Smplify vs. Traditional MDM
Stop Buying a Tool
Start Embedding
Traditional MDM products (Jamf, Iru, Intune) are built for IT teams who manage their own devices.
Smplify is MDM infrastructure for platform builders who want to embed device management in their product — under their own UI, workflows, and brand.
Which Do You Want?
Built for IT Teams. Or Built for Your Product.
- Not designed for embedding
- Customers see their UI, not yours
- Requires their agent on endpoints
- API-first, built for developers
- No endpoint agent — no conflicts with your stack
- Multi-tenant with enterprise RBAC
- Designed to embed in your product
- Your UI, your workflows, your brand
- Usage-based pricing that scales with you
The Real Comparison
| Smplify | Build MDM In-House | Open-Source MDM | Traditional MDM | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Who it’s for | Platforms embedding MDM | Devs building MDM | Devs extending open-source | IT teams |
What you ship | Your UI, powered by Smplify | Your UI on your engine | Your UI on their engine | Their UI and workflows |
Time to market | Weeks | Months to years | Months to years | Fast for end users only |
Maintenance | We handle infra & all MDM changes | You maintain everything | You own infra + project updates | Provider defines roadmap |
Scale | Multi-tenant by design | Depends on your team | Depends on extensions | Per customer, not embeddable |
Customer control | You own the experience | You own the experience | You own the experience | Provider owns the experience |
Total cost | Predictable usage pricing | Very high | Medium to high | Limits your pricing options |
Biggest risk | Waiting too long to add MDM | Underestimating scope | Hitting scale limits | Losing roadmap control |
If Not Smplify, Then What?
If you want MDM capabilities in your platform, you have three options:
Build MDM In-House: Months to years to MVP. Ongoing maintenance burden. Apple, Microsoft, and Google spec changes require constant updates.
Use Open-Source MDM: Good for prototypes. Missing enterprise features, multi-tenancy, and scale.
Bolt on a Traditional MDM: Your customers see two UIs. You lose account control. Their roadmap, not yours.
When Traditional MDM Makes Sense
Buy a standalone MDM tool if you're:
- An internal IT team managing your own company’s devices
- Looking for a console, not an API
- Not building a platform product
- Not offering MDM to customers
Smplify is for platform builders who want to offer MDM, not teams who want to use MDM.
Traditional MDM helps IT teams manage devices. Smplify helps platforms offer device management.
Done Comparing?
Start Building
Smplify is the only MDM infrastructure built specifically for platform builders.
“We didn’t build Smplify to be another MDM tool you have to manage. We built it to be the plumbing that disappears so you can focus on building value in your product.”— Ben Greiner, Co-founder of Smplify
Embed MDM. Ship Faster.
Smplify is API-first MDM infrastructure for platform builders.
Apple MDM today. Windows, Android/ChromeOS, Linux coming soon. No endpoint agent. Multi-tenant. Enterprise RBAC. SOC 2 Type II in progress.