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GFI LanGuard vs Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

GFI LanGuard
Ranking in Patch Management
11th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Quest KACE Systems Manageme...
Ranking in Patch Management
10th
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), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Patch Management category, the mindshare of GFI LanGuard is 2.4%, down from 3.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is 4.4%, down from 6.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Patch Management
 

Featured Reviews

Ted Mbugua - PeerSpot reviewer
Highly stable, quick support, and useful modules
My advice to others wanting to implement this solution is you do not have to be very technical to use it. When installing it, you only need to click next. Additionally, the support is helpful and knowledgeable. Their technical documentation is easily accessible. I rate GFI LanGuard an eight out of ten.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is that I am able to patch third-party solutions."
"The most valuable features of GFI LanGuard are the vulnerability assessment, it provides us with substantial insight into what applications are running on the endpoint systems and what vulnerabilities are there in the running applications. The second would be the assets tracking. I'm able to see in the network whether my endpoint server is operating and if all the other IT equipment is running in the environment. Additionally, GFI LanGuard is not heavy on system resources. It gives a competitive advantage over others."
"It is helpful to patch and scan vulnerabilities."
"The solution is easy to use and integrates well with other operating systems."
"The most valuable features in GFI LanGuard are patch management and vulnerability assessment."
"The most useful features of GFI LanGuard are vulnerability assessment and patching solutions."
"This product is a great solution at a great price as long as it is only going to be used for a local area network."
"I like that the solution can block users from unnecessarily putting devices on the network."
"I can reach people now that I couldn't have reached previously. We are saving about 25 percent in time."
"The service desk can be configured and customized to better serve our environment."
"We have our KACE agent deployed on all of our workstations and servers, and it provides us with reports on the hardware and software inventory for those."
"The initial setup is relatively easy."
"Using this solution saves us lots of time, especially when it comes to performing updates."
"Pretty much all of the features are valuable. The inventory is very helpful to be able to keep track of our devices. The deployments make it easy to deploy new software packages or upgrade packages. The help desk is also a great tool for tracking problems and problem tickets."
"The solution provides us a single pane of glass with everything that we need for endpoint management of all devices. It definitely has made our endpoint management process much easier."
"The scripting part increases IT productivity because of the specialized software in our environments for students' courses. You need to use software which is not programmed by developers. A lot of software for building houses or other things is developed by normal guys, who do not have much skill in programming. When you need to install this type of software, it is very difficult. You have to install registry keys, etc. For that, it is very good to use the scripting part of this solution. So, you can automate this part as well."
 

Cons

"The documentation on how to use this solution in a Linux environment is not clear, which is something that should be improved because it is complicated."
"The only drawback with GFI LanGuard is that you cannot directly integrate it from the Outlook email; instead, you have to first log in to the site to make changes."
"The version we are using only allows one person to use it at a time and does not allow multi-users."
"GFI LanGuard can improve by adding asset tracking."
"When you want to uninstall software from an endpoint, sometimes it becomes very problematic."
"This solution is limited to the local area network only and cannot manage remote devices."
"GFI LanGuard could improve the rollback feature. If we have installed the wrong we have had some issues with the rollback function. Additionally, more input from GFI LanGuard for the custom software push install."
"If GFI LanGuard had a cloud version it would be better for people that are working from home."
"It is a little bit difficult to use the license compliances because you need to decide when you are using the software catalog if you are using it with their license compliance or the normal software part. Under the inventory, you can use software as a menu link or software catalog. Most of my specialist software is not in the software catalog. When I try to import them, in my license compliances overview, there are cryptic names for this software that I have to import. That is not very good for the reports that I use. When I take them to my bosses, they see cryptic names of software that they don't understand. It would be much better for me if I could use software and the software catalog as well for the license compliances."
"Scalability is my primary concern right now."
"I still need better communication about which processes are really due and which processes are currently being processed. According to the initial setup service provider, there is still no real management or overview on KACE where you can really see 100 percent of what is going on as well as what is going to be processed next and whether I can influence the overall process. It could really help me if I knew, e.g. exactly in 10 minutes my colleague will be supplied with this or that software. I haven't found this yet. If they could add this, that would be cool. It is still missing and I haven't yet found something like this."
"It could be designed a little bit more intuitively in terms of administration."
"What could be improved is the possibility to use replicas in a secure way outside our network in order to maintain the machines that never connect to our corporate network."
"The customization of the interface needs improvement for things like end user tickets. While the functionality is good, some of that UI stuff does need improvement."
"Its dashboard needs improvement. Currently, there is no way to modify the dashboard. There should be more flexibility so that we can create views according to our use case."
"I think it should have the ability to have the applications automatically update. It would be really helpful if this would override what the user might choose to do."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"GFI LanGuard cost approximately $1,000 annually to use the solution."
"On a scale of one to five, with one being expensive and five being competitive, I would rate the price as a four."
"I rate the pricing of GFI LanGuard a four out of five."
"GFI LanGuard has very fair pricing compared to other similar solutions out there."
"GFI LanGuard isn't expensive."
"We are a gold partner and we receive favorable discounts. The price of GFI LanGuard is competitive. When you evaluate other solutions, such as ManageEngine."
"We pay annually for technical support."
"Licensing is done on a per device basis, so it's dependent on how many agents you've got installed."
"We are also saving on the licensing fee, compared to other endpoint management solutions."
"The pricing is fair."
"n terms of pricing and licensing, my advice is that you need to assess what you need and then look at what they offer. It's easy to get caught up in the things that you want, but don't really need."
"We need it, so we have to pay the price. It is what it is. If you need a gallon of milk, then you have to pay the price for it. You don't want to buy the cheap stuff. You want to buy the stuff that is organic and good for your body, which doesn't have all this other junk in it. You want it clean for your body. Quest has done that for our deployment and management systems."
"It may be more expensive, but you get what you pay for."
"We are a university. So, we have a very good price for the system. I think the price for the system is worth it because of the security patch management. The security patch management is very important for us. The price is very good for KACE SMA, the functionality you get, and the patch management."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Photography Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
University
11%
Government
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about GFI LanGuard?
The most valuable feature of GFI LanGuard is its email spam feature.
What needs improvement with GFI LanGuard?
The only drawback with GFI LanGuard is that you cannot directly integrate it from the Outlook email; instead, you have to first log in to the site to make changes. Instead of directly white listing...
What is your primary use case for GFI LanGuard?
Internally, as a user, I use GFI LanGuard for email and web monitoring.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Quest KACE Systems Management?
The pricing is in the middle range of the market, not too expensive but not the cheapest either.
What needs improvement with Quest KACE Systems Management?
The user interface needs improvement as customers have mentioned they do not like the interface since it is not an SMA-based interface and lacks a manual configuration option.
What is your primary use case for Quest KACE Systems Management?
The main use cases for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance are touch management, software and hardware inventory, and software delivery.
 

Also Known As

LanGuard
Dell KACE Systems Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

BayView Medical Clinic, FrugalBrothers Software, Zaw, National Theatre, American Red Cross
Waypoint, Mattos Filho, Meetic, Gems Education, Green Clinic HealthSystem, Service King
Find out what your peers are saying about GFI LanGuard vs. Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
859,957 professionals have used our research since 2012.