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KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs Matrix42 Unified Endpoint Management comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 1, 2026

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

Microsoft Intune
Sponsored
Ranking in Unified Endpoint Management (UEM)
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
377
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (1st), Remote Access (2nd), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (1st), Microsoft Security Suite (1st)
KACE Systems Management App...
Ranking in Unified Endpoint Management (UEM)
12th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Client Desktop Management (2nd), Endpoint Compliance (6th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (11th), Patch Management (10th)
Matrix42 Unified Endpoint M...
Ranking in Unified Endpoint Management (UEM)
18th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (20th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 19.4%, down from 30.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is 2.4%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Matrix42 Unified Endpoint Management is 2.3%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Microsoft Intune19.4%
KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)2.4%
Matrix42 Unified Endpoint Management2.3%
Other75.9%
Unified Endpoint Management (UEM)
 

Featured Reviews

HA
Senior Business Development Executive at Digitaltrack
Centralized device management has automated onboarding and improves remote security compliance
One thing I feel Microsoft Intune could improve is troubleshooting visibility. In many cases, when a policy or application deployment fails, the error messages are a bit generic. So, admins still spend time checking logs manually or testing on devices one by one. Compared to the simplicity of deployment, troubleshooting sometimes feels less mature. I also think reporting and real-time monitoring could be stronger. The dashboard gives useful information, but in large environments, many teams still depend on additional tools or scripts for deeper reporting and analytics. If I had to focus on one area first, I would probably choose troubleshooting and reporting. Deployment through Microsoft Intune is generally straightforward, but when something fails, identifying the exact root cause can still take more time than expected. Error messages are sometimes too generic, and admins often have to dig through logs, sync status, or multiple portals to understand what actually happened. I think user experience and policy management could also improve further. Microsoft Intune has become much better over the years, but sometimes the admin portal still feels fragmented because certain configurations open in different sections or redirect to older interfaces. For new admins, especially, it can take time to understand where everything is located. Another thing is policy conflict handling. In larger organizations, multiple device policies, compliance rules, and configuration profiles can overlap. When conflicts happen, the visibility is not always very clear, so admins spend time figuring out which policy actually won or caused the issue.
AdityaJain - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Administrator at EbixCash
Centralized software deployment has simplified endpoint control but needs stronger security alerts
What I like best about KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is that it allows pushing custom-made applications to all computers that have KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) endpoint installed. This makes it easier for the organization to push patches and updates. If I need to push EDR updates, I can use KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA), as it automatically updates the EDR on that endpoint, and that is a great feature. Overall, KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) helps streamline my processes by allowing me to check the uptime and downtime of machines, whether they are connected to the internet or not, and how long a machine has been switched off. I can also gather hardware details and software inventory from it. I can show a live demonstration if a video conference can be arranged. Incident resolution capabilities with KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) have improved operational efficiency for system administrators, as it makes it easier to track machines with KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA), gather their IP addresses, and push several updates, patches, or software deployments at once. I can design compliances as per my requirements, such as ensuring passwords are reset after 45 days.
Sanjay Mukhopadhyay - PeerSpot reviewer
Director - Sales & Operations - India at Intertec Systems
It is a complete and competitive solution with excellent OEM support
Matrix42 is a complete solution in terms of functionality. Still, you need to understand whether it's also capable of managing Kubernetes containers to that extent, and this is not very clear in the product fact sheet. It’s possible with Ivanti MobileIron, though, and Matrix42 seems to be one step behind in this aspect. Likewise, in terms of integration, there is still room for improvement in Matrix42 to integrate with more third-party tools compared to Ivanti, which has a larger number of integrations due to its size. MobileIron is an older product that has evolved over time, offering advantages in terms of readily available third-party APIs and integrations.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Overall, my user experience with Microsoft Intune has been great."
"The product has eased the deployment of Microsoft apps to the devices. We can manage it properly. We can control it and push the updates. Another company helped us with the deployment. However, we can do it internally."
"If they have Office 365 or Azure, Intune is by far the best choice."
"My favorite feature of Microsoft Intune is the dashboard; the dashboard is very simple and user-friendly, and any person, even without prior knowledge, can understand it easily by seeing the interface dashboard."
"I have had a positive experience with Microsoft Intune; it simplifies device management, improves security, and saves time."
"It is a cloud-based service. It is easy to use and offers privacy."
"The Autopilot feature is the most valuable because it saves significant time on managing devices. We can ship devices globally, and users can set them up on their own. It's convenient."
"Its overall integration into Microsoft 365 is great."
"The initial setup is relatively easy."
"Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten."
"This product made the job easy to do without having to go put hands on the machines."
"The most valuable feature is the imaging of computers through the SDA... Being able to do that so quickly with the SDA, and to then use the SMA for reinstalling software, has been huge for our productivity."
"We're able to deploy software and push out fixes to endpoints faster than ever."
"The help desk is super simple to use and we saw our return on investment a long time ago, just in man hours alone."
"For what I use it for, the solution provides a single pane of glass with everything I need for endpoint management of all devices."
"The ability to build scripts right on the deployment center itself, as well as building groups that take those scripts/task chains has been absolutely invaluable and one of the most important parts of my whole environment."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the ability to assign a package to a user on a system If you have your software packages set up via SCCM. It automates the process, which is very convenient, especially since most of our people are remote. Additionally, the overall functionality is good."
"Matrix42 Enterprise Mobility Management offers on-premises deployment."
 

Cons

"What I'd like to see in their next upgrade is more in the context of today's security policies and what's needed, for them to keep adding features based on that, for example boosting security, so they can keep on adding security features, and that is the best they can do."
"Intune endpoint analytics can be challenging."
"There is always a noise when you are going to manage any endpoint devices, and noise is definitely there with this solution."
"The most significant issue I encounter is troubleshooting when a policy is not applying or a device is showing non-compliant; the error messages can be pretty vague, which makes it necessary for me to dig around and piece things together myself."
"Intune's privilege management feature, while beneficial, is less intuitive than other Intune features, making it challenging to use."
"Almost every day during the initial deployment, I would chat with technical support for solutions. They did not give me a suitable solution to solve the false positive alarms."
"The challenge we experience is with Mac management. We find Intune not capable enough to handle Mac devices, configurations, or operating system deployments."
"There is room for improvement, particularly in terms of compatibility, extending beyond the well-known major brands."
"When we have to do a rebuild on these machines, although it is rare, I would like to be able to do more than 10 at a time. With the current limit, it slows me down because I have to set up 10, then the next 10, and so forth."
"My biggest complaint is that almost every time they send out a new version, it fixes something and breaks another. Something that wasn't working in the last version now works, but something else stops; or they'll remove some dashboard that I really found to be nice and replace it with something totally different that I could care less about."
"The solution needs to have the ability to push out managed feature updates from Microsoft in a more seamless way."
"I would like for there to be improvement when it comes to Microsoft and Windows updates. It has the ability to do it but the control of it is not there like I have in the Windows Server Update Services. The way KACE does it is still very granular. You don't really see the process like it is in the Windows Server Update Services. I think that would be one of the biggest things that I would like to see KACE really put some work into and really make that a big enhancement."
"There is a Resolve issue whereby some workstations no longer report/check-in after a recent update."
"I've had some issues with patch catalogue, which seems to have expired."
"Paying for the product should come with full and extended training anytime it is needed."
"There is always room for improvement. An example will be the implementation of granulated permission to run Scripts."
"Matrix42 Enterprise Mobility Management could improve the user interface, it is not very intuitive."
"In terms of integration, there is still room for improvement in Matrix42."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It comes as a bundle, so you do not really know what the prices are. Microsoft does not break it down to the user cost for us. It is just bundled with our E5 license."
"The price of Microsoft Intune is reasonable."
"The pricing is inherently reasonable, as Microsoft leverages market insights to maintain the total cost of ownership at around ninety to ninety-five percent of what would be incurred in an on-premise scenario."
"Intune is included in the Microsoft 365 licensing package that we have."
"It's affordable. It's cheaper if you have an Office 365, E5, or E3 subscription because everything is there."
"It's affordable for the protection it gives. There are no additional costs."
"We don't get Intune as a separate module. Most of the time, we use it within an enterprise agreement like E3 or E5. Those licenses are at a good price, but what is annoying is that every single year they go higher."
"The overall pricing of Microsoft Intune is good for companies that have big IT budgets, 3,000 or more users and devices."
"The pricing is fair."
"Some of the other solutions were just astronomical in price compared with KACE and didn't necessarily have the ease of use either. So, we chose Quest KACE for its easy-to-use features and cost."
"Their pricing is per end-point device. There is an initial cost for the license for the server, which is pretty low, and then there is a per end-point device license, which is also fairly low. So, the pricing is still reasonable."
"The product is reasonably priced."
"Licensing is very straightforward. They don't overcomplicate it. This is not a Cisco product where you have to have 30 different licenses just to open the box. It's pretty much set-and-forget. You pay an annual license... The cost is in the mid to upper range, but the ROI exceeds the outside cost, especially once you've had the system for a while."
"Licensing is done on a per device basis, so it's dependent on how many agents you've got installed."
"The cost of KACE has been relatively low compared to other systems. Even if those systems have the same cost, they do not do as much of the third-party patching that KACE natively does."
"It may be more expensive, but you get what you pay for."
"I am not sure the price of this solution but I would imagine it is fairly expensive because of the complexity, you would not use it in a small company."
"Matrix42 is more affordable than Ivanti."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Construction Company
10%
University
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Outsourcing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Educational Organization
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business192
Midsize Enterprise62
Large Enterprise186
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise16
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

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What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?
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How does Google Cloud Identity compare with Microsoft Intune?
Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also ...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Quest KACE Systems Management?
In terms of cost-effectiveness, considering a situation where I want to deploy KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA...
What needs improvement with Quest KACE Systems Management?
For improvements in KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA), I would want to see it become a standalone software agen...
What is your primary use case for Quest KACE Systems Management?
I have deployed KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) around 230 plus PCs, and I use it to push Windows updates and...
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Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
Dell KACE Systems Management
Matrix42 Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM), Silverback Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM)
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
Waypoint, Mattos Filho, Meetic, Gems Education, Green Clinic HealthSystem, Service King
Partou Childcare
Find out what your peers are saying about KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs. Matrix42 Unified Endpoint Management and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.