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BMC Helix ITSM vs Freshservice vs N-able MSP Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of BMC Helix ITSM is 10.6%, down from 12.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Freshservice is 3.9%, down from 3.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of N-able MSP Manager is 0.7%, down from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Help Desk Software
 

Featured Reviews

Fairoz Gadad - PeerSpot reviewer
Development team is quick to address bugs or shortcomings in their product
BMC's technical support team needs to improve. Right now, the problem over here is we are not getting the exact answers on time. Their engineers are mainly based in the US or Israel, and we get comprehensive dedicated support. Some of the Indian customer service representatives are also outstanding. Unfortunately, in the past six months or seven months, I've been getting brand-new engineers. Either they're not entirely aware of most cases, or they don't know how to troubleshoot further. So for any product to be stable and work correctly, BMC must ensure that customer service is excellent. Even though if your product is a hundred percent, we'll have problems marketing it to our customers.
Trilochana Gouda - PeerSpot reviewer
Smooth incident management and easy to use while needing better escalation management
We are using Freshservice for the IT ticketing system for business users We use the ticketing system primarily, which is very easy to use for all users. Freshservice is helpful, especially in incident management. Incident management is very helpful, and the system is straightforward, making it…
Yazan Albaw - PeerSpot reviewer
N-able MSP Manager centralizes service management, automates ticketing, and enhances client communication for streamlined IT operations.
For improvement, there's a feature I've already requested from N-able that I'd love to see in future releases. When adding a client, there should be a way to add multiple contacts under each client. Currently, we have to manually enter each contact’s details one by one, including their name, last name, password, and other information. It would be much more efficient if we could import contacts in bulk, perhaps using an Excel sheet or another import method. Additionally, it would be highly beneficial if MSP Manager could integrate with multiple RMM solutions. At the moment, we're limited to integrating with just one RMM, Expanding this capability would greatly enhance the versatility and value of MSP Manager.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The solution has good capabilities for analytics."
"The mobile features are the best part of the new version. It is easy to be notified and update your work from a mobile, which is great."
"The ease of use and integration made it a worthwhile investment, since we did some integrations with other tools making our lives easier."
"The most valuable features I have found to be the activity logs and the other features where you are able to continuously address issues and are able to annotate notes inside to convey them to the customer."
"Smart Reporting makes it easy to create/publish views for tables, so our customers can easily create their own reports."
"The way you can customize this product to adapt to the process the customer is already using is what sets this apart from other ITSM products out there. This helps customers to adapt to the tool pretty quickly."
"Helix is more lightweight than these tools. It's a traditional tool that was developed more than 10 years ago. Ease of use is the operative word."
"It is suitable for the present circumstances, providing reliability and adhering to the necessary procedures. Having ITSM and proper knowledge is essential for our work to be acknowledged and effectively contribute to the team's efforts. Utilizing ITSM ensures that our work, especially in chat windows and events from application support, is duly acknowledged. This is crucial for handling high-level events (HLEs) and maintaining accurate records. The system facilitates easy tracking, enabling managers and higher-ups to gather data for appraisals and other purposes efficientl"
"It's very handy and very easy to use."
"It has reduced the time to look up who is responsible for a service, and it has reduced the time to finalize a service request because it now goes directly to the person who is responsible for the service in that location. So, a service request is handled quickly and directly by the person responsible for it."
"With Freshservice in place, we have reversed the trend of creating tickets."
"It allowed the development team to concentrate on the client’s requirements instead."
"You can just register and within five to minute minutes, you are ready to go."
"Ability to scan barcodes and a great search feature."
"The solution has been very helpful engineering insights into the client's environment. We have been able to manage calls and incidence very efficiently which provides us with a clear understanding of the system warranty and the actions that we might need to take in terms of insights. The system is very dynamic and prevents any kind of over sides which is yours that there is smooth contract management. Also we can easily uphold SLAs and deliver enhanced services without breaching any agreements."
"It allows for customization and offers a broad feature set."
"I am impressed with the tool's integration with our mail system."
"The best advantage for us, since we use all N-able products, is that the MSP portal centralizes everything."
"This is a premier product and it has been around for a long time."
"I like that you can do all the things with it. You can patch, and you can run the scheduled tasks. You can remote in, upload files, and download files. You can log onto a computer PowerShell, or command prompt, without having to log into RDP. I also like its ease of use."
 

Cons

"The user experience could be better."
"Adding additional fields does not work very well."
"It needs a more organic workflow, so every field you create is labeled throughout the stack. BMC has a few products that they try to bundle together. Generally, that solution works. BMC should take a step back and think about the overall solution—not only ITSM but also CTI Integration along with chat. They have all that, but it's not an end-to-end holistic solution with the added reporting analytics."
"In User Group sessions held by BMC in India, I mentioned the challenges with vast documentation, making it difficult to find the right information quickly. However, we lack access to a sandbox for in-house development, which was very helpful for hands-on work with new features."
"The documentation could improve in BMC Helix ITSM."
"I would also love to see consistency across all consoles."
"To raise any ticket, there are too many fields to be filled and it makes generating tickets very time-consuming."
"The search feature and the dashboard could both be improved."
"Freshservice automation capabilities are improving the way we respond to a few customers. There is a bit of delay when we must respond to the customer."
"You can't implement a complicated delivery workflow. We don't have the same problems with incident and change workflows. It's only for delivery workflow. They have a mechanism for modifying your incident or change workflow. There's a visual interface for that, so there's no reason not to have the same function for request management."
"I am not too happy with the page layout or screen layout since it always looks messy."
"There is a need for improvement in terms of automatic escalation to the next level if an issue is not resolved."
"It's hard to interact directly with the users themselves."
"Freshservice could improve the delegation and workflow management features."
"Asset management can definitely be improved because it doesn't pick up every single device on the network or every single piece of information."
"I would suggest that Freshservice enhance its technical capabilities, particularly when it comes to ICT network discovery."
"I'd like to see a way to import contacts in bulk using an Excel sheet or another import method."
"What I would like to see is a simplified solution that is packaged better, where you can easily implement or turn on the functionality that you need."
"The tool needs to improve its customization of the user interface."
"Its reporting is lousy and bad. It is not as good as it should be. There is too much work involved to get what you want. Most times, you have to call them to customize some stuff. I just don't like that part. They need to work on their reporting. They have a way to go."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"BMC Helix ITSM is a very cost-effective solution."
"It is costly, but it is well worth it."
"If you are looking for some kind of professional services form the OEM then you would have to purchase that."
"We did not compare the price of BMC Helix ITSM to other vendors. However, it has a mid-range price."
"The price of BMC Helix ITSM is expensive."
"It's a yearly subscription but there are a couple of customers who go for the monthly subscription."
"It is too expensive for a small business."
"I rate the product price an eight on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. The solution is expensive."
"There are some additional costs but not that many. For example, we have unlimited assets, which is something for which we pay extra. We also paid for additional orchestration. I would rate it a three out of five in terms of pricing. They are right in the middle."
"The pricing information is on their website. It's my understanding that their Pro Plan, for example, is around $89/month."
"The cost at the current timing is very reasonable but as the product gains popularity, I anticipate it might become expensive. Fortunately my customers have been offered a generous discount making it more affordable for me and satisfying both my needs and customers requirement."
"Its price is great. Its pricing is supposedly a lot less than ServiceNow and other alternatives."
"One of the key benefits of Freshservice is license management. Asset management has the possibility to keep track of licenses and that's very useful. The price of the solution is very good."
"The price of Freshservice could improve, it is expensive."
"Freshservice's licensing costs are pretty good, and it has different categories of pricing based on what modules and features you choose, which gives a lot of flexibility."
"It was a middle tier. It wasn't an expensive one. It was a tier model usage. Licensing costs varied between admin users and regular users."
"Don't get scared of the price tag because it's definitely worth it."
"I don't know the exact cost, but I know it's reasonable. Its cost of entry is not bad. I've had other organizations sign up for it. I don't know how much they paid, but it wasn't bad. You charge for every object. You charge for AV, and you charge for servers. There is a charge for everything or every object in that. I know we make money from it, but I don't know what it is."
"I would rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten since it's not the cheapest one in the market."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
18%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
24%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Educational Organization
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BMC Helix ITSM?
If we consider major players like Ford or BMW, their core focus is manufacturing products like cars. To ensure smooth...
What needs improvement with BMC Helix ITSM?
In User Group sessions held by BMC in India, I mentioned the challenges with vast documentation, making it difficult ...
What is your primary use case for BMC Helix ITSM?
I am currently working as a BMC Remedy developer. I have been working for over ten years on the BMC platform. My comp...
What do you like most about Freshservice?
The solution has been very helpful engineering insights into the client's environment. We have been able to manage c...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Freshservice?
The solution offers flat licensing and appears to be cost-effective.
What needs improvement with Freshservice?
There is a need for improvement in terms of automatic escalation to the next level if an issue is not resolved. It sh...
What do you like most about N-able MSP Manager?
I am impressed with the tool's integration with our mail system.
What needs improvement with N-able MSP Manager?
For improvement, there's a feature I've already requested from N-able that I'd love to see in future releases. When a...
What is your primary use case for N-able MSP Manager?
At We Cybers, we utilize multiple N-able products, including RMM, EDR, and Passportal. N-able MSP Manager seamlessly ...
 

Also Known As

Remedy ITSM, Remedy, Helix Remedy
Flint
SolarWinds LOGICnow, SolarWinds MSP Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Brookfield, HealthSouth Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Mercator, SAP, Stanford University
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Western Carriers, Judson University, Golf Canada, Travix, Proxama, Paymentez, Ready Auto Transport
Longleaf Systems, ITproMedia, Choice Technology, Halski Systems, Allixo Technologies, Nettech, Concept Technology
Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow, Atlassian, ManageEngine and others in Help Desk Software. Updated: April 2025.
848,989 professionals have used our research since 2012.