A bus, not a workflow per interface
Logic Apps has no MessageBox, no pipelines and no BAM — each interface becomes a workflow you wire yourself. iQBus gives you pub/sub routing on promoted values, pipelines and one tracking console out of the box.
A better alternative to Logic Apps
The better alternative to Logic Apps for messaging estates.
Logic Apps is a workflow engine, and a good one. A BizTalk-shaped estate needs a bus: a message box, pipelines, pub/sub routing, partner agreements and one place to see every message. iQBus is that bus — on Azure, in your tenant.
Azure Logic Apps
iQBus · Azure-native ESB
iQBus · Azure-native ESB
Available onAzure MarketplaceSupportsSOC 2 & HIPAA
A clinical interface analyst at a dual-monitor desk and a nurse informaticist point at a message-flow dashboard in a hospital IT office
Integration teams that run on Cerebrum City engineering
Why teams choose iQBus over Azure Logic Apps
Three things that change on day one.
Per core, not per action
Consumption bills every action every message executes; Standard bills a hosting plan plus storage. iQBus is licensed per core and Starter has no licence fee — the meter does not follow your message count.
AI fully in your tenant
Logic Apps agent loops use Microsoft-hosted models and Microsoft's docs note that regional residency is not guaranteed. The iQBus AI Accelerator and MCP Server run inside your subscription — the only middleware with AI fully in-tenant.
Side by side
Azure Logic Apps and iQBus, capability by capability.
What each one meters, where it runs, what you build yourself and what comes in the box.
| Capability | Azure Logic Apps | iQBus |
|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | Actions executed, or a hosting planConsumption per action; Standard plan + storage | Cores you runStarter: no licence fee, ever — you pay only your own Azure |
| Messaging model | Workflows + connectorsNo MessageBox, no pipelines, no BAM | Ports, pipelines, pub/sub routingPromoted values, message types |
| B2B / EDI / HL7 | Integration Account requiredPartners and agreements live outside the workflow | EDI and HL7 in the runtimeIn production with customers today |
| Maps | Data Mapper, XSLTVia Integration Account | XSLT 3.0 mapsBizTalk maps convert |
| Tracking & exceptions | Run history per workflowCross-workflow tracing assembled in Log Analytics | One flow tracking dashboardSuspended runs, one-click resume |
| AI & agents | Designer Copilot, agent loopsMicrosoft-hosted models; residency not guaranteed | AI Accelerator + MCP ServerBoth run in your tenant |
| Making a change | Edit and save a workflow | Configuration, liveNo builds, no deployment windows |
| Where it runs | Your Azure subscription | Your Azure subscriptionSame tenant, same Entra ID |
Talk to an Integration Architect
Comparison reflects each vendor's publicly documented capabilities and pricing pages as of October 2026; details change without notice, so confirm against the vendor before you decide. Azure Logic Apps and the other product names are trademarks of their respective owners; iQBus is not affiliated with them.
Build your estate
Pick what your estate needs. See what it takes on Azure Logic Apps — and on iQBus.
Logic Apps turns every interface into a workflow, and B2B needs an Integration Account beside it. Tick what your estate needs and count the Azure resources you would create and wire — then look at the iQBus column.
Your estate needs…
On Azure Logic Apps you set up
On iQBus you configureResource counts follow Microsoft's documentation for Logic Apps (Consumption and Standard) and the Integration Account; Consumption bills per action executed and Standard bills a hosting plan, so no per-action dollar figure is shown. Based on each vendor's public documentation as of October 2026; confirm against the vendor before you decide. See iQBus pricing.
The people a bus serves
Pick a team. See what changes for them.
Hospital laboratory
Interface engineer
Every ORU, every ADT, one screen.
An interface engine is a bus with HL7 fluency. iQBus routes ADT, ORU and ORM on message type, maps them with XSLT 3.0 and shows each message's path — no Integration Account, no workflow per feed.
- HL7 in the runtime
- One-click resume for a stuck result
- iQBus supports HIPAA
3PL dispatch desk
Dispatch
Orders in, confirmations out, no gaps.
Dozens of shippers, each with their own 204/214/210 flavour. Partner agreements and maps live in iQBus, and dispatch sees exactly which load confirmation is waiting on what.
- Trading partners without an Integration Account
- Pub/sub routing per shipper
- Alerts to the desk, not a ticket
Month-end close
ERP team
The journal posted. Prove it.
Close depends on invoices, payments and inventory postings arriving in order and on time. iQBus tracking answers "did it post, and when" by tracking ID and message type.
- Search by tracking ID, date, message type
- Scheduler and SQL adapters built in
- Resume, don't re-key
Try it here
This is the tracking console. Go ahead and click.
The iQBus console with sample data. Follow a message through every port, map and pipeline, open a suspended run and resume it — the part you would otherwise assemble from logs.
- Switch between Flow and Table
- Filter by time or message type
- Play a scenario from Scenarios
Get iQBus
From Azure Marketplace to your own tenant, today.
No sales cycle to start. Get iQBus from Azure Marketplace, create it in your subscription, sign in with Entra ID and configure your first integration. Starter has no licence fee, ever — you pay only your own Azure.
Starter no licence fee · Grow and Enterprise licensed per core · no per-message, per-connection or per-partner metering · pricing
Microsoft Solutions PartnerCloud & AI Platforms · Cerebrum City, Atlanta, since 2007
Supports SOC 2 & HIPAAEntra ID · OAuth 2.1 · iQBus Auditing
- 1Open iQBus on Azure MarketplaceChoose Starter, Grow or Enterprise. Starter has no licence fee, ever.
- 2Create it in your own subscriptionRuntime, data and tracking land inside your Azure tenant — nothing runs outside it.
- 3Sign in with Entra ID and configurePorts, pipelines and maps in the web console; changes go live without builds or deployment windows.
- 4Let the AI draft the first flowDescribe it to the AI Accelerator, review the draft, use it. On Grow and Enterprise your own agents can build through the MCP Server.
When Logic Apps is the right call
For event-driven automation, approvals, SaaS connectors and workflows that are not really messaging, Logic Apps is excellent and we use it ourselves. iQBus is for the BizTalk-shaped part of the estate: many endpoints, trading partners, EDI and HL7, and the need to see every message in one place. Microsoft names Logic Apps as BizTalk's successor; many teams run both.
Not sure which shape your estate is? Ask an architect
Customer story
iQBus has been a real asset to the business. Its intuitive interface allowed us to implement EDI effortlessly, and the built-in transaction tracking gives us the visibility to manage operations with confidence.
Cheryl Patterson, Chief of Staff, CPA, Novelty Inc.
Read the case study (PDF)
Zero
downtime at cutover
See your estate, mapped to iQBus.
Send us your integration landscape — on Azure Logic Apps, BizTalk or anything else. An integration architect returns a tailored map of what carries over, what changes and how a phased move would run.
- Senior architects
- Runs in your Azure tenant
- Reply within one business day
You'll speak with a senior integration architect, not an SDR.
Common questions
Azure Logic Apps or iQBus, answered.
Still weighing it? Talk to an Integration Architect.
Further reading: The BizTalk alternative · BizTalk vs iQBus cost · iQBus pricing
Is iQBus a real alternative to Azure Logic Apps?
For a messaging estate, yes. iQBus is an enterprise service bus that runs inside your Azure tenant: receive and send ports, pipelines, XSLT 3.0 maps, pub/sub routing on promoted values, EDI and HL7, and a built-in flow tracking dashboard. Logic Apps is a workflow engine without a MessageBox, pipelines or BAM, so each interface becomes a workflow you assemble.
How is Logic Apps priced compared with iQBus?
Logic Apps Consumption bills per action executed, and Standard bills a hosting plan plus Azure Storage for stateful run history, per Microsoft's documentation; B2B partners and agreements also need an Integration Account. iQBus Starter has no licence fee; Grow and Enterprise are licensed per core, with no per-message or per-action metering. In both cases Azure is billed to your own subscription.
Isn't iQBus also running on Azure?
Yes — that is the point. This is not Azure versus something else. iQBus runs on Azure, in your subscription, with your Entra ID. It adds the ESB layer that a BizTalk-shaped estate needs on top of Azure.
Where does the AI run?
The iQBus AI Accelerator and the iQBus MCP Server run inside your own Azure tenant. Logic Apps agent loops use an Azure OpenAI model hosted in Microsoft Foundry, and Microsoft's documentation notes that the model can originate from any region, so data residency for a specific region is not guaranteed.
How do I try iQBus?
Get iQBus from Azure Marketplace and create it in your own subscription. Starter has no licence fee, ever — you pay only your own Azure. Or talk to an Integration Architect first and we will map your estate to iQBus with you.