10 Best ManageEngine Alternatives For ITSM In 2025

ManageEngine provides a broad, cost-effective IT management suite with automated discovery, license reconciliation and procurement lifecycle features.

However, some customers of the software have not been happy with its complex implementation process, expensive pricing structure, and customer support.

In this article, I’ll go over the 10 best ManageEngine alternatives for ITSM in 2025 that can help you better manage your IT service management workflows.

TL;DR

SmartSuite offers the best ManageEngine alternative with its no-code setup, ready-to-use ITSM templates, and customizable dashboards that help IT teams streamline processes in days, not months.
Enterprise-grade tools like SolarWinds and ServiceNow are ideal for large organizations that need deep automation, network monitoring, or end-to-end service delivery.
On the other hand, platforms like Atera and NinjaOne can help smaller IT teams or MSPs with affordable RMM, patch management, and lightweight ticketing in a single workspace.

But first, I wanted to cover the reasons why some IT managers have been looking to make the switch from ManageEngine: ⤵️

Why are some IT leaders looking to switch from ManageEngine?

The reasons why some IT managers have been looking to switch from ManageEngine are due to the tool’s tricky and complex implementation process, per-technician pricing model that can get expensive, and the customer support that leaves some of their questions hanging for too long.

But don’t get us wrong here, we’re not trying to claim that ManageEngine is a poor ITSM solution that needs to be switched from.

There are hundreds of satisfied users from around the world who will tell you otherwise.

After all, the tool comes with workflow rules, smart ticket routing, and built-in AI that help you streamline and accelerate resolution.

However, some users have been dissatisfied with the ITSM tool for several reasons:

#1: The initial implementation can be tricky and complex

The #1 complaint of ManageEngine’s users has been around the tool’s implementation.

Customers of the platform mention on G2 how tricky and complex it can be to get up and running with the software, and how it requires patience.

‘’Initial configuration and implementation is a bit tricky and needs some patience.’’ – G2 Review.

#2: Expensive pricing structure

Even though ManageEngine’s pricing starts from $13/month/technician, that is just for the basic IT help desk.

Users who want to combine the IT help desk with asset, change, and project management have to pay upwards of $67/month/technician to get the most out of the platform.

‘’Obviously, cost, ManageEngine license is based on technician count instead of end users.’’ – G2 Review.

#3: Customer support could be better

Last but not least, some customers of the software are not happy with the tool’s customer support.

One G2 review remembers their experience with ManageEngine’s customer support as ‘’hitting a brick wall’’ when trying to resolve their issues and mentions how dissatisfied they are with the lack of responsiveness on the solution’s side.

‘’But perhaps the most frustrating aspect for me is the level zero support processing for end users. It often feels like I'm hitting a brick wall when trying to resolve basic issues, and the lack of responsiveness in this area is a significant letdown.’’ – G2 Review.

What are the best alternatives to ManageEngine for ITSM in 2025?

The best alternatives to ManageEngine are SmartSuite, with its all-in-one customizable ITSM solution that can be set up in days, SolarWinds, and ServiceNow.

Here’s a breakdown of our shortlist of the top 10 ManageEngine alternatives on the market for IT service management after evaluating 30+ platforms:

#1: SmartSuite: Best for IT leaders looking to manage IT processes, projects, and assets in a customizable platform that can be set up in days, and not months.

#2: SolarWinds: Best for organizations that need enterprise-grade network and infrastructure monitoring tightly integrated with incident management.

#3: ServiceNow: Best for large enterprises that require full-lifecycle service management, heavy automation, and broad integrations.

#4: Atera: Best for MSPs and small IT departments seeking an affordable, single-pane-of-glass operations and billing tool.

#5: Ivanti: Best for organizations prioritizing endpoint security, patch automation and endpoint-to-service workflows.

#6: SysAid: Best for mid-sized organizations looking for an affordable, easy-to-manage ITSM tool with solid core features.

#7: NinjaOne: Best for small IT teams and MSPs that want an easy-to-use RMM with basic service desk capabilities.

#8: Freshservice: Best for mid-market IT teams looking for a fast-to-deploy, user-friendly ITSM with scalable automation and asset management capabilities.

#9: Startly: Best for small service teams that are looking for an inexpensive, unified ITSM and PSA stack with minimal integration overhead.

#10: Jira Service Management: Best for enterprises that need tight integration between IT service management and DevOps teams.

#1: SmartSuite

SmartSuite offers the best ManageEngine alternative in 2025, featuring our no-code, easy-to-use software that helps streamline critical IT processes, organise projects, and eliminate traditional obstacles in the tech landscape.

Here’s a quick walkthrough of the tool and our solution for IT leaders:

Let’s go over the features that make SmartSuite the best choice for small and large IT teams looking for a ManageEngine alternative: 👇

All-In-One IT Service Management

SmartSuite helps IT teams manage their IT processes, projects, and assets in a single, unified solution.

Our no-code, easy-to-use solution lets you automate all technical processes with ease.

Here are the capabilities and use cases that your team will get with SmartSuite:

Manage critical IT processes: Manage IT data and workflows in one place, from deploying help desk and issue management solutions to ensuring core business operations stay uninterrupted.

Track tickets & issues: You’ll be able to deploy a help desk and issue management solutions to ensure your business operations are not interrupted.

Manage your IT assets and licenses: Track all of your IT assets, to whom they are deployed to and what software versions are deployed.

Manage internal IT projects: You can plan deployments, schedule your teams, and monitor progress to ensure you deliver on time and under budget.

Integrate with your existing systems: Your team can integrate with existing systems and data to consolidate and centralize your data.

Automate for accuracy and efficiency: It’s possible to remove inefficiencies and the chance for human error by automating repeatable workflows.
Monitor and report on your work with customizable IT dashboards: You can slice and dice data, track help tickets, work requests, and more in dynamic interactive dashboards.

Standardize Your Team’s IT Workflows

Your team can standardize your IT request workflow with a centralized work request process.

Our platform lets you prioritize tasks, assign IT staff and ensure that you achieve SLAs.

You’ll also be able to monitor your team with flexible reports and dashboards that keep you updated in real time.

Apart from that, SmartSuite's no-code automation builder provides IT teams with a visual interface that makes it easy to respond to events and take action.

That means you can customize your ITSM workflows without technical resources.

💡 Are you working from mobile? Stay connected to critical IT information, tickets and device information with our native iOS and Android apps.

Your team can use our mobile apps to share files, images, updates and other feedback to resolve problems and close tickets.

Ready-To-Use ITSM Templates

We have prepared a few ITSM templates for IT teams looking to get started right away, instead of building everything from scratch, such as an IT Help Desk.

Our ITSM template includes:

IT Service Request Management, where you can streamline work requests, automate repetitive tasks, and manage IT assets.

IT Help Desk, which we built for internal IT departments looking to capture and resolve internal technology issues.

IT Asset Tracker, where you can keep track of IT assets issued to employees or implemented in networks, facilities and workspaces.

You can customize our ITSM management templates here for various use cases, such as IT Security Policies, IT Security Audits, and IT Work Requests.

Pricing

Similar to ManageEngine, SmartSuite offers a free tier with access to 250+ automation actions, team collaboration, multi-dashboard views, and more.

There are four paid plans with a 14-day free trial (no CC required):

Team: Starts at $12/user per month, including Gantt charts, timeline views, 5000 automation runs, and native time tracking.
Professional: Starts at $30/user per month and adds two-factor authentication, Gmail & Outlook integrations, and unlimited editors.
Enterprise: Starts at $45/user/month and includes access to audit logs, data loss prevention, and 50,000 monthly API calls.
Signature: A customized plan tailored to your organization’s needs and team size with no predefined limits.

How does SmartSuite compare to ManageEngine?

Both SmartSuite and ManageEngine aim to give in-house IT teams a single place to manage tickets, assets, and everyday IT operations, but they take very different approaches.

ManageEngine is a mature ITSM suite with workflow rules, smart ticket routing, and built-in AI; however, many IT leaders move away from it because onboarding can be complex, the per-technician pricing can become expensive, and some customers report slow support.

SmartSuite, by contrast, is a simpler, no-code alternative that packs broad ITSM capability into a more transparent and flexible package.

Here’s how they stack up in the areas that matter most to IT teams:

Implementation & onboarding

ManageEngine: Powerful but can be tricky to configure. Customers frequently note a steep initial learning curve and a setup that requires patience.
SmartSuite: No-code, visual builders and ready-to-use ITSM templates (Help Desk, IT Service Request, Asset Tracker) make it fast to launch without heavy technical resources.

Pricing & licensing

ManageEngine: Uses a per-technician licensing model that can look inexpensive at the entry level (from ~$13/technician/month for basic help desk) but rises quickly when you add modules (asset, change, project management). Customers report combined costs near $67/technician/month for fuller functionality.
SmartSuite: Free tier + clear per-user plans (Team from $12/user/month; Professional, Enterprise, Signature tiers) and visible automation quotas. That makes cost forecasting easier and avoids the “pay for each module or technician” surprise.

Feature breadth & ready-made templates

ManageEngine: Very feature-rich across classic ITSM domains, including asset management, change management, project management, and dynamic customizable templates.
SmartSuite: Covers core ITSM (tickets, assets, projects) in a single workspace and ships with editable ITSM templates so small and large teams can get running immediately.

Automation & customization

ManageEngine: Strong automation capabilities, including advanced workflow automations and AI-supported automations via AutomationEdge integrations.
SmartSuite: No-code automation builder with visual rule creation so non-developers can automate workflows, reduce manual errors, and customize processes quickly.

Reporting & dashboards

ManageEngine: Good baseline reporting, including instant reports and analytics
SmartSuite: Highly customizable, interactive dashboards that let you slice SLA performance, ticket trends, and asset health in real-time.

Scaling & integrations

ManageEngine: Mature integrations and deep ITSM features, but expanding functionality can mean higher licensing.
SmartSuite: Integrations to consolidate existing systems and a pricing model that scales features within the plan (fewer add-on surprises). Enterprise plans include large API call volumes (e.g., 50k/month).

Support & user experience

ManageEngine: Some users report slow or frustrating support experiences.
SmartSuite: Easy to use and comes with template-driven onboarding to reduce the need for heavy support during implementation.

Pros & Cons

✅ A generous free plan that includes access to advanced features of the platform for up to 5 solutions.

✅ 9 ready-to-use ITSM templates that you can get started with right away.

✅ Dynamic dashboards and reporting that are easy to navigate.

✅ Integrated document and file management.

✅ Automate risk scoring, compliance tracking, audits, and vendor reviews.

✅ Modern and intuitive UI.

❌ Fewer native integrations when compared to other competitors on the market.

#2: SolarWinds

Best for: Organizations that need enterprise-grade network and infrastructure monitoring tightly integrated with incident management.

Similar to: Freshservice.

SolarWinds pairs deep, real-time monitoring with incident-to-ticket automation, making it a strong alternative to ManageEngine when ITSM needs tight coupling to network & systems telemetry.

The platform strength is operational visibility: you’ll be able to surface performance issues as service incidents so teams can remediate before users notice.

Features

Automates ticket routing, prioritization, and reporting to help your team track and resolve IT incidents.
Automated incident management is tightly connected to IT asset records, so tickets immediately reflect hardware and software context.
Unified network performance monitoring and topology mapping that automatically surfaces degraded nodes and correlates them to service incidents.

Standout Feature: SolarWinds AI

What stood out to me about SolarWinds is its AI capabilities that let you build support agents that can resolve or troubleshoot problems based on the initial request and comments within the ticket.