Jamf School or Jamf Pro: which is right for you?

Jamf School

Most schools or districts will find Jamf School beneficial. It’s built specifically with education in mind, after all. Beyond its simple, intuitive web-based interface requiring no IT, Jamf School’s education-specific focus allows it to offer slightly more in its education-specific tools than Jamf Pro. While the interface is simple and streamlined, Jamf School’s behind-the-scenes capabilities can handle most needs, even for large and complex schools or districts.

"I love using Jamf School. It meets the needs I have for the iPads in regards to profiles and groups, and I can access it anywhere. The cost-saving aspect is also a plus and it has cut down on my time because the platform is so easy to navigate."

Antoinette Latham, Technology Integration Specialist
Second Baptist School, Houston, Texas, USA

• Manages around 800 iPads on six different campuses with Jamf School.

Who needs Jamf School?

Jamf School is a purpose-built educational tool known for its simple, fast setup and teacher-specific workflows as well as its teacher, parent and student apps. Jamf School’s interface is specifically designed for schools— it gets everyone to the most important things straight away, whether you are a teacher with added IT responsibility or a seasoned IT admin.

"[We use Jamf School] because of the enhanced feature set and the more education-friendly workflow that Jamf School offers. A lot of thought has gone into streamlining workflows in an education context, which means devices can more easily be used for the task at hand: learning."

Tim Lings, Director of Digital Learning
Heronsgate Primary School, Royal Borough of Greenwich, UK

• Manages nearly 50 AppleTVs, 70 Macs and 800 iPads with Jamf School.

Jamf School Apps

While you can offer a great deal of education-focused apps and features in Jamf Pro, Jamf School goes deeper into some of these tools with options like passcode unlock, attention screens for in-class use when students get unfocused, subgroup creation and teacher-created classes.

• Jamf School Teacher (also available on Jamf Pro)
  Combined with Apple Classroom, the Jamf School Teacher app empowers teachers to restrict websites, apps and cameras. Teachers can also communicate directly with students and distribute lessons through their devices.
• Jamf School Parent (also available on Jamf Pro)
  Parents can restrict device use for specific times throughout the day with Jamf School Parent, as well as receive a notification when a child gets to school or arrives at home.
• Jamf School Student
  This app empowers students to set up their own devices, communicate with teachers and store documents.
• Jamf Assessment (also available on Jamf Pro)
  The Jamf Assessment app provides schools with a simple method to administer remote proctoring for high-stakes exams.

Jamf School also offers:

• Drag-and-drop classroom management
• All device information on one dashboard
• Automatic student access to subject-specific materials
• Damaged device tracking

Who needs Jamf Pro?

Jamf Pro is the gold standard in modern device management, designed with the enterprise in mind. It offers more technical and specific customizations, has offered Mac management capabilities and customization for more than 20 years, and offers unmatched customer support.

Are you managing both individual schools and a district’s various administrative offices with Macs? If your Apple ecosystem is more Mac-heavy than iPad-heavy, and if you need specific scripting and more customized management tools, Jamf Pro is probably for you.

Jamf Pro offers:

• Unmanaged Mac identification
  An unmanaged Mac is an at-risk Mac. Unmanaged Mac identification immediately enrolls unmanaged Macs into management the instant a network scan reveals one.
• Detailed device management
  Jamf Pro device management goes beyond basic configuration to truly customize devices— including account permissions, custom scripts and full Apple TV support.
• Excellent education-specific tools
  Jamf Pro includes many of the same tools for teachers, schools and parents as Jamf School does, in different versions.
• App management and Self-Service
  Self Service offers a custom app catalog for on-demand user access, including in-house or outside apps.
• Security
  Jamf Pro offers secure VPN configurations, granular management privileges and automatic patch management functionality.
• Support
  Truly robust support: available via chat, email or phone during business hours, with Premium Support also available for round-the-clock support.

Package plans for K-12 education

Jamf offers combination plans for education, including:

• Jamf Education Enhanced
  Simple management and security with Jamf School (MDM) and Jamf Safe Internet (threat prevention and content filtering). Includes enhanced support.
• Jamf Education Ultimate
  Complete package: Jamf School, Jamf Safe Internet Jamf Protect (Mac endpoint protection), Jamf Connect (identity and authentication management). Enhanced support.

Jamf also offers education pricing for Jamf Pro.

Still can't decide?

Take each for a free test drive! It’s hard to go wrong — regardless of the chosen tool, 96% of Jamf customers renew their contracts every year.

Let us help you get the most out of your Apple devices, and help your students get the most out of their educations.