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Azure Bastion vs Plixer Scrutinizer comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 10, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure Bastion
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
24th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
12
Ranking in other categories
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (7th), Microsoft Security Suite (19th)
Plixer Scrutinizer
Ranking in Network Monitoring Software
54th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Network Traffic Analysis (NTA) (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Network Monitoring Software category, the mindshare of Azure Bastion is 0.2%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Plixer Scrutinizer is 0.4%, up from 0.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Network Monitoring Software
 

Featured Reviews

Deepanshu Thakur - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to use, good for creating complex infrastructures and modernized
Whether Azure Bastion handles network latency and large-scale connections is irrelevant as it is not something that is valid because it is just used as a code for configurations. It would not be right to frame a question where one asks how HTML CSS handles the network connections because network connection, bandwidth, connectivity, and concurrent connections are areas that depend heavily on the infrastructure as opposed to the code. The area revolves around code matters, but infrastructure is the key component. As Azure Bastion is there to create the infrastructure, it is not valid to discuss whether it can handle network latency and large-scale connections. Azure Bastion is a secure tool. I have not seen any AI capabilities in the tool. People can create complex infrastructure and a hierarchy, but it all depends on how they organize their code and files. If they organize it the right way, the entire solution and the entire infrastructure would be smooth enough to be deployed with Azure Bastion. I rate the tool an eight out of ten.
Ira Mulyanti - PeerSpot reviewer
An affordable product with great integration capabilities
Plixer Core Platform is a valuable feature and a good software. Plixer Scrutinizer uses NetFlow analysis to monitor whatever is there in a network. Price-wise, Plixer Scrutinizer is not an expensive product. Basically, Plixer Scrutinizer is an affordable product. Plixer Scrutinizer is a tool that allows for customization, especially in scenarios where customers need new product features. Plixer Scrutinizer is a tool that can integrate with any other brand or product in the market, so it is not an area of concern.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The solution's most valuable feature is that it is easy to use...It is modernized, so I can create complex infrastructures."
"The connection to virtual machines is very useful."
"Overall, I had a very positive experience."
"It provides all the security to us. Without getting on the internet, we can access our servers. We can access our desktop through our web browser. We don't need to run the mstsc command and login to the VM. All those things are not required."
"Azure Bastion eliminates the need for a jump server by providing secure access to servers without hitting the public network."
"Azure Bastion makes it easy to provide quick virtual machine access to our customers."
"The interface is available in the edit portal."
"The product's setup is easy."
"The reporting and generating troubleshooting reports would be the best feature; our host-to-host conversation reporting."
"It's agnostic as far as what your network gear is. As long as it supports an sFlow, JFlow, NetFlow, some kind of flow monitoring, Plixer will support it very well."
"The most valuable features of Plixer Scrutinizer are its ease of use, accessibility, and UI."
"We didn't experience any bugs."
"The solution helps to enrich the data context of our network traffic. It allows me to see what applications are most in use on a slightly historical basis, going back a day or week at tops. It allows me to tune QoS or traffic shaping around what's being used. It saves me from having to unnecessarily upgrade, if I don't need to."
"There are other tools out there that will do what Scrutinizer does. But what I have found with Scrutinizer is that it does it very quickly. I've taken 25 million individual data fragments from the different sensors, and it has graphed that and mapped it and presented a picture within 30 seconds. It has a very efficient database algorithm that I am really impressed with."
"The ability to view the status of the top-10 at a glance is helpful. We immediately know which link is over-utilized or heavily used... and it's all in real-time."
"One feature I found most valuable in Plixer Scrutinizer is the very extensive reporting. Reporting is very flexible, though sometimes you need a little bit of support from Plixer Scrutinizer to create custom-made reporting in a very short time. Reporting is a very strong feature of the product."
 

Cons

"Currently, Azure Bastion does not allow for direct data transfer between desktops. A storage solution must be created to transfer data, and this requires additional permissions like ACL or NFS."
"There is room for improvement with AI features. I would like to see integrated AI features with Azure Bastion, especially for connectivity issues."
"We are not able to copy and paste files directly into the server over the patch host. We have to transfer files over to Azure Storage."
"Azure Bastion does its job. However, it would be nice to have the capability to cut and paste across desktops, similar to old-fashioned Remote Desktop emulation."
"While general support is valuable, having a detailed breakdown of the specific issues would contribute to a more streamlined and efficient resolution process."
"When you have a boot issue on Windows, you cannot use Azure Bastion to fix it. You have to use the Azure console or the VM console, and it is very limited."
"Speaking of AI, having Microsoft Copilot in Azure Bastion would be good."
"The protocol speed could be faster."
"It would be useful if there was a way to back up the configuration information. E.g., if you wanted to deploy a new instance or disaster recovery, you could quite easily deploy and restore the config, as opposed to having to restore all the NetFlow data. If there was just a button that said "backup config information", that would be good."
"There is room for improvement around the data that they have on the website about solutions... they should have more templated solutions on their website. Going out and identifying how to do RTP performance with a Cisco router, or how to do application response times in an Arrista data center deployment was where most of the work was... They should spend some more time documenting solutions and putting together white papers."
"The visual acuity of how it presents data can sometimes be confusing. It takes a bit for people to spin up how to look at the graphs."
"Though Plixer Scrutinizer has network detection and response, it's an area that needs just a little more rounding out. Another room for improvement in the solution is its lack of SaaS offering which some customers were looking for. My company deals in small to medium businesses, mid-market, and some customers wanted the SaaS feature which Plixer Scrutinizer doesn't offer. What I'd like to see in the next release of the solution is for it to have a SaaS offering because my company also deals with educational spaces and smaller businesses that just don't have the staff that can implement this. If there's either a managed service or SaaS-based offering to just make it a little easier for those types of customers, it would be a great addition to Plixer Scrutinizer."
"For updating the Scrutinizer platform, when we have the actual data, it never happens in one day. Every time we have the data, we are obliged to install a new server in order to integrate the old data, and every time it has a problem. Most of the time, we were obliged to scrap all the data because we couldn't transfer it to the new server. So, it would be very good if they could improve this part."
"The reporting structure, the front-end GUI, also needs some work. It needs some getting used to. It works fairly well, but it's a technical tool rather than a user tool. You have to understand the structure of the databases before you can really use it."
"Knowing that they're coming out with a new user interface, that is an area where there is room for improvement. There are so many variables. They should limit the variables in the user interface and create some classes, like "simple," "novice," and "expert" to narrow down the variables within it."
"Data retention needs improvement. Data retention is a thing where we are looking for a better way to collect flow data for a longer time to do forensic research on security incidents. By default, data retention is quite low. We need detailed data in safe storage for a longer time, e.g., for a couple of months. An improvement would be a way to export data into a secure long-term storage."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It does not save money for us."
"Azure Bastion's pricing is good."
"The tool is cheaply priced. I would say that the product is free to use."
"The pricing is a lower decision point than high-quality security for our organization. Better security comes at a cost, but it's worth it, and that's what we tell our customers."
"Currently, the license for Plixer Scrutinizer is subscription-based and at a yearly fee. The price would depend on the amount of traffic you pull in. For example, there are several blocks from a 10K flow, a 40K flow, and a 100K flow, and based on the number of devices that you receive the flows from, that's the license, and it is not a per-interface pricing model, so that is a very strong, very competitive pricing feature of Plixer Scrutinizer. Licensing for the product is also not based on the number of storage, compared to some competing products that are priced based on the amount of storage you need, particularly based on the retention and the amount of data. Plixer Scrutinizer licensing is based on the device, and it's more in the direction of $10,000 because, with just $1,000, you don't have anything."
"The licensing cost for Plixer Scrutinizer is in the middle. It's not the cheapest, but it's not the most expensive. Its licensing model is based on how many exporters, how many devices export information to the system. Plixer Scrutinizer has different modules you could add such as the security module which would cost extra."
"There is a recurring maintenance fee after the initial purchase or if we want the license upgrade."
"We pay our one-off cost for the licenses, per device, in blocks of 50. And then we pay an annual maintenance fee of about $15,000 Australian, which is, at this point in time, about $9,000 US, for those 250 devices. The upfront costs for the 250-license use, were about $50,000 Australian, which is about $32,000 US."
"We have increased the license over time. We have added more licenses as the network has grown."
"I rate Plixer Scrutinizer's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price or affordable, and ten is high price or expensive."
"There are no extra costs. It's about $8,000 a year. The bang for the buck (cost) is definitely a plus."
"Compared to some of the other tools we have, it's incredibly reasonably priced."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Azure Bastion?
Azure Bastion makes it easy to provide quick virtual machine access to our customers.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Bastion?
Microsoft's pricing is on the higher side and could be more competitive. Startups and small organizations often prefer AWS ( /products/amazon-aws-reviews ) or GCP due to their lower costs, while la...
What needs improvement with Azure Bastion?
Azure Bastion does its job. However, it would be nice to have the capability to cut and paste across desktops, similar to old-fashioned Remote ( /products/remote-reviews ) Desktop emulation. I am u...
What do you like most about Plixer Scrutinizer?
Plixer Scrutinizer is an affordable product. Plixer Scrutinizer is a tool that allows for customization, especially in scenarios where customers need new product features.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Plixer Scrutinizer?
I rate Plixer Scrutinizer's price a three on a scale of one to ten, where one is low price or affordable, and ten is high price or expensive.
What needs improvement with Plixer Scrutinizer?
I don't have deep enough knowledge to comment on what requires improvements in Plixer Scrutinizer. In Plixer Scrutinizer, scalability is an area with minor concerns where improvements are required.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Oxford Networks, Squaw Valley Ski Holdings, UltiSat, Wipro, West Aurora School District 129, SUNY Geneseo College, Bloomington Public Schools, First National Bank of Pennsylvania, Kitsap Credit Union, Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County Houston Texas, Carilion Clinic, Banner Health, IDEXX Laboratories, Phibro Animal Health Corporation, Goodwill Industries, Parmalat, Armstrong Coal Company, Flybe, James Walker
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Bastion vs. Plixer Scrutinizer and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.