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Cybersecurity · head to head

JumpCloud vs Syft

JumpCloud logo

JumpCloud

Cybersecurity

Unified identity and device management for hybrid workforce.

From
$9/user/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Syft logo

Syft

Cybersecurity

Generates a software bill of materials from images, filesystems and archives

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Syft has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: JumpCloud platform Essentials tier capped at 300 users; larger organisations must purchase unbundled tiers or negotiate custom pricing; Syft lockfile parsing can drop packages silently. An open issue filed in August 2026 reports the yarn v1 cataloguer returning 118 of 745 packages with no error raised, which means a complete bill of materials and an 84 percent incomplete one look identical to the caller.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which JumpCloud and Syft actually diverge.

Attributes where JumpCloud and Syft differ
AttributeJumpCloudSyft
Starting price$9/user/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, APImacOS, Linux, Windows, Docker

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in JumpCloud

Nothing recorded that Syft does not also cover.

Only in Syft

  • Multi-format output
  • Broad ecosystem coverage
  • Binary classifiers
  • In-toto attestations
  • Library and CLI
  • Pairs with Grype

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

JumpCloud

  • Organisations modernising from Active Directory to cloud identity infrastructurenot Syft
  • Companies requiring unified user and device management in hybrid work environmentsnot Syft
  • IT teams implementing zero-trust security modelsnot Syft
  • Managed service providers requiring multi-tenant identity and device managementnot Syft
  • Educational institutions and nonprofits (eligible for special pricing)not Syft

Syft

  • Producing a bill of materials for a customer or regulator that requires onenot JumpCloud
  • Feeding an inventory into a vulnerability scanner rather than scanning images directlynot JumpCloud
  • Recording what shipped in a build so a future disclosure can be answered quicklynot JumpCloud
  • Public sector work where an SBOM is a contractual deliverablenot JumpCloud

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

JumpCloud

  • Platform Essentials tier capped at 300 users; larger organisations must purchase unbundled tiers or negotiate custom pricing
  • À la carte pricing can become expensive when purchasing multiple features; device management at $9/user, SSO at $11/user totals $20/user for basic functionality
  • Bundled Platform and Platform Prime packages require contacting sales; no published pricing limits transparency
  • Zero-trust and AI & SaaS management capabilities only available in Platform Prime tier with custom pricing
  • No on-premises or self-hosted option; cloud-only deployment

Syft

  • Lockfile parsing can drop packages silently. An open issue filed in August 2026 reports the yarn v1 cataloguer returning 118 of 745 packages with no error raised, which means a complete bill of materials and an 84 percent incomplete one look identical to the caller.
  • Fidelity varies sharply by ecosystem. Conan for C and C++, Haskell and Terraform get cataloguer support with no licence data, no dependency relationships and no file ownership, so a C and C++ shop gets the least from it.
  • Binary classification yields no licence or dependency metadata, and vendored or statically linked code is exactly where supply chain risk hides, so the blind spot and the risk overlap.
  • Incorrect CPE values and CPE collisions are recorded as open issues, and since Grype matches on CPE and PURL, an inventory error becomes a false negative in the security report downstream.
  • An inventory is not a risk assessment. Even a perfect bill of materials says a vulnerable version is present, never that the vulnerable function is called, and the triage burden lands entirely on the reader.

Pricing, plan by plan

JumpCloud

$9/user/month
  • À La Carte - Device Management$9/user/month (annual) or $11 (monthly)
    • Device management across Windows, Mac, Linux
    • Remote assistance
    • Patch management
  • À La Carte - SSO$11/user/month (annual) or $13 (monthly)
    • Single sign-on
    • Multi-factor authentication
    • Password management
  • Platform Essentials$undefined/variable
    • Identity and device management with SSO and passwordless auth
    • Maximum 300 users
    • Contact sales for pricing
  • Platform$undefined/variable
    • Unified identity, device and access management
    • Contact sales for pricing

Syft

Free
  • SyftFree
    • Apache-2.0
    • No usage limits
    • Community support
  • Anchore Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Policy enforcement and reporting
    • Federal and commercial tiers
    • Pricing not published, quoted on request

Which should you pick?

Choose JumpCloud if

  • You work on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, API.
JumpCloud review

Choose Syft if

  • You need multi-format output.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker.
  • You also want broad ecosystem coverage.
Syft review

Questions people ask

Is JumpCloud or Syft better?
Neither clearly leads. JumpCloud starts at $9/user/month and Syft at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, JumpCloud or Syft?
Syft has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $9/user/month for JumpCloud and Free for Syft.
Does JumpCloud or Syft run on more platforms?
JumpCloud runs on Web, Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, Android, API. Syft runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker.
Can I use Syft for free?
Yes. Syft has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. JumpCloud starts at $9/user/month.
What is JumpCloud best used for?
JumpCloud is most often used for organisations modernising from active directory to cloud identity infrastructure, companies requiring unified user and device management in hybrid work environments, it teams implementing zero-trust security models, managed service providers requiring multi-tenant identity and device management. Of those, organisations modernising from active directory to cloud identity infrastructure and companies requiring unified user and device management in hybrid work environments are not what Syft is typically brought in for.
What can JumpCloud do that Syft cannot?
Syft covers Multi-format output, Broad ecosystem coverage, Binary classifiers, In-toto attestations.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

JumpCloud: What devices does JumpCloud support?

JumpCloud supports unified endpoint management for Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS and Android devices.

Source
Syft: Does Syft find vulnerabilities?

No. It produces an inventory. Grype, from the same company, matches that inventory against vulnerability feeds. They are separate tools and the distinction is frequently lost.

JumpCloud: Can I use JumpCloud to replace Active Directory?

Yes. JumpCloud is designed for organisations modernising from on-premises Active Directory to cloud-based directory and identity management.

Source
Syft: Does anything in the Anchore stack do reachability analysis?

No. Neither Syft, Grype nor the commercial Anchore platform performs call graph or reachability analysis, so none of them tells you whether a vulnerable code path is actually invoked.

JumpCloud: Is there a free trial?

Yes. All users can access a 30-day free trial before purchasing.

Source
Syft: Is it a CNCF or OpenSSF project?

No. It is single-vendor open source owned by Anchore, with no foundation governance. That is a different licence risk profile from Sigstore.

Syft: What does Anchore Enterprise cost?

Not published. The pricing page is contact-sales only, with named but unpriced commercial and federal tiers.

Syft: How do I know my SBOM is complete?

You largely cannot, which is the honest answer. Silent partial parsing is a known open defect, so a bill of materials used for compliance should be spot-checked against a known dependency list.

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