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Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac vs KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 1, 2026

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

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
KACE Systems Management App...
Ranking in Patch Management
9th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Client Desktop Management (2nd), Endpoint Compliance (7th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (11th), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (12th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Patch Management category, the mindshare of Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac is 1.3%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is 3.3%, down from 4.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Patch Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)3.3%
Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac1.3%
Other95.4%
Patch Management
 

Featured Reviews

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.
AdityaJain - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Administrator at EbixCash
Centralized software deployment has simplified endpoint control but needs stronger security alerts
What I like best about KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) is that it allows pushing custom-made applications to all computers that have KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) endpoint installed. This makes it easier for the organization to push patches and updates. If I need to push EDR updates, I can use KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA), as it automatically updates the EDR on that endpoint, and that is a great feature. Overall, KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) helps streamline my processes by allowing me to check the uptime and downtime of machines, whether they are connected to the internet or not, and how long a machine has been switched off. I can also gather hardware details and software inventory from it. I can show a live demonstration if a video conference can be arranged. Incident resolution capabilities with KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) have improved operational efficiency for system administrators, as it makes it easier to track machines with KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA), gather their IP addresses, and push several updates, patches, or software deployments at once. I can design compliances as per my requirements, such as ensuring passwords are reset after 45 days.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, and Mac helps to ensure that everything is up to date."
"The website development section is the most valuable feature of the solution."
"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 tool is a stable product."
"The solution is easy to implement."
"The solution provides us a single pane of glass with everything that we need for endpoint management of all devices, and it definitely has made our endpoint management process much easier."
"My primary use case of this solution is to help us obtain accreditation in the UK of Cyber Essentials Plus, a program sponsored by the UK government which encourages UK companies to obtain a certain level of cyber-security within their cyber environment."
"We're able to deploy software and push out fixes to endpoints faster than ever."
"KACE has made our life much easier since we got off the Microsoft solution."
"The ability to push an image to a machine, wake that image up, and just blast a new image to a computer without even having to touch it, and then push the software to that machine, just made things so much more convenient for us and so much more efficient than having to go find that machine, pull that machine out, take it back to the shop, and repair it from there."
"I can reach people now that I couldn't have reached previously. We are saving about 25 percent in time."
"From using KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA), the main benefits I have seen are that if my organization has a thousand users and I plan to distribute software such as Adobe to all endpoints, by simply launching a script in KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA), I can provide that software effectively."
"The scripting is a very valuable feature, as it saves us time on pushing certain things out to the users, such as software and patches."
 

Cons

"The tool needs to improve its visual system."
"The solution can be quite expensive, compared to other options on the market."
"The better way to improve the solution is by working on an area where it lacks, which includes the migration part."
"I would like them to implement VBScript language in KACE Systems Management. Currently, we can only use PowerShell."
"The only pain point I have is with their salespeople. They call too often."
"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."
"There may be a good reason why some things are not easily able to be done, yet it needs work to compete with some of the other ticketing systems out there now."
"For the software deployment and scripting, it is more difficult. I only have experienced people on my team do that type of work."
"I think it should have the ability to have the applications automatically update. It would be really helpful if this would override what the user might choose to do."
"The problem is that it's harder to directly emulate a lot of the stuff that the group policies do, using the KACE solution. With regular group policies, you just specify the various settings you want to change on the workstations, and then you specify the workstations and—while it's kind of an ugly mess—it does it. Whereas on KACE, you really have to know what you're doing with scripting to effectively script those exact same changes."
"There is always room for improvement. An example will be the implementation of granulated permission to run Scripts."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is open-source, so we do not need any licensing."
"The pricing is great. It's billed annually and it's very reasonable."
"We are a university. So, we have a very good price for the system. I think the price for the system is worth it because of the security patch management. The security patch management is very important for us. The price is very good for KACE SMA, the functionality you get, and the patch management."
"n terms of pricing and licensing, my advice is that you need to assess what you need and then look at what they offer. It's easy to get caught up in the things that you want, but don't really need."
"Licensing is done on a per device basis, so it's dependent on how many agents you've got installed."
"It may be more expensive, but you get what you pay for."
"We pay annually for technical support."
"Some of the other solutions were just astronomical in price compared with KACE and didn't necessarily have the ease of use either. So, we chose Quest KACE for its easy-to-use features and cost."
"We are also saving on the licensing fee, compared to other endpoint management solutions."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
10%
University
10%
Construction Company
9%
Non Profit
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise20
Large Enterprise16
 

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Quest KACE Systems Management?
In terms of cost-effectiveness, considering a situation where I want to deploy KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) for just pushing updates, it is completely fine. However, apart from that, I d...
What needs improvement with Quest KACE Systems Management?
For improvements in KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA), I would want to see it become a standalone software agent. I am curious about why it does not offer EDR functionality. Additionally, the...
What is your primary use case for Quest KACE Systems Management?
I have deployed KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) around 230 plus PCs, and I use it to push Windows updates and scripts. I have designed various scripts for tasks such as password resets afte...
 

Also Known As

HEAT Patch, PatchLink
Dell KACE Systems Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
Waypoint, Mattos Filho, Meetic, Gems Education, Green Clinic HealthSystem, Service King
Find out what your peers are saying about Ivanti Patch for Linux, UNIX, Mac vs. KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA) and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,838 professionals have used our research since 2012.