GFI LanGuard vs Microsoft Configuration Manager comparison

GFI and Microsoft are both solutions in the Patch Management category. GFI is ranked #12 with an average rating of 8.0, while Microsoft is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.0. GFI holds a 3.1% mindshare in PM, compared to Microsoft’s 15.0% mindshare. Additionally, 81% of GFI users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 90% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

GFI LanGuard

Read 10 GFI LanGuard reviews

1,295 Views
608 Comparison Views

81% willing to recommend

Microsoft Configuration Man...

Read 81 Microsoft Configuration Manager reviews

3,999 Views
3,140 Comparison Views

90% willing to recommend

GFI LanGuard

Microsoft Configuration Man...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

Microsoft Configuration Manager and GFI LanGuard compete in the network management and security domain. Microsoft Configuration Manager appears to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive feature set and integration capabilities, making it more suitable for larger enterprises.

Features: Microsoft Configuration Manager offers application deployment, compliance reporting, and patch management. It excels in monitoring, remote management, and inventory tracking, and is highly effective in deploying standardized operating systems across domains. GFI LanGuard focuses on vulnerability assessment, patch management, and asset tracking, providing valuable insights into endpoint vulnerabilities.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Configuration Manager could improve performance efficiency and provide better integration with non-Windows OS. Users seek enhanced application package deployment and accurate compliance reporting. The solution's complexity remains a concern. GFI LanGuard would benefit from better cloud capabilities, streamlined software removal, and improved rollback features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Microsoft Configuration Manager offers on-premises and cloud deployment options, although its complexity and setup time are noted drawbacks. Its customer service is generally reliable but may require persistence. GFI LanGuard delivers simpler deployment as an on-premises solution, with users expressing satisfaction in its technical support and online resources.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Configuration Manager is sophisticated but costly, with complex licensing that may require additional purchases like SQL Server. Its robust automation justifies costs for larger enterprises. GFI LanGuard offers competitive and straightforward pricing, delivering good value with effective patch management and vulnerability assessment. While both deliver solid ROI, Microsoft Configuration Manager is ideal for environments leveraging its extensive features, whereas GFI LanGuard suits those seeking cost-effective simplicity.

To learn more, read our detailed GFI LanGuard vs. Microsoft Configuration Manager Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

GFI LanGuard vs. Microsoft Configuration Manager

March 2025

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Helped 845,040 peers since 2012

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

GFI LanGuard

Ranking in Patch Management

12th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Microsoft Configuration Man...

Ranking in Patch Management

1st

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Monitoring (6th), Configuration Management (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Patch Management category, the mindshare of GFI LanGuard is 3.1%, down from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Configuration Manager is 15.0%, down from 18.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Patch Management

Featured Reviews

Ted Mbugua

Security Manager at CRAG

Scalable, light on resources, and useful visibility

The most valuable features of GFI LanGuard are the vulnerability assessment, it provides us with substantial insight into what applications are running on the endpoint systems and what vulnerabilities are there in the running applications. The second would be the assets tracking. I'm able to see in the network whether my endpoint server is operating and if all the other IT equipment is running in the environment. Additionally, GFI LanGuard is not heavy on system resources. It gives a competitive advantage over others.

Read full review

MikeNelson2

IT Infrastructure Coordinator at NSW Government

Deployment recovery works well but requires configuration improvements

While I do not use the product frequently, many issues were due to configuration rather than the product itself. I cannot give an exact recommendation as it is not my area of responsibility. The team that uses it finds it adequate. It is presently good enough for us not to investigate other options. Overall, I rate the product a six out of ten.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is helpful to patch and scan vulnerabilities."

"The most valuable features of GFI LanGuard are the vulnerability assessment, it provides us with substantial insight into what applications are running on the endpoint systems and what vulnerabilities are there in the running applications. The second would be the assets tracking. I'm able to see in the network whether my endpoint server is operating and if all the other IT equipment is running in the environment. Additionally, GFI LanGuard is not heavy on system resources. It gives a competitive advantage over others."

"This product is a great solution at a great price as long as it is only going to be used for a local area network."

"The most useful features of GFI LanGuard are vulnerability assessment and patching solutions."

"The most valuable features in GFI LanGuard are patch management and vulnerability assessment."

"The most valuable feature of GFI LanGuard is its email spam feature."

"The most valuable feature is that I am able to patch third-party solutions."

"I like that the solution can block users from unnecessarily putting devices on the network."

More GFI LanGuard pros

"It is a very well-rounded product. It is a complete package with all the features using which we are able to manage our PCs very efficiently."

"It lets you know what your infrastructure is like and what state you are in."

"Valuable features include configurations enforcement, compliance data gathering, and deployment of a standardized OS."

"Microsoft is being very competitive right now, and they are really investing in a lot of new features to be more competitive in the marketplace."

"Patching is the main feature because SCCM is made to control the entire environment without manually interpreting. So it is good to use for patching."

"It's a stable product."

"Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is valuable in keeping our systems updated. We are able to send updates to all the systems. Additionally, the Intune integration is helpful."

"The ease of usability is the most valuable feature. It's user-friendly."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager pros

Cons

"When you want to uninstall software from an endpoint, sometimes it becomes very problematic."

"This solution is limited to the local area network only and cannot manage remote devices."

"The only drawback with GFI LanGuard is that you cannot directly integrate it from the Outlook email; instead, you have to first log in to the site to make changes."

"GFI LanGuard can improve by adding more modules, such as asset control or asset inventory."

"The documentation on how to use this solution in a Linux environment is not clear, which is something that should be improved because it is complicated."

"If GFI LanGuard had a cloud version it would be better for people that are working from home."

"GFI LanGuard can improve by adding asset tracking."

"GFI LanGuard has some technical limitations with machines."

More GFI LanGuard cons

"With Microsoft Premier Support, you get what you pay for. There's Third Tier Support that you pay for. If you pay for that, you get excellent support, and if you don't pay for that, then you get the less experienced staff."

"The setup was complex and I faced a lot of problems initially because I was new to the solution."

"The solution should be more compatible with different versions of Linux."

"In terms of the monitoring, the timeframe it takes to actually report back on the compliance of a device after it has been patched is a bit too long."

"Its client interface should be more accessible, and the notifications should be more customizable from the console. It should be more user friendly and have some kind of customized notifications so that we can use it on the client side. These are the reasons why we restricted its use only for the server environment and didn't use it on the client side."

"It would be better if automation options were available. For example, in Nexthink or SysTrack, there is an analytical tool. Creating dashboards would be very easy if you implement the same thing in Microsoft. That report will be a daily cost to the customers and good revenue for our organization. The price also could be better. In the next release, we need to include some features like tables, dashboards, surveys, services, and metrics in the dashboard. Whatever we are implementing will be downloaded by a report. Apart from the report, we will telecast from the dashboard. It's very easy to compare, and it will be easy to telecast to the end-users."

"They should improve their anti-malware policies like the SCEP policies. For instance, you can't have different policies for different servers, there is only one policy in all the servers, and everything is covered under that. For example, say you want to scan one group of servers on Saturday, and then you want to scan another group of servers on Sunday, you can't do that. You have to scan all your servers, a regular scan or a full scan, on the same day and at the same time. That's definitely one thing they need to resolve. In the next release, it would actually be nice if they included Apple products. It will also help if you can use Intune again. Their compliance reporting feature could also be better. They can maybe work a bit on that for patching now. It would be better if SCCM came with the functions of Right Click Tools built-in. If SCCM would have all those functions already built-in, we won't have to go and spend $5,000, just as an add-in from another company to get those functions."

"It would be nice to have everything in one place. Now they have Intune for the desktops and SCCM to handle their servers."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"GFI LanGuard has very fair pricing compared to other similar solutions out there."

"GFI LanGuard isn't expensive."

"On a scale of one to five, with one being expensive and five being competitive, I would rate the price as a four."

"I rate the pricing of GFI LanGuard a four out of five."

"We are a gold partner and we receive favorable discounts. The price of GFI LanGuard is competitive. When you evaluate other solutions, such as ManageEngine."

"GFI LanGuard cost approximately $1,000 annually to use the solution."

"Overall, I think it's fine. It's pretty much in-line because there are ways to offset it with the Office 365 licensing."

"The price of SCCM depends on the size of the organization. The price is competitive."

"The price model is different for every client."

"The licensing is good because they have various options, depending on what you are looking for."

"The license price could be reduced for Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager They should make the price more affordable for smaller companies, most companies would be able to use the solution if it was priced better. There are more people on this cloud because you don't have to have either a server room or an on-premise server. You can have one IT person handle this without any local infrastructure."

"Its licensing is quite complicated because we are getting the license not only for SCCM but for the full Microsoft package. We don't need to pay for a separate license. We need to have one license that includes everything we need, such as Windows, Microsoft 365, SCCM, encryption, and so on. So, we don't have a specific price for it. Perhaps, it is good that it includes the full suite of licensing of Microsoft. It is expensive, but we are getting a lot of features."

"We have a support license from Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager and the overall price of the solution is reasonable."

"The price could be better."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Photography Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about GFI LanGuard?

The most valuable feature of GFI LanGuard is its email spam feature.

See all answers

What needs improvement with GFI LanGuard?

The only drawback with GFI LanGuard is that you cannot directly integrate it from the Outlook email; instead, you have to first log in to the site to make changes. Instead of directly white listing...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for GFI LanGuard?

Internally, as a user, I use GFI LanGuard for email and web monitoring.

See all answers

How does Ansible compare to Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (SCCM)?

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager takes knowledge and research to properly configure. The length of time that the set up will take depends on the kind of technical architecture that your org...

See all answers

How to choose between ManageEngine Desktop Central and Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (formerly SCCM)?

ManageEngine Desktop Central is very easy to set up, is scalable, stable, and also has very good patch management. What I like most about ManageEngine is that I can log on to every PC very easily a...

See all answers

What do you like most about SCCM?

One of the standout features of SCCM is its application management capabilities. It allows us to create packages efficiently and deploy them to specific groups within our network. This streamlined ...

See all answers

Comparisons

ManageEngine Patch Manager Plus vs GFI LanGuard

Compared 38% of the time

Microsoft Windows Server Update Services vs GFI LanGuard

Compared 22% of the time

Ivanti Patch for Endpoint Manager vs GFI LanGuard

Compared 15% of the time

NinjaOne vs GFI LanGuard

Compared 12% of the time

More GFI LanGuard Competitors

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 14% of the time

ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 13% of the time

Tanium vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 8% of the time

BigFix vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 6% of the time

AWS Systems Manager vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

Compared 5% of the time

More Microsoft Configuration Manager Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

GFI LanGuard

March 2025

Download GFI LanGuard product report

Buyer's Guide

Microsoft Configuration Manager

March 2025

Download Microsoft Configuration Manager product report

Also Known As

LanGuard

Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager, System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM )

Overview

GFI LanGuard enables complete patch management of security and non-security patches to Microsoft operating systems, Mac OS X, major Linux distributions and third-party applications. It can also automate patching for all major web browsers too.

GFI

Microsoft Configuration Manager helps IT manage PCs and servers, keeping software up-to-date, setting configuration and security policies, and monitoring system status while giving employees access to corporate applications on the devices that they choose. When Configuration Manager is integrated with Microsoft Intune, you can manage corporate-connected PCs and Macs along with cloud-based mobile devices running Windows, iOS, and Android, all from a single management console.

New features of Configuration Manager, such as the support of Windows 10 in-place upgrade, co-management with Microsoft Intune, Windows 10 and Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise Servicing Dashboard, integration with Windows Update for Business, and more make deploying and managing Windows easier than ever before.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

BayView Medical Clinic, FrugalBrothers Software, Zaw, National Theatre, American Red Cross

Bank Alfalah Ltd., Wªrth Handelsges.m.b.H, Dimension Data, Japan Business Systems, St. Lucie County Public Schools, MISC Berhad

Buyer's Guide

GFI LanGuard vs. Microsoft Configuration Manager

March 2025

Free Report: GFI LanGuard vs. Microsoft Configuration Manager

Find out what your peers are saying about GFI LanGuard vs. Microsoft Configuration Manager and other solutions. Updated: March 2025.

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