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 8.5, while Broadcom is ranked #15. Microsoft holds a 12.4% mindshare in PSP, compared to Broadcom’s 5.0% 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 324 Microsoft Azure reviews

28,777 Views
15,827 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Read 15 Pivotal Cloud Foundry reviews

5,477 Views
5,367 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Microsoft Azure

Pivotal Cloud Foundry

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 8, 2026

Microsoft Azure and Pivotal Cloud Foundry are competitors in the cloud services industry. Azure stands out for its vast integration with Microsoft products and global infrastructure, whereas Pivotal Cloud Foundry shines through its ease of deployment, particularly for Spring Boot applications, and open-source environment.

Features: Microsoft Azure offers robust integration with Microsoft products, a global data center presence, and extensive support for both Microsoft and non-Microsoft services. Pivotal Cloud Foundry focuses on an efficient, open-source platform with smooth application run-time, and provides straightforward CI/CD integration for rapid deployment pipelines.

Room for Improvement: Azure needs improvements in pricing transparency, user interface navigation, and security features. Pivotal Cloud Foundry could improve its documentation, enhance support for public cloud migration, and address concerns over future viability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Azure provides diverse deployment options suitable for public and hybrid clouds but faces criticisms over inconsistent customer support. Pivotal Cloud Foundry offers efficient private cloud deployments with a strong focus on rapid app development, though its customer support could be more seamless.

Pricing and ROI: Azure's pricing is competitive with options like pay-as-you-go and reserved instances, though users find the cost model complex. It delivers significant ROI through reduced hardware costs and scalability. Pivotal Cloud Foundry, despite high costs, offers a favorable ROI due to streamlined deployment and resource efficiency in its open-source environment.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Azure vs. Pivotal Cloud Foundry Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure vs. Pivotal Cloud Foundry

June 2026

Download the complete report

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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

324

Ranking in other categories

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

Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Ranking in PaaS Clouds

15th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the PaaS Clouds category, the mindshare of Microsoft Azure is 12.4%, down from 19.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pivotal Cloud Foundry is 5.0%, down from 10.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

PaaS Clouds Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Azure	12.4%
Pivotal Cloud Foundry	5.0%
Other	82.6%

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.

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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

"I like a lot of features. For example, the Windows virtual solution has helped in such a way that our client-based application was converted into a web-based version through the use of the Windows Virtual Desktop."

"Depending on the project requirements, I would recommend using Azure."

"We have a full Azure plus Office 365 implementation for servers and desktops, authenticating users on Azure AD over 802.1X switching and wireless, with no on-premise servers, domain controllers, or file servers."

"The solution is easy to scale."

"Microsoft Azure is flexible and the performance is great."

"The time to market is fast compared back to the traditional on-premise hosting, which is one of the better things I can say because there is no need to worry, as the Pack services will enable it to start immediately."

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

"We are managing the reinsurance company, so we are hosting the SAP application on the Microsoft Azure VM, and we can resize the VM quickly, which is very user-friendly and helps us manage all the customer requirements efficiently."

More Microsoft Azure pros

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

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

"The most valuable features of Pivotal Cloud Foundry are its ease of use and the command line interface has the ability to push instances to the cloud easily."

"The solution is stable and resilient. In our company, we do not even see any challenges with the solution."

"The solution is stable, and we have not experienced any infrastructure issues, so it is very good and captures a few metrics, onboarding to App Dynamics."

"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."

"Stability is not a concern with this product."

More Pivotal Cloud Foundry pros

Cons

"Performance could be improved."

"Microsoft Azure can be pretty advanced and difficult to understand. I would like it to be simplified, and the licensing especially needs to be simplified."

"The microservices and analytics of Azure are good areas that could be improved."

"Support could be improved. If you pay for a higher plan, it's okay, however, the lower plans don't offer as good of a service experience."

"They should optimize their pricing so that we can use more features. I would also like to see more auditing and more security for the Blob storage feature. From a technical point, it has very good features for Microsoft products, but for non-Microsoft products, it may have some limitations. I have mostly worked with Windows-based integration, and now I am trying to use it for open-source systems. It is good but not as easy as Microsoft products."

"What we experienced after two years with an Azure subscription is that there is good knowledge in Microsoft Partners for Azure, but generally they are too specialized and could not cover everything, because they always miss something related for example to networking, database, web apps, security, or integration on Azure."

"Technical support needs improvement. If you are able to get a rep then it's great. If not, you are left hanging."

"Monitoring options should be more sophisticated, as there are dashboards on which a end user is able to pin a lot of charts and a number of web parts, but for example, I would love to have some option like in Operational Management Suite."

More Microsoft Azure cons

"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."

"Pivotal Cloud Foundry is not scalable, infinitely, because when you install it on a set of virtual machines it is very hard to scale. It's easy to scale on an application level, but not it is not similar to if you were using Amazon. Amazon you can scale thousands of applications."

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

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

"The initial setup was not easy, it was a bit complex."

"Pivotal Cloud Foundry could improve the documentation. They are good, but they could improve more. Additionally, it would be beneficial if there were more use case examples."

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

"I would prefer to use Amazon AWS or Google Cloud Platform rather than Pivotal Cloud Foundry."

More Pivotal Cloud Foundry cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Microsoft Azure is expensive."

"Price is good and many free features available"

"Their licensing costs might be a little bit lower, compared to AWS, but I'm not sure. I think we get licenses, especially on long-term projects, on a yearly basis. It could be cheaper."

"The current pricing is on a pay-as-you-go subscription."

"It is not an expensive product and is adaptable to various requirements. It offers a free tier for small-scale usage and the ability to scale up as needed when requirements grow."

"There are no licensing fees."

"The pricing for the end-user packages is a bit high. It is full of very interesting services, but I would still like it to be less expensive."

"The subscription models can be confusing and it would be beneficial for them to simplify them. We are on an annual subscription."

More Microsoft Azure pricing and cost advice

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

"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."

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

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

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

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

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Comparison Review

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

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Construction Company

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

35%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Insurance Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	141
Midsize Enterprise	54
Large Enterprise	153

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Large Enterprise	11

Questions from the Community

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Comparisons

Google Firebase vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 9% of the time

Amazon AWS vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 7% of the time

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 6% of the time

Alibaba Cloud vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 5% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift vs Microsoft Azure

Compared 4% of the time

More Microsoft Azure Competitors

Amazon AWS vs Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Compared 17% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift vs Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Compared 9% of the time

Google Cloud vs Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Compared 9% of the time

VMware Tanzu Platform vs Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Compared 6% of the time

Cloud Foundry vs Pivotal Cloud Foundry

Compared 5% of the time

More Pivotal Cloud Foundry Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Azure

May 2026

Download Microsoft Azure product report

Buyer's Guide

Pivotal Cloud Foundry

May 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 is a versatile cloud platform known for its scalability, flexibility, and ease of use, offering comprehensive solutions like virtual machines, identity management, and data storage with robust security measures and global data centers.

Azure provides a straightforward setup with dynamic scaling and seamless integration with existing tools. Its robust security, compliance with privacy laws, and global data center presence make it a trusted choice for enterprises. With features supporting DevOps, IoT, AI/ML, and hybrid cloud environments, Azure facilitates efficient cloud migration and modernization, enhancing operational efficiency.

What are some of the key features of Microsoft Azure?

Scalability: Adjust resources automatically to meet demand.
Flexibility: Support for hybrid cloud setup and smooth integration with existing tools.
Virtual Machines: Extensive support for VMs to run various workloads.
Active Directory: Robust identity and access management services.
Data Storage: Diverse storage options for different data management needs.
Security Measures: Comprehensive security protocols and compliance support.

What benefits and ROI should users consider when evaluating Microsoft Azure?

Cost Efficiency: Managed services that reduce operational costs.
Reliability: High availability with global data center coverage.
Ease of Migration: Facilitates transition from on-premises solutions to the cloud.
Operational Efficiency: User-friendly interface and extensive training resources.

Organizations primarily use Azure for infrastructure services, application hosting, and data management across industries such as finance, healthcare, and retail. Resellers deploy cloud services for clients in private, public, and hybrid clouds, supporting enterprise applications and digital transformation projects.

Microsoft

Pivotal Cloud Foundry is a scalable cloud platform known for its deployment ease, monitoring, and auto-healing capabilities. It supports Java and Spring Cloud frameworks, offering a stable environment for microservices and seamless CI/CD integration.

Pivotal Cloud Foundry facilitates cloud-based application development, focusing on private cloud security and developer-friendly tools. Open-source advantages lead to enhanced performance and innovation, providing robust deployment crucial for enterprise environments. While integration and documentation need improvement, its strength lies in microservice management, application hosting, and compliance with data residency regulations. The platform addresses migration and security challenges within enterprises, particularly in financial services, by supporting cloud transitions.

What key features does Pivotal Cloud Foundry offer?

Scalability: Dynamically adjust resources to meet demand.
Auto-healing: Automatically recover from system failures, ensuring stability.
CI/CD Integration: Streamlined processes for continuous delivery.
Microservice Management: Efficiently handle application components.
Security Features: Protect data in private cloud environments.
Developer Tools: Simplify application development with open-source resources.

What benefits should users expect from Pivotal Cloud Foundry?

Increased Stability: Reliable and consistent platform performance.
Reduced Deployment Time: Quick setup and initiation of services.
Enhanced Security: Robust measures for data protection.
Cost Efficiency: Optimizes operational expenses for cloud transitions.

Pivotal Cloud Foundry is implemented widely in industries for deploying web and financial services applications, enabling microservices architecture within banking and enterprise environments. Its cloud diagnostic tools facilitate transitioning from on-premise to cloud-based systems, ensuring compliance with regulations and streamlined application hosting.

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

June 2026

Free Report: Microsoft Azure vs. Pivotal Cloud Foundry

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