Tracking the performance of your IT infrastructure is one of the most important things you can do to ensure that it’s running smoothly. But, what if you could also monitor and manage all your devices remotely? That’s where RMM comes in.
Remote monitoring and management tools are designed to help you keep track of everything from inventory levels to software updates, so you can pinpoint any potential problems before they become major issues.
This blog post will highlight 13 of the best remote management tool on the market today in 2021 based on price range and features. We’ll show how each solution might be a good fit for different types of IT service providers with various numbers or customers, budgets, and organizational needs. You’ll find that many solutions come with trial periods or free versions, so you don’t have to make a large investment before seeing if it’s right for you.
1) Atera
Atera brings powerful remote control and monitoring capabilities with innovative features at an affordable price point. Some of the key features include professional 24/7 support, configurable integrations, advanced reporting capabilities, IT automation tools, and device management tools. Atera’s predictive analytics can help you prevent problems before they happen, giving you more proactive control over your company’s IT performance. With unlimited devices and users, it is one of the most affordable options out there — but make sure to double check if this tool works with your business type (SMB or Enterprise) before signing up.
Highlights: Easy-to-use interface; Affordable pricing; Powerful reporting capabilities; Unlimited user accounts & devices supported.
Low Points: Only supports Windows 10, 8, 7 & Vista; Does not support Linux/Mac OS X; No automation engine or IT process automation available.
Pricing Overview: The Atera subscription plan includes unlimited endpoints starting at $89 per technician per month.
2) Barracuda RMM
Barracuda RMM offers scalable IT management that helps businesses protect their networked devices, software, and data. It also provides automated monitoring of every device on your network to help you ensure uptime. Additionally, Barracuda’s endpoint management capabilities enable you to access web-based remote support tools and manage software updates across all company-owned devices from one central location. If you are looking for an affordable tool with an easy-to-use interface at a reasonable price for your business (especially if it is under 50 employees), Barracuda could be the right choice for your SMB organization.
Highlights: Full Windows 10 support; Unlimited number of endpoints; Affordable pricing; Easy setup; Free version available.
Low Points: Only daily status updates; No support for Apple OS X/macOS.
Pricing Overview: The Barracuda program offers important features such as real-time monitoring and alerting, comprehensive reports, a centralized dashboard, and more. To discover their fees, request a quotation.
3) ITarian
ITarian is a next-generation IT service management platform for MSPs that delivers powerful automation to simplify your work and save you time. It provides automated ticketing, real-time alerts, full endpoint monitoring, device auto discovery features, SaaS license management capabilities, remote control tools, customizable integration with third party applications (i.e., PSA), customizable dashboards and reports, and much more. The built-in two-way SMS gateway allows authorized personnel to send or receive texts right from the dashboard.
Highlights: Easy setup; Affordable pricing; User friendly interface.
Low Points: Only supports Windows 10 & 8 devices; No Apple OS X/Mac support available; No automatic ticketing feature available.
Pricing Overview: ITarian provides a free plan for up to 50 endpoints and then for $1.25 per endpoint, per year after that. ITarian also offers free trial and has a free version.
4) ConnectWise Automate
ConnectWise is an industry leader in business management software, but their RMM tool helps them stay competitive even in the fast-moving world of remote monitoring and management. ConnectWise Automate is a solution for managing computer networks, applications, users, compliance requirements — basically anything IT pros need to do their jobs more effectively.
Highlights: Powerful IT process automation capabilities; Unlimited endpoints & users supported; Advanced patching capabilities; Multi-platform support for agents (Windows 32/64, Mac OS X & Linux); Outstanding partner ecosystem.
Low Points: Significant learning curve for new technicians using this system; Only offers a 30 day free trial without credit card information required up front.
Pricing Overview: ConnectWise Automate’s pricing varies based on your business size and technical needs. Contact them for a free consultation for more information.
Check out ConnectWise Automate »
5) Datto RMM
Datto is one of the fastest growing companies in the field of business continuity & disaster recovery, but they’re also considered leaders in IT management software as well. With easy-to-use service delivery tools, an outstanding partner network and continuous innovation that keeps them ahead of their competitors — it’s no wonder customers love working with this company.
Highlights: Multi-platform support (Windows 32/64, Mac OS X & Linux); Unlimited endpoints and users supported; Comprehensive multi-device monitoring capabilities; Outstanding customer support; Strong integration with cloud backup solution.
Low Points: Only uses email notifications to inform technicians about alerts; Very limited service scheduling capabilities.
Pricing Overview: Datto’s RMM platform is tightly linked with their comprehensive business continuity solution, but you must inquire about their pricing plans.
6) Kaseya VSA
Kaseya is another industry leader in IT management software, but their flagship remote monitoring & management product has had quite a few ups and downs over the past several years. While recent improvements have helped this RMM tool earn more respect among experts and end users, some still aren’t impressed with what they have to offer — that said, Kaseya does offer some of the most powerful features available today that are exclusively reserved for MSPs.
Highlights: Unlimited endpoints and users supported; Includes full endpoint security features (Anti-Virus/Malware, Firewall & Web Filtering); Unlimited in-depth device monitoring; Comprehensive multi-device reporting.
Low Points: Steep learning curve for new technicians to use this system; Significant lag time between detection of issues and resolution by technician; Email notifications are very limited for timely alerts about issues with devices.
Pricing Overview: Kaseya VSA’s pricing varies based on your business size and technical needs. Contact them for a free consultation for more information.
Naverisk is one of the newest companies to make our list, but they’re also one of the most talked about. In a market where new solutions are introduced almost on a daily basis, it’s hard for RMM tools to make an impact — but Naverisk is changing the way IT pros manage their customers’ systems by focusing more on customer service and support rather than expensive add-ons that some providers offer today.
Highlights: Unlimited endpoints and users supported; Outstanding customer support; Strong integration with cloud backup solution.
Low Points: Only uses email notifications to inform technicians about alerts; Very limited service scheduling capabilities.
Pricing Overview: Naverisk offers a free trial WITHOUT credit card information required up front, then pricing varies depending on which packages you need access to (Basic, Premium or Enterprise). Contact them for more information.
8) NinjaOne (Formerly known as NinjaRMM)
NinjaOne is one of the best MSP software platforms that have been around for many years, but you’ll find some shortcomings compared to other tools like ConnectWise Automate or Autotask. Real-time alerts are only available with their NOC (Network Operations Center) service which isn’t included in their RMM platform; this is considered a major drawback by many experts and end users, but NinjaOne even announced last year that they were working on this very issue.
Highlights: Multi-platform support (Windows 32/64, Mac OS X & Linux); Unlimited endpoints and users supported; Comprehensive multi-device monitoring capabilities; Outstanding customer support.
Low Points: Very limited service scheduling capabilities; Just one primary contact is allowed per company account with NinjaOne; Very steep learning curve for technicians to use this system.
Pricing Overview: NinjaOne’s pricing varies based on your business size and technical needs. Contact them for a free consultation for more information.
9) Panorama9 (Managed Workplace)
Another relative newcomer to our list, Panorama9 is one of the most recent solutions that made our “MSP Only” category — and they’re doing a pretty good job so far. Much like NinjaRMM , they have a decent set of capabilities available with virtually unlimited endpoint support, unlimited in-depth monitoring & reporting… but their multi-device management capabilities are quite limited compared to what you can get from NinjaRMM or Servoyant .
Highlights: Unlimited endpoints and users supported; Unlimited in-depth device monitoring; Comprehensive multi-device reporting tools.
Low Points: Only offers email notifications for technicians about alerts & device issues; No centralized management console to add/remove users or create/manage service tickets.
Pricing Overview: Panorama9 offers a free 30-day trial, and it also has a free version. Panorama9’s price starts at $1.89 per endpoint. MSPs can contact Panorama9 for a custom pricing plan depending on the needs of your business.
10) Pulseway
A very popular option for many MSPs and IT pros looking to expand their services into the cloud, Pulseway is also a relatively new entrant on our list that focuses more exclusively on providing automated incident management and monitoring capabilities.
Highlights: Multi-platform support (Windows 32/64, Mac OS X & Linux); Unlimited endpoints and users supported; Unlimited in-depth device monitoring of all types; Comprehensive multi-device reporting tools; Centralized management console with web interface; Agentless architecture reduces network footprint.
Low Points: Only uses email notifications to inform technicians about alerts; No centralized billing or invoicing system included.
Pricing Overview: Price starts at $32/month. Because of its volume-based tiered pricing, the price scales up as you add more endpoints, 3rd party patching, and if you add an endpoint protection in your plan as well.
11) Servoyant (RMM & PSA)
Servoyant is a relatively new entrant into the RMM market that is *not* focused on being a full-fledged PSA solution as well. Unlike almost every other option here, they have opted to focus strictly on the RMM side of things going forward which is pretty cool — but it also means that they still have some catching up to do in terms of really fleshing out the PSA capabilities.
Highlights: Multi-platform support (Windows 32/64, Mac OS X & Linux); Unlimited in-depth device monitoring; Comprehensive multi-device reporting tools.
Low Points: No clear roadmap or release schedule available so it’s hard to tell when new features will become available; Only email notifications are available for technicians about alerts.
Pricing Overview: No pricing details are displayed on their website. Contact them to discover their fees.
12) N-Able RMM
This one is a bit of a personal favorite. N-able has been in the RMM market for quite some time now and they’re definitely more popular in Europe than they are here in North America, but they’ve always had something really interesting: Their RMM solution was built on top of Microsoft’s System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) platform which gave them an unparalleled level of visibility and control over your entire network… yet, since it relied on SCCM, you almost *had* to use their PSA solution as well in order to get the most out of their management capabilities.
Highlights: Multi-platform support (Windows 32/64, Mac OS X & Linux); Unlimited endpoints supported; Unlimited remote agent installation; Comprehensive multi-device reporting tools.
Low Points: Requires SCCM 2012+ to be installed first on your network first before you can use the N-Able RMM plugin; For technicians, only email notifications are available for alerts.
Pricing Overview: N-Able RMM’s price starts at $50/month, and they offer a free trial before you commit to using their software
13) Syncro (RMM & PSA)
Syncro has been around since the very early days of cloud-based RMM solutions, but unlike most other long-time veterans of this space they haven’t updated their platform to support the latest industry trends like automated patch management or some semblance of an updated feature set.
Highlights: Multi-platform support (Windows 32/64); Unlimited endpoints supported; Unlimited in-depth device monitoring; Centralized management console with web interface.
Low Points: Only email notifications are available for technicians about alerts; No comprehensive reporting tools.
Pricing Overview: $19/month per user to start, with custom quote plans also available.
Conclusion
RMM tools are essential for any modern IT department that wishes to maintain an efficient, productive workforce without sacrificing security or spending too much time on device management.
This list covers only a handful of the most popular and professional options available to businesses though, so it’s almost guaranteed that there is a better fit out there if you do some additional research.
The most important thing to look at when making your decision is the user interface of the management console — opt for something modern with an intuitive interface that has all the features you need at your fingertips.
Having an RMM solution that doesn’t require any training or handholding for technicians will save your company time and money down the line while also providing a better workflow that’s less stressful for everyone involved.
Good luck!
