10 Best SolarWinds Alternatives & Competitors In 2026

SolarWinds’s Service Desk offers an AI-powered knowledge base designed to help your team access the resources they need to solve problems efficiently for end users.

However, some users of the software have been dissatisfied with its limited customization options, inadequate customer support, and limited automation capabilities.

In this article, I’ll go over the 10 best SolarWinds alternatives for ITSM in 2026 that can help you better manage your ITSM workflows.

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

Why are some IT leaders looking to switch from SolarWinds?

The reasons why some IT managers have been looking to switch from SolarWinds are due to the tool’s limited customization options and lack of deep flexibility, poor customer service, and limited automation features.

But don’t get me wrong here, I’m not trying to claim that SolarWinds is a poor ITSM solution that you should run from.

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

After all, the tool helps you automate ticket routing, prioritization, and reporting to help your team track and resolve IT incidents.

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

#1: Limited customization options and lack of deep flexibility

The #1 complaint about SolarWinds has been its limited customization options and lack of deep flexibility.

A verified user of the platform mentions that even though it’s possible to customize the workflows and forms, their team has not been happy with the fact that the tool lacks the deep flexibility of other, more comprehensive platforms on the market.

‘’While you can customize workflows and forms, some teams feel it lacks the deep flexibility of more enterprise-focused tools (like ServiceNow). For example, complex conditional logic or very granular permissions can be harder to achieve.’’ – G2 Review.

#2: Poor customer service

Next up, I found a few complaints about SolarWinds’ customer support.

Even Enterprise-grade customers (who are supposed to be getting the best treatment) are left with open tickets for over a month.

‘’The worst part is the support. We have a ticket currently that has been open for over a month with little progress. The support has been less than helpful to the point where we are considering other options, as the part that is broken is one of our major systems.’’ – G2 Review.

#3: Limited automation capabilities

Last but not least, some IT managers are not happy with the fact that the platform has limited automation capabilities.

For example, you can’t always access certain fields you’d like to use in automation rules.

‘’Some of the automation options are limited—you can’t always access certain fields you’d like to use in automation rules.’’ – G2 Review.

What are the best alternatives to SolarWinds for ITSM in 2026?

Here are the top 10 SolarWinds 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 asset management in an all-in-one platform.

#2: Startly: Best for enterprises looking for an all-in-one cloud-based IT help desk solution with ticketing, asset management, and SLA compliance.

#3: SysAid: Best for IT teams looking for automated ticketing, asset management, and workflow automation.

#4: Ivanti: Best for enterprises looking for a scalable ITSM solution that has no-code automation.

#5: ServiceNow: Best for IT leads looking for an all-in-one ITSM platform to resolve issues quickly using AI and machine learning.

#6: Jira Service Management: Best for organizations looking for enterprise-grade IT service management that is easy to implement and configure.

#7: Freshservice: Best for IT leads looking to automate and streamline service desk operations for end users.

#8: Zendesk: Best for customer support teams looking to handle IT support tickets across multiple channels.

#9: HelpScout: Best for support teams looking to use AI to help support reps handle more tickets.

#10: Atera: Best for IT teams looking for an IT management solution with remote monitoring.

#1: What makes SmartSuite the best alternative to SolarWinds?

SmartSuite offers the best alternative to SolarWinds in 2026 for ITSM with our no-code, easy-to-use software that helps you streamline critical IT processes, organize projects, and remove traditional obstacles in the tech landscape.

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

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

All-In-One ITSM

SmartSuite helps teams manage their IT processes, projects, and assets all in one single solution. Our no-code, easy-to-use platform 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: You can 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: 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

Our team has 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 a:

• 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.

How is SmartSuite different from SolarWinds?

Unlike SolarWinds, SmartSuite offers a platform with:

• A modern solution with an intuitive interface that does not confuse your IT team or require extensive training.
• A 14-day free trial to help you get started, as well as an Enterprise-grade fully custom plan.
• Automated workflows that can help you build multi-step automations to trigger actions at the right time.
• Dedicated customer support and account management will help you with setting up the automations inside the platform.
• A set-up that is not complex - you can get started right away and set up the platform in a few days, not months.

💡 Case Study: Learn how MediaLab transformed operations, minimized risk, and saved $40,000+ per year by cutting software costs.

Pricing

Unlike SolarWinds, SmartSuite offers a 14-day free trial of its Professional plan (no credit card required), with automations, team collaboration, multi-dashboard views, and more.

There are three per-seat plans plus a per-solution Signature plan, all available through the 14-day free trial:

• Team: $15/user/month billed annually ($20 billed monthly, minimum 3 users), including 5,000 records per solution, 50GB of file storage, and 25,000 automation runs and API calls per month.
• Professional: $32/user/month billed annually ($36 billed monthly, minimum 5 users), adding 100,000 records per solution, 100GB of file storage, two-factor authentication, and Gmail & Outlook integrations.
• Enterprise: Custom pricing with no seat minimum, adding 400,000 records per solution, 500GB of file storage, audit logs, data loss prevention, SSO, and SCIM provisioning.
• Signature: A customized plan tailored to your organization’s needs and team size with no predefined limits.

Pros & Cons

✅ A 14-day free trial of the Professional plan with access to advanced features and unlimited 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 ticket routing, SLA alerts, approvals, and asset check-outs.

✅ Modern and intuitive UI.

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

#2: Who is Startly best for?

Best for: Enterprises looking for an all-in-one cloud-based IT help desk solution with ticketing, asset management, and SLA compliance.

Similar to: SolarWinds, Ivanti.

Startly offers an enterprise help desk software designed to simplify IT support workflows, manage assets, and improve customer satisfaction.

The platform is a good alternative to SolarWinds for businesses to manage support tickets, automate service processes, and track service quality through analytics and SLAs.

Features

• Comprehensive ticketing system for tracking incidents, service requests, and problems across multiple channels.
• Performance analytics to evaluate help desk efficiency and guide process improvements.
• CMDB (Configuration Management Database) to manage asset relationships and prevent downtime.
• Built-in survey tool for collecting customer feedback without needing third-party software.

Standout Feature: Service Level Agreement (SLA) tracking and alerts

What stood out to me about Startly is that it lets you define, monitor, and enforce SLAs with real-time alerts to ensure timely responses and prevent breaches.

Pricing

Startly’s pricing structure is rather simple: 

It costs $15/month/seat for all features with unlimited users, no annual contract requirement, and a 60-day free trial.

Pros & Cons

✅ Comes with a user-friendly interface.

✅ You can integrate time tracking, finances, and ticketing into one system.

✅ Fixed $15/month/seat pricing for all capabilities of the platform.

❌ Occasional bugs and errors.

❌ Limited reporting capabilities, which is why some people have been looking for Startly alternatives.

#3: Who is SysAid best for?

Best for: IT teams looking for automated ticketing, asset management, and workflow automation.

Similar to: Atera, SolarWinds Service Desk.

SysAid offers an IT service management solution that helps organizations deliver an AI-powered automated service. 

The tool helps you deliver a knowledge base to help users find answers to common questions and a conversational AI chatbot to provide instant support. 

Features 

• Automated help desk and ticketing system that lets you create and monitor support tickets, with features like automatic ticket creation from emails.
• Tracking and management of hardware, software, and other IT assets across the organization.
• The platform can automate various IT processes like employee onboarding, patch management, and more.

Standout Feature: Agentic Service Management

SysAid offers an agentic AI solution that lets you automatically detect and resolve issues.

It’s also capable of routing, fulfilling, and tracking requests with service-level agreement awareness.

Pricing

SysAid offers three main pricing plans, but has not disclosed its pricing for them:

• Help Desk: Designed for lean teams, includes incident management, self-service portal, service catalog, asset management, and basic reporting.
• ITSM: For mid-sized organizations, and adds workflow automations, third-party integrations, and advanced SLA management.
• Enterprise: For large teams, includes all IT service management features with unlimited agents, automation rules, and custom columns.

Pros and Cons

✅ Advanced help desk functionality for managing incidents, requests, and problems.

✅ The tool lets you customize workflows and reports to meet your needs, covering the weaknesses of SolarWinds.

✅ Enterprise-grade ITSM solution that is similar to tools like BMC Helix.

❌ Outdated user interface, according to users of the software.

❌ A long implementation process.

#4: Who is Ivanti best for?

Best for: Enterprises looking for a scalable ITSM solution that has no-code automation.

Similar to: ServiceNow.

Ivanti offers an ITSM solution that helps large teams automate IT workflows, optimize assets, and improve user experiences. 

Its drag-and-drop configuration lets you start small and add capabilities as your IT maturity grows, which will help you more confidently switch from SolarWinds.

Features

• You can configure and adapt service management processes through an intuitive drag-and-drop workflow and UI design.
• It’s possible to deploy intelligent AI-powered chatbots and service portals that guide end users, surface knowledge articles, and resolve common issues.
• Monitor service delivery, quality, and SLA commitments with customizable, role-specific dashboards for executives, managers, and technicians.

Standout Feature: Ivanti’s Modular, Maturity-Driven Scalability

Ivanti’s modular architecture lets you add advanced capabilities, such as shift-left automation and proactive AI remediation, to support your growth from foundational help-desk ticketing to comprehensive, predictive IT operations.

Pricing

Ivanti does not disclose its pricing, so you’d have to contact their team for a demo and a quote.

Pros & Cons

✅ Enterprise-grade no-code ITSM solution.

✅ Drag-and-drop functionality that lets you start small.

✅ Good asset management features.

❌ Customer support can be slow to respond, which is why some brands have been looking for Ivanti alternatives.

❌ The platform is complex to learn how to best use due to its comprehensive range of features.

#5: ServiceNow

Best for: IT leads looking for an all-in-one ITSM platform to resolve issues quickly using AI and machine learning.

Similar to: Jira Service Management.

ServiceNow offers an all-in-one ITSM software that helps teams remove complexity and consolidate their IT services and tools.

The platform is a good enough alternative to SolarWinds for large teams looking to automate essential IT processes within a single system of action.

Features

• Performance analytics that helps IT teams to anticipate trends, prioritize resources, and improve operations with real-time analytics.
• Now Assist for ITSM to help your team accelerate productivity with generative AI on the Now Platform.
• A management database that helps you track the dependencies and relationships of supported IT services to maintain continuity.

Standout Feature: Virtual Agent

ServiceNow’s ITSM offering stood out to me with its Virtual Agent, which makes it easy for end users to resolve issues quickly from a conversational chatbot that has been trained with commonly asked questions and answers.

Pricing

ServiceNow’s pricing is not publicly disclosed, so you’d have to book a demo with their team.

I did find ServiceNow customer and public reviews, which show that the average cost of ServiceNow contracts can range between $50,000 and $500,000 annually.

The pricing structure depends on the number of licenses, features, and other configuration requirements.

Pros & Cons

✅ Advanced IT service management capabilities that can scale.

✅ Delight users with relevant, contextual, and conversational exchanges with a chatbot.

✅ Integrations with other platforms and centralized management of alerts and IT service management tickets.

❌ Steep learning curve and complexity, which is why some IT teams have been looking for ServiceNow alternatives.

❌ Training, skills development, and ongoing support can be costly.

#6: Jira Service Management

Best for: Organizations looking for enterprise-grade IT service management that is easy to implement and configure.

Similar to: Freshservice, Zendesk.

Jira Service Management solution enables IT teams to receive, track, manage, and resolve customer or internal employee requests.

The platform is a nice SolarWinds alternative to large tech-savvy teams looking for an ITSM solution that is easy to implement and configure.

Features

• Manage work across various channels; this way, your employees and customers will receive the help they need quickly.
• Empowers development and IT operations teams to respond rapidly to incidents, resolve them, and continuously learn from them.
• A good variety of plugins for additional integrations, workflow enhancements, reporting, and automation.

Standout Feature: Pre-Built ITSM Templates

Jira Service Management helps IT teams get started quickly with pre-built customizable ITSM templates.

Pricing 

Jira Service Management offers four pricing plans for IT teams:

• Free: $0, for up to 3 agents, with access to basic features.
• Standard: $21.50 per agent/month, includes custom-branded help center, alerts, on-call schedules, unlimited email notifications, and 9/5 support.
• Premium: $55.28 per agent/month, adds AI-powered services, virtual agent, asset and configuration management, advanced alert integrations, and 24/7 support.
• Enterprise: Custom pricing, adds advanced analytics, security, and unlimited automations, with up to 150 instances and 24/7 dedicated support.

Pros and Cons 

✅ Centralized incident ticketing system that provides full visibility into ongoing issues.

✅ Advanced automation capabilities to establish predefined workflows and triggers.

✅ Ready-to-use ITSM templates that you can start with.

❌ Dependence on plugins for certain features, which some users find inconvenient.

❌ Non-technical users might find Jira’s interface confusing at first.

#7: Freshservice

Best for: IT leads looking to automate and streamline service desk operations for end users.

Similar to: Jira Service Management, Zendesk.

Freshservice has an ITSM solution that can help your team streamline IT operations and service delivery with its ticketing system, self-service portal, and asset management.

Unlike SolarWinds, the software provides IT teams with a less technical and cost-effective platform for improved productivity.

Features

• A centralized platform to track and manage IT support requests efficiently, ensuring timely resolutions.
• Self-service portal that helps you independently find solutions and submit requests.
• Monitors and manages IT assets, including hardware and software.

Standout Feature: Automations

What stood out to me about Freshservice is its automation functionality that helps you automate tasks like:

• Ticket assignments.
• Repetitive responses.
• Workflow management.

Pricing

Freshservice offers 4 paid plans with no free version, all of which have a free trial: 

• Starter: $19/agent/month billed annually, or $29 billed monthly, which includes workspaces, incident management, and a self-service portal.
• Growth: $49/agent/month billed annually, or $59 billed monthly, which adds asset management, purchase order management, and business rules.
• Pro: $99/agent/month billed annually, which adds problem management, change management, and release management. 
• Enterprise: Custom pricing, which adds a sandbox, audit logs, and access to beta features.

Pros and Cons 

✅ The tool’s interface is easy to set up and use daily.

✅ Advanced automation capabilities that are easy to set up.

✅ Native integrations with other Freshworks products and third-party tools.

❌ Fewer native integrations when compared to Freshservice alternatives.

❌ The customer support has been reported to be slow by verified users on G2.

#8: Zendesk

Best for: Customer support teams looking to handle IT support tickets across multiple channels.

Similar to: Freshdesk.

Zendesk has a customer service solution that helps IT teams deliver better customer experiences. 

The tool focuses on providing a centralized ticketing system to organize customer inquiries and support requests across multiple channels.

Features

• Multi-channel support that allows customers to reach out via email, chat, phone, social media, and more.
• An AI-powered live chat for effective customer support and engagement.
• Automations to help you streamline workflows, route tickets, and provide quick resolutions.

Standout Feature: Incident Management Automation

Zendesk stood out to me with its Incident Management workflow that automatically assigns incidents to the right people who can resolve the issue. 

Pricing

Zendesk offers four main basic pricing plans:

• Suite Team: $55 per agent/month, which includes basic support features.
• Suite Growth: $89 per agent/month, which adds advanced tools like multiple ticket forms and SLAs.
• Suite Professional: $115 per agent/month, which includes custom analytics and skills-based routing.
• Suite Enterprise: Custom pricing, which offers advanced customization and compliance features.

💡 Note that some of the IT support capabilities will need to be purchased as add-ons.

Pros and Cons

✅ Live chat, ticketing system, knowledge base, automation and analytics.

✅ The platform is highly customizable to meet specific business needs.

✅ Skill-based routing for incident management.

❌ Ticket management could be improved, with customers requesting more filters and the ability to create folders.

❌ Some IT support capabilities need to be purchased as add-ons, which can scale costs quickly.

#9: HelpScout

Best for: Support teams looking to use AI to help support reps handle more tickets.

Similar to: Zendesk, Freshdesk.

HelpScout helps you deliver efficient, personal support to users through a shared inbox platform that uses AI to let your support reps handle more tickets.

It’s a viable SolarWinds alternative for support teams that want to handle simple support tickets without getting too complicated.

Features

• Automates tasks like ticket assignments, repetitive responses, and workflow management to improve efficiency.
• Provides a knowledge base and community forums to enable customers to find answers independently.
• Highly customizable to fit the specific needs of your team.

Standout Feature: Analytics & Reporting Capabilities

HelpScout stood out to me with its analytics and reporting capabilities that dive deeper into each conversation of your reps and AI chatbot and evaluate responses from end users.

Pricing

HelpScout offers four plans that teams can choose from:

• Free: $0/month, which includes an Inbox with all channels, a Docs knowledge base, and a help widget with AI answers.
• Standard: $25 per user/month, which includes 2 shared inboxes, 1 knowledge base, automated workflows, and reporting.
• Plus: $45 per user/month, which adds 5 shared inboxes, 2 knowledge bases, 25 light users, advanced permissions, and custom reporting.
• Pro: $75 per user/month, which adds 25 shared inboxes, 10 knowledge bases, 50 light users, enterprise security, HIPAA compliance, and dedicated support.

HelpScout bills per user again after a spell of contact-based pricing.

Pros and Cons 

✅ Easy to learn and use, with a simple and intuitive interface.

✅ Useful workflows to automate actions like sending notifications for bad customer ratings.

✅ Good reporting capabilities, covering the weaknesses of SolarWinds.

❌ The tool can get quite expensive if your platform is handling thousands of customer requests.

❌ Does not support live technical support features like screen control and risk identification.

#10: Atera

Best for: IT teams looking for an IT management solution with remote monitoring.

Similar to: HelpScout.

Atera offers an ITSM platform with remote monitoring and management, professional services automation, and remote access abilities for IT managers.

The platform is a viable alternative to SolarWinds for teams looking to get started with ITSM without excessive training.

Features

• An easy-to-use interface that helps IT teams navigate and manage tasks.
• Atera automates software patching and updates for Windows, Mac, and various applications to keep systems secure and up-to-date.
• The tool’s integrated helpdesk and ticketing system can help you better manage support requests and incidents.

Standout Feature: Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)

Atera’s RMM software offers full visibility and control over IT infrastructure to enable users to monitor and manage devices, servers, and networks proactively.

Pricing

Atera offers four main pricing plans for IT departments:

• Professional: $149 per technician/month (billed annually), which includes remote monitoring, patch management, automations, helpdesk, and ticketing.
• Expert: $189 per technician/month (billed annually), which adds advanced security features, network discovery, and more customization options.
• Master: $219 per technician/month (billed annually), which adds audit logs with 1 year retention, custom support addresses, and reporting.
• Enterprise: Custom pricing, which adds onboarding, premium customer support, and enterprise-grade security with custom analytics.

Pros and cons 

✅ Effective patch management and security scanning.

✅ Intuitive user interface and easy deployment.

✅ More cost-effective for smaller IT teams compared to SolarWinds’ enterprise-grade solution.

❌ Limited mobile app functionality, according to users of the platform.

❌ Basic reporting capabilities.

Get Started With SmartSuite & Our Templates & Set Up Your ITSM Workspace In Days

That was it from our in-depth analysis of the 10 best SolarWinds alternatives on the market in 2026 for ITSM.

If you’re an IT lead looking to build IT service management workstreams, you can give SmartSuite a chance with our 14-day free trial and pre-built ITSM templates.

SmartSuite’s platform offers just the right customization, native collaboration capabilities and a library of 200+ project management templates to help teams create and maintain a project management workflow.

Here’s what's in it for your team when you try SmartSuite:

• A 14-day free trial of the Professional plan with multi-board views (Kanban, Chart, Map, Timeline, Card, and Calendar), automations, and 40+ field types, including formula and linked record fields.
• No-code automation builder to set up to 500,000 trigger/action workflows.
• Built-in productivity tools, including time tracking, status tracking, and checklists.
• Team collaboration and planning tools such as whiteboards and SmartSuite docs.
• Resource management across projects and teams.
• 40+ field types, including the option to add your custom fields.

Start a 14-day free trial to explore all its features.

Or, if you’d like to talk to our team of experts, schedule a demo.

Read More

• MetricStream Pricing: Is It Worth It
• ServiceNow Review: Is It Worth It
• BMC Helix Pricing: Is It Worth It
• 10 Best BMC Helix Alternatives For ITSM
• 10 Best MetricStream Alternatives for GRC