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Azure Sphere vs Forescout Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 3, 2025

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 Sphere
Ranking in IoT Security
7th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
8.4
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Forescout Platform
Ranking in IoT Security
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (4th), Endpoint Compliance (3rd), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (15th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the IoT Security category, the mindshare of Azure Sphere is 4.1%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Forescout Platform is 11.1%, down from 16.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IoT Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Forescout Platform11.1%
Azure Sphere4.1%
Other84.8%
IoT Security
 

Featured Reviews

Chandrakant Deshmukh - PeerSpot reviewer
Has a learning curve that is easy to deal with for users
With the tool, the learning curve is really good. I don't have to spend time in long training sessions, which is typically required for other platforms. As my company is a Microsoft kind of shop, we have developers, making the learning curve easy compared to other tools. When it comes to integration with the back-end systems, manufacturing companies are still using some other apps in their environment. Getting data or pushing those analytics data back to the back-end systems is relatively simple while using Azure Sphere and other integration points, and so that is why there is a clear direction from our company's end customer that they need an Azure solution.
Odai Halawani - PeerSpot reviewer
It's an easy and effective solution, especially for device profiling without agents
Forescout Platform's most valuable aspect is its excellent device profiling for devices without agents, which is crucial for our work due to challenges with agent-based devices. Its isolation and blocking actions are particularly effective for network security. The device compliance feature helps us ensure device compliance through immediate actions like updating antivirus software. We have already integrated Forescout with antivirus and vulnerability assessment tools, allowing it to monitor vulnerability scores and automatically isolate devices if critical vulnerabilities are detected.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"When you use this solution, you get a dual processor with all the necessary security and Microsoft updates supplied. You don't have to be concerned about the security aspect related to IoT because Microsoft takes care of this."
"It's stable and the performance has been great."
"I think my team is comfortable with the installation of the product."
"Forescout is easy to integrate with a lot of end systems."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of deployment, which does not require the use of an agent."
"The most valuable features of the Forescout Platform are NAC for sharing, Network Access Control, and port sharing of the devices."
"Forescout CounterACT has allowed us to better open our access and control wireless access globally from our HQ. This allows us to monitor the network access for every office globally. This has improved overall security, reducing risk and opening up the opportunity to provide greater end user flexibility."
"Obtaining visibility into the network and connected devices is very simple with this tool. It takes me three minutes to do a base deployment when all the parameters are available."
"The valuable feature of the product stems from the fact that it is easy to implement."
"We really like that we get full visibility of devices in the local network."
"Within three or four days, we have complete visibility of your infrastructure on the network. Compared to other solutions, the deployment of the solution is easier and we can close the project quickly."
 

Cons

"The type of edge devices being addressed through the suite was limited."
"The lack of awareness of the products among our company's customers is a challenge that needs to be looked at and improved by Microsoft."
"One of the pain points of this solution is that the full Linux box is not exposed to all developers. This restricts what the applications can do as they cant be adjusted."
"The installation is not secure because it takes high admin privileges."
"Multitenancy should be included in the next version so it could be used as a managed service provider."
"Forescout Platform could improve the costs of integrations."
"This solution is not that easy to scale but this depends on a company's needs."
"The solution does have a bit of complexity, and there's some complexity in the deployment. Users need to be trained before undertaking an initial setup."
"The technical support could be improved in terms of response time and first-level support quality."
"Logging would be one area for improvement. When we're troubleshooting, there are not a lot of clear things on Google that we can look up for ourselves. When we have an issue with it, we have to call the company to get the vendors involved. The logging of Forescout is horrible compared to other things that we've used."
"I'd like to see improvements in the reporting aspect of Forescout Platform. While the dashboards are good, the reports are lacking and need enhancement, especially in terms of standardization and customization options. Apart from that, all the features and functionalities are working well without any issues."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution offers secure IoT communication to the cloud at a fairly low cost."
"The Forescout Platform's pricing is in the middle range, not too cheap or expensive."
"It might not be the cheapest solution, but you get what you pay for."
"It is expensive because you have to pay for their CSM, the customer's access manager, and their professional services on top of that, and they charge you roughly $400 per hour, which is overhead."
"It's about $160,000, but I'm not sure how long that is for or what it includes. Because we were a test base, we were provided with servers, but now, Forescout wants us to buy servers because those servers are now end-of-life or end-of-service. For our lifecycle management program, in order to get a refresh on those servers, we would have to buy servers or use our own network resources to house Forescout. Forescout takes up about 13 or 14 virtual CPUs."
"The product's pricing is reasonable."
"You can have a flexible license depending on your environment."
"The cost of the solution depends on the customer's requirement because the customer is asking for different integration with a different product. Forescout Platform's price would start to get a bit higher. However, overall the price is a little expensive. It's can fit within the customer budget."
"The price of the solution is reasonable. We have paid for the license for five years. We have integration with Symantec AV for orchestration, and we have an additional license."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise43
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Azure Sphere?
I think the license part is good enough as of now because as a company, we don't handle the license part. My company has a partner from Microsoft who manages everything for us, so we don't deal dir...
What needs improvement with Azure Sphere?
When it comes to the challenges or drawbacks associated with the product, I will not talk about the system. Our company's customers who are into manufacturing and other such businesses are not very...
What is your primary use case for Azure Sphere?
I use the solution in my company for process automation. Based on the kind of devices and architecture our company's customers use, our company is now fetching those data points and integrating the...
What advice do you have for others considering Forescout Platform?
Forescout is a very powerful NAC product that does not rely on port level configuration. It can detect and block unauthorized devices very quickly. But it has a lot of capabilities and really would...
What advice do you have for others considering Forescout Platform?
I would rate the Forescout Device and Visibility Control Platform at a six out of ten.
What advice do you have for others considering Forescout Platform?
I recommend doing a compression demo. If people use it, they will buy it. So they have to see the product in place. That's the main recommendation is to do a proof of concept. If they do, they will...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Forescout Platform, CounterACT for Endpoint Compliance, ForeScout CounterACT
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
NHS Sussex, SAP, SEGA, Vistaprint, Miami Children's Hospital, Pioneer Investments, New York Law School, OmnicomGroup, Meritrust
Find out what your peers are saying about Azure Sphere vs. Forescout Platform and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.