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10+ Best IoT Cloud Platforms in 2023

Author
Ivan Muts
Published
October 2, 2023
Time
10 mins to read

Table of Contents

    The global IoT market is gaining momentum. According to MarketsandMarkets forecasts, the global Internet of Things market size is expected to reach USD 561.0 billion by 2022. We can’t underestimate the Internet of Things impact on enterprise connectivity and exponential revenue growth. The Business Insider claims that by 2027, the IoT market will grow to over $2,4 trillion annually.

    And since we talk about statistics it is worth noting Statista’s predictions as well: the global market for IoT end-user solutions is expected to grow around 1.6 trillion by 2025.

    With those statistics in mind, you can now imagine the booming demand for IoT among businesses that are seeking custom IoT development services for their IT projects. So what is an IoT cloud platform and why do you need one? We will talk about this a bit later, but first, let’s look over IoT software development challenges to understand why IoT cloud platforms actually matter.

    IoT software development challenges

    In order to ensure scalable, secure, and robust IoT solutions, development teams need to be scrupulous in looking for new practices and protocols.

    Below is the list of some of the big technical issues IoT developers should pay attention to before creating software:

    If you are planning IoT app development, you are likely to be facing the above-mentioned challenges. Another difficulty you might encounter is the lack of information on the total cost of your IoT solution.

    To figure out the overall cost, you need to count the cost of all constituents of your IoT solution. The development of your solution can be broken down into 5 major layers – Hardware, Communication, Cloud Services, Software Application, and Security – and the choices you make on each layer will influence the cost. As we here in Euristiq have noticed, when it comes to IoT platforms aka cloud services and app development, the choices are vast, because one should consider other aspects such as the possibility to scale up, third-party integrations, UX/UI complexity, or inflicting changes to the scope on the go. We covered all these questions for you in our article The Cost of IoT.

    Now it’s time to tell you about IoT platforms and how they can optimize all the processes and mitigate risks.

    What is an IoT platform?

    A middleware that manages all the interactions between users’ applications and remote devices. Generally speaking, IoT platforms perform various operations in terms of management and automation of connected devices:

    With ready-made features and a reusable technology stack, IoT cloud platforms can immensely reduce development time.

    IoT platform architecture

    IoT system consists of hardware (devices, sensors, beacons, etc.), connectivity protocols (in other words IoT networks) that transmit data to and from middleware (IoT cloud platform), and application(s). The ioT platform acts as a mediator between the hardware and application layers. The main components, or better to say, functions of an IoT cloud platform are data storage and processing, connectivity and device management, analytics, and data visualization.

    iot platform architecture explained

    Why do you need an IoT platform?

    To make your IoT product successful, it is necessary to have a clear business idea and validate it on the market. With this purpose, building a prototype of your product and testing it with your target audience will bring significant value. Before you embark on the development stage, your initial product has to be in the hands of your target users and stakeholders. IoT cloud platform will help you get your customers’ feedback in the early stages which you can leverage into further IoT product development.

    Instead of building time-consuming and expensive software, choosing some white-labeled ready-to-use IoT platforms is a great option if you want to lower your upfront costs. Also, some vendors offer nearly ready-to-use platforms that are easily customizable, and some require much more integration and customization on the part of your engineers or external consultants. So think carefully about what solution works best for you: hiring software developers to create software from scratch or subscribing to an IoT cloud platform and doing much less job.

    Taking into account that risks are inherent in IoT projects, the paramount advantage of IoT cloud platforms lies in the significant reduction of technical threats and cybercriminal cases. IoT platform vendors take care of such issues as security and regulatory compliance. They are responsible for keeping software versions up-to-date, covering regulatory compliance, certifications, security documentation, and checklists.

    11 best IoT cloud platforms

    List of IoT cloud platforms compared at a glance in the following table:

    PlatformsInteroperability
    (communication protocols)
    Key offering and its main functionTop use cases
    Google IoTHTTP
    MQTT
    Google Cloud IoT Core
    Connectivity
    Device management
    Energy
    Smart parking
    Transportation & logistics
    Amazon Web Services IoT
    Platform
    HTTP
    MQTT
    WebSockets
    AWS IoT Core
    Connectivity
    Authentication
    Rules engine
    Development environment
    Smart city
    Connected home
    Agriculture
    Microsoft Azure IoTMQTT
    AMQP
    both over WebSockets
    HTTPS
    Azure IoT Hub
    Connectivity
    Authentication
    Device monitoring
    Device management
    IoT Edge
    Healthcare
    Retail
    Manufacturing
    Oracle IoT Intelligent ApplicationsHTTP
    MQTT
    Oracle IoT Cloud Service
    Connectivity
    Asset monitoring
    Data analysis
    Data integration
    Smart manufacturing
    Predictive maintenance
    Connected logistics
    IBM Watson IoTHTTP
    MQTT
    BM Watson IoT Platform
    Connectivity
    Device management
    Real-time analytics
    Blockchain
    Manufacturing
    Agriculture
    Smart buildings
    SalesforceMQTTSalesforce Service Cloud
    Connectivity
    Monitoring
    Data management
    Cloud orchestration
    Visualization
    Manufacturing
    Financial services
    Healthcare & life sciences
    Retail & consumer goods
    Cisco IoT Cloud ConnectMQTTCisco IoT Control Center
    Mobile connectivity
    eSIM as a service
    Machine learning to improve security
    Connected vehicles
    Manufacturing
    Smart city
    ThingsBoard Open-Source IoT PlatformMQTT
    CoAP
    HTTP
    ThingsBoard Community Edition
    Data collection
    Processing
    Visualization
    Device management
    Smart metering
    Smart energy
    Smart farming
    Fleet tracking
    ParticleHTTPConnectivity
    Hardware
    Software
    HVAC Systems
    Smart Energy Equipment
    Industrial Equipment
    Emissions Monitoring
    Light Electric Vehicles
    IRI VoracityMQTTData Discovery
    Data Integration
    Data Migration
    Data governance
    Data analysis
    Healthcare
    E-commerce
    Transport
    Kaa EnterpriseHTTP
    HTTPS
    MQTT
    MQTT/TLS
    MQTT/WebSocket
    MQTT/WebSocket/TLS
    Connectivity
    Configuration management
    Command execution
    Data collection
    Data management
    Hardware integrations
    Logistics
    Agriculture
    Healthcare
    Smart City
    Smart Energy
    Baby Tech
    Smart Retail
    Sport & Fitness

    So your IoT project has plenty of smart devices that need to be connected and the data obtained has to be placed, stored, and processed. We mentioned earlier that in-house deployment isn’t practical and cost-effective in comparison with IoT cloud platforms that are equipped with ready-to-use features and functionality that you can find useful and suitable for your project.

    There are multiple IoT cloud platforms available; we will go through the main ones, the leaders in the market. Which one to choose? It depends on your requirements and the platform’s advantages and disadvantages. Welcome to the IoT cloud platforms comparison.

    1. Amazon web services IoT platform

    aws iot cloud platform

    Amazon provides an extensive package of cloud IoT services where the core advantages are proven and scalable infrastructure supporting billions of devices and trillions of messages. Users can use the Amazon IoT platform for different purposes: industrial, consumer, and commercial.

    Features:

    AWS IoT Core allows secure and easy connections between devices and their interaction with cloud applications. Supporting billions of devices IoT Core can process messages and help keep track of all devices without the need to manage any infrastructure.

    AWS IoT Device Management simplifies the organization and monitoring of a large fleet of devices securely and on a scale with the ability to troubleshoot device functionality.

    AWS IoT Device Defender uses security best practices to control device authentication and authorization, ensure device identity, and encrypt its data.

    With the FreeRTOS operating system for microcontrollers, you can control and manage your small, low-power edge devices and connect them to other AWS cloud services or locally to other devices.

    AWS IoT Greengrass helps local storage, synchronization, and management of connected devices with ML capabilities.

    AWS IoT Analytics allows automatic analysis of a large amount of data from different device types for more sophisticated and accurate insights and ML use cases.

    The full in-depth descriptions of all the services you can find here.

    Pricing: There are no minimum fees, the billing process depends on messages sent and received. The more messages, the cheaper the plan. A free trial is available for 12 months and allows 2,250,000 minutes of connection and 500,000 messages.

    2. ThingsBoard open-source IoT platform

    ThingsBoard iot cloud platform

    ThingsBoard is an IoT cloud platform for device management, data collection, processing, and visualization for IoT projects.

    Features:

    Furthermore, ThinkBoard offers training sessions and support packages.

    Pricing: Subscription plans start at 10$ per month for up to 10 devices and 10 assets, and there are 5 plans to choose from. All these plans include unlimited customers, dashboards, integrations, API calls, data points, and messages.

    3. Microsoft Azure IoT

    Azure iot cloud platform

    With Microsoft Azure IoT solutions, you get a pre-customized workflow or can create the one tailored to your business needs. Microsoft Azure IoT Suite is versatile and comprises a variety of features covering every aspect of IoT design and development – from connecting devices to delivering insights to decision-makers. One of its strongest advantages is the focus on security.

    Services and features:

    Use cases:

    Pricing: Depending on the specifics and features, each Azure IoT service has a different pricing model. There are two tiers – basic and standard, and the price within each depends on the number of messages exchanged per day. A free tier allows up to 8,000 messages per day and up to 500 registered devices.

    4. Google cloud IoT platform

    GCP (Google) iot cloud platform

    Google IoT cloud platform is geared to capture real-time insights, store and analyze them at the edge and in the cloud. With ML and AI platforms, you get accelerated and advanced analytics and can predict business outcomes via BigQuery multi-data cloud warehouse where data is protected with encryption by default.

    Google IoT platform improves operational efficiency by supporting numerous operating systems. If your IoT assets are spread across cities, with Google Maps Platform you can get visualized real-time location data.

    Features:

    Pricing: per-second billing and committed-use discounts. With a cloud pricing calculator, you can see how much you can save up. The more data is stored, the cheaper it becomes. A free plan is available for the first 250 MB.

    5. Oracle IoT intelligent applications

    Oracle iot cloud platform

    Oracle is a global software corporation recognized as a leader in database management. Moreover, Oracle has large-scale IoT ecosystems with advanced protective mechanisms that differentiate it from other players on the market.

    Supporting extremely extensive databases, Oracle offers exceptional business-oriented opportunities for IoT systems across industries.

    Since not all devices and gadgets have security features built-in, it is of high priority to protect the IoT frameworks from outer risks. In the age of data breaches and cybercrimes, the utilization of advanced centralized security tools is a must-do. The capabilities of Oracle IoT systems are extremely reliable which makes them exclusive.

    Features:

    Pricing: Oracle price sheet is calculated per device and per month with a fixed number of messages. If the number is bigger, you will have to pay the additional costs.

    6. IBM Watson IoT

    IBM iot cloud platform

    IBM is a good representative of breakthrough technologies since they utilize innovative approaches toward IoT integration with artificial intelligence. With a wide range of tools and services available, IBM Watson IoT offers its customers the creation of highly efficient solutions from scratch.

    Features:

    Pricing: There are three main metrics on which the prices depend: exchanged data, analyzed data, and analyzed edge data. IBM Watson IoT Platform offers no free trial.

    7. Salesforce

    Salesforce iot cloud platform

    What makes this platform stand out from competitors? As Salesforce is a customer relationship management service offering enterprise solutions and cloud computing software, it accepts the client-first approach. Salesforce’s development efforts are narrowed down to an integrated system connecting IoT devices with customers.

    To automatically create excellent customer service Salesforce IoT operates via:

    Features:

    Pricing is at a fixed price of approximately $4000/month or on a quote basis. There is no free plan available.

    8. Cisco IoT cloud connect

    Cisco iot cloud platform

    Cisco IoT Cloud has developed a modern mobility-cloud-based software solution to reinforce relations with customers and optimize networks for spreading opportunities to increase revenues.

    Cisco IoT utilization can be leveraged across industries:

    Features:

    Pricing: Cisco reveals its pricing details upon request.

    9. Particle

    Particle iot cloud platform

    Particle is a platform created to support IoT products. It assists businesses in powering their devices to the cloud. The three main ingredients that make up a platform and make it effective are the Particle Photon, responsible for hardware, the Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that ensures proper work of software, and the Particle Cloud, for the Internet.

    With the smooth work of three components, IoT businesses manage to get their products to the market faster by speeding up prototyping and scaling. Particle platform is not constrained to one industry.

    Features:

    Pricing: Particle offers a free package that includes a comprehensive IoT kit. Such a subscription comes without a time limit and with a generous cellular data plan. The paid option envisages the purchase of blocks that cost from $299 per one. For those interested in operating more than 1000 devices, an Enterprise plan is recommended. Its price is provided upon request.

    10. IRI Voracity

    IRI iot cloud platform

    IRI Voracity serves as a tool for managing big data. It allows full control and multiple manipulations with data that businesses run daily. The main effort is focused on the collection, sorting, analyzing of information and turning it into a valuable asset.

    Features:

    Use Cases:

    Pricing: IRI Voracity offers a free trial and live demo. The pricing of IRI products is available via quote request.

    11. Kaa Enterprise IoT platform

    KAA iot cloud platform

    Kaa Enterprise is an IoT platform that enables connectivity and management of devices and IoT solutions. Kaa’s design is modular. It works on microservices that can be customized or integrated with other solutions.

    Features:

    Use Cases:

    Pricing: Kaa Enterprise has a flexible policy when it comes to subscriptions. The main factor that influences the price is the number of connected devices. Up to 5 devices cost $9.99 per month with the 14-day free trial available. Connecting up to 100 devices costs $77.99 monthly.

    What about creating your own custom IoT platform?

    After considering all those prices and options, a natural question comes to mind that we cannot ignore in this article – what about developing your own IoT platform and saving costs? Well, it’s not as it appears, because actually, using a third-party cloud server is cheaper than building it from scratch.

    Large companies that have strong technical support in-house may opt for building their custom IoT cloud platform as in the long run this investment will prove to be more cost-effective than continuous operational expenses on out-of-the-box solutions.

    But for the majority of companies looking to develop an IoT product to add it to their range of offerings, a custom IoT platform might not be the wisest decision. Bear in mind, that choosing the IoT platform vendor that offers a lot of additional components like storage, advanced analytics, device management, access to readily available partner networks, etc., might take a lot of problems from your agenda.

    How to choose a cloud IoT platform?

    We have made a comparative analysis of top IoT cloud platforms so that you have a variety of options to select for your IoT project. We cannot outline the best one since your choice has to meet the specific demands of your business. For instance, Amazon is the most established in the IoT field but it can be not suitable for your budget expectations. The platforms offering free tiers may be a good solution for the start since you can check out the features, weigh the pros and cons, and test their functionality.

    All of these above mentioned IoT cloud platforms have their unique features and benefits. To decide which solution fits the best, we recommend to explore the following set of criteria:

    With the complexity of software development systems, some CEOs are not sure if the ready-to-made solutions will satisfy all their business needs. That’s why there are IoT platforms that are built on top of existing IoT cloud platforms that offer extensive support and maintenance on each development stage of the project. So if you are looking for IoT experts for your IoT development project, contact us.

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