Meraki Systems Manager vs Asset Essentials
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Meraki Systems Manager
Manage all your iOS devices from a central web dashboard. This app enhances mobile device management with features like a managed app store, content delivery, and GPS location reporting.
- Centralized web dashboard management
- Managed app store
- Content delivery with backpack
- GPS location reporting
- Enhanced MDM and MAM functionality
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Meraki Systems Manager is Cisco Systems' Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) solution that allows you to manage all of your iOS devices from a central web dashboard. Installing this app on an iOS device provides enhanced MDM and MAM functionality that includes features such as a managed app store, content delivery with backpack, and GPS location reporting. Note: continued use of GPS running in the background can decrease battery life.
Asset Essentials
Manage maintenance tasks and assets from anywhere with this mobile solution. Access work orders, track time, scan QR codes, and capture images on the go. Improve team efficiency by eliminating office trips for task updates.
- Offline access to work orders and assets
- Work timer and editing functionality
- Search and filter capabilities
- QR code scanning for assets and parts
- Camera integration for image capture
- Geolocation for asset and work order tagging
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Download the mobile app version of Asset Essentials by Brightly Software, a Siemens company. Your maintenance management solution should be as mobile as you are. The mobile app gives you access to all the powerful core capabilities of the Asset Essentials solution, like maintenance requests and work orders, plus: - Access to work orders and assets anywhere, online and offline - Work timers associated with tasks and editing functionality - Search and filter capabilities - QR codes for scanning and accessing parts or assets quickly - Camera integration to capture and associate images to related records - Geolocation for tagging assets and work orders, plus visual navigation By downloading the app, technicians are able to increase productivity on-the-go. You can eliminate trips to the office for the next task to improve your team’s efficiency! The Asset Essentials mobile app can be accessed through any Apple smartphone or tablet device, such as iPhones or iPads, that meet our hardware and operating system requirements.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is monetization model: Meraki Systems Manager at free against Asset Essentials's freemium. Meraki Systems Manager also leads on iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). Asset Essentials's advantage is rating (2.8 vs 2.4) and update cadence (monthly vs every 2 months). On price, review sentiment, ratings volume and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Neither carries in-app purchases, so what you see is what you pay.
Asset Essentials holds the better App Store score, 2.8 against 2.4. Both are backed by a comparable volume of ratings — 96 and 238 respectively. Written reviews complicate that: 18% of Meraki Systems Manager's written reviews are positive against 15% of Asset Essentials's, so the app with the better star average is not the one people write more warmly about.
Meraki Systems Manager ships an update every 2 months, Asset Essentials monthly. The most recent releases landed on November 1, 2026 and November 2, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Meraki Systems Manager | Asset Essentials |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 2.4 (96 ratings) | 2.8 (238 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 18.4% of reviews — better | 15.2% of reviews |
| Number of ratings | 96 | 238 — better |
| Update frequency | Every 2 months | Monthly — better |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No | No |
| Monetization | Free — better | Freemium |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 43 MB | 172 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Meraki | Brightly Software, Inc. |
Customer experience
Meraki Systems Manager
Asset Essentials
User reviews
Meraki Systems Manager
From 96 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Helpful for managing student iPads
- 🚀 New app updates look nice
- 💡 Good for schools and enterprises
Room to improve
- 🐛 Causes issues with AirPrint and global proxy
- 🔒 Authorizes schools to control devices too much
- 🔋 High battery usage
- 🔒 Tracks location and user activity
- 🐛 Causes devices to crash or break
Asset Essentials
From 238 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 👍 Easy to navigate and use
- 📋 Effective work order management
- 📸 Photo and file attachment capabilities
- ⏱️ Labor cost tracking with timer feature
- 🔄 Continuous updates and new features
Room to improve
- 🐛 Frequent app crashes and freezing
- 🔐 Constant forced logout and re-login requirements
- ⏳ Slow loading and buffering issues
- 📱 Poor mobile app design and interface
- 🔌 Unreliable connectivity and offline behavior
Bugs and requests
Meraki Systems Manager
Reported bugs
3 issues- Enrollment certificates become invalid
- Backpack functionality broken on iOS 9+
- Location services always running, draining battery
Requested features
3 requests- Improve enrollment process
- Add option to configure notification frequency
- Improve app stability and performance
Asset Essentials
Reported bugs
19 issues- Keyboard won't appear for Custom Fields entry
- Login save dialog disappears too quickly
- Photo upload fails under iOS Limited Photos permission
- App crashes when issuing parts
- Work order status dropdown shows blank with no options
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- Location access not functioning properly
- App crashes when opening work orders with data loss
- Slow work order loading (up to 2 minutes)
- Cannot attach files and photos to work orders
- Parts search returns no results despite correct keywords
- App randomly saves incorrect work order titles
- Session expires while actively using the app
- Black screen after splash screen on launch
- App requires reinstall after updates
- Picture upload shows only previously uploaded images
- Scroll position resets to top after selecting work order
- App crashes on startup before login screen
- Bad gateway error messages
- Photos clipped when taken within app
Requested features
11 requests- Persistent login option for personal devices
- Auto-fill for commonly used fields
- Prioritize frequently used options at top of dropdown lists
- Push notifications for new work order assignments
- Improved filtering system for work orders
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Visible comment and association sections in mobile app
- Better search with keyword exclusion options
- Maintain scroll position when returning to work order list
- Simplified interface for non-technical users
- Custom Fields keyboard support
- Work order status dropdown functionality
In-app purchases
Meraki Systems Manager
No in-app purchases
Asset Essentials
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Meraki Systems Manager free?
Is Asset Essentials free?
Which has better reviews, Meraki Systems Manager or Asset Essentials?
Do Meraki Systems Manager or Asset Essentials have ads?
Which is updated more often, Meraki Systems Manager or Asset Essentials?
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