The Microsoft Intune alternatives IT pros are switching to in 2024

Are you looking for an alternative to Microsoft Intune?

Although Microsoft Intune offers sufficient endpoint management capabilities, IT professionals seek alternatives due to its poor compatibility with non-Windows devices, lack of customer support, and difficult onboarding.

Plus, several Microsoft Intune alternatives offer a more comprehensive IT management solution which is what most IT professionals need.

To help you pick an alternative solution, we have listed below the top 11 Microsoft Intune alternatives for IT teams. But before we discuss the alternatives, let’s first look at Microsoft Intune and its limitations and strengths.

What is Microsoft Intune?

Microsoft Intune lets IT professionals manage and secure users’ devices, applications, and data via a cloud-based IT management system. Intune is a part of the Microsoft product family and integrates with other Microsoft products, such as Microsoft 365, Configuration Manager, and Endpoint Analytics.

Why look for a Microsoft Intune alternative?

After conducting our research and reading customer reviews on platforms like G2 and Capterra, we realized that the main limitations of Microsoft Intune are its poor compatibility with non-Windows devices, lack of customer support, and difficult onboarding process.

Let’s look at each limitation in more detail.

1. Poor compatibility with non-Windows devices

Even though Microsoft Intune claims to be compatible with Apple and Linux devices, many customers on G2 complained of poor compatibility with them. If your IT infrastructure is Apple or Linux-based, this can be a serious disadvantage.

2. Customer support has room for improvement

Microsoft Intune users mentioned that customer support needs improvement and that implementation timelines could be shortened. Alternatives like Atera provide 24/7 live chat support, which makes Intune’s slower customer support a disadvantage.

3. The initial onboarding process is difficult

According to G2 users, Microsoft Intune’s initial setup is difficult, and you need to be knowledgeable about other Microsoft products to fully understand Intune. IT professionals who value ease of use find this to be a drawback.

What are Microsoft Intune’s specializations?

Microsoft Intune has its own set of limitations, as well as its specializations, such as its centralized endpoint management capabilities and integrations with other Microsoft products.

Let’s examine these in more detail.

1. Centralized endpoint management

With Microsoft Intune, users can manage their apps, mobile devices, and other virtual endpoints from a single interface. While other top alternatives offer the same capability, Microsoft Intune customers on G2 appreciated this functionality.

2. Integration with other Microsoft products

Microsoft Intune is part of the Microsoft product family and integrates well with other products. Customers on G2 saw this as an advantage of the software.

The pros and cons of Microsoft Intune: An overview

To conclude the two previous sections, here are the pros and cons of Microsoft Intune.

The pros:

• A centralized management system for apps, mobile devices, and other virtual endpoints
• Seamless integration with other Microsoft products

The cons:

• Poor compatibility with non-Windows devices
• Customer support must improve to remain competitive
• Microsoft Intune’s onboarding process is known to be difficult

1. Atera

Atera vs. Microsoft Intune: Key differences

Atera is an all-in-one IT management solution for IT departments and MSPs. It offers features like remote monitoring and management (RMM), PSA, help desk, automated patch management, and robust reporting and analytics. The primary purpose of Microsoft Intune is mobile device management (MDM), which allows basic app and device management.

Atera provides a single dashboard view for managed service providers (MSPs) to manage clients’ devices, servers, and endpoints. Microsoft Intune isn’t primarily designed for MSPs, so they would have to create a separate account for each client, making it nearly impossible actually to grow and scale.

Atera provides 24/7 live chat customer support, as well as resources, including tutorials, a knowledge base, and an IT community. With Intune, you must contact Microsoft’s support to get support, which is known to be lacking at times. Further, Microsoft does not have a dedicated community for IT professionals.

1. Features and capabilities

Atera provides remote monitoring and management across Windows, Mac, Linux, and VMware operating systems. 

In comparison, Microsoft Intune supports iOS, Mac, Android, Linux, and Windows devices. Microsoft Intune supports more operating systems, but users on G2 report that it doesn’t work properly with some operating systems, such as Mac, iOS, and Linux.

Additionally, Microsoft Intune’s main functionality is mobile device management, so it isn’t able to perform the same advanced tasks Atera does. Atera gives IT technicians remote access to computers, devices, and other endpoints and holistic network access. Comparatively, Microsoft Intune focuses only on mobile devices.

2. User interface and usability

From the ground up, Atera was designed to be intuitive to use. Core IT department tasks like handling common complaints, automatically updating OS, software, and hardware, and scanning security alerts are all managed effortlessly through Atera’s dashboards.

Atera offers an intuitive UI design for IT professionals, as well as a powerful PSA tool for MSPs to provide customers with help desk, billing, and reporting systems.

Comparatively, Microsoft Intune is primarily known for having an intuitive interface once you learn to use the software. Users on G2 mention that the initial onboarding process can be challenging and may require prior Microsoft Azure experience.

Microsoft Intune isn’t really suitable for MSPs since there isn’t a unified dashboard view for multiple accounts, so they would have to create separate accounts for each client, making it inconvenient to use.

3. Pricing and value for money

To suit the needs of both IT departments and MSPs, Atera offers separate pricing plans for both. Unlike most RMM pricing plans, Atera’s pricing is transparent, so you know exactly what you’re getting and how much it costs.

Enterprise clients can request a custom quote, but our standard plans range from $149 to $219 per month for IT departments and from $129 to $209 per month for MSPs.

Atera’s pricing plans are pay-per-technician, which means you pay the same price regardless of how many endpoints/devices you add.

In comparison, Microsoft Intune charges customers based on pay-per-device, meaning the price can increase quickly if you manage dozens of devices.

Atera’s G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (500+ reviews)

Microsoft Intune G2 Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars (190+ reviews)

What Atera users are saying on G2:

Atera users on G2 mention that setting up and using Atera’s dashboards and features has been easy. Customers are able to view reports on device monitoring system/device performance and configure software bundles for new computers.

Atera’s Capterra Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (340+ reviews)

Microsoft Intune Capterra Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (30+ reviews)

What Atera users are saying on Capterra:

One Capterra user mentions that when they started their IT management service business, they had chosen another PSA-RMM solution. After spending thousands of dollars, they thought there had to be a better way, which is when they found Atera. Atera’s pay-per-technician pricing makes scaling much more affordable.

Atera Pricing:

For IT departments: 

• Professional: $149 per month, per technician
• Expert: $189 per month, per technician
• Master: $219 per month, per technician
• Enterprise: Custom quotation, contact sales to get the pricing

For MSPs:

• Pro: $129 per month, per technician
• Growth: $179 per month, per technician
• Power: $209 per month, per technician
• Superpower (Enterprise): Custom quotation, contact sales to get the pricing

Get started with Atera on a 30-day free trial with no credit card required.

2. ManageEngine Endpoint Central

ManageEngine Endpoint Central is an endpoint management solution for desktops, laptops, servers, mobile devices, and tablets. With it, IT professionals can manage patches and IT assets, run remote troubleshooting, and detect and remediate vulnerabilities through threat detection.

Endpoint Central is mainly for mobile device management, but it can be integrated with other ManageEngine products, such as RMM Central, for remote monitoring and management functionality. The downside of this is the increased cost, as opposed to investing in a comprehensive solution like Atera.

G2 Rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 (600+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0 (750+ reviews)

ManageEngine Endpoint Central Pricing:

• Professional: Starting at $104 per month, per technician
• Enterprise: Starting at $124 per month, per technician
• UEM: Starting at $139 per month, per technician
• Security: Starting at $205 per month, per technician

3. N-able

N-able helps IT organizations to monitor, manage, and secure their networks, servers, and endpoints remotely. One of its main products, N-sight RMM, provides endpoint management, remote access, help desk and ticketing, reporting, and billing capabilities.

Like Microsoft Intune, N-able charges its customers based on how many devices they manage. N-able is suitable both for MSPs and IT departments, but can be very costly if you have dozens of devices to manage.

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5.0 (130+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 (70+ reviews)

N-sight Pricing:

• Basic plan: Starting at $99 per month

4. NinjaOne

NinjaOne provides IT professionals with RMM, endpoint and patch management and remote access capabilities. Unlike Microsoft Intune, MSPs can also use it to manage their clients’ devices, servers, and other endpoints.

While NinjaOne offers a robust RMM functionality, there are limitations, including its pricing model. Similarly to many NinjaOne alternatives, the pricing is based on pay-per-endpoint. For larger businesses or those who are trying to scale, this isn’t ideal since the pricing increases with each new endpoint model.

G2 Rating: 4.8 out of 5.0 (1,000+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.8 out of 5.0 (200+ reviews)

NinjaOne Pricing:

• Pricing based on custom quotation. To learn more, visit their website.

5. Kaseya

Kaseya provides a suite of products that help IT professionals streamline their operations and automate manual tasks. One of Kaseya’s core products, Kaseya VSA, offers RMM, mobile device management, patch management, reporting, and billing capabilities.

Customers praise Kaseya for its robust feature set. However, the software does have its drawbacks, one of them being Kaseya’s outdated interface. If you are seeking an intuitive user interface, you may want to consider another alternative, such as Atera.

G2 Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0 (250+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.1 out of 5.0 (200+ reviews)

Kaseya VSA Pricing:

• Custom pricing system in place. Visit their website to learn more.

6. ConnectWise Automate

ConnectWise Automate provides centralized management and security for devices, endpoints, and servers, as well as monitoring and automating IT troubleshooting. It’s an especially popular Intune alternative amongst enterprises that need advanced capabilities.

Even though ConnectWise offers robust functionality, many customers report that the software has a steep learning curve. The main reasons for this were ConnectWise’s outdated interface and its high customization capabilities, which made it difficult to find the right tools.

G2 Rating: 4.1 out of 5.0 (120+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.1 out of 5.0 (125+ reviews)

ConnectWise Automate Pricing:

• Custom quotation: To know ConnectWise Automate pricing, you need to request a quotation from their team

7. Datto RMM

Datto RMM is a cloud-based IT management platform that provides remote monitoring and management, patch management, remote access, and reporting functionalities. Datto RMM can also be integrated with Datto’s other product, Autotask PSA if you need PSA functionality.

Similar to Atera, Datto provides a comprehensive IT management solution. However, it does come with a cost since customers on G2 report that the platform is complex to use on a daily basis.

G2 Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (70+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars (20+ reviews)

Datto Pricing:

• Custom pricing available. Contact Datto’s sales team to get the pricing.

8. Jamf

Jamf is a mobile device management solution for Macs, iPads, iPhones, and other Apple devices. It’s a unique software in that it is entirely focused on the Apple ecosystem. One of its advantages is integration with Apple Business Manager, which makes it easy to configure Apple devices from one place.

Jamf can be a suitable alternative to Microsoft Intune for mobile device management, but it lacks some advanced features that most IT professionals require, such as RMM.

G2 Rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 stars (1,500+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 stars (500+ reviews)

Jamf Pricing:

• Business plan: $14.33 per technician, per month (25 technicians minimum)

9. Ivanti Endpoint Manager

Ivanti provides a solution for managing and securing Android, iOS, Windows, Mac, Linux, and IoT devices. Although device management is one of Ivanti’s main capabilities, it also has features like asset discovery, patch management, PSA, remote access, and more.

If you’re an enterprise searching for these features, Ivanti can be a suitable alternative. Ivanti is capable of a lot, but some G2 customers feel that the software is hugely complicated and the company takes a long time to activate new features.

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5.0 stars (130+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 3.0 out of 5.0 stars (1 review)

Ivanti Endpoint Manager Pricing:

• Custom pricing. To get the pricing, fill out your details on Ivanti’s website.

10. Pulseway

Pulseway allows IT teams and MSPs to monitor, manage, and control their IT infrastructure remotely. Due to its focus on remote monitoring and management, it is a viable alternative to Intune for those needs.

One of Pulseway’s strengths is its mobile app, which is capable of monitoring and managing IT systems remotely from a smartphone or tablet. Although Pulseway’s mobile app has been well received, the cloud-based software and desktop app have received complaints, as some of the features are split between the two, making it difficult for users to use.

G2 Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 (50+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 (180+ reviews)

Pulseway Pricing:

• Basic: Custom pricing available. Visit their website to find out how much the price is based on your situation.

11. Addigy

Addigy offers cloud-based mobile device management for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS devices. Similar to Jamf, it’s entirely focused on the Apple ecosystem and integrates similarly to Apple Business Manager.

Addigy provides an alternative to Intune for Apple ecosystem users, but it does not support Windows or Linux.

G2 Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars (200+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 stars (10+ reviews)

Addigy Pricing:

• Pricing is based on a custom quote. To get the pricing, fill out the details on Addigy’s website.

Choosing the right Microsoft Intune alternative

As we previously discussed, Microsoft Intune is an MDM solution, which is different from an RMM solution, such as Atera. The capabilities of RMM solutions are much broader, and in many cases, an RMM can replace an MDM, but not the other way around.

For this reason, a solid RMM solution is the best option for most IT professionals to manage all their IT needs within one platform. 

With Atera, IT professionals get world-class remote monitoring and management, automated patch management, advanced reporting and analytics, and robust PSA capabilities.

Interested in learning more about Atera’s best-in-class RMM capabilities? Get started with a free trial, or contact our sales team today.