Corteza review

Choose Whalesync if

  • You need two-way sync.
  • You also want live updates.
Whalesync review

Questions people ask

Is Corteza or Whalesync better?
Neither clearly leads. Corteza starts at Free and Whalesync at $40/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Corteza or Whalesync?
Corteza has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Corteza and $40/month for Whalesync.
Does Corteza or Whalesync run on more platforms?
Corteza runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker. Whalesync runs on Web.
Can I use Corteza for free?
Yes. Corteza has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Whalesync starts at $40/month.
What is Corteza best used for?
Corteza is most often used for a european public body that needs a case management system on servers inside its own jurisdiction with an auditable licence and no per-seat vendor fee, an ngo replacing a salesforce donation that has run out, needing to keep the data model but remove the recurring cost, an integrator building a regulated vertical application it intends to resell, requiring a permissive licence it can ship commercially, a mid-size european company that wants one platform for internal applications and a sales pipeline without paying per seat as headcount grows. Of those, a european public body that needs a case management system on servers inside its own jurisdiction with an auditable licence and no per-seat vendor fee and an ngo replacing a salesforce donation that has run out, needing to keep the data model but remove the recurring cost are not what Whalesync is typically brought in for.
What can Corteza do that Whalesync cannot?
Corteza covers Corteza Low Code, Automation and workflow, Bundled CRM, Case management. Whalesync covers Two-way sync, Live updates, Field mapping, Unlimited mappings.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Corteza: Is Corteza the same thing as Crust?

Yes. The project was branded Crust and renamed Corteza in 2019 when Crust Technology donated it to the Commons Conservancy.

Whalesync: How is this different from Zapier?

Zapier triggers one-way actions. Whalesync maintains a persistent mapping between two copies of a record so edits flow both ways without loops or duplicates, which two zaps cannot achieve reliably.

Corteza: Who owns the code?

The Commons Conservancy, a Dutch foundation. Planet Crust in Cork is the primary developer and sells commercial services around it.

Whalesync: What counts as a record in sync?

A record becomes counted the first time it syncs, and records are not double counted across the two applications, so a thousand paired rows count once rather than twice.

Corteza: Is there a paid enterprise edition?

No. Corteza is Apache 2.0 with no feature gating. Planet Crust sells support, hosting and development instead of a restricted edition.

Whalesync: Is there a free plan?

No, only a seven day trial. Paid plans start around 40 US dollars a month for a thousand records.

Corteza: Can it genuinely replace Salesforce?

For case management and a straightforward sales pipeline on a self-hosted footprint, yes. For a large sales organisation relying on AppExchange products and a mature ecosystem, no.

Whalesync: What happens on a sync conflict?

One side wins and the other edit is discarded. Teams that expect simultaneous editing of the same fields in two tools should establish an owning system per field rather than relying on the sync to arbitrate.

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