Cortezavs
Budibase
Budibase: If you want an open source low-code builder with a simpler learning curve and a commercial cloud tier with published pricing
Corteza
Apache-licensed open source low-code platform, formerly Crust, positioned against Salesforce
As of 31 August 2026, Corteza is free to use. A self-hostable low-code platform with a bundled CRM and case management app, owned by a Dutch foundation rather than by its main developer. Softwr lists it under No-Code. Corteza is made by Planet Crust (code owned by The Commons Conservancy), available on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker.
Overview
What Corteza does
Corteza is an open source low-code platform for building business applications: a data modelling layer, a drag-and-drop page builder, a workflow and automation engine, role-based access control, and a federation feature for sharing data models between separate Corteza instances. It ships with pre-built applications including a CRM, case management and service desk, so it can be deployed as a working system rather than as an empty toolkit. It was previously branded Crust and renamed Corteza in 2019. The ownership structure is what distinguishes it commercially. Crust Technology donated the project to the Commons Conservancy, a Dutch foundation, so the code is held by an independent body under Apache 2.0 while Planet Crust, an Irish company in Cork, remains the primary developer and sells support and services. This is not the usual open core arrangement: there is no proprietary enterprise edition holding back features, and the foundation ownership makes the licence bait-and-switch that has hit several open source competitors structurally difficult. For a public sector or regulated buyer with a long horizon, that governance is often the deciding factor rather than any feature. Buyers are public bodies, NGOs and mid-size European organisations that need data residency and want to avoid Salesforce licensing, plus integrators building vertical applications on a base they can ship. The trade-off is that Planet Crust is a small company, no pricing is published for its services, and the ecosystem around Corteza is thin: few third-party connectors, a small pool of developers who know it, and documentation that assumes you are comfortable with Docker and Go.
What people use it 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
Related searches
The honest half
Where it falls short
Concrete and checkable, so you can decide whether any of them matter to you. This is the half of a review a vendor will not write about 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.
Cross-shopped
What people choose instead of Corteza
Each pairing was judged by two reviewers asking whether a buyer would genuinely weigh the two against each other. The ones that failed were deleted rather than published.
- CortezavsAppsmith
Appsmith: If your requirement is internal tools over existing databases rather than a bundled CRM and case management suite
- CortezavsOdoo
Odoo: If you want open source business applications that already work out of the box rather than a platform you must build on
Pricing
What Corteza costs
Taken from the vendor's own pricing page. Prices move, so check before you buy.
Corteza community
Free
- Apache 2.0 licensed with no feature gating
- Low-code builder, workflow engine, CRM and case management included
- Self-hosted on your own infrastructure
- Community support via forum and GitHub
- No enterprise edition to upgrade to
Planet Crust support and services
On request
- Commercial support, hosting and implementation from Planet Crust
- Custom application development
- Training
- Pricing quoted per engagement, not published
Capabilities
Features
Corteza Low Code
Visual data modeller, page builder and record management for building applications without code
Automation and workflow
Visual workflow designer plus server-side scripting in JavaScript and Corredor scripts
Bundled CRM
A working CRM application supplied as a Corteza namespace you can modify freely
Case management
Service desk and case handling application included in the distribution
Federation
Share and consume data models across separate Corteza deployments without merging databases
Role-based access control
Permission rules down to individual records, fields and buttons
Corteza Messaging and integrations
Webhooks, REST API and connectors for wiring into external systems
Self-hosted deployment
Docker and Kubernetes deployment on your own infrastructure with PostgreSQL
Apache 2.0 licence
Permissive licence with no feature gating or open core split
Foundation ownership
Code held by the Commons Conservancy, separate from the commercial developer
Answered, with sources
Questions people ask
Each answer names the page it came from, so you can check it rather than take our word for it.
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.
Who owns the code?
The Commons Conservancy, a Dutch foundation. Planet Crust in Cork is the primary developer and sells commercial services around it.
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.
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.
Keep looking
Where to go from Corteza
- Corteza alternativesEvery product people weigh against it
- Corteza pricingPlans, floors and what the tiers exclude
- Corteza badgesWhich rules it meets, and the figure behind each
- All No-Code softwareThe full category
- Best No-Code softwareThe shortlist, and how it was cut
Best No-Code software for
Compare Corteza with
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- ToolJet
- Zoho Creator
- Appian
- Momen
- Kintone
- Mendix
- OutSystems
- Noloco
- WeWeb
- Directual
- Draftbit
- Pabbly Connect
- Stacker
- Thunkable
- Quickbase
- OutSystems
- Noloco
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Softwr does not host reviews and shows no star rating for Corteza, because a rating we did not collect is not ours to publish. What is here is the pricing and platform detail from the vendor’s own pages, limitations we could state concretely, and alternatives a reviewer confirmed people weigh against it. Tell us if any of it is wrong.
More on Corteza
Corteza alternatives
What people switch to, and what they give up
Corteza pricing
Every tier, and where the cost actually lands
Compare Corteza
Put it head to head with anything we hold
Corteza badge
Its rating, and an embed for your own site
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