Microsoft Azure vs Pivotal Cloud Foundry comparison

Microsoft and Broadcom are both solutions in the PaaS Clouds category. Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.3, while Broadcom is ranked #13. Microsoft holds a 15.7% mindshare in PSP, compared to Broadcom’s 7.2% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 93% of Broadcom users who would recommend it.

Microsoft Azure

Read 323 Microsoft Azure reviews

18,565 Views
10,953 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Read 15 Pivotal Cloud Foundry reviews

4,913 Views
4,864 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure

Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 2025

Microsoft Azure and Pivotal Cloud Foundry compete in cloud computing services and platform solutions. Microsoft Azure appears to have an advantage due to its scalability, flexibility, and comprehensive infrastructure that supports hybrid and public cloud environments.

Features: Microsoft Azure offers robust scalability, stability, and a vast array of security tools. It integrates Azure Arc for seamless hybrid cloud management and supports various programming languages, enhancing flexibility. Its AI capabilities, including Azure GitHub Copilot, enhance operations. Pivotal Cloud Foundry provides user-friendly deployment tools with features like CI/CD integration, auto-healing, and dedicated Java support.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Azure's complexity and customization needs pose challenges. Its pricing structure and documentation need refinement, and some users face technical support issues. Enhancements in AI and real-time data analytics are desired. Pivotal Cloud Foundry would benefit from improved security features and more effective public cloud migration tools. Its high pricing and limited configurative capabilities are noted concerns.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Azure provides extensive support and assistance for hybrid and public clouds, yet its complex setup can challenge new users. Pivotal Cloud Foundry offers straightforward deployment, especially for private cloud hosting. However, its support depends more on dedicated technical advice than a community forum, unlike Azure.

Pricing and ROI: Azure offers competitive pricing models, including pay-as-you-go, leading to potential cost savings with strategic use. Discounts on reserved instances and promotional credits enhance value. Pivotal Cloud Foundry is generally pricier, with costs varying by deployment size and feature requirements. Over time, Microsoft Azure tends to offer better ROI owing to its scalability and operational expenditure model, reducing long-term costs compared to on-premise setups.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Azure vs. Pivotal Cloud Foundry Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure vs. Pivotal Cloud Foundry

December 2025

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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

Microsoft Azure

Ranking in PaaS Clouds

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

323

Ranking in other categories

Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) (1st)

Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Ranking in PaaS Clouds

13th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the PaaS Clouds category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure is 15.7%, down from 20.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pivotal Cloud Foundry is 7.2%, down from 9.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

PaaS Clouds Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Microsoft Azure	15.7%
Pivotal Cloud Foundry	7.2%
Other	77.1%

PaaS Clouds

Featured Reviews

Syed Abid

Snr. Infrastructure Architect (Data Centre) at LogicEra

Versatile integrations and reliable customer satisfaction elevate cloud service experience

For Microsoft Azure improvement, they need to enhance their support system. The first level of support should be improved in terms of quality and response time. They need more technical support at the first level, as there are currently only one or two technical people among five to ten staff members at this level. They should ensure that the first level support is more technical because we normally provide services to technical users ourselves. When an issue arises, it usually escalates to the second or third level. When facing first level support, they may have limited knowledge and only collect screenshots to forward to their seniors. They should ensure that the first level support is aligned with L2 and L3 to better assist us, especially since we mention in the ticket that our issues are related to specific problems and require that sort of support.

Read full review

reviewer2263239

Head of Engineering at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees

PCF allows for fine-grained configuration, especially regarding scaling but routing limitations

Something that can be done better is canary deployment. So, right now, we're using blue-green deployment. The support for canary deployment would be nice. A few things, such as what OpenShift does better are cluster management. Like, you can manage the entire thing together. Currently, it's possible to manage all the clusters, especially when it comes to cluster management using straightforward configuration. As of now, we have to handle each application instance individually, which means servicing them one by one. It would be better if we could perform these actions as a group or in a more streamlined manner. One more downside is actually the cost of this environment. So, major downside of Pivotal, it's the cost. So, the runtime running costs are very high. Extremely high.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is stable and collaborative."

"There are a lot of things that we like about it. It is very easy to provision and configure. It is flexible and scalable."

"Azure Active Directory: Has powerful security and auditing capabilities that we use to secure all our apps."

"The most valuable aspect of Azure is the flexibility you have for all the services and solutions it offers, even if you use IaaS, PaaS, or SaaS, you have the option to only pay for the services you use."

"I have found Microsoft Azure to be stable. We have large corporate customers and it is working great."

"We are going to use Microsoft Azure to move some on-premise servers into the cloud so that our data can be held there."

"I think Azure's level of automation to achieve efficiency or agility is valuable. I also like the change capability cadence, the showback capabilities, and understanding what our costs are."

"I would definitely recommend Microsoft Azure as a platform to other businesses because of its cost effectiveness, scalability, the range of products, and ease of use."

More Microsoft Azure pros

"PCF is open, so the applications run really smoothly and with little downtime."

"It provides a set of developer-friendly tools that simplify application deployment."

"It is a scalable product...We are not facing any particular issues since most of the applications in our company are written in Java and .NET."

"I find the ease of deployment and management of microservices to be the most valuable features. The platform also has good auto-scaling capabilities."

"The most valuable feature of Pivotal Cloud Foundry is the UI, it is easy to use."

"Pivotal Cloud Foundry is very robust, especially for building Java."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is its ability to scale. The services that connect to the database are also very good."

"The most valuable feature of Pivotal Cloud Foundry is auto-healing and the plenty of other features that are provided."

More Pivotal Cloud Foundry pros

Cons

"The interface is not easy to use. I'd like to see them develop a better interface, more graphical information about the resource and the consumer."

"The market place can be raised, and the CMT can be more sophisticated to create more opportunities for the end users."

"I would like to see Internet content filtering included."

"One key area for improvement is the Azure load balancer. Currently, it only supports virtual machines (VMs) running in the same virtual network (vNet) on the backend. They should definitely support machines or IPs running on-premises (prem) or in other Azure VNets. GCP and AWS already support that. So, Azure Load Balancer should support that as well"

"Technical support could be improved."

"We need more customization and support for doing so."

"I don't understand why we spend so much time and money on Azure when Microsoft relies on third-party companies for support in the CSP model. I don't know how the support model works within Microsoft, but giving it to poor-performing third-party companies is not ideal."

"The price of the Azure license could be cheaper."

More Microsoft Azure cons

"Pivotal Cloud Foundry doesn't have certain advanced features."

"Regarding the setup phase, every step is a hurdle. With Pivotal Cloud Foundry, I won't get any proper resources for that. Even if I Google it, there is no proper solution for Pivotal Cloud Foundry."

"It is not straightforward to setup."

"Pivotal Cloud Foundry could improve on the technology it is a bit complex."

"I'd like to see a larger service offering."

"The user interface should be simpler to navigate because it t can take time for users to learn it."

"There is a lot of uncertainty surrounding the future of Pivotal Cloud Foundry."

"In the next release, they should offer additional applications for the databases, and improve the deployment experience."

More Pivotal Cloud Foundry cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Related to pricing and licensing, you have to be careful how you operate with the concept."

"The licensing fees depend on the number of users that we have."

"With every cloud solution, you have to know what you need and the cost can be fine. The price can be a little bit high depending on how you manage your costs, but overall it's still a bit cheaper than an on-premise solution but with the advantage of flexibility. You're always up to date with the software, you only need to use it. You no longer have to be concerned with the on-premise physical security. We do not need to create a data center, it's more convenient for us."

"The pricing of Microsoft Azure is not very flexible."

"It is competitive with other public cloud providers, and its price is very close to different cloud providers. There is not a noticeable difference between different cloud providers. Otherwise, it would be a risk for them to have services that were much more expensive than their competition. They're pretty much neck to neck on pricing."

"The license is on a monthly basis."

"It's a very expensive machine and I would like for them to improve the price. There are smaller sized competitors who offer cheaper prices."

"The pricing model can be improved because we find that Azure pricing is a bit high."

More Microsoft Azure pricing and cost advice

"The price of Pivotal Cloud Foundry could improve. However, in this category of solutions, they are all expensive."

"Licensing is on a monthly basis and right now we pay $24/month. There are no other costs over and above that."

"We do pay for the licensing cost because we have opted for a private cloud setup. So, it is a cloud setup, and we have to make payments based on the cloud size. I do not consider it very costly when comparing it to the market."

"The price of Pivotal Cloud Foundry is based on the customer's requirements. However, the price is comparable to other similar solutions."

"You're paying for the number of virtual machines you want to install in the installation."

"The pricing is on the higher side and there are cheaper options available."

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it_user8586

Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

Aug 14, 2013

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

University

Financial Services Firm

37%

Manufacturing Company

15%

Insurance Company

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	140
Midsize Enterprise	53
Large Enterprise	150

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Large Enterprise	11

Questions from the Community

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One of the best features of SAP Cloud Platform is that it is web-based and you can log in from anywhere in the world. SAP Cloud Platform is suitable for companies of any size; it works well with bo...

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How does Microsoft Azure compare to Google Firebase?

I would recommend Google Firebase instead of Microsoft Azure, simply for the array of features that it has to offer. In particular, the Firebase library grants you access to a shared data structure...

See all answers

Which would you recommend - Pivotal Cloud Foundry or OpenShift?

Pivotal Cloud Foundry is a cloud-native application platform to simplify app delivery. It is efficient and effective. The best feature is how easy it is to handle external services such as database...

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Comparisons

Alibaba Cloud vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 10% of the time

Amazon AWS vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 9% of the time

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 8% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 6% of the time

SAP Cloud Platform vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 6% of the time

More Microsoft Azure Competitors

Red Hat OpenShift vs Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Compared 20% of the time

Amazon AWS vs Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Compared 14% of the time

Google Cloud vs Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Compared 5% of the time

VMware Tanzu Platform vs Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Compared 5% of the time

Cloud Foundry vs Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Compared 4% of the time

More Pivotal Cloud Foundry Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure

January 2026

Download Microsoft Azure product report

Buyer's Guide

Pivotal Cloud Foundry

January 2026

Download Pivotal Cloud Foundry product report

Also Known As

Windows Azure, Azure, MS Azure

PCF, Pivotal Application Service (PAS), Pivotal Container Service (PKS), Pivotal Function Service (PFS)

Overview

Microsoft Azure integrates services and offers flexibility, ensuring compatibility with diverse environments. Its scalability, security, and cost-efficient features enhance deployment and management, making it ideal for infrastructure services and application hosting.

Azure provides a comprehensive suite of tools for application deployment, virtual machine management, and data analytics. It allows seamless integration with Power BI and offers a user-friendly interface supported by detailed documentation and technical support. Though users appreciate its capabilities, they sometimes face challenges with costs, setup, and interface complexity, alongside integration and performance issues. Frequent updates and a learning curve are also noted, though Azure's cloud-based security and scalability remain critical for disaster recovery and business continuity.

What are Azure's key features?

Integrated Services: Ensures compatibility with Microsoft and non-Microsoft environments.
Scalability: Supports growing business demands with flexible computing power.
Security: Offers robust cloud-based security features for data protection.
Cost Efficiency: Provides options that optimize costs for diverse requirements.
Application Deployment: Facilitates quick rollout of apps and services.

What benefits should users expect from Azure?

Operational Optimization: Allows companies to streamline processes effectively.
Innovative Efficiency: Empowers businesses to innovate with powerful tools.
Reliable Support: Backed by strong technical support and comprehensive documentation.
Flexible Cloud Solutions: Offers a range of options for cloud migrations and infrastructure management.

Microsoft Azure is widely implemented in industries like financial services, healthcare, and logistics for hosting enterprise applications and vital services. Companies utilize its capabilities for IoT applications, DevOps, and Kubernetes clusters, benefiting from its cloud migrations, data analytics, and active directory support.

Microsoft

Pivotal Cloud Foundry (PCF) is the leading enterprise PaaS, powered by Cloud Foundry. PCF provides a cloud-native application platform that allows you to continuously deliver any app to every major private and public cloud with a single platform. PCF is proven to accelerate feature delivery with higher developer productivity and a 200:1 developer to operator ratio. PCF's built-in security and self-healing capabilities reduce risk in your app portfolio while maintaining high-availability at scale to keep customer facing systems online even in the most challenging circumstances. pivotal.io

Broadcom

Sample Customers

BMW, Toyota, easyJet, NBC Sports, HarperCollins, Aviva, TalkTalk Business, Avanade, and Telenor.

Humana, Citibank, Mercedes Benz, Liberty Mutual, The Home Depot, GE, West Corp, Merrill Corporation, CoreLogic, Orange, Dish Network, Comcast, Bloomberg, Internal Revenue Service, Ford Motor Company, Garmin, Volkswagen, Solera, Allstate, US Air Force, Lockheed Martin, Boeing, ScotiaBank

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure vs. Pivotal Cloud Foundry

December 2025

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