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Comparison · Analytics
Cortex vs Fulcrum
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Cortex and Fulcrum — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Cortex vs Fulcrum: at a glance
| Feature | Cortex | Fulcrum |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Analytics | Analytics |
| Velocity score | 2.5 | 6.3 |
| Sparks · 30d | 0 | 0 |
| Top themes | metrics, prometheus, parquet, multi-tenancy | field data collection, ai assistant, mcp, gps |
| Last editorial update | 7d ago | 18h ago |
| Website | Visit → | — |
What is Cortex?
Cortex 1.22 is on its fourth candidate, with sharded Parquet and years of deprecated flags removed.
Cortex 1.22.0 has been in release candidates since 12 September, reaching rc.3 on 6 October, and GitHub shows no final yet. The candidate adds sharded Parquet conversion and querying, resource-based query eviction that cancels the heaviest query when CPU or heap crosses a threshold, OCI Object Storage as a backend, and an active-series tracker per tenant. It also removes long-deprecated flags and config fields, some of which now stop Cortex from starting if left in place.
What is Fulcrum?
Fulcrum lets AI assistants sign in to its MCP server with a normal account.
Fulcrum, a field data collection platform, opened its Insights AI assistant to all customers in October. Its weekly web release now adds OAuth sign-in for the Fulcrum MCP server in alpha, so outside AI assistants connect with a user account and see only what that role allows. The rest is GPS Device Capture support on repeatables and fixes across the web, iOS and Android apps.
Cortex vs Fulcrum: editorial side-by-side
Cortex
2.5ANALYTICS
Cortex 1.22 is on its fourth candidate, with sharded Parquet and years of deprecated flags removed.
◆ Current state
Cortex 1.22.0 has been in release candidates since 12 September, reaching rc.3 on 6 October, and GitHub shows no final yet. The candidate adds sharded Parquet conversion and querying, resource-based query eviction that cancels the heaviest query when CPU or heap crosses a threshold, OCI Object Storage as a backend, and an active-series tracker per tenant. It also removes long-deprecated flags and config fields, some of which now stop Cortex from starting if left in place.
◆ Where it's heading
The storage arc toward Parquet continues: after 1.21 made Parquet a Store Gateway query mode, 1.22 shards files that exceed column limits. A second arc is protecting shared clusters from heavy tenants, through query eviction, resource-based throttling and concurrent data-byte limits on store gateways. The cleanup is the maturity arc from 1.21 carried further: no-op flags that were tolerated for releases now fail at startup.
◆ Prediction
1.22.0 final should follow rc.3, which added only two fixes. Operators should expect upgrade failures from leftover deprecated flags, and the release notes tell them to grep runtime configs before upgrading.
Fulcrum
6.3ANALYTICS
Fulcrum lets AI assistants sign in to its MCP server with a normal account.
◆ Current state
Fulcrum, a field data collection platform, opened its Insights AI assistant to all customers in October. Its weekly web release now adds OAuth sign-in for the Fulcrum MCP server in alpha, so outside AI assistants connect with a user account and see only what that role allows. The rest is GPS Device Capture support on repeatables and fixes across the web, iOS and Android apps.
◆ Where it's heading
Fulcrum is opening its data to AI from both sides: Insights inside the product and MCP for assistants outside it. Role-scoped OAuth is the piece that makes the outside route usable without sharing API tokens.
◆ Prediction
The MCP sign-in is likely to move from alpha to beta in the weekly web notes, following how Insights and GPS Integration were labeled as they matured.
Alternatives to Cortex and Fulcrum
Other Analytics products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Cortex or Fulcrum.
Calibre
Calibre MCP lets your coding agent read RUM and Lighthouse data, then fix the slow code
Dovetail
Dovetail opens its docs to Claude and ChatGPT as co-authors.
Apache SkyWalking
SkyWalking 11.1 builds service maps from OpenTelemetry traces, no SkyWalking agent required.
OpenReplay
OpenReplay's feed is Helm chart bumps behind its asset-cacher deny list.
Tinybird
Tinybird shrinks its Local image by a third after a run of observability updates.
See all Cortex alternatives → · See all Fulcrum alternatives →
Recent activity from Cortex and Fulcrum
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 4d agoFulcrumWeb: MCP sign-in with OAuth (alpha), GPS capture on repeatables
- 5d agoFulcrumAndroid 2610.3.0: Follow Mode rotation and photo stability fixes
- 5d agoFulcrumiOS 2610.3.0: NMEA GPS accuracy and stability fixes
- 10d agoFulcrumWeb: bulk edit, PROJECTNAME() and Data Downloader fixes
- 11d agoFulcrumAndroid 2610.2.1: drill-down photo save fix
- 12d agoFulcrumiOS 2610.2.1: Save and Done button contrast fix
- 1mo agoCortex1.22 candidate 4 fixes tenant-deletion cleanup on GCS and Azure
- 1mo agoCortex1.22 candidate 3 fixes the ingestion-delay histogram
- 1mo agoCortex1.22 candidate 2 adds three bug fixes
- 1mo agoCortex1.22 candidate: sharded Parquet, query eviction, OCI storage
- 5mo agoCortex1.21.1 candidate hardens gossip, ingestion and status pages
- 6mo agoCortex1.21.0-rc.1 fixes memberlist, tenant federation and a memory leak
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Cortex and Fulcrum?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Fulcrum is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Cortex better than Fulcrum?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Fulcrum is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Analytics products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Cortex?
Top Cortex alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Cortex alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/cortex-metrics for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Fulcrum?
Top Fulcrum alternatives in Analytics are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Fulcrum alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/fulcrum for the full list with editorial commentary on each.