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ConnectWise Automate vs ManageEngine Endpoint Central 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

ConnectWise Automate
Average Rating
7.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (10th)
ManageEngine Endpoint Central
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
Client Desktop Management (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (3rd), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Systems Management solutions, they serve different purposes. ConnectWise Automate is designed for Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) and holds a mindshare of 6.4%, up 6.2% compared to last year.
ManageEngine Endpoint Central, on the other hand, focuses on Client Desktop Management, holds 18.9% mindshare, down 40.2% since last year.
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ConnectWise Automate6.4%
Kaseya VSA13.8%
NinjaOne10.7%
Other69.1%
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)
Client Desktop Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ManageEngine Endpoint Central18.9%
Symantec Client Management Suite13.1%
KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)12.2%
Other55.8%
Client Desktop Management
 

Featured Reviews

Sean Saeb - PeerSpot reviewer
Partner and CIO at Caspian IT Group
Responsive, integrates well with other applications, and the technical support is helpful
There is always room for improvement. I haven't had any problems, and they're doing a great job, in my opinion. They're doing quite well. In most cases, when we discover an issue, we report it to their engineers, who then schedule a fix. Normally, when we request something, I can see it happening within three to four months. This is a raw system. Of course, it has some flaws that could be improved. But, it's something that we will have to work with to get to the point where we need this, we request it and they do their best to make it happen. There is a lot of integration with other applications through Automate, and I believe they are working with all of the industry leaders to get the integration going. I am very pleased to be working with them.
MS
Solutions Consultant at Team Computers
Experience improves with intuitive setup and comprehensive features but needs enhancements for Apple integration
From a ManageEngine perspective, there is room for improvement regarding the Platform SSO technology introduced by Apple, which allows you to integrate your hardware with your identity providers. It used to be only a few selected ones via OIDC protocols or some other protocols, which are not necessary anymore. If a customer is already using Microsoft 365, they can integrate with any MDM for Platform SSO, which essentially hardens their device identity with the person logging in for the first time. It also helps automate enrollment and provide a zero-touch experience. Currently, while some MDM tools InTune and Jamf support this feature, ManageEngine still does not fully support Platform SSO via Microsoft or Google. I have customers using ManageEngine who are looking forward to this solution, and if ManageEngine can provide it, it would enhance the overall product value. For enterprise users, the solution needs improvement. For SMB, it is straightforward; if it is a small company of 100 to 500 users, anything below 1,000, they do not have much of a compliance or security requirement—they just want to manage their devices and push applications. Simple tasks are easier to accomplish. However, when it comes to enterprise-grade deployment, many complex configurations need to be considered, such as Wi-Fi configurations, network configurations, VPN configurations, and advanced certification deployment, such as ACME certification deployment practice introduced by Apple. These are a few things that can be improved on that side, but from a basic user perspective, if someone is in the SMB market or a company just starting off pre-IPO, without going into compliance, they typically find Zoho and ManageEngine to fit their needs. For enterprise-grade deployments, it is more than enough for Windows, but for Apple, it is still in development and not up to the mark.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Technical support has been good. Everyone we have been in contact with has responded to our queries in a reasonable amount of time."
"The database is great. It's a nicely ordered database."
"Maybe they could improve the capability to be multi-tenant."
"The solution is very stable; it's reliable, there are no bugs and glitches, and it doesn't crash or freeze."
"We use monitors to keep track of our machines. We use a pretty good portion of information from Automate."
"The initial setup is easy and the deployment is quick."
"Because of the system's capabilities, my team is able to significantly reduce the work that they were previously doing, more than 40%, in my opinion."
"Scripting and patch management are really important for us, and Patch Manager is something that we use a lot and is one of the most useful features for us for controlling patches and other things for different clients."
"Overall, given the capabilities of Desktop Central, it is one of the best endpoint management solutions and it can cater to most of the operating systems in a client's environment, through a single portal."
"Everything is easily centralized and managed under this one product."
"The solution has a lot of the features we need and we are looking forward to taking advantage of them after a little bit of training."
"ManageEngine has improved my organization because right now we can actually monitor and find out which software products are installed on each desktop, and we can then figure out which ones have to get patched and so forth."
"ManageEngine allows us to manage these endpoints at a fraction of the cost."
"Desktop Central has improved these organizations and this is why it has been repeated multiple times at multiple organizations."
"With the implementation of Desktop Central's patch management functionality, it is now a more streamlined and automated process with the use of deployment schedules aligned with Patch Tuesday from Microsoft."
"The ROI was three months for us."
 

Cons

"They could use some automated alerts particularly when we're talking about an MSP that might shoot over."
"They always change the GUI to some dumb-down version of tiles which are more "user-friendly", but slows my team down in the end."
"Technical support was helpful."
"I know we get some false positives at times, where things report offline and then when we connect to them with control they're connectable."
"The project management needs improvement and there's a section of the product called configuration that also needs to be improved."
"The project management needs improvement and there's a section of the product called configuration that also needs to be improved."
"The solution needs to improve Event ID monitoring big time. They're behind the game on the other RMMs, and we support multiple RMMs."
"Patching and reporting need improvements, especially reporting. The reporting engine is quite outdated, so you end up having to use your own dashboard."
"The team should work on improving the stability, particularly with massive patches deployment, clients are not 100% getting patches and the information provided by the system does not help; more detailed report would be very useful."
"The main issue that needs improvement is the pricing."
"The Deployment scheduler needs updating to support various methods for deployment."
"Its licensing should be improved."
"Its licensing should be improved."
"Tech support is mediocre at best."
"Their support channel could be better. They're an India-based company. They're based out of India. So, here in the States, support can be difficult when you're dealing with time zone requirements. A more global support channel would be a wise choice for them."
"The pricing is lower than other well-respected solutions in this category."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"From what I've overheard, it is pretty comparable to other solutions in terms of price."
"I pay $85 a month per user for a ConnectWise package that contains multiple solutions."
"I believe Automate is available for around $2."
"Pricing and licensing are reasonable."
"There are multiple flavors of the app. They have a distributed version for enterprises. It depends on your size. They price it on a per machine basis. 250 or 500 is probably their least amount."
"The initial purchase was around $6,000 or $7,000. We most probably are not on an annual subscription. We bought it, and then we pay for the maintenance. I'm not 100% sure how that's working out."
"The pricing of the product is not bad compared to the other similar solutions in the market."
"The licensing is very easy to understand and pricing is right for what you get."
"Affordable for any customer."
"Compared to other products, ManageEngine Endpoint Central is a very cheap solution."
"The price is moderate."
"The product is cheap."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business10
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise1
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise35
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
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How to choose between ManageEngine Desktop Central and Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (formerly SCCM)?
ManageEngine Desktop Central is very easy to set up, is scalable, stable, and also has very good patch management. What I like most about ManageEngine is that I can log on to every PC very easily a...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ManageEngine Endpoint Central?
I would rate the pricing as seven; it is quite expensive from my point of view for ManageEngine Endpoint Central.
What needs improvement with ManageEngine Endpoint Central?
It would be great to see some additional options within ManageEngine Endpoint Central. A better monitoring tool to analyze network traffic related to patch management would be something good to see...
 

Also Known As

LabTech for IT Service Providers, ConnectWise Automate for Corporate IT Departments, ConnectWise Automate for IT Service Providers
ManageEngine Desktop Central, Desktop Central, ManageEngine Desktop Management MSP
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

I-M Technology, Mainstay Technologies, PC Works Plus, Integrity IT, Kerkhoff Technologies Inc., Marathon Consulting, Christenberry Sales Company, EDTS, Secom Technology, Ready to View, ARRC Technology, DaVinci Digital, JNR Networks, Quinn Technology Solutions, PCIT, Liberty Technology, Capital Computers & Networks, Atlanta Technology Force, Doberman Technologies, First Column Enterprises, CisCom Solutions
Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Strathallan School, BMI Healthcare, Comercial Kywi, First Priority Federal Credit Union, Gerab National Enterprises
Find out what your peers are saying about NinjaOne, Kaseya, TeamViewer and others in Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM). Updated: May 2026.
894,807 professionals have used our research since 2012.