Microsoft Configuration Manager vs Pulseway comparison

Microsoft Configuration Man...

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Feb 22, 2026

Microsoft Configuration Manager and Pulseway compete in the system management category. Pulseway seems to have the upper hand due to its flexibility and mobile capabilities.

Features: Microsoft Configuration Manager excels in comprehensive system management with features like software deployment, patch management, and compliance reporting. It offers centralized management and automation, helping maintain system configuration and security. In contrast, Pulseway stands out for its remote monitoring and mobile capabilities, enabling efficient system management from mobile devices.

Room for Improvement: Microsoft Configuration Manager could see enhancements in application deployment for users lacking scripting knowledge, better integration with Intune and non-Microsoft updates, and improved MacOS support. Pulseway could benefit from faster processing speeds during remote sessions and desktop applications for easier management.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: SCCM is typically deployed on-premises, with some cloud offerings; setup can be complex. Support is robust, with ample documentation, though experiences can vary. Pulseway offers flexible deployment across hybrid and cloud environments and is known for good customer service and comprehensive documentation.

Pricing and ROI: Microsoft Configuration Manager is known for high licensing costs but offers good ROI through its comprehensive capabilities. It may be expensive for smaller organizations. Pulseway provides competitive pricing with lower fees compared to solutions like Kaseya or SolarWinds, offering good value for budget-conscious organizations.

To learn more, read our detailed Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. Pulseway Report (Updated: March 2026).

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. Pulseway

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Helped 884,873 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

Microsoft Configuration Man...

Ranking in Server Monitoring

6th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Software Distribution (1st), Configuration Management (3rd), Patch Management (2nd)

Pulseway

Ranking in Server Monitoring

17th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (54th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (15th)

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2026, in the Server Monitoring category, the mindshare of Microsoft Configuration Manager is 4.0%, down from 6.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pulseway is 1.7%, up from 0.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Server Monitoring Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Microsoft Configuration Manager	4.0%
Pulseway	1.7%
Other	94.3%

Server Monitoring

Featured Reviews

Narendar S

Senior System Engineer at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

Centralized endpoint control has streamlined deployments and improved security compliance

In my experience, the best features of Microsoft Configuration Manager are software deployments and updates, OSD, hardware and software inventory, compliance and configuration baseline, reporting and monitoring, and integration with Intune hybrid management. These features make endpoint management efficient and scalable. The feature I rely on the most day-to-day is software deployment and patch management. It keeps endpoints updated and secure with minimal manual effort. Inventory and compliance monitoring are also important, but daily deployments are critical. Microsoft Configuration Manager has had a significant positive impact on our organization in several ways: improved efficiency, enhanced security and compliance, standardization, scalability, and visibility reporting. Overall, Microsoft Configuration Manager has helped us save time, reduce risk, improve operational efficiency, and maintain strong control over our endpoints. One of the biggest impacts Microsoft Configuration Manager has had on efficiency is the reduced manual work for software deployment and patching. For example, deploying a new application or security updates to hundreds or thousands of devices previously required several days of manual effort, including running scripts, checking devices individually, and validating installation. With Microsoft Configuration Manager, these tasks are automated and managed, allowing deployments to complete in hours rather than days. We also have automated reporting for deployment success and compliance which saved the IT team significant time that used to be spent gathering and reconciling inventory data from multiple tools.

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Pieter Plas

Owner at Beerepoot Automatisering B.V.

A solution with a great monitoring system and ability to control access remotely

The initial setup was straightforward. Deployment depends on the size of a customer. We make the customer in the enterprise server, and there is a download per customer for the installation package. We can also roll it out very easily, and when we install it on one or two systems, it explores the network for more systems. We can then fire a deployment package on the other systems. So in one hour, we can do a lot. Most of the time, 90% of the work is very easy, and the last 10% are the business-critical systems from a customer. Also, we manually install important customer systems, like special applications where we like to monitor specific services in the server itself.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Provides great insight into the functionalities of the data scope."

"I like a lot of the reporting capabilities and baseline configurations."

"The initial setup is fairly straightforward."

"We're a Microsoft-centric organization, so we are happy with the integration between products."

"We are happy with the collaboration of SCCM with Patch My PC, which allows us to do patch work."

"It does the job and meets our needs. With everybody working remotely these days, we are using this solution to deploy everything. The deployment of PCs is easy."

"The solution doesn't require any maintenance from our end because it is a cloud-based solution and Microsoft takes care of everything."

"The solution is user-friendly and easy to learn."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager pros

"The setup is simple."

"It gives you remote control and has a mobile app."

"It has been very helpful to get notifications about various issues with my servers and network to help me take action to resolve problems before they become major issues."

"The solution has great workflow and server modules."

"We like the patching of the window updates in the client's systems. You can automatically do updates with a single click."

Cons

"This solution needs to be supported on all Operating systems."

"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."

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

"The main thing is that SCCM has to become an appliance instead of a server. When I say appliance, it has to come preconfigured so that it is drop-shipped into the enterprise and then you activate the feature sets that you want. It should pull down all the latest binaries. Once that is all there, it should have a discovery tool which goes out and discovers the assets within an enterprise. If the server, workstation, and applications are all coming from the same vendor, why not have the vendor do this work for us and automate it as much as it possibly can?"

"It needs to be able to load faster during deployment."

"SCCM does not scale well, which is one of the reasons we are not going to continue to use it."

"The solution is a bit heavy on the sources such as RAM or CPU and the software needs to be a bit lighter."

"Management of Linux devices could be improved."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager cons

"GUI needs to be improved and the solution lacks a process for monitoring VOIP calls."

"There are some bugs or glitches."

"They have good technical support but it's not excellent."

"The solution does not allow you to make a script for just one customer."

"It would be nice if it also had a desktop application, similar to the phone app, which would allow me to monitor and control computers from my desktop."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Pricing and licensing are horrible. You have to not look at dollar value to use SCCM. It's super-duper expensive but it works. The acquisition cost is expensive, it's labor-intensive. But it works."

"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."

"The solution is expensive. Microsoft Configuration Manager would likely be considered high-priced for small businesses because they may not fully utilize all of its features and capabilities."

"The price of Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager is expensive."

"Pricing and licensing are a downside of SCCM. It's expensive. I'd have to confirm this, but I think they changed the licensing to core-based instead of socket-based. It's not cheap, because you have to buy the software, you have to buy SQL. Another thing we learned from talking to Microsoft is that they provide you a license for SQL if you run it on the same box as the primary server. If you run it outside that box, you have to buy SQL. Microsoft does recommend you running it on the same box because of performance. But then, in order to run SQL, SCCM, and everything on the same box, you better have some resources. It's an expensive solution. There's no doubt about it."

"There is an annual license needed to use the solution."

"It comes free with the Microsoft account. We have a yearly agreement, and all products are covered under it."

"SCCM comes with its own version of SQL Server. If you use that SQL Server with SCCM and don't use it for another applications than you get an SQL Server for free."

More Microsoft Configuration Manager pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Government

10%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

12%

Educational Organization

Government

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	20
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	66

No data available

Questions from the Community

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...

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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 ...

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Comparisons

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Compared 7% of the time

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Tanium vs Microsoft Configuration Manager

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Pulseway

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

Microsoft Configuration Manager

Download Microsoft Configuration Manager product report

Download Pulseway product report

Also Known As

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

No data available

Overview

Microsoft Configuration Manager streamlines IT management with features such as software deployment, patch management, and automation, centralizing operations for Windows environments. Integration with Microsoft products allows efficient oversight of workstations and servers.

Microsoft Configuration Manager provides comprehensive IT management, offering software deployment, patch management, and application pushing. Automation reduces manual tasks, ensuring consistency across systems. Centralized management enables standardized OS deployments, application updates, and configuration integrity. Integration with Microsoft products facilitates seamless operations, while hardware and software inventory, compliance reporting, and remote control functions enhance IT management. Users seek improvements in application deployment for those without deep scripting knowledge and desire better WSUS control, PowerShell and Intune integration, Linux compatibility, and user interface enhancements. Performance improvements are requested for remote user management and third-party application support.

What features enhance Microsoft Configuration Manager?

Software Deployment: Efficiently distribute software across large networks.
Patch Management: Automate and streamline update processes for security and functionality.
Automation Capabilities: Reduce manual effort and enhance consistency in IT tasks.
Centralized Management: Standardize OS deployments and application updates.
Integration with Microsoft Products: Seamless operation with existing Microsoft infrastructure.
Hardware and Software Inventory: Comprehensive tracking for assets and resources.
Compliance Reporting: Ensure compliance with internal and external standards.
Remote Control Functions: Enhance support and troubleshooting capabilities.

What benefits should users expect when evaluating Microsoft Configuration Manager?

Decreased Manual Work: Automation reduces time spent on repetitive tasks.
Enhanced Security: Automated patch management keeps systems secure.
Consistent Configurations: Centralized updates ensure uniformity across systems.
Improved Integration: Seamless operation within Microsoft ecosystems boosts productivity.
Comprehensive Oversight: Detailed inventory and reporting tools aid in strategic planning.
Streamlined Support: Remote capabilities improve IT support and user satisfaction.

Microsoft Configuration Manager is widely implemented in organizations to manage Windows workstations and servers. It is essential for deploying operating systems and applications, managing software updates, and conducting hardware and software inventories. The tool is crucial for endpoint and configuration management, ensuring compliance, and automating processes like patching and vulnerability management. Industries such as finance, healthcare, and education rely on Microsoft Configuration Manager to keep systems secure and operational, adapting it to address their specific needs and challenges in maintaining diversified IT environments.

Microsoft

Pulseway is a remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform designed to help MSPs and IT teams manage modern IT networks, reduce downtime, and achieve efficiency through automation, while increasing end-user satisfaction.

Pulseway’s intuitive interface provides real-time actionable detailed information on servers, workstations, and network devices. Using Pulseway’s customizable alerts, you can quickly identify problems, communicate with users, and automatically resolve issues with built-in commands and scripts.

Some of Pulseway’s benefits and features include:

Comprehensive monitoring: Pulseway’s remote monitoring feature provides a complete view of your entire network. Gain visibility into operational data for workstations, servers, virtual machines, network devices, and more. If necessary, resolve issues directly from the same interface.

Remote access: Get a real-time view across your network, receive alerts, and remedy problems from anywhere with any mobile device using Pulseway’s full feature mobile app.

Automation: Automate repetitive tasks and design auto-remediation workflows, ensuring that critical patches are automatically applied.

Quick setup: Get your team up and running in minutes with Pulseway’s simplified deployment and auto-discovery engine. See all the IT endpoints and then rapidly mass deploy Pulseway with pre-configured built-in policies and out-of-the-box scripts.

Patch management: Pulseway automates the discovery and application of operating systems and third-party patches to ensure all your applications are kept up to date.

Reporting: Use custom or ready-made templates to create reports on system status and events. Reports can be sent manually or emailed automatically on schedule.

Backup and recovery: Protect your users’ data wherever it is stored and restore it to anywhere. Pulseway Cloud Backup’s intuitive interface enables you to easily schedule and deploy backups, recover data, and check up on backup status from both the Pulseway web application and the Pulseway mobile application. Quickly deploy backup agents.

Vulnerability scanning: Pulseway’s vulnerability scanner is easy to use and alerts for vulnerabilities in real time. With Pulseway’s vulnerability scanner, organizations can easily perform standard vulnerability scans that are regarded as international best practice.

Eliminate data loss: Prevent data loss and downtime from ransomware attacks with built-in detection and safeguards that allow for fast recovery after an attack.

Service ticket management: Pulseway’s complete help desk and ticketing solution allows you to respond quickly and professionally to user issues.

CRM: Get the information and resources you need to focus on your customers and increase opportunities.

Project management: Receive real-time project status with details on resource usage and tasks.

Finance and billing: Automatically create and post invoices imported from timesheets and expense reports.

Time tracking: Log precise information on time and expenses by company, project, tasks, and employees. Automatically record how much time is spent on a ticket for accurate billing.

Integrations: Integrate with leading solutions, including:

Pulseway PSA
ConnectWise Manage
Autotask
Zendesk
Slack
IT Glue
Kasepersky
Bitdefender
WarrantyMaster

Sample Customers

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

Dell, Canon, Siemens, Harvard University, Northwestern University

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. Pulseway