PatchMon vs Automox
Both do cross-platform patching. One costs $1/endpoint/month and lives in someone else's cloud. The other is free and lives on your infrastructure.
In short
PatchMon is AGPLv3: self-hosted Community with no PatchMon license fee, or PatchMon Cloud from $1/host/month with FreeBSD, compliance scanning, and built-in remote access. Automox is cloud-only at roughly $1/endpoint/month and does not offer self-hosting or FreeBSD management.
Automox is cloud-only SaaS for patch management with per-endpoint pricing from about $1/endpoint/month, cross-platform agents, and macOS coverage PatchMon does not offer today. PatchMon is open source under AGPLv3: self-host Community on infrastructure you manage with no PatchMon license fee, or use PatchMon Cloud from $1/host/month on Starter with FreeBSD support, compliance scanning, and built-in browser SSH and RDP.
Where PatchMon wins
- Self-hosted: your data stays on your infrastructure
- Open source (AGPLv3) Community Edition you self-host on your stack
- Community Edition free forever under AGPLv3; you operate the control plane
- FreeBSD support (Automox has none)
- Built-in compliance scanning (OpenSCAP, CIS benchmarks, Docker Bench)
- Built-in browser SSH and RDP remote access
- Docker container monitoring
- Works on air-gapped networks
Where Automox wins
- Fully managed cloud, no customer-operated control plane
- SaaS-delivered web console
- macOS support (PatchMon covers Linux, FreeBSD, and Windows monitoring; Windows patch deployment is on the roadmap)
- Longer public operating history as a standalone vendor
- Software deployment capabilities beyond patching
- SOC 2 Type II certified (the platform itself)
- Phone and chat support on higher tiers
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | PatchMon | Automox |
|---|---|---|
| Platform Support | ||
| Ubuntu / Debian | ||
| RHEL / CentOS / AlmaLinux / Rocky | ||
| SUSE / openSUSE | ||
| Amazon Linux | ||
| FreeBSD | ||
| Windows | Monitor only (deploy on roadmap) | |
| macOS | ||
| Patch Management | ||
| Patch policies / scheduling | ||
| Dry-run / simulation mode | ||
| Patch approval workflows | ||
| Maintenance windows | ||
| Automatic patching | ||
| Software deployment | ||
| Compliance & Security | ||
| OpenSCAP scanning | ||
| CIS benchmark profiles | ||
| Docker Bench for Security | ||
| Compliance trend tracking | ||
| Remote Access | ||
| Browser-based SSH | ||
| Browser-based RDP | ||
| Monitoring & Inventory | ||
| Host inventory | ||
| Package inventory | ||
| Docker container monitoring | ||
| Deployment & Pricing | ||
| Self-hosted option | ||
| Cloud-hosted option | ||
| Air-gapped network support | ||
| Setup time | ~5 minutes (Docker) | ~15 minutes (SaaS signup) |
| Open source | AGPLv3 | |
| 100 hosts / month | Free (self-hosted) | $100/month |
| 500 hosts / month | Free (self-hosted) | $500/month |
| 1,000 hosts / month | Free (self-hosted) | $12,000/year |
The Self-Hosting Question
For many organisations, putting a complete inventory of every server, every installed package, and every patch status into a third-party cloud is a non-starter. Compliance requirements, data sovereignty regulations, air-gapped networks: there are plenty of legitimate reasons to keep this data on your own infrastructure. PatchMon runs on your Postgres, on your servers, with no data leaving your network. Automox is cloud-only. Your fleet data lives on their infrastructure, full stop.
- •PatchMon stores all data in your own Postgres instance, so you control backups, encryption, and access
- •Air-gapped deployments work out of the box with no external connectivity required
- •Data sovereignty compliance (GDPR, UK data protection) is straightforward when the data never leaves your network
- •Automox requires all agent data to flow through their cloud; there is no self-hosted option
The Pricing Conversation
Automox is priced per-endpoint at published rates that scale linearly with fleet size and offers limited Linux depth and no FreeBSD support. PatchMon Community Edition is free forever under AGPLv3 for self-hosting on infrastructure you manage. PatchMon Cloud is also per-host, starting at $1/host/month on Starter, with volume discounts above 500 hosts. Same transparent per-host model, broader platform coverage, and a self-hosted path with no PatchMon license fee.
- •PatchMon Community Edition: $0 license fee, self-hosted AGPLv3, you operate the stack
- •PatchMon Cloud: from $1/host/month on Starter, volume discounts above 500 hosts
- •Automox: per-endpoint, no free self-hosted option, no FreeBSD support
- •At 1,000 hosts self-hosted, there is no PatchMon per-host license fee—you still size Postgres, Redis, and hardware you run
The FreeBSD Gap
Automox does not support FreeBSD. At all. If you have FreeBSD firewalls, pfSense appliances, OPNsense boxes, or FreeBSD servers in your fleet, they are invisible to Automox. PatchMon monitors both pkg and freebsd-update as first-class update sources, giving you the same patch visibility for FreeBSD that you get for Linux.
- •PatchMon treats FreeBSD as a first-class platform, not an afterthought
- •Both pkg (third-party packages) and freebsd-update (base system) are monitored
- •pfSense and OPNsense appliances running FreeBSD are fully supported
- •Automox's agent does not install on FreeBSD; those systems simply cannot be managed
The Compliance Gap
Automox handles patching but not compliance scanning. If you need to know whether your servers meet CIS benchmarks or pass an OpenSCAP audit, you need another tool. PatchMon includes OpenSCAP with CIS benchmark profiles, Docker Bench for Security, and compliance trend tracking, built in, not bolted on as a separate product.
- •OpenSCAP scanning with CIS benchmark profiles included at no extra cost
- •Docker Bench for Security checks container host configuration
- •Compliance trend tracking shows your security posture over time
- •Automox focuses purely on patching; compliance scanning requires a separate tool and budget
The Verdict
PatchMon keeps fleet and patch data in Postgres you control when self-hosted, supports air-gapped deployments, includes OpenSCAP compliance scanning and browser SSH/RDP, and treats FreeBSD as a first-class platform. Community Edition has no PatchMon license fee when you self-host; PatchMon Cloud is per-host from $1/month with listed tier features. Where Automox still differs in scope is macOS management and broader third-party software deployment—verify current roadmaps against your requirements.
See for yourself
Start a PatchMon Cloud trial, or run the open-source Community edition yourself. We apply updates, retain backups, and back you with tiered support on Cloud.