An overview of Meraki’s end-of-life timeline, pricing impact, and how to evaluate MDM alternatives like Miradore.
What is Meraki Systems Manager?
Meraki Systems Manager is a cloud-based mobile device management (MDM) solution managed through the Meraki Cloud Dashboard. It enables organizations to enroll devices, enforce security policies, deploy applications, and monitor device compliance across Android, iOS, macOS, and Windows.
A defining characteristic of Meraki Systems Manager is its tight integration with the Cisco Meraki ecosystem. Its device and network management are designed to work together, which has made the platform a practical choice for organizations already standardized on Meraki networking.
Meraki Systems Manager End-of-Sale and End-of-Life Announcement
Is Cisco Meraki being discontinued?
Cisco announced the Meraki Systems Manager end of life and end of sale in December 2025. New 1-year and 3-year licenses can be purchased until June 3, 2026, while 5-year licenses have been discontinued. Full support and maintenance will only continue until June 3, 2029.
This means Meraki Systems Manager remains supported, but it is no longer a platform organizations can plan to expand or invest in indefinitely.
How to Evaluate MDM Alternatives to Meraki Systems Manager
Once Meraki Systems Manager enters end of sale, organizations will inevitably begin evaluating alternative MDM platforms. The focus shifts from how Meraki works today to whether a new platform can better support long-term needs.
Meraki Systems Manager continues to work well in the environment for which it was designed, where device management is closely aligned with Cisco Meraki networking. However, with its discontinuation now defined, organizations can no longer plan around the same expansion path or timeline. This is often the point where differences between MDM platforms become more relevant.
At that stage, evaluation moves beyond feature parity. Teams begin asking practical questions to determine whether an MDM platform can serve as a long-term replacement, and not just a functional match:
- Can we manage all our devices—Apple, Windows, and Android—in one place without depending on a specific network setup?
- Will device policies stay consistent even if our team works remotely or across different locations?
- Are the features we need included upfront, or will costs increase as requirements grow?
- How easy is it to bring existing devices under management or switch platforms without disruption?
- Do we get clear visibility into device status, compliance, and inventory without extra tools?
- Can this platform grow with us without locking us into long-term licenses or fixed timelines?
These questions tend to reveal whether an MDM platform is built around device management itself or whether that capability depends on other systems to function well over time.
Miradore is a cloud-based MDM platform with Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) capabilities built into the platform rather than added on from another system. This supports consistent policies, automation, and visibility across devices and operating systems without requiring alignment to a specific networking platform. It’s an advantage that becomes clearer as pricing, licensing, and scalability are considered together.
Meraki Systems Manager Pricing & How Miradore Compares
Meraki Systems Manager follows a per-device subscription model, typically purchased through Cisco partners. License terms vary by environment, and Cisco does not publish a fixed public price list.
Based on publicly shared buyer feedback and community discussions, Meraki Systems Manager pricing has historically fallen within these ranges:
- $40 per device for a 1-year license
- $80 per device for a 3-year license
- $120 per device for a 5-year license (before 5-year licenses were discontinued)
After Meraki Systems Manager's end of sale, expansion becomes constrained by remaining license terms and support timelines. This limits the ability to add devices or extend deployments beyond existing agreements and shifts pricing discussions from predictable growth to the question of how long the platform can realistically be extended.
By comparison, Miradore offers transparent, per-device pricing based on active device use, rather than fixed lifecycle windows:
- Free plan for up to 50 devices
- Premium plans starting at $2.30 per device per month (minimum fees apply)
Miradore’s free plan supports core MDM capabilities for small environments, while the Premium plans extend those capabilities with automation, advanced controls, and operational features designed for managing devices at scale.
Unlike license models tied to defined end-of-life timelines, Miradore’s structure supports incremental growth without long-term license commitments.
What Are the Key Features of Meraki Systems Manager?
At its core, Meraki Systems Manager emphasizes centralized mobile device management with strong network awareness. Its feature set combines device-level controls with close integration into the Cisco Meraki ecosystem.
Key Meraki Systems Manager features include:
- Multi-OS device enrollment and management
- Centralized cloud administration through the Meraki Dashboard
- Security and compliance policies, such as passcode enforcement and device restrictions
- App deployment and configuration
- Device monitoring and basic troubleshooting
- Network-aware access control via Meraki Sentry when paired with Meraki networking
These capabilities continue to meet the needs of organizations built around Cisco Meraki networking, where device management and network controls are designed to operate together.
However, as Meraki Systems Manager approaches its end of life, organizations are reassessing their reliance on network-dependent device management and beginning to evaluate MDM platforms that work consistently across different network setups.
The Best MDM Alternative to Meraki Systems Manager: Miradore
Miradore is a cloud-based mobile device management (MDM) platform designed to manage devices consistently across operating systems and environments. It supports diverse device fleets from a single console and combines core MDM capabilities with a Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) approach, without relying on a specific infrastructure model.
With Miradore, organizations can:
- Manage Android, iOS/iPadOS, Windows, and macOS devices from a single console, without tying device management to a specific network vendor
- Automate device enrollment and configuration, reducing manual setup as fleets grow or change
- Apply consistent security and compliance controls, including encryption and remote lock or wipe, across platforms
- Deploy and manage applications across supported platforms from a central console
- Automate patch management for Windows and macOS devices, including operating system and supported software updates
- Maintain clear reporting and inventory visibility for audits, compliance, and ongoing oversight
- Provide built-in remote support, without requiring separate tools
- Manage additional device types, including fixed or shared devices beyond phones and laptops
- Manage multiple sites or customers from a single MSP Portal, with centralized reporting, role-based access, and streamlined onboarding for distributed teams
These capabilities support consistent device management even as networks, locations, and access models change.
As Meraki Systems Manager approaches end of life, reliability and long-term predictability start to matter more. When you’re evaluating your next MDM platform, the focus often shifts beyond feature parity to whether device management can scale and remain stable over time.
At that point, the question shifts from choosing a platform to migrating without disruption. Preparing devices, policies, and enrollment workflows in advance helps reduce friction during the transition. That’s where it helps to understand how to prepare your migration before making the move.
Whether you’re mapping devices, reviewing policies, or planning enrollment, the Miradore team can help you think through the process and avoid common pitfalls along the way.
Ready to move beyond Meraki Systems Manager? See how Miradore supports long-term MDM without lifecycle constraints.