Updated 4 November 2026 by Simon Mestdagh, founder of Caspian.

TL;DR

• Under about 25 Macs bought through Apple or a reseller: start with the free MDM in Apple Business. It enrolls Macs on first boot, applies Blueprints and installs App Store apps (Apple Newsroom, checked 4 November 2026).
• 25 to 300 Macs, one IT person, Apple only: Mosyle has the lowest published paid price (Premium $1, Fuse $3 per Mac per month, reported). Jamf for Mac ($12.50 per Mac, 25-device minimum) suits an admin who scripts.
• With Windows next to your Macs, pick Intune if you hold Microsoft 365, otherwise JumpCloud or Fleet. Caspian also supports Windows.
• If accounts and access in Slack, Google, GitHub and Notion eat more of your week than the Mac itself, add an IT automation platform. Caspian, the IT automation platform for scale-ups, which we sell, does that for €10 per active user per month with all their laptops included, 30 days free and no card.

Caspian publishes this article and sells a product in this space. Facts were checked on 4 November 2026.

How we compared

A small business here means 10 to 300 people, mostly on Macs, with one or two people doing IT on the side or full time. We looked at five things:

1. Price at list, and the minimum you pay for.
2. Setup on first boot through Apple Business.
3. Installing and updating Mac apps outside the App Store.
4. Monthly billing or annual contract.
5. What happens after the device: accounts in SaaS apps, and removing them when someone leaves.

Mac MDM for small business compared

Tool	List price per month (checked 4 Nov 2026)	Minimum	Billing	Third-party Mac apps	SaaS accounts
Apple Business	Free	None	None	No	No
Mosyle	Free to 30; Premium $1; Fuse $3 per Mac (reported, Hack'celeration)	30 licences on paid	Annual	Yes (Fuse catalogue)	No
Jamf Now	From $4 per device (Jamf)	None stated	Not stated	Not stated	No
Jamf for Mac	$12.50 per Mac (Jamf)	25 devices	Annual	Yes	No
Iru (formerly Kandji)	Not published	Not stated	Annual (reported)	Yes (Auto Apps)	No
Addigy	From $8.25 per Mac (Addigy)	None stated	Monthly or multi-year	Yes	No
Fleet	Premium $7 per device; free self-hosted (Fleet)	Not stated	Not stated	Yes	No
Microsoft Intune	Plan 1 $8 per user (reported)	None stated	Annual	Yes	No
JumpCloud	$9 per user annual, $11 monthly (JumpCloud)	None stated	Monthly or annual	Yes	Partly
Primo	Not published (Primo)	None under 100 staff	Annual	Not stated	Yes
Rippling	Not published; reported from $8 per employee plus base fee	Not stated	Not stated	Yes	Yes, in the Rippling suite
Caspian	See free; Act €10 per active user, all their laptops (Caspian)	None	Monthly	Yes	Yes: SCIM, then API, then browser automation with approval

Which Mac MDM should a small business pick?

Start with the free MDM in Apple Business under about 25 Macs, pick Mosyle (from $1 per device per month) if you are all Apple and price decides, and Jamf for Mac ($12.50 per Mac) if someone scripts. Many MDMs take a lot of configuring for a team of one or two, so weigh setup time next to the price.

• Apple Business if you have a few Macs, all bought through Apple or a reseller, and App Store apps are enough.
• Mosyle if you are all Apple and price decides. Free covers up to 30 devices.
• Jamf for Mac if you have 25 or more Macs and someone who writes scripts.
• Jamf Now if you have under 25 staff and want Jamf's console.
• Iru if you want MDM, EDR and compliance evidence from one Apple-first vendor.
• Addigy if you want monthly terms or live remote access to Macs.
• Fleet if your engineers want device settings in git.
• Intune if most laptops run Windows and you already pay for Microsoft 365.
• JumpCloud if you have no identity provider yet.
• Rippling if Rippling already runs payroll.
• Primo if you want MDM, SaaS management and ticketing from one vendor, on Mac and Windows.
• Caspian if your Macs are handled, or nearly, and your time goes to new hires and leavers in every SaaS app. Keep your MDM; Caspian fills the gaps (SaaS app delivery, app discovery, BYOD Macs). No MDM yet? Caspian's MDM enrolls Macs and handles FileVault, firewall, OS updates and app installs, with posture set from day one (OS updates within 14 days by default). Think Jamf's configurability with Iru's ease of use, run from chat. Sign-up is self-serve and free to start.

When is Caspian not the right fit?

• It is not an identity provider. Keep Google Workspace, Entra or Okta.
• On personal laptops (BYOD) it manages the work account only, not the whole device.
• Its MDM is newer than Jamf, Mosyle or Iru, with fewer settings. If you depend on deep scripting, keep your MDM: Caspian reads Jamf, Iru and Intune and works next to them.
• It is not an EDR and includes no vulnerability scanning.

What does a Mac MDM cost for 50 Macs?

At list prices, per month, before VAT: Apple Business $0; Mosyle Premium about $50; Jamf for Mac $625; Addigy about $413; Intune Plan 1 about $400; JumpCloud $450; Caspian Act €500, covering apps, accounts and access in each SaaS app as well as the laptops. Iru, Primo and Rippling publish no price. The numbers compare list prices only and leave out negotiated discounts.

Methodology

• Prices come from vendor pricing pages read on 4 November 2026. Where the vendor publishes none, we cite a third-party report and mark it "reported".
• "Not stated" means we could not confirm it from the vendor's page, not that the tool cannot do it.
• We sell Caspian. The "pick X if" list is our view of fit.

Start for free. Self-serve, no card needed. Or add Caspian to Slack, Teams or Google Chat.

Related: Jamf alternatives in 2026 · What to add to Apple Business · Keep Jamf, fill the gaps

What does Caspian read, and with which rights?

Caspian reads metadata and settings, not content. It reads which apps exist, who has an account, which role that account has, and the state of each laptop. It does not read file contents, email bodies or chat messages. Connections are read-only by default; Caspian asks for write rights only for the steps you switch on, such as removing a leaver's account. Customer data is stored with AWS in the EU (Frankfurt). An external penetration test was carried out by Workstreet in August 2026, and ISO 27001 and SOC 2 are in progress.

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