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Forescout Platform vs Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 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
6.7
Forescout Platform users achieve improved security, reduce workload, and automate threat management, though some question direct ROI impact.
Sentiment score
7.3
Quest KACE SMA boosts ROI by enhancing productivity, reducing manual work, and simplifying IT management for rapid adaptation.
The return on investment is seen in the quick access to information, good inventory management, and efficient systems management.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
Forescout Platform's customer service is praised for responsiveness, but technical support experiences vary, with some delays and challenges noted.
Sentiment score
6.6
Quest KACE provides excellent, responsive customer support with quick solutions, appreciated for multilingual assistance including Spanish, and professional service.
We have had experience with their technical support and must pay additionally for maintenance, support, and regional service.
I would rate the customer support for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) as a 10.
The customer service is very good, providing quick customer support in Spanish.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
Forescout Platform is known for scalable expansion suitable for medium to enterprise entities, despite cost and setup complexities.
Sentiment score
7.2
Quest KACE SMA efficiently scales across organizational sizes, supporting various networks and expansion needs without sacrificing performance.
Scalability can be costly since a physical box needs to be installed for every site.
We have outgrown the size of one KACE appliance and are now running two.
The product is very scalable as it supports 10,000 thousand endpoints with just one appliance.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.0
Forescout Platform is stable and reliable, though some users note performance issues; support enhances overall dependability and satisfaction.
Sentiment score
8.1
Quest KACE SMA is stable and reliable, offering quick recovery, responsive support, and effective updates with minimal downtime.
I would rate its stability as 9.5 out of ten.
 

Room For Improvement

Forescout Platform needs better integration, AI, cost-effectiveness, support, iOS compatibility, reporting, visualization, and seamless connectivity with third-party tools.
KACE struggles with scalability, automation, user interface, integration, and support, affecting imaging, patch management, and asset management.
Forescout Platform could enhance its integration of AI to improve IoT and OT device security to better meet our needs.
The console is a fat client, and a web interface would be preferable.
Currently, we have to go into each org to deploy applications when we need them all across the university.
The user interface needs improvement as customers have mentioned they do not like the interface since it is not an SMA-based interface.
 

Setup Cost

Forescout Platform offers flexible, endpoint-based licensing for medium to large organizations, though setup costs and complexity can be high.
Quest KACE SMA offers cost-effective per-device pricing, ideal for large enterprises, though potentially costly for smaller businesses.
Installing a physical box on each site can be expensive.
The overall pricing of Forescout Platform is reasonable for the functionality it provides.
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.
The pricing is in the middle range of the market, not too expensive but not the cheapest either.
 

Valuable Features

Forescout Platform offers agentless deployment for enhanced device visibility, integration flexibility, and customizable network security and management solutions.
Quest KACE SMA simplifies IT management with efficient deployment, inventory, automation, and integration, boosting productivity and resource allocation.
The platform enables automated policy enforcement, allowing us to simulate and test policies before enforcement, streamlining our security operations.
The most effective feature has been network access management, which has been crucial for our primary use cases in the organization.
Scripting has saved us hundreds of hours over the years when patching these vulnerabilities compared to how we did it before.
The most valuable features include simplicity, which makes systems management easier and faster, especially for device management.
 

Categories and Ranking

Forescout Platform
Ranking in Endpoint Compliance
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.6
Number of Reviews
77
Ranking in other categories
Network Access Control (NAC) (4th), IoT Security (3rd), Extended Detection and Response (XDR) (15th)
Quest KACE Systems Manageme...
Ranking in Endpoint Compliance
8th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
39
Ranking in other categories
Client Desktop Management (3rd), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (12th), Patch Management (10th), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Endpoint Compliance category, the mindshare of Forescout Platform is 4.4%, up from 4.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is 4.1%, up from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Endpoint Compliance
 

Featured Reviews

AmjadKhan1 - PeerSpot reviewer
Blocks users who don't follow the policies and enforces compliance
The solution has a compliance enforcement feature that sends non-compliant systems to quarantine. Forescout Platform is a good product that provides seamless integration with Cisco Juniper and other devices. We wanted Forescout Platform to integrate with our firewalls and some vulnerability patch management solutions. Forescout Platform is currently the best product and top-of-the-line NAC solution in the market. I always recommend this product to other companies as well. We have 365 subsidiary companies. I work in the head office, and I always recommend it. This solution will be purchased by other companies in the next financial year. Overall, I rate the solution ten out of ten.
Scott Tweed - PeerSpot reviewer
Low maintenance, reliable, and easy to create packages
I like how when you click on the device, it shows you everything that has changed as well as the software versioning. I am really enjoying the inventory aspect of it. The deployment process for both deploying and creating a package is straightforward. I believe the inventory in KACE is superior to SCCM's. I know with SCCM I could do things like remote console into machines via the agent's remote console, but that is not a feature that is provided in KACE. I know that at least in the Systems Management Appliance, I can't get to it. I'm not sure how distribution works, with distribution points. I'm not sure if KACE has that feature. You could use an SCCM to set up distribution points at remote sites so that they don't have to download patches or software from across the country. If you have a DP or something similar, they could pull it down.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
13%
Educational Organization
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Government
9%
University
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What advice do you have for others considering Forescout Platform?
Forescout is a very powerful NAC product that does not rely on port level configuration. It can detect and block unauthorized devices very quickly. But it has a lot of capabilities and really would...
What advice do you have for others considering Forescout Platform?
I would rate the Forescout Device and Visibility Control Platform at a six out of ten.
What advice do you have for others considering Forescout Platform?
I recommend doing a compression demo. If people use it, they will buy it. So they have to see the product in place. That's the main recommendation is to do a proof of concept. If they do, they will...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Quest KACE Systems Management?
The pricing is in the middle range of the market, not too expensive but not the cheapest either.
What needs improvement with Quest KACE Systems Management?
The user interface needs improvement as customers have mentioned they do not like the interface since it is not an SMA-based interface and lacks a manual configuration option.
What is your primary use case for Quest KACE Systems Management?
The main use cases for Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance are touch management, software and hardware inventory, and software delivery.
 

Also Known As

Forescout Platform, CounterACT for Endpoint Compliance, ForeScout CounterACT
Dell KACE Systems Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

NHS Sussex, SAP, SEGA, Vistaprint, Miami Children's Hospital, Pioneer Investments, New York Law School, OmnicomGroup, Meritrust
Waypoint, Mattos Filho, Meetic, Gems Education, Green Clinic HealthSystem, Service King
Find out what your peers are saying about Forescout Platform vs. Quest KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.