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BigFix vs Microsoft Windows Server Update Services comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

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

BigFix
Ranking in Patch Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
96
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (6th), Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (22nd), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (4th)
Microsoft Windows Server Up...
Ranking in Patch Management
3rd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
49
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Patch Management category, the mindshare of BigFix is 10.4%, down from 12.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Windows Server Update Services is 6.8%, down from 12.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Patch Management
 

Featured Reviews

Bella Yakoby - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers third-party patching feature, good scalability, and enhance endpoint management capabilities
From the perspective of the team that's handling the environment, it's not so user-friendly compared to other solutions, the competitors. We hire new teams from time to time, and they are complaining, look, although BigFix is very robust and cross-platform, it's not so fun to work with. The user interface for the technical teams is not so advanced. It's not so intuitive compared to SCCM, compared to ManageEngine. And this is the fact that they have, with the teams, because they have the rejection. The look and feel of the system are old-fashioned. For new employees, it's less easy to find someone I don't need to educate on how to work with BigFix. Although it's easy, it's not as intuitive as the other solutions, and the functionality of the other solutions is less advanced. Let's summarize: The user interface has to be changed from the perspective of the teams that are managing the product. It's old school.
Chuck Colby - PeerSpot reviewer
Efficient patch management, potentially scalable, and free is using Microsoft servers
Whether to use the solution or not is going to be context-sensitive. If you have a strong Microsoft team, you can probably handle this. If, like my team, you also have a dozen other vendors to consider, it's not just the operating system. The pattern I've seen over time with WSUS is that it has the potential to be a fantastic product, yet it doesn't feel finished. People try to implement WSUS, and context is important. In my context, we're a small business without teams of Microsoft-certified people. We are just trying to use what's available to achieve a goal, and WSUS is fine, however, not the best product out there. The business in America often tries to do more with less. I would not recommend it to a team of my size. If a company had half a dozen or a dozen Microsoft-certified people, I'd say, run with it. For a team of my size, no, absolutely not. I would rate the overall solution a solid eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Servers are patched more consistently than they have been previously."
"BigFix helped us to identify the compliance of devices and has also improved the way that we manage our software inventory for reporting to vendors."
"The tool's most valuable features are patching and integration with vulnerability scanners."
"The patch management and the BigFix Inventory have been the most valuable features."
"The most valuable feature of BigFix is the software deployment."
"One of the biggest benefits BigFix has had for our organization is the ease and efficiency to perform many different tasks, across pillars and platforms, all from one pane of glass."
"The most valuable feature of BigFix is the reporting tool and patching Windows."
"Patch Management for a variety of operating systems makes it valuable as we can rely on a single tool for obtaining patch compliance of the entire compute infrastructure."
"The performance has been okay."
"The solution performs well."
"The noteworthy aspect is the system's capability to handle an extensive range of services and workloads, with the potential for almost unlimited scalability."
"Setup is very simple and straightforward."
"The solution gives authentic updates."
"Once we configure it and it keeps updating the patches, all I need to do is filter out which patches are required or not."
"PowerShell is a valuable feature."
"The simplicity of the configuration is a valuable feature for me."
 

Cons

"Sometimes there is a lag time for our users."
"I would like the dashboard to be improved to show the problematic machines and good machines."
"I would like to see more emphasis on using the web console, to have the same power as the full fat client console that they do they now. It's a lighter way to log in and it would be faster for our operators to do their work. The console tends to take a long time for a large number of clients."
"Sometimes the workstations communicate back to the BigFix server two or three days in a week or something similar. Sometimes there can be a delay reporting back to the server for a variety of reasons, such as users turning their computer off when they go home. When the user comes back and turns the computer back on BigFix needs to synchronize and sometimes it can take some time, approximately one week. The communication between the agent and the server should be faster, there is room for improvement in this area."
"I would like to see improvements in the Web UI program and also a BigFix console for Mac OS."
"I would like to see more integration with external data."
"I want to see a solution for being able to deploy automated software to a Mac running OS X 10.13, something that's going to deal with kernel exceptions and answering prompts for user permissions for data folders and whatnot. They need to really streamline and automate the Mac software deployment."
"Implementing a business solution with BigFix has some issues, primarily concerning the time required for distribution to clients if there are too many."
"There are some bugs in IIS."
"User interface is outdated and not user-friendly."
"The old backup files created by this solution use up a lot of storage, and this needs to be improved."
"The platform’s dashboard and reporting features need enhancement."
"Microsoft Windows Server Update Services could improve by being less cumbersome to use. It's somewhat difficult to use, but we manage to get through it."
"A few bugs need to be figured out for the security side."
"The product should improve its third-party management."
"In the next release, I would like them to provide better connectivity. They must improve the connectivity between the WSS with Microsoft or the client."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost is slightly high."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is expensive and ten is cheap, I rate the solution's pricing one out of ten."
"The product is less costly when compared to other solutions, and this is a good solid solution for what we have paid."
"It is too costly. It is one of the best tools, but because of pricing, not all clients support it. Its licensing is on a yearly basis."
"The tool's price continues to go up. The cost per endpoint can vary, ranging from approximately 30 to 80 dollars per year. Compared to other products, pricing is in the middle. You need to buy an additional database license, but most users already have it."
"The price is reasonable, but our customers find it expensive."
"I would stay with the Managed Virtual Server license model, which is a 1-to-1 license per OS whether it is virtual or physical."
"Its price is very reasonable."
"Microsoft's operating model determines the solution's pricing, and we use it based on our enterprise agreement, which incurs an annual cost."
"The tool could be cheaper."
"We need one single key for Windows deployments, which is a better option. Buying a license with the same key for all systems, like Windows and Windows Desktop, makes configuring easier. Otherwise, it isn't easy to manage multiple keys for different systems."
"The product is expensive."
"It doesn't need a license. It's offered for free with Microsoft."
"This product comes included with Windows and can be used free of charge."
"Microsoft Windows Server Update Services is not an expensive solution."
"The licensing of WSUS is free of charge because it comes with the Windows Server operating system, included as a feature of the operating system itself. It's simply a role that you enable within Windows Server."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
51%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Government
6%
Computer Software Company
5%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BigFix?
The most valuable features of the solution are Windows patching and the hardware and software inventory.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BigFix?
The pricing is competitive, but not the most competitive.
What needs improvement with BigFix?
Implementing a business solution with BigFix has some issues, primarily concerning the time required for distribution to clients if there are too many. Building a management console is quick and si...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Microsoft Windows Server Update Services?
It's a free service. You just buy the Windows Server operating system, and it is an internal feature.
What needs improvement with Microsoft Windows Server Update Services?
Sometimes, I encounter issues with the Windows internal database, which occasionally does not load, leading to the Pandit console stopping. I have to repair the database and perform export and impo...
 

Also Known As

Tivoli Endpoint Manager
Windows Server Update Services, Microsoft WSUS, WSUS, Microsoft Software Update Services, Software Update Services, Microsoft SUS, SUS, MS Windows Server Update Services
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

US Foods, Penn State, St Vincent's Health US Foods, Sabadell Bank, SunTrust, Australia Sydney, Stemac, Capgemini, WNS Global Services, Jebsen & Jessen, CenterBeam, Strauss, Christian Hospital Centre, Brit Insurance, Career Education Corporation
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Find out what your peers are saying about BigFix vs. Microsoft Windows Server Update Services and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.
845,564 professionals have used our research since 2012.