What Azure AI Foundry does
Azure AI Foundry, now named Microsoft Foundry, is a platform to build, ground, and govern AI apps and agents. The site lists Foundry Models, model fine-tuning, a model router, Foundry Agent Service, the open-source Microsoft Agent Framework SDK, Foundry IQ, Foundry Tools, Foundry Control Plane, and Foundry Local. It is intended for organizations that build and scale AI solutions, including startups, software vendors, AI and data science teams, data engineers, IT administrators, and security professionals. Pricing is consumption-based. Exploring Foundry does not require an Azure account, but building agents does.
How Azure AI Foundry compares with its closest alternatives
2 of the 5 closest alternatives have a free plan, as Azure AI Foundry does. All 5 offer an API, as Azure AI Foundry does. Azure AI Foundry offers a web app. Of the 2 alternatives with platforms on record, all 2 offer a web app. Azure AI Foundry was founded in 2023; the alternatives were founded between 2019 and 2024, 1 of them earlier. Azure AI Foundry is based in Seattle, United States; 2 of the 3 alternatives with a known headquarters are in the United States too, and the others in Canada.