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BigFix vs Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac 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
8th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
99
Ranking in other categories
Configuration Management (9th), Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (25th), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (11th)
Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNI...
Ranking in Patch Management
29th
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Patch Management category, the mindshare of BigFix is 4.6%, down from 8.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac is 1.3%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Patch Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
BigFix4.6%
Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac1.3%
Other94.1%
Patch Management
 

Featured Reviews

Ravi Khanchandani - PeerSpot reviewer
Founder Director at Techsa Services
Long-term partnership improves customer satisfaction and delivers efficient endpoint management
BigFix supports something known as Patch Policies, which allows users to define that whenever critical patches are released, they should get evaluated against machines and automatically deploy them. Their software distribution is very efficient because they use a pull mechanism rather than a push mechanism, allowing each machine to download from the closest repository and install themselves. The same assessment mechanism applies for real-time vulnerability remediation, allowing identification, evaluation, and automatic remediation across machines. Compliance metrics typically measure the patch percentages deployed against the number of endpoints, which could be various device types including virtual machines and mobile devices. Measurements are taken against each device type, looking into compliance percentages for browsers such as Chrome and Edge based on their versions.
KU
Linux admin at Ameex Technologies
With good website development capabilities, the solution also provides exceptional stability
The initial setup is straightforward. The time taken for deployment for the website depends on the website code files and database. It may take four hours to eight hours for a single site to migrate from another solution. We used to do the migration from the cloud only and not on-premises. For deployment, we used to compress the code files, and using SFTP, we used to transfer the files. We then configure the same with that, and after transferring the code files, we used to have the UAT, staging, and production URL. Once everything is fine, we will switch the DNS for the live website. For the deployment and maintenance, we need support from the client's side and from the management side to make the DNS switch. We also need help from third-party vendors to provide access.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"If you utilize the tool to the maximum capacity available to you, your ROI is significantly five to seven-fold over cost."
"BigFix has drastically reduced the maintenance window period to patch and reboot servers."
"The solution is unbelievably scalable."
"Switching to BigFix has alleviated that to a great degree and is now allowing our company to think ahead about how we can incorporate other pieces of BigFix that other solutions don't have integrated natively, so we can get five or six product sets out of BigFix as opposed to just a single product set on a solution that didn't even work to begin with."
"It is a highly effective tool if you're cross-platform."
"It's very straightforward."
"It allows us to quickly deploy capabilities that we need, whether it be security or non-security. We use it to keep systems up to date, deploy new drivers, find the information we need in the case of security incidents. The capability allows us to gather a lot of information very quickly and it also allows us to have a centralized reporting feature and a centralized deployment capability which is nice."
"The architecture for patching and the 100% correct reporting makes BigFix stand apart from other solutions."
"The tool is a stable product."
"The solution is easy to implement."
"Compared to other software options, this is not exactly a cheap solution, however, the value you get is good, and therefore it's worth the cost."
"The website development section is the most valuable feature of the solution."
"Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, and Mac helps to ensure that everything is up to date."
 

Cons

"The reporting and dashboard parts have room for improvement."
"BigFix can improve the way machines report back to the console. In the external relay management environment, it has become more of a hybrid environment with most of the machines not being on-site. The need of having public-facing reporting items interconnected is becoming more and more crucial. In general, the reporting could use some enhancement."
"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."
"The stability is generally pretty good. The one thing that we came across is the battle between load on endpoints and load on our servers and relays versus how quickly, effectively and reliably actions can be taken. I'd like to not have to take an action on a system while I'm working with someone and then have to say whether something will happen between five seconds or thirty minutes from that point."
"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."
"The product lacks AI, ML, and IIT."
"We're a partner, so we deliver technical support to customers. When we need to talk to the product support, traditionally, with the product over the last five years, I would not say support has been supportive. I hope that changes."
"Implementing a business solution with BigFix has some issues, primarily concerning the time required for distribution to clients if there are too many."
"The better way to improve the solution is by working on an area where it lacks, which includes the migration part."
"The tool needs to improve its visual system."
"The solution can be quite expensive, compared to other options on the market."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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 of BigFix could be lower. However, I am always seeking a lower price."
"You are charged per server and per workstation when using BigFix. ManageEngine is a lot cheaper than BigFix. There are some additional costs, such as support."
"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 price is very fair."
"When purchasing, buying with other IBM tools provided us with a very good discount in pricing."
"You get what we call the Platform Edition, which you get for free. The patch service is maybe $0.50 per workstation per month. Then there's the basic server cost, which is about $1.50 per server per month. You also get into Lifecycle which does power management, OSD remote control, and those types of things, and that might be about 10 times the price - which works out to about $13 per server and, maybe $5 per workstation per month."
"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 solution is open-source, so we do not need any licensing."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
5%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise12
Large Enterprise67
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BigFix?
The pricing is pretty good and now follows a subscription model similar to other major software solutions, making it easier for customers to subscribe and unsubscribe.
What needs improvement with BigFix?
I have concerns about BigFix's pricing, which I find to be slightly on the higher side. While it may not be the most affordable or competitive option, there is room for improvement. Additional feat...
What is your primary use case for BigFix?
I have been working at Tech Data for the last 12 plus years.
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Also Known As

Tivoli Endpoint Manager
HEAT Patch, PatchLink
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

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. Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.