Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs Red Hat Satellite comparison

Cancel
You must select at least 2 products to compare!
Microsoft Logo
6,490 views|4,668 comparisons
91% willing to recommend
Red Hat Logo
14,073 views|9,760 comparisons
97% willing to recommend
Red Hat Logo
10,869 views|6,435 comparisons
95% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on May 19, 2022

We performed a comparison between Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform and Red Hat Satellite based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Most Ansible users report the initial setup to be straightforward. While some Satellite reviewers report the initial setup to be straightforward, others feel that the setup can be complex and requires a higher level of technical expertise.
  • Features: Reviewers of both products are happy with their stability and scalability. Ansible users say it can manage an almost unlimited number of nodes but needs to add more custom modules. OpenShift reviewers like its patch and license management capabilities but say its reporting tool lacks flexibility.
  • Pricing: Ansible is an open-source solution and free of charge. Most Satellite reviewers feel that the product is fairly priced.
  • ROI: Ansible users report seeing an ROI. Satellite users do not mention ROI.
  • Service and Support: Reviewers of both solutions are, for the most part, satisfied with the level of support they receive.

Comparison Results: Ansible has a slight edge over Satellite in this comparison since it is a free solution and easier to deploy than Satellite.

To learn more, read our detailed Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs. Red Hat Satellite Report (Updated: March 2024).
768,740 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 ability to switch between Affinity and non-Affinity enrollment is great.""Intune can wipe devices. For example, if a disgruntled employee wants to leak the data on their company phone, Intune can terminate their access and wipe the entire device with a click.""Intune's unified endpoint management platform is invaluable.""While Microsoft Intune boasts a wide range of features, its user-friendliness and bundled licensing cost are key considerations for me.""The security-related tools are excellent; these features allow us to secure devices, lock them down, and ensure compliance.""It provides control over all mobile devices that are being connected to the corporate network.""One of the biggest advantages of Microsoft Intune is that it brings the management of Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and even Linux under a single pane of glass.""I like the fact that it's integrated with the rest of the Microsoft products, so customers can manage it from their Office 365 portal or Azure portal."

More Microsoft Intune Pros →

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that we don’t need an agent for it to work.""Ansible is agentless. So, we don't need to set up any agent into the computer we are interacting with. The only prerequisite is that the host with which we are going to interact must have the Python interpreter installed on it. We can connect to a host and do our configuration by using Ansible.""There are so many models that I don't have to create one.""Ansible Tower offers use a UI where we can see all the pushes that have gone into the server.""The most valuable features of the solution are its configuration management, drift management, workflow templates with the visual UI, and graphical workflow representation.""The playbooks and the code the solution uses are quite useful.""The initial setup is straightforward.""I like Ansible's ease of use. If you have Linux skills, you can create a reusable template for the dependencies and other configurations. I can store the templates in a repository and share them with my customers or other developers. It's a popular solution, so there is a large user base that can share templates."

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Pros →

"You don't need to depend on any third party. It's a complete solution for patch and configuration management when integrated with the existing system.""The product is convenient to use.""The 'remote execution' feature further helps manage systems on a consistent basis.""The most valuable feature of this solution is vulnerability management.""The most valuable feature is the management of the distributed tool we use in the Red Hat Linux Servers.""The product's most valuable feature is its ability to process patching and updates completely offline without an internet connection.""Patch management is, for sure, most valuable. For license management and patch management, I would rate it a 10 out of 10.""The compliance auditing helped me a lot."

More Red Hat Satellite Pros →

Cons
"Microsoft Intune has a latency response time issue. The latency has room for improvement.""There should be more support for macOS. Even though macOS is supported by Intune and Microsoft is working very hard to get more features into Intune to manage macOS, that's one thing they can give a lot more attention to.""Lacking ability to leverage more iOS device management internally.""There is room for improvement, particularly in terms of compatibility, extending beyond the well-known major brands.""Technical support is not that great.""There's quite a lot of development that they can do within their Intune dashboard. I think there are too many lines hyperlinked to move you around. Others, in contrast, give you a simple dashboard and an intuitive administrative walkthrough.""The solution could be improved by the opportunity to connect third-party application databases, such as Chocolatey or another setup store, to Intune.""Microsoft Intune needs to improve the initial login process."

More Microsoft Intune Cons →

"Ansible has just been upgraded, and the only issue that we are seeing at the moment is that the user interface can be slow. We're currently investigating the refresh period with Red Hat when you click a job and run a job. It seems that the buffer no longer runs in real-time. We haven't discovered whether that's partially an issue with our environment, but Red Hat has come back and said that they're working on a couple of bugs in the background. We've upgraded to that version in the last six months, and that's the only issue that we've seen.""Improvements should be made in terms of execution speed, which is, I believe, the most lacking feature. Aside from that, re-triggering a failed task is another useful feature.""Accessibility. Ansible uses a CLI by default. Those accustomed to it can find their way and adopt the YAML files easily over time. But, some users are more comfortable using UIs...""It would be good to make the solution more user-friendly,""The support could be better.""There are some options not available in the community edition of the solution.""Ansible could use more public relations and marketing.""There could be more stuff in the workflows. I hope that if I have ten templates with different services on it, workflow could auto-populate all the template-based services."

More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Cons →

"It is difficult to update and maintain.""They could make it more easy to use and improve the GUI so that it's more intuitive.""Satellite should be bundled with Ansible Tower and the Ansible Automation platform. We face challenges from a security perspective because we have micro-segmentation in our network. For each server we provision, we have to set permissions to different ports so that the servers can communicate with Satellite. If I have a single server with Satellite and the Ansible Automation Platform, it would be easier to manage security issues instead of having two or three products on various servers.""I would like the direct integration with insights to be re-established.""It should basically include a complete slew of system management and monitoring tools such as Nagios. It should be a single pane of glass that gives us a complete solution. It is a good solution, but it is missing a few important things. We're using Capsule for DMVs on other secured zones. Capsule is a part of Satellite to be a proxy of sorts.""Improving integration could lead to a more unified management experience for multiple operating systems within our data center.""I would like to see the scalability, user interface, and reporting features improved and for the solution to be simplified. Instead of having complex engineering, it should be simple for the user.""The product's automation capabilities need enhancement."

More Red Hat Satellite Cons →

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 →

  • "Like many Red Hat products, they have a no-cost version of the web application (AWX, formerly Ansible Tower), but you are on your own to install and it is a little more complicated than just installing Ansible."
  • "The cost is high, but it still works well."
  • "We went with product because we have a subscription for Red Hat."
  • "Ansible Tower is free. Until they lower the cost, we are holding off on purchasing the product."
  • "Red Hat's open source approach was a factor when choosing Ansible, since the solution is free as of right now."
  • "You don't need to buy agents on servers or deploy expense management when using the solution, which affected our decision to go with it."
  • "The cost is determined by the number of endpoints."
  • "We're charged between $8 to $13 a month per license."
  • More Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The licensing depends on the number of servers."
  • "The cost for a larger enterprise is probably almost always a boon."
  • "Its price is good. They call it subscription, not license, and it is on a yearly basis. There is only one subscription, and that's it."
  • "The price could be lower and more adaptive."
  • "The solution is worth the cost."
  • "Red Hat Satellite is expensive, but if we have more than 50 or 60 VMs, we cannot do away with the solution."
  • "The product is expensive."
  • "Our customers have to pay for the product's license."
  • More Red Hat Satellite Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Configuration Management solutions are best for your needs.
    768,740 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes it… 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… more »
    Top Answer: Microsoft Intune offers not only an easy-to-deploy data protection and productivity management solution, but also… more »
    Top Answer:Red Hat Satellite has proven to be a worthwhile investment for me. Both its patch management and license management have… more »
    Top Answer:Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager takes knowledge and research to properly configure. The length of time that the… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable features of the solution are automation and patching.
    Top Answer:The product's most valuable feature is its ability to process patching and updates completely offline without an… more »
    Top Answer:Red Hat Satellite is expensive. I rate the pricing a seven or eight.
    Top Answer:The product's automation capabilities need enhancement. They could even provide integration with products like OpenShift… more »
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager
    Ansible
    Learn More
    Overview

    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."

    Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is a powerful network automation solution that allows organizations to handle every aspect of their application launch process within a single product. It enables users to share their automations so that teams within an organization can collaborate on various projects with ease. Ansible Automation Platform is designed to be used by all employees involved in the network automation process.

    Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Benefits

    Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform include:


    • Maximum benefit for reduced overhead. Ansible Automation Platform is an all-in-one solution that can enable users to do the jobs of multiple products with one. Users do not need to purchase multiple products to handle their network automation and application development needs. It is equipped with prefabricated content from more than one hundred companies that are partnered with it.


    • Scalable. Ansible Automation Platform is a highly scalable solution. It can easily be scaled up so that automations can be extended across the various devices that make up an organization’s network.


    • Flexibility. Ansible Automation Platform is highly flexible. It enables users to tackle any and all automation-related tasks.


    Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform Features


    • Automation analytics. Ansible Automation Platform comes equipped with an automation analytics feature. This feature enables organizations to measure the effects of their automations and plan how they are going to implement automations moving forward. It makes it easy for administrators to spot anomalies in their automations and resolve them before they can escalate and become major issues.


    • Integration suite. Ansible Automation Platform gives organizations access to a wide variety of integrations that enable them to connect to Ansible’s partners. Now users can augment their capabilities without needing to purchase additional solutions that will enable them to run features that are not normally a part of Ansible’s array of tools. The Ansible environment is built to handle the wide variety of integrations that their partners offer. In order to accomplish this it includes the APIs that users need in order to fully benefit from the integrations. 


    • Centralized interface. Ansible Automation Platform comes with a centralized GUI interface that enables users to manage all of their network automation and application creation activities from a single location. Businesses can guarantee that their operations are going to be handled efficiently and according to a single standard. The management process is greatly simplified. All of the tools that users need are located in one place.


    Reviews from Real Users

    Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is a highly effective solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Two major advantages it offers are its automation manager and its comprehensive centralized GUI-based management interface.

    MD J., a solution architect at STBL, says, “The automation manager is very good and makes things easier for customers with multi-cloud platforms.”

    Aankit G., a Consultant at Pi DATACENTERS, writes, “We like the GUI-based interface for the tower. Before, we only had a command-line interface to run all the Ansible tasks. Now, the Ansible tower provides the complete GUI functionality to run, manage, and create the templates and the Ansible jobs. This includes the code and YAML file we can create. The GUI interface is the added advantage of this solution, including some integration with the different plugins.”

    Red Hat Satellite is a powerful system management tool that is designed to enable users to maximize the effectiveness of any Red Hat infrastructure solutions that they wish to deploy. It can automate most of the management tasks that administrators would otherwise have to manually perform. This enables businesses to avoid the possibility that human error is going to in some way reduce the efficiency of their operations. Additionally, it increases an organization’s ability to address all of its strategic business needs effectively. It can be used across a wide variety of environments that include physical, virtual, and cloud environments.

    Red Hat Satellite Benefits

    Some of the ways that organizations can benefit by choosing to deploy Red Hat Satellite include:

    • Simplified management. Satellite enables users to vastly simplify the work that system administrators have to do. Users only require a single solution to run their management operations. Instead of having to turn to multiple solutions that would provide them with the different management features that they need they can leverage this one solution. Automation also greatly simplifies the work that system managers have to do.


    • Flexibility. Satellite is a highly flexible solution. It is a platform-agnostic solution that users can deploy across physical, virtual, and cloud environments. Users can use it along with the environment of their choice. Organizations can operate without having to invest in any particular environment type. They can also deploy it at any stage of a system’s life cycle that they choose. This provides them with the highest possible level of flexibility.


    • Scalability. It is a highly scalable product. Users can scale it so that their system management operations can effortlessly keep pace with the work that they are doing. They can maintain their security and operations without turning to another product or being forced to make expensive purchases in order to keep up. It can manage thousands of remote devices at the same time without reducing their efficacy.


    • Standardized management. Organizations that use Satellite are able to standardize the way that their system management is run. The simplified management system and automation tools make it possible for users to run every part of their system in a single standard fashion.


    • Reduction of overhead costs. Satellite makes it possible for users to operate with the highest possible level of effectiveness while at the same time reducing the overhead costs associated with their work. One way that it does so is by automating many tasks that would otherwise be expensive to train users to perform. This also saves users time working on basic tasks that they can then devote to other operations that need human intervention. The completeness of the solution also enables users to reduce the number of tools that they need to invest in. Satellite’s subscription management tool also enables users to track their spending at all times.


    Red Hat Satellite Features


    • Centralized UI. Satellite comes equipped with a centralized UI that users can use to manage all of its tools. It enables organizations to control all aspects of a system’s life cycle. Users simply utilize this one console to provide them with control of the management system.


    • Subscription management tool. Satellite makes it simple for users to import, manage, and report their Red Hat subscriptions. This enables users to keep track of their subscriptions and costs. Users that leverage this tool are thus able to maintain a high level of subscription consumption visibility.
    • Integration suite. Satellite enables users to integrate their systems with other Red Hat solutions and third-party products. This makes it possible for users to add any features that they might feel they are missing to their toolbox.


    • Automation tools. Organizations can leverage Satellite to automate a vast variety of features. They can easily take any step of the management process and put it under the control of the solution. This enables many tasks to be accomplished consistently and efficiently all at the same time.


    • Software Management. Users can manage their software by leveraging this feature to easily manage tasks such as software updating and patching. IT teams are empowered to quickly handle any software issue that may arise.


    Reviews from Real Users

    Red Hat Satellite is a highly effective solution that stands out when compared to many of its competitors. Two major advantages it offers are its integration suite and its advanced patch management capabilities.

    Jayasunder S., the principal architect at Wipro Limited, writes, “It's really integrated with agencies that have core systems and other core management platform products or IBM products. You don't need to depend on any third party. It's a complete solution for patch and configuration management when integrated with the existing system.”

    Erik W., the senior Enterprise Engineer at a transportation company, says, “The patch management and insights connector are great. Patch management has enabled us to patch every month, keeping abreast of critical and important patches, view where things are lacking, and generate plans to mitigate issues. Due to the work being done in a tool, reporting allows us to see what has been done to what servers.”



    Sample Customers
    Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway
    HootSuite Media, Inc., Cloud Physics, Narrative, BinckBank
    Baloise Bank SoBa, ETH Zurich, Munich Airport, ING-DiBa, Produban
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Computer Software Company18%
    Comms Service Provider10%
    Energy/Utilities Company5%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization23%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Government7%
    Financial Services Firm7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm22%
    Healthcare Company13%
    Computer Software Company13%
    Comms Service Provider9%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization25%
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Government7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm27%
    Transportation Company20%
    Energy/Utilities Company13%
    Computer Software Company13%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm17%
    Government12%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Manufacturing Company8%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business38%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise48%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise33%
    Large Enterprise47%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business30%
    Midsize Enterprise10%
    Large Enterprise60%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business13%
    Midsize Enterprise32%
    Large Enterprise55%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business23%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise64%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business14%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise73%
    Buyer's Guide
    Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs. Red Hat Satellite
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs. Red Hat Satellite and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    768,740 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is ranked 1st in Configuration Management with 58 reviews while Red Hat Satellite is ranked 4th in Configuration Management with 21 reviews. Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is rated 8.6, while Red Hat Satellite is rated 8.2. The top reviewer of Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform writes "Capable of broad integrations with easy-to-operate infrastructure and user controls". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Red Hat Satellite writes "A good product for managing patches and updates that could be more robust and up-to-date". Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform is most compared with Microsoft Configuration Manager, VMware Aria Automation, Microsoft Azure DevOps, BMC TrueSight Server Automation and BigFix, whereas Red Hat Satellite is most compared with SUSE Manager, Microsoft Configuration Manager, AWS Systems Manager, BigFix and Chef. See our Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs. Red Hat Satellite report.

    See our list of best Configuration Management vendors.

    We monitor all Configuration Management 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.