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Citrix Endpoint Management vs KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 19, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
5.7
Microsoft Intune boosts ROI by reducing costs, simplifying management, enhancing security, and increasing productivity through efficient resource use.
Sentiment score
5.0
Some users benefited from Citrix Endpoint Management with increased value despite licensing changes impacting financial benefits for others.
Sentiment score
7.3
KACE SMA increases efficiency and productivity, offering rapid ROI by streamlining operations and reducing time, costs, and staffing needs.
Everything we've gained from it makes my job easier day after day, and I see value in it as an engineer.
Importantly, when someone leaves the company, it helps protect document access on their devices.
Applications are deployed through Intune, and we see fewer tickets for common issues because we can resolve them through the solution.
After implementing Citrix Endpoint Management, there is a return on investment for my customers because we provide three services: first is the license, where we got margin; second, deployment service, which typically has two types—one where Citrix will do the deployment and the other where a partner should do it, and we deploy this solution for about 80% of the customers in India; third is after deployment support.
The return on investment is seen in the quick access to information, good inventory management, and efficient systems management.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
5.3
Microsoft Intune customer service varies, with premium services praised, but first-level support often lacks effectiveness and speed.
Sentiment score
5.4
Citrix Endpoint Management support is inconsistent; effective for major issues but slower for minor, less critical problems.
Sentiment score
6.6
KACE SMA support is praised for its expertise and 24/7 availability, with occasional room for flexibility improvement.
When a support ticket is submitted, it directly reaches someone with Intune support expertise.
When I contacted Microsoft, they had the same expertise, if not more, which is phenomenal because I felt heard and my problem was solved.
Sometimes, the support provided is excellent, and the representative is knowledgeable, while other times, the service needs improvement.
Technical support for Citrix Endpoint Management is not satisfactory.
This product requires some mature understanding, so sometimes they can handle small problems, but for major or architecture-related issues, their L3 or our L3 engineer helps them understand the problem.
The support from Citrix has been satisfactory.
I would rate the customer support for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) as a 10.
The customer service is very good, providing quick customer support in Spanish.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
6.9
Microsoft Intune is scalable, integrates with other Microsoft services, and offers flexible licensing, ideal for diverse device management.
Sentiment score
7.0
Citrix Endpoint Management is scalable and flexible, accommodating growth easily, though some face platform-specific challenges, particularly with iOS.
Sentiment score
7.2
KACE Systems Management Appliance efficiently supports various organization sizes, excelling in integration, scalability, and comprehensive network management.
The scalability of Microsoft Intune is ten out of ten.
Ideally, we want to automatically segregate devices based on user properties like primary use, but currently, dynamic groups seem limited to device properties.
It supports organizations with 200 endpoints and those with more than 15,000 endpoints.
My colleagues using iOS have faced issues, such as logging problems requiring frequent password entries.
The product is very scalable as it supports 10,000 thousand endpoints with just one appliance.
We have outgrown the size of one KACE appliance and are now running two.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
6.7
Microsoft Intune offers high stability and reliability, with minimal downtime and regular updates ensuring a seamless user experience.
Sentiment score
7.2
Users find Citrix Endpoint Management stable but note minor issues, occasional crashes, and concerns over future focus and enhancement.
Sentiment score
8.1
KACE Systems Management Appliance is praised for its stability, reliability, and efficient performance, with swift recovery during incidents.
We have not experienced downtime, bugs, or glitches.
Microsoft Intune has been very stable.
A couple of years ago, the performance was not as good as it is now, but there are noticeable backend improvements.
The solution's stability is below expectations.
The solution is stable, though there are occasional restarts, which are not critical.
 

Room For Improvement

Microsoft Intune needs enhanced reporting, improved platform integration, better device management, user-friendly interface, and advanced remote and security features.
Citrix Endpoint Management needs improved device support, UI, performance, updates, support response, and cost-effective licensing to satisfy users.
KACE Systems Management Appliance struggles with scalability, usability, customization, integration, image deployment, and technical support responsiveness.
Features like unlocking devices sometimes fail, and the support offered for other operating systems is insufficient.
There are communication issues, so you might start working with a feature without knowing if it will be deprecated six months from now.
Many third-party companies offer single-pane-of-glass reporting that shows you what your update environment looks like, how your patch is doing, application status, etc., but Intune's reporting is not intuitive.
The main issue is the change from perpetual licenses to subscription-based ones, which has increased our costs significantly.
With AI being present, they may increase some AI-related features in the future.
The units are not updating the operating system as specified in the policy.
Currently, we have to go into each org to deploy applications when we need them all across the university.
The user interface needs improvement as customers have mentioned they do not like the interface since it is not an SMA-based interface.
 

Setup Cost

Microsoft Intune offers competitive, flexible pricing, especially bundled, despite licensing complexity, making it appealing for enterprises and non-profits.
Citrix Endpoint Management pricing varies with licensing models, influencing costs from user fees to potential $40,000 deployments.
KACE Systems Management Appliance offers cost-effective enterprise solutions, although potentially expensive for small businesses, with no additional feature costs.
Introductory professional services, like a fast-track service, were included with our E5 membership, and there have been no additional costs.
The Intune suite and add-ons, such as batch management and remote help, are costly.
It costs approximately forty euros per user per month.
The switch to subscription-based licensing has made it much more expensive.
For this client, the solution has been quite cheap.
The setup cost pricing for Citrix Endpoint Management varies; I can say $3,000 per user license for setup.
The pricing is in the middle range of the market, not too expensive but not the cheapest either.
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is that, hands down, it beat all of the others in simplicity and pricing.
 

Valuable Features

Microsoft Intune enhances user experience with automation, robust security, and seamless Microsoft 365 integration, reducing IT workload.
Citrix Endpoint Management provides secure, efficient device management and app control for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone, supporting BYOD.
KACE SMA offers integrated, centralized IT management for efficient software deployment, asset management, and security with customizable inventories.
Intune excels in configuration and compliance management for Windows 10, ensuring devices receive timely updates and adhere to organizational standards.
Dynamic groups allow us to set conditions for automatic membership, eliminating the need for user intervention or manual review and ensuring a seamless workflow.
Windows Autopatch is the most valuable because it removes the burden of patch management.
We have found the ability to manage user accounts on shared devices valuable as it reduces the need for multiple licenses, which saves costs.
The change to a subscription-based model has removed the financial benefit we previously had.
Scripting has saved us hundreds of hours over the years when patching these vulnerabilities compared to how we did it before.
The most valuable features include simplicity, which makes systems management easier and faster, especially for device management.
 

Categories and Ranking

Microsoft Intune
Sponsored
Ranking in Unified Endpoint Management (UEM)
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
296
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (2nd), Remote Access (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
Citrix Endpoint Management
Ranking in Unified Endpoint Management (UEM)
10th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
14
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
KACE Systems Management App...
Ranking in Unified Endpoint Management (UEM)
8th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Client Desktop Management (3rd), Endpoint Compliance (8th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (12th), Patch Management (10th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 33.7%, down from 40.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Citrix Endpoint Management is 2.0%, down from 2.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is 1.8%, down from 2.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Unified Endpoint Management (UEM)
 

Featured Reviews

AkashKamble - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables management of multiple operating systems with a single license
The best feature is that it's a Microsoft product, so if anything goes wrong, we get quick support for anything required. Remote system functionality allows us to sit anywhere and take control of any device via remote management. We can enhance security for clients' laptops with built-in Microsoft Defender, which is available with the Microsoft Intune license. We use it for reporting purposes through endpoint analytics. When pushing scripting, there are two types available: remediation script and reservation script. Through endpoint analytics, you can push defender policies to clients. It helps with reporting, inventory updates, and monitoring tenant status health.
VivekKumar10 - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution supports seamless integration and promotes effective device management
For technical support of Citrix, I find they are responsive, but L1 is not very capable; this product requires some mature understanding, so sometimes they can handle small problems, but for major or architecture-related issues, their L3 or our L3 engineer helps them understand the problem.I would assess the technical support of Citrix as a seven from 1 to 10.
Scott Tweed - PeerSpot reviewer
Low maintenance, reliable, and easy to create packages
I like how when you click on the device, it shows you everything that has changed as well as the software versioning. I am really enjoying the inventory aspect of it. The deployment process for both deploying and creating a package is straightforward. I believe the inventory in KACE is superior to SCCM's. I know with SCCM I could do things like remote console into machines via the agent's remote console, but that is not a feature that is provided in KACE. I know that at least in the Systems Management Appliance, I can't get to it. I'm not sure how distribution works, with distribution points. I'm not sure if KACE has that feature. You could use an SCCM to set up distribution points at remote sites so that they don't have to download patches or software from across the country. If you have a DP or something similar, they could pull it down.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
9%
University
12%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?
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Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also ...
What do you like most about Citrix Endpoint Management?
One key feature is secure application delivery, which enables the secure delivery of mobile and web applications to e...
What needs improvement with Citrix Endpoint Management?
There is always room for improvement in Citrix Endpoint Management; any product requires multiple improvements, and t...
What is your primary use case for Citrix Endpoint Management?
Generally, Citrix Endpoint Management ( /products/citrix-endpoint-management-reviews ) is used to containerize the co...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Quest KACE Systems Management?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is that, hand...
What needs improvement with Quest KACE Systems Management?
I wish Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) would have a top-down approach since we use orgs; currently, we ...
What is your primary use case for Quest KACE Systems Management?
My main use case for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is to deploy applications and maintain security, a...
 

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
MobileManager, Zenprise, XenMobile
Dell KACE Systems Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Miami Marlins, Exelon, Louisville Gas and Electric Company and Kentucky Utilities Company (LG&E and KU), Flex, Chevron Phillips Chemical Company
Waypoint, Mattos Filho, Meetic, Gems Education, Green Clinic HealthSystem, Service King
Find out what your peers are saying about Citrix Endpoint Management vs. KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.