Jamf vs Iru (formerly Kandji) (2026): Apple MDM | Siit

Dimitri Cabete Jorge, Co-Founder & CTO · Last updated: August 2026 · Facts verified: August 2026

TL;DR: Jamf suits organizations with a dedicated Mac admin who needs deep scripting and granular policy control across a large Apple fleet. Iru (formerly Kandji) suits lean IT teams that want zero-touch deployment and automated patching. The deciding axis is admin capacity: take Jamf's control if you have someone to wield it, and Iru's automation if you do not.

Ratings: Jamf: G2 4.7/5 · Iru: G2 4.7/5, verified August 2026

Jamf vs Iru at a Glance

The split is administrative: Jamf hands you the controls and expects you to operate them, while Iru enforces a declared desired state and expects you to describe it.

Overview of Jamf

Jamf is an Apple-first endpoint management platform built for organizations that want control over every layer of Apple device configuration. Admins can script whatever the console does not cover.

Key features:

• Extension Attributes: Custom scripts collect any data point from a managed device, which then becomes something you can search, group, and act on.
• Smart Groups: Device groups update dynamically on any criteria, including extension attribute values, so policy targeting stays current without manual upkeep.
• Jamf Pro API: Versioned, documented endpoints with OAuth, so automation built against it keeps working as new features ship API-first.
• Compliance Benchmarks: Center for Internet Security (CIS) Level 1 and Level 2 templates built into the console since June 2025, with a monitoring mode to assess before enforcing and automated remediation after.
• Account-Driven User Enrollment: Separates personal and corporate data on employee-owned iPhones and iPads, which makes supervised bring-your-own-device (BYOD) programs workable.

Ideal for: Enterprises whose Apple requirements outrun what a template can express.

Overview of Iru

Iru is an IT security and device management platform for Apple, Windows, and Android. A single agent on the device handles management, endpoint detection and response (EDR), and vulnerability scanning. Blueprints declare a desired device state and enforce it continuously, so routine configuration happens without scripts and drifts back into line on its own.

Key features:

• Blueprints and Assignment Maps: Desired-state configuration with conditional logic by department or serial number, so one admin can manage varied device groups without scripts.
• Auto Apps: Zero-touch patching for 230+ Mac and Windows applications. This removes package building and testing from the patch cycle.
• Liftoff: A first-boot setup screen that shows install progress, so a new hire watching a fresh Mac configure itself can tell it is working rather than stalled.
• One-click CIS templates: Level 1 and Level 2 blueprints with dozens of pre-configured controls; the vendor positions Level 2 as a starting point for System and Organization Controls 2 (SOC 2) audit readiness.
• Migration Agent: Self-serve tooling, deployed from the existing MDM, that moves Mac fleets off a legacy platform, Jamf included.

Ideal for: Teams that prioritize guided deployment, automated patching, and lower ongoing upkeep.

Side-by-Side Feature Comparison

Jamf and Iru diverge most on scriptability: custom inventory, targeting, and reporting are open-ended in Jamf and template-bound in Iru. Security packaging and migration path split them too, and both sit near the top of most MDM shortlists.

Capabilities verified from Jamf and Iru documentation, August 2026.

Pricing

Jamf publishes per-device rates; Iru publishes none.

Jamf:

• Jamf for Mac: $12.50 per device per month, billed annually, 25-device minimum; macOS management plus endpoint protection, vulnerability management, content filtering, and identity and access management.
• Jamf for Mobile: $5.75 per device per month, billed annually, 25-device minimum; mobile device management (MDM), mobile threat defense, and zero-trust network access for iOS, iPadOS, visionOS, watchOS, tvOS, and Android.
• Jamf Now: Starting at $4 per device per month for organizations under 25 employees; covers macOS, iOS, iPadOS, and tvOS.

Iru:

• All products: Quote-based. Endpoint Management, EDR, Vulnerability Management, Workforce Identity, Compliance Automation, and Trust Center are each priced separately on request, on annual commitments.
• Trials: 14-day free trial for Workforce Identity, Endpoint Management, Vulnerability Management, and EDR. Compliance Automation and Trust Center are not in the trial list.
• Onboarding: Migration and onboarding support included at no charge.

Rates come from Jamf's pricing page and Iru's pricing page. All pricing information verified August 2026.

Gotchas:

• Jamf: The Mac and Mobile plans are cloud-only, with on-premises deployments excluded, and education pricing is custom with no published rates.
• Jamf: Jamf Now does not include Jamf Protect, so endpoint security at that tier is a separate purchase.
• Iru: No dollar figures appear anywhere on the pricing page; budgeting requires a sales conversation.
• Iru: Subscriptions renew automatically unless you give 30 days' written notice.
• Iru: Its contract terms let per-unit pricing rise by up to 7% at renewal, unless Iru gives 60 days' notice of different pricing.

Jamf's rate card is checkable up front; Iru's requires a quote before you can model cost.

What Users Say

Reviewers split along fleet size: Jamf's scores come from admins running big fleets who wanted control, Iru's from smaller teams who wanted a working fleet fast.

• Jamf, configuration depth: G2 and Capterra reviewers praise what Smart Groups and extension attributes let them automate, and Reddit practitioners treat Jamf as the benchmark other MDMs are measured against.
• Jamf, learning curve: Capterra reviewers say full value requires scripting skills, and the standing advice on r/macsysadmin is to pick Jamf only when the team has time and resources to learn it.
• Jamf, renewal pricing: Administrators on r/jamf report sharp renewal increases alongside bundle pressure.
• Jamf, enterprise standing: Jamf rates 4.6/5 on Gartner Peer Insights, with a 2026 Customers' Choice distinction.
• Iru, deployment speed: G2 reviewers report provisioning dropping from hours to minutes.
• Iru, support responsiveness: Its quality-of-support subscore leads Jamf's on G2, and practitioner threads echo that ranking on live-chat turnaround.
• Iru, scale limits: For fleets of 1,000+ endpoints, admins cite the missing Smart Groups, a smaller API, and limited reporting, and renewal-price complaints recur on Reddit.

User sentiment sourced from G2, Capterra, Gartner Peer Insights, Reddit, as of August 2026.

The two review populations are not measuring the same thing. Jamf's reviewers chose the platform for control and absorbed the training cost that came with it, which is why configuration depth dominates their feedback. Iru's reviewers are smaller teams counting how fast they reached a working fleet, which is why speed and support responsiveness lead theirs. Renewal pricing draws complaints on both sides, so it separates neither. The divergence tracks fleet size and admin headcount more closely than it tracks product quality, which is why the same two scores sit on tools that feel nothing alike in daily use.

When to Choose Jamf vs Iru

Both platforms manage an Apple fleet competently. The choice turns on whether your team has the time to build control or needs the platform to supply it.

Choose Jamf if you need:

• Custom policies and scripts for specialized workflows.
• A large Mac fleet that needs granular targeting and reporting.
• Apple device requirements that exceed template-driven configuration.
• Day-one support for new Apple OS releases, as a procurement requirement.
• An automation program built against a versioned API.

Choose Iru if you value:

• Low administrative overhead for a lean team.
• Fewer app packages to build and test yourself.
• Chat-based vendor support that reviewers rate above Jamf's.
• A compliance baseline you switch on rather than build.
• One console covering Apple, Windows, and Android, with the Windows side worth testing first.

Match the platform to the admin capacity you have today, not the capacity you plan to hire.

How Jamf and Iru Work with Siit

Jamf and Iru are both native Siit integrations among Siit's 500+ connectable apps. Siit pulls Jamf device records into its Unified Data Model and syncs the Apple device fleet from Iru, so whoever picks up a request already sees the requester's device context: model, OS version, serial number, asset tag, last check-in, and ownership. From the request itself, IT can lock or wipe that device, or open it directly in Jamf Pro or Iru.

Employees raise those requests conversationally in Slack or Microsoft Teams rather than in a separate portal, and they land in the same request queue as the rest of IT's inbound work. Both device syncs run through the Jamf integration and Siit's Iru connector.