ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs Spiceworks comparison

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

Read 47 Spiceworks reviews

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86% willing to recommend

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

Spiceworks and ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus compete in the IT service management category. Spiceworks seems to have the upper hand in cost-effectiveness due to its free access to various features, while ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus offers extensive functionalities but with an associated cost.

Features: Spiceworks provides free access to inventory and helpdesk features, ticketing, and community engagement. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus includes ITIL-aligned features, change management, asset tracking, and high customization for complex IT environments.

Room for Improvement: Spiceworks could improve its reporting capabilities, scalability, and robustness of its ticketing system. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus users suggest improvements in reporting tools, automation, integration capabilities, and customizable workflows.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Spiceworks is mainly on-premises with straightforward deployment and free community support, but may struggle with large-scale demands. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus offers on-premises and cloud options, robust technical support, and direct customer service channels.

Pricing and ROI: Spiceworks is free, ideal for small to medium businesses, resulting in high ROI without licensing costs, though it requires time for setup and maintenance. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus has competitive pricing for its features, providing a cost-effective solution for enterprises seeking comprehensive IT management.

To learn more, read our detailed ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs. Spiceworks Report (Updated: December 2024).

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs. Spiceworks

December 2024

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Helped 823,795 peers since 2012

Categories and Ranking

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

Ranking in Help Desk Software

3rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Service Management (ITSM) (3rd)

Spiceworks

Ranking in Help Desk Software

17th

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Asset Management (11th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (40th)

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is 7.4%, down from 7.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Spiceworks is 1.8%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Help Desk Software

Featured Reviews

CarlosPerez7

Director of IT at Health Choice Network, Inc.

Easy to configure and affordable compared to other software options

I think asset management took a hit recently. They changed the way they do it by moving it to their patch management software, which no longer supports an agent installed on the computers. In my opinion, this was a step backward for them, as I didn't need the patch management but rather the agents and remote capabilities that the agent brought without the additional costs and overhead. It still works via script running on the computer, but that's not the same as being able to install it and have it run or send a live feed.

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Hassan Zia

IT Service Desk Manager (Global Delivery) at MLOGICA, INC.

Good low-cost service desk system, but lacks in automation workflows and categorization

One of the biggest ways in which Spiceworks could improve is by developing better and more automated workflows. For example, in another solution called ServiceDesk by ManageEngine, you can have levels of approval in the event that there is a request for new software, or when someone requests a VPN or WiFi connection. This kind of multi-stage approval feature provided by ServiceDesk does not appear to exist in Spiceworks, and it is one of their main shortcomings for me. There are also several other automation features in ServiceDesk that are not present in Spiceworks. Another feature that I have always wanted in Spiceworks is categorization. Let's suppose that I select a certain piece of software within Spiceworks, and I want to see the subcategories, Spiceworks should be able to auto-populate those subcategories. This is unfortunately not possible within Spiceworks at the moment.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The auto-routing feature saves a lot of effort, where we used to spend a lot of time manually assigning things."

"The solution offers a lot of opportunities for integrations."

"The GUI is very good."

"CMDB as a baseline, incident management, service request management, and license management are valuable features. It offers really interesting features for complete use in an enterprise. You have one platform, and you could set up different service functions for HR, engineering, or another team in the same platform."

"This solution has provided a way to manage request tracking and resolution."

"The management of this application is good."

"It's a very user-friendly tool with good performance."

"I like that ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus has everything and can be integrated into a single product like SAP. It has also got operations, helpdesk, MDM, and everything integrated. Multiple products can be integrated into one product. You don't have to go for them separately. I also like that they have many partners in India who can come to the site and complete installations."

More ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus pros

"It lets us know whether devices are getting out of date and tracked warranties. Spiceworks also gave me visibility in terms of what software was installed on each device and its status."

"Helpdesk and inventory are both equally valuable, and they form the true core of the product."

"Spiceworks is generic and free."

"Tickets by e-mail, with actions by hastag."

"Spiceworks' dashboard allows you to drill down to the notes, where I can take an inventory of the network and see the devices I need to monitor."

"The solution can find all asset details automatically, whether it's a Mac address, computer name, IP address, models, etc. It's very helpful."

"If you're in the market for a low-cost service desk system, Spiceworks is a good software solution to start out with, especially when it comes to startups and those organizations that don't currently have any existing service desk software in place."

"It shows the users that are currently logged in, which is not something that Active Directory by default will ever let you know up front."

More Spiceworks pros

Cons

"The only challenge we are having is integrating with Jira."

"It needs more customization and the ability to generate reports based on custom feeds. At present, if you create a custom feed in any form, you cannot create a report based on those criteria."

"As a partner, their technical support can respond better to the tickets. We provide deployment services and also support products as a partner. We get a lot of tickets from clients complaining about certain issues related to the system, but when we send or escalate an issue to the agent, sometimes, there is a delay. That's something that they could improve on. Because we are a local partner, we are able to copy to some employees who can try to push a ticket to close, but it would be best if they can respond a bit quicker."

"The CMDB should have correlation capabilities."

"A 360-degree view of the asset life cycle should be integrated with the service desk to provide better understanding and asset management."

"I'd like to understand more technical features due to the fact that I want to teach globally. I understand all the questions in the search engine. I want to find more technical information about the product."

"There are some performance issues. The solution we used before this ran through a centralized server for remote control and it was much more responsive than this one is. There is a bit of a lag with the remote control option."

"We'd like to have more integration into other platforms."

More ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus cons

"They've also tried to integrate it with social logins, like Twitter and LinkedIn, and that type of login authentication has no place in a corporate application."

"The GUI must be improved."

"Sometimes, it can be difficult to integrate what you need."

"There are a lot of disadvantages to Spiceworks because it's not an agent-based solution."

"Once a device was recognized on the network, Spiceworks never got rid of it even after you took it off the network. You had to go in and manually remove it."

"One of the biggest ways in which Spiceworks could improve is by developing better and more automated workflows. For example, in another solution called ServiceDesk by ManageEngine, you can have levels of approval in the event that there is a request for new software, or when someone requests a VPN or WiFi connection. This kind of multi-stage approval feature provided by ServiceDesk does not appear to exist in Spiceworks, and it is one of their main shortcomings for me."

"With Spiceworks, like, when I open the websites, I have to Zoom in. I need to zoom in on those websites sometimes because it makes it horrible to use."

"I would like the solution to allow for more direct interaction with computers. I can open tickets and I can see their status, but I can't interact directly with the computers themselves."

More Spiceworks cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"For our 500 assets that are using the professional version of the solution, we pay somewhere between $4,000 and $5,000 per year."

"It is cheaper than its competitors."

"The licensing is around $10,000 per year."

"Pricing can always be improved and made more affordable."

"It is above average. But it is neither cheap nor expensive."

"Its price is very lucrative. It would be great if the price can come down, but overall, its price is great. It is half or maybe one-third of the price of other market leaders."

"ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus has reasonable pricing because my colleagues mentioned that the solution is more cost-effective than the previous one the company used."

"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing an eight out of ten."

More ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus pricing and cost advice

"The tool is cheap."

"It's free."

"Seeing that it is a low-cost solution, I would advise you to go ahead with Spiceworks and experiment with it to see if you can get things working properly, especially if you currently don't have any existing service desk software in place."

"The product is free! Get it now."

"It might be about $300 annually for a bigger company. If you pay annually, it's better and cheaper."

See which vendors are best for you

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Comparison Review

it_user174738

IT Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

May 31, 2015

Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor

I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

61%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

10%

University

Real Estate/Law Firm

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus?

The platform's most beneficial features are incident management, change management, request management, and asset management.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus?

I think it's feasible comparing with other solutions.

What needs improvement with ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus?

There is a limitation when assigning an approval; it has to be a single user. It would be beneficial to have an option to assign approvals to a user group or a variable.

What do you like most about Spiceworks?

The solution is easy to use and easy to manage.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Spiceworks?

The tool is cheap.

What needs improvement with Spiceworks?

The GUI must be improved. The GUI looks old-fashioned. The vendor must do some web development for it.

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Compared 31% of the time

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Compared 24% of the time

ServiceNow vs Spiceworks

Compared 23% of the time

Freshdesk vs Spiceworks

Compared 7% of the time

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Product Reports

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

November 2024

Download ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus product report

Download Spiceworks product report

November 2024

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ManageEngine

Overview

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus (MSP) is a comprehensive help desk tool that has built-in asset and project management. MSP can be deployed in the cloud or on premises. The solution enables its users to track configuration changes, map relationships, and view graphical displays of data for more informed decision making.

The two main focus points of MSP are IT request tracking and asset management. MSP’s integrated centralized management console enables technicians and system administrators to efficiently resolve complex issues and keep track of their organization’s needs and ensure constant availability.

With MSP's automation of multiple service desk processes, you can easily save time by automating repetitive and simple tasks such as task assignment, notifications, and categorizations. The automation of multiple processes helps reduce errors and lower costs while ensuring a fast turnaround of ticket handling processes.

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus Features and Benefits

MSP has a wide variety of features to help you optimize your help desk management:

Dynamically update workflows: Create visual change workflows on a drag-and-drop canvas and customize these workflows on demand according to your organization’s needs.

Implement your workflow’s actions: Define actions such as notifications, switches, and automatic updates and approvals throughout the lifecycle of your workflow.

Flexible role administration: Provide custom viewing, editing, and approval access levels to various stakeholders and users.

Perform seamless integrations: Integrate with popular third-party products and access them from your IT help desk console.

Rapid troubleshooting: Improve your customer service by communicating with users by launching remote sessions directly from their tickets to quickly resolve their issues.
Control end-user workstations: Trigger software installation and removal on remote workstations from within the management console.

Automatic anomaly notification: Resolve issues before they affect your enterprise. Automatically receive notification when a performance anomaly is detected in your servers or applications.

Auto-assign tickets: The technician auto-assign tool, which can be set up using a load balancing algorithm, eliminates the need to assign tickets to technicians manually. This helps ensure that tickets are distributed to technicians fairly and on time.

Automatic notifications and reports: Set up a notification system to guarantee that the necessary notifications reach stakeholders on time, and that customers are kept updated regarding the status of their tickets. In addition, schedule reports to be sent to users periodically.

Implement your custom code: Program flexible automation enhancements with your own custom scripts and run them directly from the main dashboard.

Customize templates: Create custom and user-friendly templates using the solution’s simple drag-and-drop canvas.

Reviews from Real Users

MSP stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its comprehensive workflow management toolset and the flexibility it offers its users.

Mykola S., head of global IT delivery at Acino Pharma AG, writes, “CMDB as a baseline, incident management, service request management, and license management are valuable features. It offers really interesting features for complete use in an enterprise. You have one platform, and you could set up different service functions for HR, engineering, or another team in the same platform.

From network inventory and network monitoring to help desk software, and mobile device management (MDM) to cloud services detection, Spiceworks helps you manage everything about your IT workday from one easy place.

Sample Customers

Tranter IT Infrastructure Services Limited, Sterlite Technologies, averda, Radiology Associates

Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Symantec, Webroot, EMC, Pertino