ConnectWise ScreenConnect Reviews

We went full remote after COVID, so all of our employees are off-premises. We use it primarily as a remote deployment, remote connectivity tool for doing troubleshooting with our clients.

My group that uses it is my service desk and my level two support staff. Some level threes use it for connecting to servers, but this just because it's so much more convenient than RDP. We're able to use it to do screen-sharing sessions, troubleshooting, and resolving customer issues from our service desk and our level two desktop support personnel.

There are a lot of good features in this product but there are two of them that I like the best. One feature is being able to remote-run commands through the client and not having to connect directly to the machine. You can bring up a command prompt remotely and execute commands without having to disturb the user.

Another feature that's really handy is all of the data it brings back after we push the client out with Intune. When it returns, it brings back a lot of useful data that we utilize while troubleshooting.

After you figured out the interface, using it is pretty straight forward. It is much better once the initial learning curve is over.

I really didn't care for the onboarding process and it is something that should be improved. They just sent me an email and said, "Hey, here's your account", and I have a group of folks using it. I had to go through and figure out specifically how to do it. It's really a combination of onboarding and support. It wasn't great. I would have rather them just let me upload a list of who all needs it and then send everyone directions on how to get it.

I would love to see the ability to send out bulk updates to third-party tools through their command line. This would mean being able to write a script and execute it on a group of machines, all at the same time.

In my past, I've used software like Dameware Mini Remote Control, which is now part of SolarWinds. In that software, the reporting was very good. For example, you could specify a group of machines and send a query to ask a question like how many of them have Adobe Reader installed. The report would be generated pretty easily.

We have been using ConnectWise Control for between three and five months.

The stability has been great.

I'd say it's pretty extensively used by the groups who rely on it as their primary tool. I don't know if we have any plans to extend this product, specifically, but we are looking into implementing some of the other ConnectWise tools.

I think that it's pretty scalable. We've increased our license count since we first purchased it.

I've got seven people total using it, including our service desk staff and our tier-two, or desktop support. Our level three engineers use it because they enjoy the flexibility of connecting to servers with it, versus using a remote desktop.

We haven't had to use technical support.

The company had used a couple of different products and it was kind of a scattered bag. We used Teams, which wasn't very good. They used Remote Assistance, which I think was from TeamViewer. Then, I think someone used VNC for a short time, but we put a stop to that quickly.

Our deployment only took about half a day. We wrote a PowerShell script and deployed it through Intune.

The deployment was done in-house and I have one staff member who handled deployment and is responsible for maintenance. This is our senior cloud administrator and the deployment was taken on because this person found the product for us, then did the implementation.

It's interesting, and this is kind of anecdotal, but I think it applies. We are more efficient at resolving end-user tickets as a result of implementing this product. We've seen our ticket count lower and our ticket throughput increased.

I think it really has to do with ConnectWise because prior to that, it was clunky trying to get connected to people, screen-share, and those types of things. Whereas now, we just click a button to connect and we're off and running.

We pay $3,000 USD for the service, yearly upfront. There are no costs in addition to the standard licensing fees.

During our evaluation, we looked at ConnectWise, TeamViewer, and a third one. TeamViewer was a heavy favorite because it integrated with Intune.

My advice for anybody who is implementing this product is if they have the ability to bundle it with ConnectWise Automation, to do it from the start. We would really like to implement ConnectWise Automate, but it is probably out of our price range right now.

The biggest lesson that I have learned from using this product is that not all remote connectivity software is equal. My team thinks that this product is pretty good.

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

We use it for remote support for ad-hoc clients. We have contract clients as well but we use SolarWinds for those, as an RMM dashboard. We have ConnectWise as a type of backup option and for clients on whose systems we don't have our monitoring agent installed. We only have one license which we share, as a backup, there are just three of us. It's not the primary software that we use.

We do use two ConnectWise extensions, one called Remove Thumbnail Preview and another one called Report Manager.

We switched over from LogMeIn Rescue, which was okay but became very expensive. ConnectWise is our backup method. We don't use it as much as we do our RMM software and remote support, but it has definitely really helped in terms of speed and ease.

We like the fact that on our website we can have the ConnectWise bit embedded, and it has instructions for the end-user about what they need to do. Previously, on LogMeIn, we used to have to almost talk them through everything: "Click here, and if you're using Chrome look here, if you're using Firefox look there." But ConnectWise has step-by-step instructions, depending on the browser.

The ease of use is really good. In addition, obviously, uptime - making sure it's online and working for when we need it. The interface is very good and, overall, it is a really pleasant experience.

Reporting could definitely use improvement. With LogMeIn Rescue, I used to be able to, for instance, at the end of the month, pull off a report of every session. It was very simple, very easy, I could see the name that was typed in, the IP address of the computer that it was connected to, if it was running Windows, how long the session was, when it started, when it finished, how long the person was active for, etc. I could also go back over any period of time, so I could say, "Okay, in February last year, how many support sessions did we do?" And I could break it down for a client.

It just doesn't seem - there might be but I haven't found it - to be a way of pulling that information out of this product. ConnectWise doesn't seem to be anywhere near any of that functionality, that I'm aware of.

No stability issues at all.

No scalability issues at all. We're only a small team. 

We used LogMeIn Rescue but it got expensive. As I say, it was our backup software, and we only used it for ad-hoc clients who would call out of the blue. And we were paying almost 100 pounds a month for one license. Some months we'd only get a few calls and we would already have to try and make up a 100 pounds worth of fees. Whereas with ConnectWise, we're paying about 30 or 40, so it's a big saving.

I found the initial setup fairly straightforward.

I feel the product's pricing is a good value for ScreenConnect.

We looked at the standalone version of SolarWinds, MSP Anyware, and we looked at another but I don't remember which one. I did evaluate a few. We trialed MSP Anyware but we preferred ConnectWise.

Go with the cloud version, rather than the on-premise. You don't have to have your own equipment. It is nice that it is looked after, it's in the cloud. We've had no problems with it.

I would rate ConnectWise at eight out of 10, just because it is lacking in the reporting functionality, being able to find out, for instance, what remote connections were made two weeks ago or last month, for auditing purposes. I don't seem to be able to do that at the moment. I haven't investigated it too much but I just don't seem to be able to have the same reporting functionalities we had in LogMeIn Rescue.

Basically, in a previous company where I worked, I was a product owner and our company searched for tools that would be able to remotely connect to our customer computers and assist if some IT issue arises. 

We have customers outside of our office that we are supporting. We cover all IT devices, including computers and Windows machines as well as our applications. If an employee of these third-party companies has any issue they call a support number and communicate directly with an engineer. He can directly connect and take over control of their machines if necessary. This is helpful, for example, if an employee cannot describe what actually happens on his computer during a problem and network activity still exists. Our employee engineers can jump on the computer and witness it from the perspective of the user. 

The price is very good. The licensing is simple and they offer discounts for remote renewals. 

The support is quite nice as well. 

I do love the monitoring page. If you are using ConnectWise Control, which is the on-prem version, when you are logged into the admin panel, there is a status page that checks network connectivity, the status of the license, and so on. If monitors different parameters. If some issue arises, you just need to log into this admin page and check to see if all positions are green. If something is red, we would investigate further to find out what is going wrong.

In our experience, we've had a price issue and the one was related to licensing. We had a valid license, however, something happened on the vendor side. When we started getting alerts that something wasn't working, the admin went immediately to the admin page and saw that there is a license-related issue. We raised it with ConnectWise, and, after ten minutes, we were back online.

It's quite easy to set up this product and configure it. 

The on-prem installation uses something like an Emulator, which emulates the Windows environment to a written application to run on Linux. We faced different issues related to security which are easier to overcome on a Windows machine. Also, the configuration and maintenance are easier when the implementation is done on a Windows Server if we are speaking on-prem version.

There is if documentation of ConnectWise Control on-premise, however, on a Linux machine, there are different limitations that are not there on a Windows Server. Much more limitations exist on Linux deployments.

Companies that support some others in computer-related things or large organizations that have an internal service desk support team should be able to connect to own devices and assist employees in case trouble happens.

In the on-prem version, operators need to tell those they are assisting to visit a webpage, where they will see a welcome screen banner and they must enter their ID. After that, a small client must be installed on the computer. For large corporates that have introduced different security measures, such as Microsoft Adblock, sometimes it can be an issue to connect. 

I've worked with the solution for four years. 

The product works well and is quite reliable. For example, we've had a lot of IT systems in our environment and usually, with ConnectWise Control, we have only had one incident in three years. It runs well and just needs a one-time configuration.

Even after upgrading, we haven't had issues with bugs or glitches. It's been seamless so far.

We have 15 users who are on it on a daily basis and using it to assist customers. 

We haven't tried to expand it. We had a rather small installation and have no plans to increase usage right now. At the outset, we didn't really look into its scalability as we knew we didn't have plans to grow beyond what we initially planned for. 

Support is great.

They respond very fast on support tickets because we've had experience with other products and with different supporters and product-wise really answer fast. If they cannot answer immediately, they always come back without the need for us to reach out with a reminder. It takes one to two hours and they come back with a solution. Consultations on our tickets are opened and dealt with quite fast.

We haven't really used any other solution before we chose ConnectWise. For internal users, we used SCCM to connect to our corporate computers.

The functionality would be the main differentiator between the two solutions. There is the possibility to enter some automated jobs in ConnectWise. In SCCM, this was not possible. Basically, ConnectWise has some small features that engineers can utilize to assist with troubleshooting and may make the tasks go faster and be much more comfortable.

The initial setup is straightforward. In every setting, you have a GUI and you can see all configurations. You can choose which type of configuration you want and you're good to go.

The first step is to collect the requirements from the internal department, which provides support for external customers. It's important due to the fact that, when you are building an IT solution, it's important to know what exactly the needs of the internal customer may be. We did our research and looked at different options and did a demo to make sure it matched our requirements. 

A server for the on-prem version is needed and it's important to sync which one Linux and Microsoft Windows. We do recommend a Windows Server. Linux has its limits and limitations.  For us, after a major upgrade, we needed to migrate to Windows. You will need to understand your RAM, CPU and so on.

It's important to have a discussion with the network team and to have documentation that can be used for communication. The network setup must be done on firewalls, on the switches, and so on. When you have your network and your server, you can proceed with application installation. 

It happens quite fast. When you are installing, you must have the appropriate license. When calculating your license requirements, it's important to understand how big the workload is in your company in order to estimate which license will be appropriate.

If you want people to be notified via emails, you must set up SMTP servers. It's possible to do a white label web branded landing page that can be customized fully. Your information, brand, and custom colors can be added.  

For us, the deployment took three working days to set up. They have up-to-date and technically deep documentation, which allows us to do a fast setup. Only one integration was with the Active Directory to be able to authenticate users by their corporate credentials and it was done also in three days. It was quite easy as there was a graphical user interface that simplified the process.

We did not have a large deployment. We had 15 engineers which are supporting external clients. The deployment itself one person did it in three days. 

There isn't really any maintenance needed. There may be some occasional patching, however, that's basically it.  We tend to update the solution quarterly.

Four years ago, when we bought it, it was the cheaper side and we had a new license and we got good discounts. We might have originally had a 50% discount due to the fact that we had licensing previously. For some products, if you have, for example, a subscription, this license is valid for two years or one year, and then you must pay full price after that. ConnectWise has the benefit of, when renewing a license, getting quite large discounts.

We looked at various products and the best option for us regarding functionality, ease of use, and, of course, the price was ConnectWise Control.

We are a customer and an end-user.

We used an on-prem server and I just started using Linux, however, we don't recommend using Linux. It's better to go with a Windows Server machine.

We do recommend using the Windows Server for our clients.

I would rate the solution at a nine out of ten.

I'd advise potential new users to understand all the needs of the company first to make sure the solution will cover what you would like to be accomplished. If ConnectWise Control is chosen, do the trial license. It doesn't take a lot of effort to deploy it. Take some time in the demo environment and see how it works for you. If the functionalities are there and it is meeting your expectations, proceed with the next steps.

The primary use case for this solution is remote support. The product is extremely easy to use. I am the only person in my office using it.

I have enable all the possible extensions available through ScreenConnect. I use both the unattended access functionality and the remote support functionality.

We have received customer feedback on the quickness of our responsiveness and the solution deployment.

The unattended access functionality is a valuable feature, because I can go in at any time that I want, deploy fixes, or do maintenance.

It is super easy to use and relatively inexpensive.

Other product have the ability to merge both monitors into one space when logging in if a customer has more than one monitor set up on their station. Essentially, you are just seeing one big blob of screens that you can move your mouse through versus having to switch between the different monitors which are on the workstation with ScreenConnect.

There is one back-end issue that I am running into at some of locations where I login to provide support, and sometimes port 443 is blocked. That is what it uses to connect. So, I am having to do workarounds to get a session started.

It works great. I have never had an issue. I have never had it kick me out for no reason. I have never had any downtime.

No scalability issues.

I would rate their technical support as 10 out of 10.

I used LogMeIn and TeamViewer. I switched because ScreenConnect came to be more cost-effective based on the amount of features that they offered.

The initial setup is straightforward. Once the portal for you is generated, then you just download the Clients onto the machine that you want to run on unattended support and that is it. It is fairly easy. Then one of their extensions allows a builder for the Control Client through your portal. This way any user that you are trying to support can just go to your site, click that link, and it will download the executable. They just install it, then that machine pops up within your portal. It is super convenient.

It is priced well and it is still a great value. Although I have been reading a lot about Splashtop. They are getting pretty competitive on their pricing, including a fairly easy to use remote support for mobile applications, like iOS and Android.

We looked into Splashtop. Back then, I was just looking into some VNC client that I could install and manage myself.

Just do it. Especially people who are subscribing to LogMeIn or TeamViewer, they are not going to miss anything.

Our primary use for the solution is remote support, as it is simple and pretty easy to use. I have enabled the command prompt extension for Windows.

I use both the unattended access functionality and the remote support, but mainly primarily just the unattended access.

It gives me the ability to remotely connect to machines that I manage without user intervention. 

The unattended access, because it allows me to remotely support my clients with ease.

There is an issue which is pretty rare, but I find it at least when connecting from my mobile device. I am forced to refresh the screen by changing the screen quality to get screen updates. This only happens sometimes.

The lagging can be attributed not necessarily ScreenConnect, but the internet connection on the other end. Therefore, I have not had any stability issues with being kicked out or anything. I have had some stability issues with the app on my phone. Though when working from the PC, I really do not have any issues.

No scalability issues.

I have not had to deal with their tech support very much. When I have, I was not thrilled with their support. I do not have a lot of time to deal with the attention which is needed to fix issues.

I switched to ScreenConnect ConnectWise because of the pricing increases with LogMeIn. I originally switched to TeamViewer, then with TeamViewer, it was just cumbersome with all the various versions that you have to deal with. ConnectWise was priced fairly, so I switched to it.

The initial setup was pretty straightforward. I am using the hosted version, so there was no setup for me as the vendor does that.

It is priced fairly.

Make sure you have enough licensing for all the techs that you have. I am just a one-man show. It is pretty simple for me, as I just need one.

I have already used other options over the years. 

ScreenConnect was recommended by various friends in the industry.

I am overall satisfied with the product. It is a pretty straightforward product, which is easy to use and deploy. I do not have any qualms with it.

Remote access to end-points. We don't use the unattended access functionality. We've had two people using it. We did not enable extensions.

It's much easier to use ProtectWise Control than to use, for instance, TightVNC or VNC Viewer. It's faster to connect to end-points. 

It's very easy to use. Provides connections that are always on. It was nice to be able to see a list of end-points and see whether or not they were connected so I could troubleshoot any network issues I had.

I don't really have any suggestions for improvement. I didn't even use the full ConnectWise suite. I'm sure if I did, there would be other good stuff, too.

There were no issues with stability.

No issues with scalability.

Tech support was very good. I got through in one or two pass-throughs, and that was it.

Setup was very straightforward. All I had to do was write a GPO on my domain controller and it automatically installed the agent that I downloaded from the software. I literally had to do nothing.

I think the product's pricing is a good value. I paid $600 a year and that was fine for me. It was about $50 a month. Licensing is all very straightforward.

I had other options, but I had a colleague who used this one so I tried it out and it seemed good, so I bought it.

Honestly, the only reason that I'm not continuing with this solution is that I'm going to be using a software called ManageEngine which has its functionality built into it. So I don't want to have two things that I'm paying for.

Try it first before you buy it. It's really all just based on your personal preference. I think that the interface looks good, but someone else might not like the interface. It really just depends on how you like to set up your workflows and whether or not you like the way that they've set it up.

Some valuable features of this product are file transfer, the ability to blank out the users' screens, and the ability to transfer support easily to another admin/technician on the fly, while also being able keep control and/or view of what is happening.

The best feature so far is the ability for it to reconnect even after a computer restarts or the way it changes networks, although there is usually a 30-second to one-minute time lapse between this.

It made work and support much easier than our previous Microsoft Lync/WebEx solutions. It allowed us to still manage UAC while working in the user's computer. It has also improved the server's ability to add and run tools and scripts from the web console and adding notes to the session (sessions can be kept up for as long as you want).

The tool seems fairly reliant of bandwidth. If the connection is not strong, it can lag behind quite a bit. It can also be time consuming to walk everyone through the plugin that installs for it.

However, the main issue I have seen with it is that, if they are having issues with their web browsers or network, there is really no way to connect with it.

I have used this solution for around six months to a year.

So far, the only stability issues that were found have been due to the bandwith issues on the other end. There have been a few instances where the screen will not display unless we blank out the user's screen but that may have just been due to a bad connection.

There were no scaling issues. However, when using the tool and connecting to multiple monitor setups, you usually need to adjust the connect screen to compensate, as it keeps their native resolution.

I would give the technical support a 8/10. It has some great functions but coming from my past experience of using DameWare and LogMeIn Rescue, it falls slightly short. However, considering the vast difference in the tools and how they are setup, this is a great, quick and easy remote tool that does not need infrastructure support.

My current company has only used our already in-house share desktop clients, Microsoft Lync and WebEx, or just walked through issues over the phone.

It was very easy to set up and also we were able to figure it out without even having any prior training or instructions. This tool is, literally, open and start working, with almost no learning curve.

Previously, in my current company, we were using Microsoft Lync and WebEx for our remote sessions. This was thrown in the mix and turned out to be very useful for us. Our company does support multiple remote users; however, it is not a primary focus and for the most part, remote desktop administration is not needed.

If you are looking for a quick and easy web-based connection session without the need to be on intranet, then this is the solution for you.

The following features of this product are the most valuable to me:

• Persistent access
• Remote access
• Ease of end-user installation session

We use it for help desk and server monitoring.

I would like to see a full-blown fat client/desktop application. LogMeIn has a desktop client which makes it much more convenient to access my computer list and create ad-hoc sessions rather than navigate to a web page and login.

I would like to see more user-friendly configuration. Setting up permissions are possible but not easy to do. Setting up permissions and groups in the portal is NOT simple or intuitive by any stretch. It’s actually convoluted and took me a while to figure out how to accomplish it. It’s done with Roles and you need to assign users to roles, (not roles to users) and then associate the groups with roles. Here is a quick screenshot to illustrate:

I have used this solution for three months.

I did not encounter any issues with stability.

I did not encounter any issues with scalability. The product supports about 30 networks covering about 250 users.

I rate technical support as moderate: no phone support, only chat and email. I would also like to state they now offer phone support. They don’t advertise it but it’s possible to get a human on the phone and get help with this stuff. I did. I also had an issue one day and opened a ticket but it took all day for someone to call me back.

I used them all. LogMeIn Central had good persistent access but ad-hoc wasn’t good.

Initial setup was simple and straightforward. Just had a tough time with permissions and alerts.

This is a premium price but is worth it given the responsiveness of the app.

MSP Anywhere. This one is more responsive and easier for end users to install.

The product works very well and is easy for end users to install. I really like it.