ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Intune comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Mar 16, 2022

We performed a comparison between ManageEngine Desktop Central and Microsoft Intune based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Users of ManageEngine Desktop Central say that implementation is fairly simple and easy. Most Microsoft Intune users, with the exception of a few, also found that deployment was not complex and the initial setup was straightforward.  
  • Features: Valuable features of ManageEngine Desktop Central include a simple provisioning process, patching, a software deployment feature, stability, good scalability, remote troubleshooting, ease of use, solid performance, an inventory feature, and automatic alerts for new releases or updates. Some users feel that ManageEngine Desktop Central lacks some configuration and could improve their documentation and integration. They would also like to see a future SaaS version.

    Microsoft Intune users like the application deployment features, its MAM feature, its single-pane view, security and customization capabilities, its protection policies, integration with conditional access, its autopilot feature, its Windows auto-enrollment, and its stability. However, Microsoft Intune users feel that the Intune dashboard needs a lot of improvement, and that the overall flexibility could be better. 
  • Pricing: ManageEngine Desktop Central users all agree that their pricing is very affordable. Some even consider it to be low compared to their competitors’ pricing. Microsoft Intune users believe the pricing for the product is reasonable. 
  • Service and Support: Users of ManageEngine Desktop Central seem to be satisfied with the customer service and support overall, while Microsoft Intune users have mixed opinions on it, saying that it can be a hit or miss. OSome reviewers also mentioned that Intune’s responses are often delayed.  
  • ROI: Users of both ManageEngine Desktop Central and Microsoft Intune state that they have definitely seen an ROI. ManageEngine Desktop Central reviewers claim they have seen the value of their investment by being able to deploy applications quickly, while users of Microsoft Intune have witnessed significant cost savings. 

Comparison Results: Based on the parameters we compared, ManageEngine Desktop Central seems to be the more favorable product. Its ease of deployment, its solid set of features, its affordable pricing, and its service and support all top Microsoft Intune’s offerings. 

To learn more, read our detailed ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs. Microsoft Intune Report (Updated: March 2024).
765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The centralized control of all of our Windows hardware that this solution offers has been most valuable to our organization.""Well, what we like is that it catch actually a lot of features constantly upgrading. So all the three maybe there there were some features as the tenant on the earliest version. Now it's it's almost everything that we we need. So managing security ManageEngine configuration. It's we are very satisfied because it has the Telstra that's what we we need.""Has good functionality and is user-friendly.""What is great about the patch management solution, is that it patches OS, applications, browsers, plug-ins, and firmware updates.""The most valuable in Desktop Central is the way it is tightly coupled with the rest of the modules and the entire gamut of ManageEngine.""The patch manager is good, and it's easy to use.""ManageEngine Desktop Central's most valuable features are remote desktop control and image management. We can send things out from the desk here, it is a very good tool for us.""Desktop Central has improved these organizations and this is why it has been repeated multiple times at multiple organizations. If something works and is getting better it is worth repeating."

More ManageEngine Endpoint Central Pros →

"Internet-based access with security is what I have found to be most valuable. It is also a stable and scalable solution.""...Intune itself integrates with that entire Microsoft ecosystem. As an individual product itself, it's okay. It holds up. But when you start saying "I've bought this as part of a wider solution, as a company we are going Microsoft throughout," then it makes more sense to have Microsoft Intune... so you have that single dashboard.""While Microsoft Intune boasts a wide range of features, its user-friendliness and bundled licensing cost are key considerations for me.""There are so many features, but Windows Autopilot is one of the features that are very valuable for most customers.""The best feature is that we don't need to worry about downtime. We don't need to worry about the network connections of our office or the virtual private network. Everything is being done through the internet. Using Intune Autopilot, we can configure and deploy everything to the devices.""The main advantage is that Intune performs its intended functions effectively.""The Microsoft Windows Autopilot and Defender policies are the most valuable features of this solution.""One of the most valuable aspects of Microsoft Intune is its seamless integration with Azure Active Directory, offering capabilities akin to Group Policy Objects."

More Microsoft Intune Pros →

Cons
"There are occasional glitches.""There are no dynamic changes on web pages and it's lacking visually.""ManageEngine could be improved by giving customers an option to perform certain actions proactively. Since I was a consultant, I worked on different products and some had advantages over ManageEngine. For example, proactive remediation—you want to proactively check something on the computers and run the script. In ManageEngine, you have the option to run the script, but Intune has the option to do so proactively. ManageEngine doesn't have this. You should have the option to act proactively, not just going ahead and fixing it once it's done. Proactive remediation should be a feature.""There is a slight delay in customer support, which is something that can be improved.""The only problem with it is that the setup isn't very intuitive. I know that they just upgraded the product to make it a little bit easier to use, but compared to some of the other platforms, it is not easy to configure it, set it up, and get it running. However, once you have set it up and got it running, it runs great.""I really feel like asset explorer should be a component of desktop central. That would make it the ultimate desktop management tool. This would also simplify the asset management role since an agent is already being deployed and assets could be added at the same time.""The Deployment scheduler needs updating to support various methods for deployment.""Not many things are needed for improvement, everything seems to be great as it is. One thing that would be good to have would be the ability to add MDM to a tablet running Android 5.0 using the EMM Token Enrollment. If we wanted to add MDM to an older tablet, we just have to go the "long route" to get it added."

More ManageEngine Endpoint Central Cons →

"The solution requires Mac support.""They need to integrate more with security options.""Deploying an app can be a complex process due to dependencies.""The feature that allows us to import the business application from the configuration manager to Intune is not very good at this time.""Microsoft Intune is not user-friendly to manage and has room for improvement.""China blocks Google and Google Play Store, which makes installation challenging. Microsoft Intune is a company software, which has to be installed to the app portal or Microsoft Software Center.""I wanted to check if there is any provision at the Intune level to restrict certain things, such as a website, but unfortunately, that feature is available only in Microsoft Defender. Intune has web filtering capabilities, but they are only useful for protection from malicious websites, whereas we would like to be able to restrict a website. For example, YouTube is a clean website. No one would identify it as a malicious website, but if we want to stop the end-users from going to that website, we have to go for another product, such as Microsoft Defender or another third-party proxy solution. It would be great if this capability is included in Intune.""Reporting and troubleshooting for the application deployment could be better. It's very difficult to understand."

More Microsoft Intune Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The licensing is very easy to understand and pricing is right for what you get."
  • "Choose wisely between the Professional and Enterprise editions, based on your needs."
  • "I have been using the free version and am in the stage where I have to decide if I will proceed with the paid license, or instead choose another product."
  • "We pay about $250 a year for our license."
  • "The solution is very affordable."
  • "We had perpetual licenses. The cost was around 36,000, and then you'd have the yearly maintenance fee of 2,000 or 3,000."
  • "The pricing is very low, compared to other products. Compared to Intune or SCCM, it's much less. I can say it's a good product for less of a price."
  • "Affordable for any customer."
  • More ManageEngine Endpoint Central Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "Consider the Microsoft Enterprise Mobility Suite rather than choosing specific sub-components, e.g. only Microsoft Intune."
  • "There is a cost benefit of using Microsoft Intune because of the packaging with other Microsoft products."
  • "Microsoft Intune is a cost effective choice. It is less expensive than other products on the market."
  • "The purchase of the product was handled by someone else."
  • "I have no comment on pricing of the solution."
  • "The product is offered as part of a Microsoft standard bundle. The pricing can be competitive to Airwatch, and Maas360."
  • "For Microsoft 365 E5 clients, cost is not an issue as this product is one of the benefits."
  • "The price of Intune is included with the license for Office 365, so we don't have to pay anything extra for it."
  • More Microsoft Intune Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Answers from the Community
    Netanya Carmi
    Janet Staver - PeerSpot reviewerJanet Staver
    Real User

    ManageEngine has a great patch management feature. It is actually one of my favorite features because it allows you to approve or decline whichever windows or third-party patches you want. You can also schedule them during off hours, force reboots, or even wake devices up for patching. ManageEngine also has a very small yet powerful installation file, which I found very easy to deploy across the network even though I have several remote locations. Considering that ManageEngine is a multi-asset and IT process manager, it enables you to effectively manage all of the assets very well and has a very intuitive and dynamic interface.


    One thing I dislike about ManageEngine is their software deployment tools. It’s great for mass deployments but I wish it included one-off deployments to a single computer. Also, in order to enable the file transfer option when you are using it for the first time, you have to install a plugin. Sometimes the control center can be a little slow, too.


    Microsoft Intune is robust and it allows you to deploy applications to its enrolled devices. This makes it a beneficial solution in asset management and also patching machines. It also gives you the ability to restrict user actions on their machines, which I find to be very helpful from a security standpoint. In general, Microsoft Intune’s enrollment process on devices is straightforward and easy. You can set policies, and administrators are able to guide users on how to enroll their machines. One major downside of Microsoft Intune for me is that it has inferior and poor quality device reporting.


    Conclusion:
    Overall, I would recommend ManageEngine because not only is it a well-developed tool, but it also provides an excellent adaptation to its interface, and I have found its implementation and use to be nothing less than exceptional.

    User:527249 - PeerSpot reviewerUser:527249
    Real User

    Hi . I use both systems . Intune is simply too good to configure a system via autopilot and enforce AD/ Azure AD policy whereas Desktop Central is excellent for patching 



    Desktop Central is great for patch deployment and software deployment but falls short on many other fronts like correctly reporting information - I had to raise tickets to their support to get it fixed 


    Intune too has its issues - I does not have an inventory reporting functionality


    The company portal is an app which has to be installed on the endpoint . The reporting mechanism is not on par with Desktop Central. 


    DC does not have the OS deployment capability ( OS Deployer is an add on) whereas Intune has the Autopilot capability built into the system to remote install the laptop including enabling bitlocker encryption


    DC has strong patch deployment capability whereas its bit vague on Intune


    This list goes on so Im stopping here 

    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:ManageEngine Desktop Central is very easy to set up, is scalable, stable, and also has very good patch management. What I like most about ManageEngine is that I can log on to every PC very easily and… more »
    Top Answer:The product works perfectly for patch management and software deployments.
    Top Answer:The product is not costly. The product is properly priced, especially for SMBs.
    Top Answer:Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes it easy to control security and manage the usage of mobile apps when you have a… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of the things I like about it Pros: Protected productivity: Intune gives you the… more »
    Top Answer: Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also access to both Microsoft’s user community as well as around-the-clock customer… more »
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    8.1
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    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    ManageEngine Desktop Central, Desktop Central, ManageEngine Desktop Management MSP
    Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
    Learn More
    Overview

    ManageEngine Endpoint Central is a unified endpoint management (UEM) solution offered by ManageEngine, a division of Zoho Corporation. It is designed to help organizations efficiently manage and secure their endpoints from a centralized platform. Endpoint Central provides a comprehensive set of features and capabilities to streamline endpoint management and enhance security across diverse devices and operating systems.

    ManageEngine Endpoint Central Features:

    • Device Management: Endpoint Central enables IT administrators to manage a wide range of endpoints, including desktops, laptops, servers, mobile devices, and IoT devices. It offers features such as device discovery, inventory management, configuration management, and software deployment, allowing administrators to efficiently control and monitor devices from a single console.
    • Patch Management: The solution helps organizations keep their endpoints up to date and protected by automating the patching process. Endpoint Central provides patch management capabilities to deploy security updates and patches to endpoints, ensuring they are patched against vulnerabilities and reducing the risk of security breaches.
    • Security and Compliance: Endpoint Central focuses on strengthening security measures for endpoints. It offers features such as antivirus and anti-malware protection, firewall management, encryption, and data loss prevention (DLP). These capabilities help organizations safeguard their sensitive data and adhere to industry regulations and compliance standards.
    • Remote Control and Troubleshooting: With remote control capabilities, Endpoint Central allows IT administrators to access and control endpoints remotely, facilitating troubleshooting and issue resolution. It enables administrators to remotely troubleshoot software or hardware problems, install applications, and provide technical support to end-users, improving efficiency and minimizing downtime
    • Reporting and Analytics: Endpoint Central provides comprehensive reporting and analytics capabilities, offering insights into endpoint performance, security status, software usage, and compliance levels. These features help organizations assess the health and security of their endpoints, identify potential risks or issues, and make data-driven decisions for improved endpoint management.

    ManageEngine Endpoint Central Benefits:

    • Centralized endpoint management for diverse devices.
    • Improved operational efficiency through automation.
    • Enhanced security with antivirus, firewall, encryption, and data loss prevention.
    • Automated patch management for timely updates and security.
    • Remote control and troubleshooting for efficient issue resolution.
    • Comprehensive reporting and analytics for insights and informed decision-making.
    • Scalability and flexibility to accommodate organizational growth.
    • Cost-effectiveness by reducing manual management efforts and security risks.

    Reviews from Real Users

    PeerSpot user, Sr Engineer Administrator at a university, says that "Its cross-platform capabilities and the ability to do both OS-level patching and third-party patching are valuable. It is difficult to find a software product that will do all that for you out of the box, and you don't have to do any configuration other than your initial setup. Once you do that, there is a very minimalistic approach to getting it operational. You can have it up and running within a 20-minute time span."

    Park Armstrong, Chief Technical and Solution Architect at Vertigo Inc., writes that ManageEngine Endpoint Central is “Helpful for identifying and filling the gaps and meeting compliance needs, but each of their product works as an independent product and lacks integration”.

    Microsoft Intune is a comprehensive cloud-based service that allows you to remotely manage mobile devices and mobile applications without worrying about the security of your organization’s data. Device and app management can be used on company-owned devices as well as personal devices.

    In an increasingly mobile workforce, Microsoft Intune keeps your sensitive data safe while on the move. Microsoft Intune makes it possible for your team members to work anywhere using their mobile devices. Microsoft Intune provides both the flexibility and the control needed for securing all your data on the cloud, no matter where the device with the data is located.

    Microsoft Intune Device Management Key Features

    With Microsoft Intune Device Management you can:

    • Ensure devices and apps are compliant with your security requirements.
    • Rapidly deploy and authenticate apps on all company devices.
    • Remotely access devices to troubleshoot issues or to remove data from them.
    • Generate reports for all devices in the system.
    • Monitor the way users access and share information to protect company information.
    • Set rules and configure settings on personal and organization-owned devices to access data and networks.
    • Create user groups and device groups, allowing you to rapidly access many users and devices simultaneously.

    Mobile Application Management

    Mobile application management in Intune is designed to protect your organization’s data at the application level.

    With Microsoft Intune Application Management you can:

    • Configure apps to run with specific settings enabled.
    • Update existing apps that are already on the device.
    • See reports on which apps are used and monitor their usage.
    • Selectively wipe organization data from apps.
    • Add mobile apps to user groups and devices.

    As part of Microsoft's Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS) suite, Intune integrates with Microsoft Entra ID for access control and with Azure Information Protection for data protection. It also integrates with Microsoft 365 Applications.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Microsoft Intune stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its ability to secure all devices under its management and the flexibility that the solution offers its users.

    A computing services manager notes, "Its security is most valuable. It gives us a way to secure devices, not only those that are steady. We do have a few tablets and other devices, and it is a way for us to secure these devices and manage them. We know they're out there and what's their status. We can manage their life cycle and verify that they're updated properly."

    The head of IT engineering at a financial services company writes, "The one feature we find most useful is the Mobile Application Manager. There are two types: we have the complete MDM and the Mobile Application Manager (MAM). We don't give our users phones, it is their own personal phone, and we need to allow them to have access to the company details on their phone. We need to create a balance between their own personal data and the company data. We deploy the Mobile Application Manager for them so that we won't be able to interfere with their own personal data."

    Sample Customers
    Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Strathallan School, BMI Healthcare, Comercial Kywi, First Priority Federal Credit Union, Gerab National Enterprises
    Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm18%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Healthcare Company7%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization37%
    Computer Software Company10%
    Manufacturing Company5%
    Government5%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Computer Software Company18%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    Energy/Utilities Company6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization23%
    Computer Software Company13%
    Government7%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business31%
    Midsize Enterprise22%
    Large Enterprise47%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business18%
    Midsize Enterprise49%
    Large Enterprise34%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business36%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise49%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise33%
    Large Enterprise47%
    Buyer's Guide
    ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs. Microsoft Intune
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs. Microsoft Intune and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    765,386 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    ManageEngine Endpoint Central is ranked 4th in Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) with 58 reviews while Microsoft Intune is ranked 1st in Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) with 156 reviews. ManageEngine Endpoint Central is rated 8.2, while Microsoft Intune is rated 8.0. The top reviewer of ManageEngine Endpoint Central writes "An in-depth and intuitive product with good cross-platform capabilities, but they should have a more global support channel". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Microsoft Intune writes "We can manage all aspects of our devices from a single console, easy to scale, and quick to deploy". ManageEngine Endpoint Central is most compared with Microsoft Configuration Manager, VMware Workspace ONE, Jamf Pro, ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus and SOTI MobiControl, whereas Microsoft Intune is most compared with Jamf Pro, VMware Workspace ONE, SOTI MobiControl, Microsoft Entra ID and IBM MaaS360. See our ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs. Microsoft Intune report.

    See our list of best Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) vendors and best UEM (Unified Endpoint Management) vendors.

    We monitor all Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.