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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
6th
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
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (5th), Endpoint Compliance (5th), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (21st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the IoT Security category, the mindshare of Azure Sphere is 4.4%, up from 0.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Forescout Platform is 8.1%, down from 15.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IoT Security Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Forescout Platform8.1%
Azure Sphere4.4%
Other87.5%
IoT Security
 

Featured Reviews

Chandrakant Deshmukh - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior VP IOT at Mastek Ltd
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.
AshishKumar Rai - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Consultant at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Comprehensive visibility has strengthened endpoint control and automated threat response across networks
When it comes to improving Forescout Platform, I have faced some issues recently, particularly with the switch integration part. When integrating a switch, it asks for the vendor type, and often it does not match. For example, one series of HP switches may not be found in that vendor list. This leads to frustration because you have to check again with different HP models, and once you integrate a switch, you cannot edit the vendor list without removing it. Other issues are being worked on, particularly related to switch integration. I believe they will be fixed in the next upgrade or patch fix. There are no major issues, but the configuration changes needed for the switch model are necessary, and I think it would help if during integration, an admin user could check the password or credential used, as they currently cannot see the password after it is entered and saved.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"I think my team is comfortable with the installation of the product."
"It's stable and the performance has been great."
"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."
"The most valuable features of ForeScout is the fact that it can do network access control either with 802.1x or without 802.1x."
"Forescout has a feature that blocks the endpoint at the point of collection. It sets preconditions and will block the system if those aren't met."
"It's one of the tools that has given the federal government visibility into network devices and everything."
"We think it's simple. We think it's very useful and we really like reports and everything."
"Provides a good overview of all devices on a network."
"The Forescout Platform's most valuable features include its agentless configuration, which allows for easy integration with switches, and its broad customizability of rules and conditions for policy configuration. By leveraging its Network Access Control capabilities, the tool controls network access, allowing administrators to enforce policies tailored to the organization's needs."
"The best parts of Forescout Platform are its orchestration features, discovery capabilities, classification buckets, and flexibility in creating policies."
"The user management has been very easy for the most part."
 

Cons

"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 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."
"Although Forescout manages endpoints and network devices, there is no capability for user management."
"The product may not yield any return on investment since it is only used to make your environment more reliable and secure."
"For the user, the policy that they have implemented sometimes needs adjustments. Sometimes the features that the customer asks for aren't involved in the main installation, and I need to bolt an add-on in. However, I never know if this policy is the right one when I do this."
"Forescout needs to improve its cloud management and remote connectivity."
"Forescout Platform would benefit from using AI. Everything has to be set up manually, but AI can learn and suggest rules over time. It also lacks visualization, and some interface configurations need improvement. The visualization seems a couple of years behind compared to other products."
"For improvements, I think technical support could be enhanced. The time zone difference makes remote support difficult - I'm in Indonesia, and they're in the US. Maybe the Forescout Platform could provide engineers from Asia Pacific."
"Forescout Platform's technical support is slow to respond and could be more knowledgeable."
"Forescout Platform isn't flexible with connections to devices like printers and forces you to re-enter details like the MAC address after any breakdowns."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This solution offers secure IoT communication to the cloud at a fairly low cost."
"Forescout's pricing is noted for its attractiveness, with potential discounts depending on partnership levels."
"Forescout is more expensive than Cisco because Cisco gives high discounts."
"The ROI is priceless."
"The product's pricing is reasonable."
"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."
"The price of the Forescout Platform is expensive. I purchased it for approximately 94 lakhs."
"We might have paid in the ballpark of $20,000 yearly for our licenses. I do not recall there being other fees over and above the standard licensing fee."
"We went with the virtual appliance option. The biggest cost to running these types of appliances would be to either have multiple virtual appliances at every data center or running Remote SPAN hardware to provide you the real-time network visibility."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise44
 

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: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.