Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Azure Sphere VS AWS IoT

Compare Azure Sphere VS AWS IoT and see what are their differences

Azure Sphere logo Azure Sphere

Help protect your connected IoT devices, such as MCUs and crossover modules, development kits, and guardian devices, with Azure Sphere.

AWS IoT logo AWS IoT

Easily and securely connect devices to the cloud.
  • Azure Sphere Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-12
  • AWS IoT Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-28

Azure Sphere features and specs

  • Comprehensive Security
    Azure Sphere provides end-to-end security features that include hardware root of trust, defense in depth, and certificate-based authentication, which help protect IoT devices from evolving threats.
  • Cloud Connectivity
    Azure Sphere is designed to securely connect devices to the internet and enable seamless integration with Azure IoT services, allowing for efficient data management and analytics.
  • Simplified Development
    The platform includes a secure operating system and development tools that simplify the process of building and deploying secure applications for IoT devices.
  • Automated Software Updates
    Azure Sphere provides over-the-air updates, ensuring that devices consistently receive the latest security patches and software improvements automatically.
  • Scalability
    Azure Sphere is built to scale, making it suitable for small-scale deployments as well as large, complex IoT ecosystems, helping businesses grow without sacrificing security or performance.

Possible disadvantages of Azure Sphere

  • Initial Cost
    Implementing Azure Sphere may involve higher upfront costs due to the requirement of specific hardware and integration, which might not be suitable for all budgets.
  • Limited Hardware Compatibility
    The platform is designed to work with specific certified devices, which restricts the choice of hardware compared to more open systems.
  • Learning Curve
    Developers may face a learning curve when starting with Azure Sphere, especially if they are not familiar with Microsoft's ecosystem or IoT security best practices.
  • Dependency on Azure
    To fully leverage the capabilities of Azure Sphere, users might feel a dependency on Microsoft's Azure cloud services, which could lead to vendor lock-in.
  • Complex Deployment for Large Scale
    While Azure Sphere supports large-scale deployment, managing and orchestrating thousands of connected devices securely and effectively can become complex and require additional planning and resources.

AWS IoT features and specs

  • Scalability
    AWS IoT offers seamless scaling options to handle millions of devices and messages, allowing businesses to grow without worrying about infrastructure limitations.
  • Integration
    AWS IoT integrates effortlessly with other AWS services, such as AWS Lambda, Amazon S3, and Amazon DynamoDB, enabling a unified ecosystem for data processing and storage.
  • Security
    AWS IoT provides multiple layers of security, including device authentication and end-to-end encryption, to protect data and ensure secure communication between devices and the cloud.
  • Flexibility
    AWS IoT supports multiple communication protocols like MQTT, HTTP, and WebSockets, making it adaptable to a wide range of IoT devices and use cases.
  • Device Management
    AWS IoT includes features for managing and monitoring devices throughout their lifecycle, such as device registration, software updates, and diagnostics.
  • Analytics
    AWS IoT provides powerful analytics tools to process and analyze data from IoT devices, helping businesses gain valuable insights.

Possible disadvantages of AWS IoT

  • Complexity
    Setting up and managing an AWS IoT environment can be complex and may require a steep learning curve, especially for those new to IoT or AWS services.
  • Cost
    While AWS IoT offers a pay-as-you-go pricing model, costs can accumulate quickly, especially for large-scale deployments, making it potentially expensive for some businesses.
  • Internet Dependency
    AWS IoT relies heavily on stable internet connections for device communication, which can be a limitation in areas with poor connectivity.
  • Vendor Lock-In
    Using AWS IoT tightly integrates your IoT solutions with AWS infrastructure, which can make it difficult and costly to switch to other platforms or cloud providers later on.
  • Configuration Overhead
    The wide range of customization options and configurations can be overwhelming and may require dedicated resources to manage effectively.

Azure Sphere videos

Azure Sphere Overview

More videos:

  • Review - Introducing Azure Sphere
  • Review - Azure Sphere MT3620 Development Kit

AWS IoT videos

What is AWS IoT?

More videos:

  • Review - Introducción a AWS IoT
  • Review - AWS IoT in the Connected Home - AWS Online Tech Talks

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Azure Sphere and AWS IoT)
Data Dashboard
16 16%
84% 84
IoT Platform
17 17%
83% 83
Online Services
100 100%
0% 0
IoT
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, AWS IoT should be more popular than Azure Sphere. It has been mentiond 8 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Azure Sphere mentions (2)

  • BitLocker, TPM and Pluton | What Are They and How Do They Work
    Pluton is a dedicated physical chip that runs on Azure sphere architecture. It is very much out of band and is technically physically on the same die as the CPU, but the CPU has no control over it at all because it has its own dedicated self-maintaining operating system. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Operating System in the IoT space
    Microsoft developed a Linux-based operating system for IoT devices called Azure Sphere. But it hasn't really caught on. Source: over 3 years ago

AWS IoT mentions (8)

  • Automatically Applying Configuration to IoT Devices with AWS IoT and AWS Step Functions - Part 1
    In this blog post series, we will look at a simple example of modeling an IoT device process as a workflow, using primarily AWS IoT and AWS Step Functions. Our example is a system where, when a device comes online, you need to get external settings based on the profile of the user the device belongs to and push that configuration to the device. The system that holds the external settings is often a third party... - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
  • Building a serverless talking doorbell
    Iot - MQTT broker to send messages to the Raspberry Pi. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • GME NFT/blockchain is not to be a stock market...it's bigger
    " Amazon Web Services offers a broad set of global cloud-based products including compute, storage, databases, analytics, networking, mobile, developer tools, management tools, IoT, security and enterprise applications. These services help organizations move faster, lower IT costs, and scale. AWS is trusted by the largest enterprises and the hottest start-ups to power a wide variety of workloads including: web and... Source: over 3 years ago
  • What is AWS IoT Core and how do I use it?
    AWS IoT Core - message broker between all devices and AWS. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • Which Cloud Suite is preferable when the focus is more towards IoT/IIoT as potential future job search keyword?
    If you have to ask, then you should be using AWS by default. They have plenty of IoT services for you to fiddle around with and get started. Source: over 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Azure Sphere and AWS IoT, you can also consider the following products

AWS IoT Device Defender - Manage the security of your fleet. With AWS IoT Device Defender, you can audit and monitor device configurations. Get started today.

Particle.io - Particle is an IoT platform enabling businesses to build, connect and manage their connected solutions.

Armis - The leading enterprise-class agentless device security platform to address the new threat landscape of unmanaged and IoT devices.

Blynk.io - We make internet of things simple

Symantec Critical System Protection - Symantec Critical System Protection is a flexible and compact behavioral security engine built with application whitelisting infused with anti-exploits for managed or standalone IoT devices.

ThingSpeak - Open source data platform for the Internet of Things. ThingSpeak Features