Kandji vs SimpleMDM
Side-by-side: features, pricing, deployment, and the short version of which wins for which buyer.
Verdict
// In this 2026 ranking, Kandji places higher than the other.
Kandji — Kandji combines a polished modern UI with prebuilt Blueprints and Auto Apps, optimized for in-house Apple IT teams that value design.
SimpleMDM — SimpleMDM is a lightweight Apple-only MDM ideal for fleets under approximately 100 devices.
Side-by-side specifications
Kandji
- Best for
- Design-conscious in-house IT teams
- Pricing model
- Per-device, annual; sliding scale
- Deployment
- Cloud-native (SaaS)
- Platforms
- macOS, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS
- Founded
- 2018, San Diego, CA
- API
- Public REST API
SimpleMDM
- Best for
- Startups and small teams under 100 devices
- Pricing model
- Per-device, monthly; flat tiers
- Deployment
- Cloud-native (SaaS)
- Platforms
- macOS, iOS, iPadOS, tvOS
- Founded
- 2015, Minneapolis, MN
- API
- Public REST API
Feature comparison
| Feature | Kandji | SimpleMDM |
|---|---|---|
| Apple-only specialist | ✓ | ✓ |
| Real-time live agent | ✗ | ✗ |
| Multi-tenant / MSP | ✗ | ~ |
| Declarative Device Management (DDM) | ✓ | ✓ |
| Zero-touch deployment | ✓ | ✓ |
| Apple Business Manager | ✓ | ✓ |
| Apple School Manager | ✓ | ~ |
| Custom scripting | ✓ | ✓ |
| Patch management | ✓ | ~ |
| Software deployment | ✓ | ✓ |
| Auto-remediation | ✓ | ~ |
| Compliance reporting | ✓ | ~ |
| Public REST API | ✓ | ✓ |
| macOS / iOS / iPadOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| tvOS | ✓ | ✓ |
| visionOS | ~ | ~ |
| Windows / Android | ✗ | ✗ |
| Pricing model | per-device | per-device |
Kandji — strengths and watch-outs
- Polished UX and onboarding
- Prebuilt blueprint library
- Strong auto-remediation features
- Less flexible off the blueprint path
- Pricing climbs at scale
SimpleMDM — strengths and watch-outs
- Easy to learn
- Predictable pricing
- Sensible defaults
- Limited advanced automation
- Reporting thins at scale
- No real-time agent