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KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 23, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.3
KACE SMA increases efficiency and productivity, offering rapid ROI by streamlining operations and reducing time, costs, and staffing needs.
Sentiment score
3.3
ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus enhanced efficiency, security, and productivity with centralized management, automation, and an intuitive interface for users.
The return on investment is seen in the quick access to information, good inventory management, and efficient systems management.
Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd
Compared to other products, ManageEngine provides good return on investment within five years.
Technology Lead at GMG
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
KACE SMA support is praised for its expertise and 24/7 availability, with occasional room for flexibility improvement.
Sentiment score
5.8
ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus offers highly rated, efficient customer support through phone, chat, and email with quick response times.
I would rate the customer support for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) as a 10.
Server Administrator III at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
The customer service is very good, providing quick customer support in Spanish.
Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd
From the browser window itself, you can contact tech support, and this capability has been there from day one.
Founder/Director at Augesys Solutions Pvt Ltd
Customer service and support are excellent, with a perfect score of ten out of ten.
Technology Lead at GMG
The technical support from ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus is helpful.
Information Security Specialist at Arab Open University
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
KACE Systems Management Appliance efficiently supports various organization sizes, excelling in integration, scalability, and comprehensive network management.
Sentiment score
5.0
ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus is highly scalable, supports various OS, and suits enterprises, scoring 8-10 in scalability ratings.
We have outgrown the size of one KACE appliance and are now running two.
Server Administrator III at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
The product is very scalable as it supports 10,000 thousand endpoints with just one appliance.
Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd
Scalability requires downtime for performance adjustments.
Technology Lead at GMG
The default instance, which most customers run, can take up to 5,000 endpoints.
Founder/Director at Augesys Solutions Pvt Ltd
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
KACE Systems Management Appliance is praised for its stability, reliability, and efficient performance, with swift recovery during incidents.
Sentiment score
7.3
ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus is highly stable, with users praising its minimal downtime, efficient operation, and reliable performance.
I have not had any downtime in six years.
Founder/Director at Augesys Solutions Pvt Ltd
The solution is very stable.
Technology Lead at GMG
 

Room For Improvement

KACE Systems Management Appliance struggles with scalability, usability, customization, integration, image deployment, and technical support responsiveness.
ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus requires enhancements in usability, communication, integration, and pricing for better functionality and broader appeal.
Currently, we have to go into each org to deploy applications when we need them all across the university.
Server Administrator III at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
The user interface needs improvement as customers have mentioned they do not like the interface since it is not an SMA-based interface.
Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd
When the patch testing works well, there is no need for patch management rollbacks.
System Administrator at SKN Caribecafe Ltda
You cannot create multiple tasks, which is another significant issue.
Founder/Director at Augesys Solutions Pvt Ltd
Instead of separate technician licenses for each product, there should be a single bundled license to simplify licensing requirements.
Technology Lead at GMG
 

Setup Cost

KACE Systems Management Appliance offers cost-effective enterprise solutions, although potentially expensive for small businesses, with no additional feature costs.
ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus is cost-effective, with fees around $3 per agent monthly, though exchange rates may affect affordability.
The pricing is in the middle range of the market, not too expensive but not the cheapest either.
Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is that, hands down, it beat all of the others in simplicity and pricing.
Server Administrator III at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Currently, I am paying around three dollars per agent per month.
Founder/Director at Augesys Solutions Pvt Ltd
There is a concern regarding the exchange rate as one dollar equals six reais today, making everything expensive in dollars for us.
Advisor at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
ManageEngine's licensing model recently changed from being endpoint-based to server-based, which might affect costs during the next renewal.
Technology Lead at GMG
 

Valuable Features

KACE SMA offers integrated, centralized IT management for efficient software deployment, asset management, and security with customizable inventories.
ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus provides comprehensive, automated patch management with robust security features and seamless integration for multiple platforms.
Scripting has saved us hundreds of hours over the years when patching these vulnerabilities compared to how we did it before.
Server Administrator III at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
The most valuable features include simplicity, which makes systems management easier and faster, especially for device management.
Avocat at Star Boxes India Pvt Ltd
The software covers platform security and application security, ensuring everything is updated at the endpoint level.
Technology Lead at GMG
Second, you get remote access capabilities, meaning you can take the device remotely and provide support, with the session recorded for playback if needed.
Founder/Director at Augesys Solutions Pvt Ltd
It is valued for its role in addressing the vulnerabilities discovered by Insight VM.
Advisor at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
 

Categories and Ranking

KACE Systems Management App...
Ranking in Patch Management
9th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Client Desktop Management (3rd), Endpoint Compliance (7th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (11th), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (10th)
ManageEngine Patch Manager ...
Ranking in Patch Management
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.5
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Patch Management category, the mindshare of KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is 3.7%, down from 5.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus is 4.7%, down from 8.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Patch Management Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus4.7%
KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)3.7%
Other91.6%
Patch Management
 

Featured Reviews

MH
Server Administrator III at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Reliability and adaptability enable efficient application deployment and security management
The best features Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) offers include the scripting function, which stands out to me because I can find specific needs and deploy the applications based on those needs. There was a time when scripting really saved me time by allowing me to find specific registry entries and modify them to patch security vulnerabilities. Scripting has saved us hundreds of hours over the years when patching these vulnerabilities compared to how we did it before. I really enjoy the security features that are enabled to deploy Microsoft and other vendor patches, which stand out to me as key functionalities.
ManojNair2 - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder/Director at Augesys Solutions Pvt Ltd
Centralized patching has unified multi‑OS management and delivers detailed security reporting
Based on my experience, a better function would be to address the problem that the product only scans a machine once a day. It has a central scanning activity that scans every laptop for changes in assets, meaning both hardware and software, as well as installed software for patches. However, this activity works only once per day and does not work on local time. If you are a global organization with the UK office and a colleague in the US, for example, and you set the task at 11:00 AM UK time, that translates to 6:00 AM in the US East Coast. If that colleague's laptop is on, the task completes; otherwise, it fails. This represents a major drawback because the task does not run on the local time of the system. Regarding the ability to create multiple tasks, you cannot create them, which is another significant issue. Only one task exists for these two activities. That one task performs both the hardware and software scanning for any changes and also conducts a patch scan. Both activities occur through the same task, but the problem is that if you have a global user base, this becomes a bottleneck.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
University
11%
Non Profit
10%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
University
9%
Financial Services Firm
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise15
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business11
Midsize Enterprise4
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Quest KACE Systems Management?
My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is that, hands down, it beat all of the others in simplicity and pricing.
What needs improvement with Quest KACE Systems Management?
I wish Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) would have a top-down approach since we use orgs; currently, we have to go into each org to deploy applications when we need them all across the...
What is your primary use case for Quest KACE Systems Management?
My main use case for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is to deploy applications and maintain security, and we use it day-to-day to handle those tasks. With Quest KACE Systems Managemen...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus?
The pricing for ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus is reasonable. There is a concern regarding the exchange rate as one dollar equals six reais today, making everything expensive in dollars for us.
What needs improvement with ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus?
While it's a good feature, it needs some improvement. Different patch manager competitors have functionality with AI inside, so if that could be integrated, it would be much easier for the end-user...
What is your primary use case for ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus?
We receive vulnerabilities from our Rapid7 engine, which transfers those vulnerabilities to ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus, and we have a bunch of servers to be patched. We usually use that for th...
 

Also Known As

Dell KACE Systems Management
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Waypoint, Mattos Filho, Meetic, Gems Education, Green Clinic HealthSystem, Service King
IKEA Honda UNICEF The University of Georgia Evander
Find out what your peers are saying about KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) vs. ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus and other solutions. Updated: February 2026.
883,011 professionals have used our research since 2012.