Like OpsLevel, Cortex makes it easy to onboard with templates for common use cases. But unlike OpsLevel, Cortex’s foundational differences in architecture, data integration, and platform extensibility enable a much broader and faster time-to-value across the entire organization.
OpsLevel requires manual definition and maintenance of teams, and deliberately avoids syncing with identity providers.
Alternatively, ownership in Cortex is always up-to-date, and our proprietary ML ownership model identifies ownership with 75-90% accuracy in predicting the correct owner of each service, ensuring your team has the foundation for fast time-to-value.
OpsLevel is still playing catchup with Scorecard capabilities. For example, OpsLevel scorecards rely on static custom event webhooks that can lead to outdated results, like incorrect “passing” scores in OpsLevel when vulnerability scans are outdated.
Cortex is the only IDP to offer continuous monitoring Scorecards, topped by an Initiatives & Notifications framework to drive action against short and long-term projects.
Cortex’s back-end architecture was built to support the largest number of enterprise customers. We are the most established player in the space, currently trusted by 100+ organizations like Adobe, Confluent, Docker, and SoFi.
OpsLevel doesn’t have enterprise-grade functionality like Engineering Intelligence, the ability to search your software ecosystem in a matter of seconds, or workflows that chain actions together in connected tools.
Pre-built catalog with auto discovery
Automatic sync of infrastructure including metadata/tagging/HA/live dynamic details
Ability to catalog anything, and customize based on your unique business needs
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Cortex lets you orchestrate multiple steps within the platform including provisioning infrastructure and scaffolding new code within the same workflow.
OpeLevel is not available on-prem
Whether you’re heavily regulated today or want to ensure flexibility for future business needs, with SaaS or on-prem, Cortex supports your evolving regulatory requirements.
When pulling custom data into OpsLevel, you have to manually define the data model first
If you need an integration beyond the 50+ Cortex provides out-of-the-box, you can easily extend the metadata using custom data.
No real-time querying; users must wait for scheduled updates to see new changes in data, such as whether a repository contains specific files.
With Cortex Query Language, find answers faster by asking questions like “who’s on call for services in our payment product?,” or, “which services are still on the old secrets manager?”
Plugins let you build apps that can be embedded in the Cortex UI and fed from any data source, including homegrown solutions, to bring everything developers need all into one place.
Cortex is typically more expensive than OpsLevel. Here’s why:
Fast ramp: 50+ out-of-the-box integrations and auto-discovery means faster setup and time to value for the most foundational part of an IDP—your catalog, with the ability to catalog anything, and customize based on your unique business needs.
Greater functionality: Cortex has far greater functionality in many areas of the platform. For example:
Live querying, dynamic data interactions, and real-time reporting
Continuous monitoring Scorecards topped by an Initiatives & Notifications framework to drive action against short and long-term projects
The ability to build and execute sophisticated workflows inside of Cortex, that are based on all of the contextual information that lives inside your workspace
More tools for developer productivity: Developers love Cortex for information discovery, onboarding, self-services, software scaffolding, and more.
Centralized data: 50+ integrations feed live catalogs, and devs can use Cortex Query Language to quickly answer questions like “what’s the full event history of this API?” or, “Which of my services are using a deprecated package?”
Self-serve actions: Workflows make it easy for devs to build and deploy using pre-approved templates, boilerplate code, and one-click actions. No more waiting on multi-week approvals.
On-call assistant: Devs can view prioritized tasks in their Dev Homepage, or get Slack/Teams alerts that package up all of the incident context they need to act fast.
Long-term success: The developer portal you pick is going to be part of your system for the next 10+ years of your engineering team. Cortex is the only IDP that has raised series C, and backed by leading investors, including Y Combinator, Sequoia, Tiger Global, and IVC, with over $50 million raised to date. We recently completed our Series C in 2024, showcasing strong investor confidence in our vision and long-term growth.
OpsLevel last raised $15 million in March 2022, and reports suggest they are struggling to secure Series B funding. Given limited runway, their financial future appears uncertain.
