Intune vs Workspace ONE

Intune vs Workspace ONE is the classic enterprise UEM decision, and the balance has shifted: Intune now covers Windows, iOS, macOS, and Android well, is included in Microsoft 365 licensing, and integrates with Entra ID, Defender, and Purview without middleware. Workspace ONE (now Omnissa, formerly VMware AirWatch) retains real advantages — the broadest platform support including rugged devices and Linux, deep app tunnelling, strong multi-tenant tooling for service providers, and Horizon integration — but it is a separate subscription competing with something most customers already own.

The pattern in the market since 2022 is migration to Intune on Microsoft 365 renewals, with Workspace ONE surviving where the fleet is genuinely heterogeneous. The Intune overview explains what you would be migrating to.

Where each one comes from

Workspace ONE UEM grew from AirWatch, the mobile device management leader of the BYOD era, and became the broadest UEM on the market: Windows, macOS, iOS, Android (including rugged, Zebra, Honeywell), Chrome OS, Linux, wearables, and printers. Workspace ONE Access provides identity federation and a unified app catalogue; Intelligence provides analytics and automation; Tunnel provides per-app VPN. Under VMware it was often bundled with Horizon VDI. It is now sold by Omnissa on its own subscription.

Intune is Microsoft's UEM, sold inside Microsoft 365 and EMS or standalone, with Windows Autopilot, endpoint security policies, Autopatch, and — with the Intune Suite — Endpoint Privilege Management, Remote Help, Advanced Analytics, Tunnel for MAM, Cloud PKI, and an enterprise app catalogue. Its identity is Entra ID, its security integration is Defender, and its compliance state feeds Conditional Access natively.

Decision criteria

| Criterion | Intune | Workspace ONE | | --- | --- | --- | | Windows management | Native, Autopilot, Autopatch, Defender integration | Full, mature; relies on Microsoft components for some features | | macOS / iOS | Good and improving; platform SSO | Very mature; broad profile coverage | | Android Enterprise | Good; work profile, fully managed, AOSP limited | Excellent; rugged/AOSP, Zebra, kiosk, shared devices | | Linux, Chrome OS, wearables, printers | Linux (Ubuntu) basic; others no | Yes | | Identity | Entra ID native | Workspace ONE Access (federates with Entra/Okta) | | App tunnelling / per-app VPN | Microsoft Tunnel (Intune Suite for MAM) | Workspace ONE Tunnel, mature | | Analytics & automation | Endpoint Analytics, Advanced Analytics (Suite), Graph | Workspace ONE Intelligence — strong | | Multi-tenant / MSP | Lighthouse for M365 partners; single-tenant console | Mature multi-tenant hierarchy | | VDI integration | Windows 365, AVD | Horizon (separate Omnissa product) | | Licensing | Included in M365 E3/E5/BP/F | Separate per-device or per-user subscription |

Cost model

Intune is included in Microsoft 365 Business Premium, E3, E5, F1, F3, and EMS E3/E5; standalone Intune Plan 1 lists at approximately 8 USD per user per month, and the Intune Suite add-on at approximately 10 USD (as of 2026-09; check Microsoft). For an organisation on E3 or E5 the incremental licence cost of Intune is nil, which is the fact driving most migrations.

Workspace ONE is a separate per-device or per-user subscription, quote-based, with tiers (Standard, Advanced, Enterprise) that gate Intelligence, Access, and Tunnel. The comparison is therefore "a new subscription" versus "a migration project" — and migration projects have real costs: policy rebuild, re-enrolment, a period of running both, and retraining. Do the arithmetic over three years, not one.

Choose Intune if

• The fleet is Windows plus corporate iOS/Android/macOS, and the organisation runs on Microsoft 365.
• Entra Conditional Access, Defender for Endpoint, and Purview are (or will be) the security stack; native integration removes a class of problems.
• You want Autopilot, Autopatch, Windows 365, and Cloud PKI from one vendor.
• The Workspace ONE renewal is up and the fleet does not need what it uniquely does.

Choose Workspace ONE if

• Rugged Android, AOSP, Zebra/Honeywell scanners, Linux, Chrome OS, or specialised devices are a significant part of the estate.
• Horizon VDI is core and the integration matters.
• You are a service provider managing many customer tenants in one console.
• Workspace ONE Intelligence automations are load-bearing for operations and would take a year to rebuild on Graph and Power Automate.

What people get wrong

Migrating by rebuilding every Workspace ONE profile one-for-one in Intune, including the ones nobody remembers the reason for — a migration is the moment to reset to a baseline. Underestimating re-enrolment for personally owned devices; users must act, and some will not. And assuming Intune's Android story matches Workspace ONE's for rugged devices — test the actual scanner models, because Android Enterprise in Intune is aimed at mainstream corporate devices.