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KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus comparison

 

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
7.3
KACE SMA increases efficiency and productivity, offering rapid ROI by streamlining operations and reducing time, costs, and staffing needs.
Sentiment score
4.4
ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus enhanced efficiency, security, and productivity with centralized management, automation, and an intuitive interface for users.
The return on investment is seen in the quick access to information, good inventory management, and efficient systems management.
Compared to other products, ManageEngine provides good return on investment within five years.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
KACE SMA support is praised for its expertise and 24/7 availability, with occasional room for flexibility improvement.
Sentiment score
4.6
ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus customer support is praised for its responsiveness and effectiveness, often receiving high satisfaction scores.
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.
Customer service and support are excellent, with a perfect score of ten out of ten.
The technical support from ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus is helpful.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
KACE Systems Management Appliance efficiently supports various organization sizes, excelling in integration, scalability, and comprehensive network management.
Sentiment score
4.1
ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus is scalable, supporting various OS and applications, adaptable for growing IT environments with minimal resources.
We have outgrown the size of one KACE appliance and are now running two.
The product is very scalable as it supports 10,000 thousand endpoints with just one appliance.
Scalability requires downtime for performance adjustments.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
KACE Systems Management Appliance is praised for its stability, reliability, and efficient performance, with swift recovery during incidents.
Sentiment score
6.8
ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus is highly rated for stability, performing effectively and efficiently without impacting resources during daily use.
 

Room For Improvement

KACE Systems Management Appliance struggles with scalability, usability, customization, integration, image deployment, and technical support responsiveness.
ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus needs better Mac OS support, UI simplicity, remote patching, targeting, pricing, and licensing improvements.
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.
When the patch testing works well, there is no need for patch management rollbacks.
Instead of separate technician licenses for each product, there should be a single bundled license to simplify licensing requirements.
 

Setup Cost

KACE Systems Management Appliance offers cost-effective enterprise solutions, although potentially expensive for small businesses, with no additional feature costs.
ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus offers cost-effective pricing with annual licenses from $3,000 to $5,000, varying by company size.
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.
There is a concern regarding the exchange rate as one dollar equals six reais today, making everything expensive in dollars for us.
ManageEngine's licensing model recently changed from being endpoint-based to server-based, which might affect costs during the next renewal.
 

Valuable Features

KACE SMA offers integrated, centralized IT management for efficient software deployment, asset management, and security with customizable inventories.
ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus offers centralized management, easy automation, and robust integration, supporting various systems with reliable patching and inventory management.
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.
The software covers platform security and application security, ensuring everything is updated at the endpoint level.
The vulnerability scanning highlights outdated PCs and users breaching policies.
It is valued for its role in addressing the vulnerabilities discovered by Insight VM.
 

Categories and Ranking

KACE Systems Management App...
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)
ManageEngine Patch Manager ...
Ranking in Patch Management
5th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.4
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Patch Management category, the mindshare of KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is 4.3%, down from 6.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus is 6.8%, down from 8.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Patch Management
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Waleed Omar - PeerSpot reviewer
Integration capabilities streamline management but automation and GUI need improvements
While it's a good feature, it needs some improvement. Different patch manager competitors have functionality with AI inside, so if that could be integrated, it would be much easier for the end-user to manage it. We have not started using remote patching; it's only on-premises. The GUI needs improvement, which would make it better for users. With the integration with the SIEM solution, there are some glitches, and if we need to integrate with multiple vulnerability management systems, it does not provide such support. We need to opt for one vulnerability engine, for example, either Rapid7 integration or CrowdStrike integration.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
12%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

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, hands down, it beat all of the others in simplicity and pricing.
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 have to go into each org to deploy applications when we need them all across the...
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, and we use it day-to-day to handle those tasks. With Quest KACE Systems Managemen...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus?
The pricing for ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus is reasonable. There is a concern regarding the exchange rate as one dollar equals six reais today, making everything expensive in dollars for us.
What needs improvement with ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus?
While it's a good feature, it needs some improvement. Different patch manager competitors have functionality with AI inside, so if that could be integrated, it would be much easier for the end-user...
 

Also Known As

Dell KACE Systems Management
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Waypoint, Mattos Filho, Meetic, Gems Education, Green Clinic HealthSystem, Service King
IKEA Honda UNICEF The University of Georgia Evander
Find out what your peers are saying about KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs. ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.