AWS Config vs AWS Systems Manager comparison

AWS Config and AWS Systems Manager are both solutions in the Configuration Management category. AWS Config is ranked #18 with an average rating of 8.0, while AWS Systems Manager is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.3. AWS Config holds a 2.3% mindshare in CM, compared to AWS Systems Manager’s 5.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of AWS Config users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of AWS Systems Manager users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

AWS Config and AWS Systems Manager compete in the AWS resource management category. AWS Config seems to have an upper hand in terms of compliance and ease of deployment, while AWS Systems Manager stands out in versatility and functionality.

Features: AWS Config offers continuous monitoring, evaluation of AWS resource configurations, and compliance checking. AWS Systems Manager provides operational data management, automation capabilities, and versatile functionalities.

Room for Improvement: AWS Config users suggest the need for more integrations, finer granularity in monitoring capabilities, and performance improvements. AWS Systems Manager could improve its documentation, user guidance, and interface usability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: AWS Config is praised for straightforward setup and effective customer support. AWS Systems Manager offers intuitive setup but faces criticism regarding complex configurations. AWS Config is simpler to deploy with better customer support.

Pricing and ROI: AWS Config's pricing is competitive, deriving quick ROI through compliance features. AWS Systems Manager, despite higher perceived costs, balances its value with extensive functionalities. Both products are valuable, but AWS Systems Manager's capabilities justify its cost.

To learn more, read our detailed AWS Config vs. AWS Systems Manager Report (Updated: April 2026).

Buyer's Guide

AWS Config vs. AWS Systems Manager

April 2026

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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

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the Configuration Management category, the mindshare of Microsoft Intune is 6.1%, down from 10.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS Config is 2.3%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS Systems Manager is 5.5%, down from 10.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Configuration Management Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Intune	6.1%
AWS Systems Manager	5.5%
AWS Config	2.3%
Other	86.1%

Configuration Management

Featured Reviews

AkashKamble

Sr MacOS specialist engineer at Cyber24

Enables management of multiple operating systems with a single license

The best feature is that it's a Microsoft product, so if anything goes wrong, we get quick support for anything required. Remote system functionality allows us to sit anywhere and take control of any device via remote management. We can enhance security for clients' laptops with built-in Microsoft Defender, which is available with the Microsoft Intune license. We use it for reporting purposes through endpoint analytics. When pushing scripting, there are two types available: remediation script and reservation script. Through endpoint analytics, you can push defender policies to clients. It helps with reporting, inventory updates, and monitoring tenant status health.

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Dineshkumar Thulasiraman

Cloud Engineer at cloudifyops

Useful for vulnerability scanning and data encryption

AWS Config's dashboard improved our company's security as it helps with the vulnerability scanning of resources. AWS Config integrates with the existing security infrastructure of our company, and it is an easy process that is not at all complicated. AWS Config is a security product. The tool protects its users' resources and data from unauthorized access, security breaches, and threats. The product helps with data encryption. You can have your data on AWS KMS, which helps with data encryption. For areas like SSL/TLS encryption, the tool offers data protection between AWS services and endpoints. As I need to learn the components of the product, I rate the overall tool a seven out of ten.

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Garima Chauhan

Senior Cloud Engineer at Prabhav Services

Efficient value synchronization across multiple accounts with good reliability

AWS Systems Manager's most valuable feature is its ability to dynamically export and import values in various AWS accounts. When you update the value, it's directly reflected across the system without needing manual editing. This is particularly effective for setting policies securely. The parameter store features are among the best aspects.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The security compliance capabilities make it widely adopted across organizations."

"Before having Intune, we didn't have the capability to have computers wiped, couldn't manage the operating system from a central location, and weren't able to deploy policies and verify software updates, and it's helped with software update needs, operating system version update needs, and security policy enforcement."

"Based on my experience, I would recommend Microsoft Intune to organizations looking for management of a large number of devices and enterprise environments."

"Most people prefer to use Intune if they want to implement conditional access policies to restrict customer Exchange Online or Exchange user formats emails until their devices comply."

"The best feature in Microsoft Intune is zero touch deployment, which allows me to automate many tasks compared to manually installing Windows and applications one by one, making it easier to enroll devices with Autopilot and pre-deploy applications."

"Microsoft Intune does a great job of helping protect our environment."

"Intune is valuable for managing various endpoints and integrating with the Azure cloud, which is essential for our organization."

"Intune provides full visibility into all active mobile device users. If their devices are noncompliant with our security policies, I have the flexibility to update them remotely."

More Microsoft Intune pros

"The tracking, history logs, and security alert features are valuable because they are critical features that assist us."

"AWS Config's dashboard improved our company's security as it helps with the vulnerability scanning of resources."

"The scalability is a ten out of ten."

"The solution is scalable and provides over 100 rules."

"The initial setup is super easy, it takes like two minutes. Literally a one-click deployment."

"Installing the instances and performing upgrades is smooth and clean."

"The tool protects its users' resources and data from unauthorized access, security breaches, and threats."

"AWS provides Auto Scaling groups."

"When we do the automation in the cloud, we use the SSM agent. This helps us to test our automation and documents, and monitor the cloud."

"With AWS Systems Manager, our company can patch our systems directly from it, so we don't need to patch our systems manually."

"AWS Systems Manager's most valuable feature is its ability to dynamically export and import values in various AWS accounts"

"The solution's ability to scale is good."

"The solution's most valuable feature is the change management option. It tracks every action on my AWS accounts in a centralized way, acting like a control tool for me. This is especially useful when working with Kubernetes and AWS ECS services. Additionally, my colleagues and clients often use the application management tools for configuration, parameters, and installations."

"I use AWS Systems Manager primarily for infrastructure management and automation. One of its key benefits is managing patches and updates for our EC2 instances, including both Windows and Linux workloads. It can perform compliance checks on all managed workloads, identifying which systems aren't compliant or haven't been patched."

"The solution is user-friendly"

More AWS Systems Manager pros

Cons

"The reporting part needs improvement, and it would be beneficial if it could integrate with third-party tools instead of just Power BI."

"The solution needs to improve reporting. Sometimes, it shows double or triple entries of the same thing, which affects the count's accuracy. Also, some applications onboarded in Microsoft Intune do not get updated. When we look for solutions online, there is often no clear answer."

"They should make it easier to order it, however, that's generally true for everything from Microsoft."

"Could benefit from user having more control over devices."

"The solution could be improved by the opportunity to connect third-party application databases, such as Chocolatey or another setup store, to Intune."

"The documentation about the custom image setup could be better."

"The MacBook management could be better."

"The reports aren't complete, and it's not easy to build custom reports. For example, Windows Autopilot isn't working well in cases where the computers don't have a good internet connection. Then the option is not good enough."

More Microsoft Intune cons

"The solution is missing a configuration that can assist us when writing our programming languages."

"There is room for improvement in built-in tools, they are not up to the mark."

"The solution is missing a configuration that can assist us when writing our programming languages."

"Improvements are needed as per customer requirements."

"The reboot process for AWS instances could be improved. Microsoft Azure does not have this problem, so AWS could consider making their instances more robust. You would not need to reboot your instances frequently to replace the hardware and stuff. They can look for a better approach or mechanism to improve in the future. The concern is that you need to plan for the outage when you reboot an instance. You need to have a maintenance window where you can properly reboot the instance without affecting your application. When Amazon announces that you need to reboot an instance and are not ready, this becomes a problem."

"One area that could be enhanced is dynamic configuration management. Additionally, improving integration with other AWS services like Lambda and CloudFormation would be beneficial."

"We formerly used third-party products to analyze the log, give us information, and find bottlenecks. Systems Manager could provide more tools that conduct this analysis, so we don't have to do it ourselves."

"Lacks sufficient integrations."

"AWS does not have EKS cluster backup."

"The current challenge is that we can't pull any incidents from other accounts."

"It could be agentless if there's room for improvement in the AWS Systems Manager. Currently, you have to install agents, although, for most of the latest EC2 images, the agents come preinstalled. If it could be at the level of Ansible, which is agentless, that would be fantastic. When you compare the solution to Ansible, one of the most widely accepted tools, the agentless feature stands out. So, if the AWS Systems Manager could become agentless, that would be a significant improvement."

"Price is one of the biggest pain points with Services Manager. The pricing shoots up if there's a surge in demand."

"Every AWS service comes with some associated costs."

More AWS Systems Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"With our standard E5 agreement with Microsoft, there have been no pricing concerns. Introductory professional services, like a fast-track service, were included with our E5 membership, and there have been no additional costs."

"Microsoft Intune is moderately priced. There is a monthly license required to use the solution and it is approximately eight dollars per month."

"If you ask the accountant or the finance department, they'll tell you that it is way too expensive, but when I look at the cost and compare it with the value you actually get, it's more than fair."

"Microsoft Intune is not cost-effective as a standalone product."

"While Microsoft charges for actual usage, it lacks discount options."

"If you're ever going to buy an Office 365 environment, then pricing is reasonable given all that it does, but if you're not, then you might find the pricing expensive."

"While I don't have access to high-level financial information, I believe we have achieved lower costs with this implementation."

"The price could be better."

More Microsoft Intune pricing and cost advice

"The solution charges us per hour. There's no license."

"It is a very expensive tool. AWS pricing for Config is not fixed and depends on your organization's size and complexity."

"An AWS cloud engineer can bring down the costs."

"As we were doing a government project so the government got the project at a very nominal cost."

"Most of the features are free. I'm not entirely certain, but I believe the pricing is generally very low. Some services that are part of Ops Manager might have associated costs."

"The platform provides excellent value for the capabilities it offers when compared to third-party tools for similar tasks."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Government

Financial Services Firm

24%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

Construction Company

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

University

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	127
Midsize Enterprise	55
Large Enterprise	168

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

How does Microsoft Intune compare with VMware Workspace One?

Microsoft Intune is a great tool for managing a mobile device fleet while keeping access control. The solution makes ...

See all answers

What are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune?

Microsoft Intune is a great configuration management tool and has a lot of good things going for it. Here are some of...

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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 ...

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What needs improvement with AWS Config?

Improvements are needed as per customer requirements.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for AWS Config?

I use the solution in my company to check the vulnerabilities for all the resources, including tools like S3, EC2 Ins...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering AWS Config?

AWS Config's dashboard improved our company's security as it helps with the vulnerability scanning of resources. AWS ...

See all answers

What do you like most about AWS Systems Manager?

With AWS Systems Manager, our company can patch our systems directly from it, so we don't need to patch our systems m...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS Systems Manager?

Every AWS service comes with some associated costs. While using AWS Systems Manager, we continually monitor to optimi...

See all answers

What needs improvement with AWS Systems Manager?

I do not use the automation feature in this product.

See all answers

Comparisons

Jamf Pro vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 9% of the time

IBM MaaS360 vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 8% of the time

Workspace ONE UEM vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 7% of the time

ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 5% of the time

Sophos Mobile vs Microsoft Intune

Compared 1% of the time

More Microsoft Intune Competitors

HashiCorp Terraform vs AWS Config

Compared 12% of the time

SolarWinds Server Configuration Monitor vs AWS Config

Compared 10% of the time

CloudBees vs AWS Config

Compared 7% of the time

Perforce Puppet vs AWS Config

Compared 7% of the time

Spring Cloud vs AWS Config

Compared 6% of the time

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Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs AWS Systems Manager

Compared 11% of the time

Red Hat Satellite vs AWS Systems Manager

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs AWS Systems Manager

Compared 7% of the time

AWS CloudFormation vs AWS Systems Manager

Compared 7% of the time

Chef vs AWS Systems Manager

Compared 6% of the time

More AWS Systems Manager Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Intune

March 2026

Download Microsoft Intune product report

Buyer's Guide

Configuration Management

April 2026

Download AWS Config product report

Buyer's Guide

Configuration Management

April 2026

Download AWS Systems Manager product report

Also Known As

Intune, MS Intune, Microsoft Endpoint Manager

No data available

Amazon Elastic Container Registry

Overview

Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based service designed for device management, security, and compliance. It supports automation and facilitates endpoint management for Windows, iOS, and Android devices, ensuring data protection and efficient policy enforcement.

Microsoft Intune offers seamless integration with tools like Windows Autopilot to automate device setup and deployment. Integrated with Azure Active Directory, it enhances policy management while providing robust reporting and analytics tools for compliance tracking. Despite its intuitive interface aimed at simplifying navigation and device security management, there are challenges such as compatibility issues with Linux and Mac, limited policy support for Android, and demands for better third-party integration. It's widely used for both corporate-owned devices and BYOD scenarios in dynamic IT environments.

What are the key features of Microsoft Intune?

Windows Autopilot: Automates device setup for rapid deployment.
Azure Active Directory Integration: Enhances user policy management.
Reporting and Analytics: Improves compliance visibility.
Mobile Application Management: Ensures app security without compromising personal data.
Cloud-Based Management: Allows management from any location.

What benefits and ROI can users expect?

Time Efficiency: Automation reduces time in policy enforcement and configuration updates.
Enhanced Security: Ensures data protection across corporate-owned and BYOD devices.
Improved Compliance: Advanced reporting tools enhance compliance visibility.
Flexible Management: Cloud-based nature supports management from any location.

In industries such as finance and healthcare, Microsoft Intune is implemented to ensure data protection and compliance with regulatory standards. Manufacturing sectors utilize Intune for managing a distributed workforce across global locations, while educational institutions employ it to secure and manage devices in learning environments supporting both students and faculty.

Microsoft

AWS Config is a service that enables you to assess, audit, and evaluate the configurations of your AWS resources. Config continuously monitors and records your AWS resource configurations and allows you to automate the evaluation of recorded configurations against desired configurations. With Config, you can review changes in configurations and relationships between AWS resources, dive into detailed resource configuration histories, and determine your overall compliance against the configurations specified in your internal guidelines. This enables you to simplify compliance auditing, security analysis, change management, and operational troubleshooting.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

AWS Systems Manager is a management service that helps you automatically collect software inventory, apply OS patches, create system images, and configure Windows and Linux operating systems. These capabilities help you define and track system configurations, prevent drift, and maintain software compliance of your EC2 and on-premises configurations. By providing a management approach that is designed for the scale and agility of the cloud but extends into your on-premises data center, Systems Manager makes it easier for you to seamlessly bridge your existing infrastructure with AWS.

Systems Manager is easy to use. Simply access Systems Manager from the EC2 Management Console, select the instances you want to manage, and define the management tasks you want to perform. Systems Manager is available now at no cost to manage both your EC2 and on-premises resources.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Sample Customers

Mitchells and Buzzers, Callaway

Flatiron, Prezi, iZettle, British Gas, Burt, Autodesk, FanDuel

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers

Buyer's Guide

AWS Config vs. AWS Systems Manager

April 2026

Free Report: AWS Config vs. AWS Systems Manager

Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Config vs. AWS Systems Manager and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.

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