ConnectWise Automate vs Meraki Dashboard comparison

The compared ConnectWise and Cisco solutions aren't in the same category. ConnectWise is ranked #9 in RMM , and holds a 7.7% mindshare in the category. Cisco is ranked #19 in NMS , with an average rating of 8.5, and holds a 1.1% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of ConnectWise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

ConnectWise Automate

Read 15 ConnectWise Automate reviews

1,659 Views
1,012 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Meraki Dashboard

Read 58 Meraki Dashboard reviews

2,378 Views
2,069 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

ConnectWise Automate

Meraki Dashboard

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between ConnectWise Automate and Meraki Dashboard based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about Kaseya, NinjaOne, N-able and others in Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM).

To learn more, read our detailed Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) Report (Updated: August 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)

August 2025

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Helped 867,349 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

ConnectWise Automate

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (9th)

Meraki Dashboard

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (19th)

Mindshare comparison

ConnectWise Automate and Meraki Dashboard aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. ConnectWise Automate is designed for Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) and holds a mindshare of 7.7%, down 9.1% compared to last year.
Meraki Dashboard, on the other hand, focuses on Network Monitoring Software, holds 1.1% mindshare, down 1.8% since last year.

Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
ConnectWise Automate	7.7%
Kaseya VSA	18.2%
NinjaOne	13.7%
Other	60.400000000000006%

Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)

Network Monitoring Software Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Meraki Dashboard	1.1%
Zabbix	11.7%
LibreNMS	4.6%
Other	82.6%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

MikeChacker

IT Manager Global Service Delivery at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Facilitates valuable patch cycles, but the web client is not very intuitive and needs updating, and the scripting has room for improvement

The fixed client for Automate is slow. The web client is not very intuitive. It could use some updating and some thought around the UX. Also, with the scripting, I would like to see something where it could have third-party scripts already pre-built, and all you have to do is say, "Hey, I need this," and go load it. It's not as automated as I'd like it to be.

Read full review

MURALI NIDAMANURI

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Dashboard provides comprehensive network security and management capabilities

I don't have specific handy names. Meraki Dashboard uses multiple functions where we can configure SSIDs, firewall policies, DHCP, multiple VLANs and DHCP configurations, VLAN configurations, access control policies, MAC binding, client access based on MAC authentication and certificate-based authentication. We have configured SSO for Windows Active Directory by configuring the RADIUS services. We have implemented many customer requirements in Meraki Dashboard. With the detailed visibility feature of Meraki Dashboard, I get connected clients information, including how much data each client downloaded and what applications they accessed. I can obtain detailed data including ISP links level monitoring and speed. I can perform speed tests, generate analytics reports, convert to Excel based on each user for each department, create dashboards, monitor and limit bandwidths, and restrict specific URLs. The advanced security configuration in Meraki Dashboard is useful for network security. Substantial security can be achieved within Meraki Dashboard itself, eliminating the need for additional firewalls to protect your network. You can configure WAN monitoring, users' ACLs, URL filtering, web filtering, and department-wise access configuration for specific client applications. It's completely cloud-managed, and in a simplified way, you don't need to visit any physical infrastructure to monitor activities. Apart from access points, everything is in the cloud. We have monitored IoT solutions, CCTV monitoring, and can detect and control intrusions. When people connect IoT devices to your network, Meraki Dashboard can detect what device it is and control those access controls, even with different operating systems.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The database is great. It's a nicely ordered database."

"ConnectWise Automate's interface is pretty easy to use. It's pretty intuitive to get around and navigate it. It does what I need, which is usually connecting to the client and customers systems."

"It allows us to manage all client requests, jobs and invoicing."

"It's a very good IT tool for a company that provides IT services. It is very helpful for technicians to work with the tool to see all of the customers in one place and then manage all of the computers in one place."

"It's definitely improved the help-desk servicing, et cetera."

"A good automated scripts feature."

"Scripting and patch management are really important for us. Patch Manager is something that we use a lot, and we would love to have it continually improved. It is one of the most useful features for us for controlling patches and other things for different clients."

"The initial setup is easy and the deployment is quick."

More ConnectWise Automate pros

"We've been spending a lot less time on tickets and deployments, so we have more time to do other things."

"There is no need to swap the hardware at all the locations, and importing the APs into the Dashboard was a simple and quick process."

"The ability to view the entire project stack, including the camera, features, and routers, which I believe are the most important or relevant components."

"For us, it serves as a single pane of glass."

"We like how Meraki Dashboard lets you manage all the devices in a single pane of glass. The dashboard is intuitive and easy to use. They are constantly updating the functionality. Switches from other vendors have the same features for the life of the device, but Meraki is always improving."

"Everything is in a single pane and you can look at your network in one centralized place."

"I would say the ease of use is the most valuable feature. It's very easy to set up and get up and running."

"An excellent dashboard that is currently unique in covering both SD-WAN and SD-LAN with built-in security."

More Meraki Dashboard pros

Cons

"Patching and reporting need improvements, especially reporting. The reporting engine is quite outdated, so you end up having to use your own dashboard."

"The menu doesn't always load properly."

"The fixed client for Automate is slow. The web client is not very intuitive."

"I have a problem with the reports available on the solution. I don't understand how to work with the reporting functionality. For example, when I want to give a report for a specific machine, ConnectWise doesn't seem to have this as an option. I'm not sure if I'm missing something, or if the reporting functionality is just poorly conceived."

"Their support needs to be better."

"The wait time for a support ticket to be addressed needs to be reduced. They take a couple of days to get back. It is a little frustrating when we have to wait for a couple of days. A lot of times, the issue is critical for us. If we're reaching out to their support team and submitting a ticket, it is because we need it handled quickly."

"They always change the GUI to some dumb-down version of tiles which are more "user-friendly", but slows my team down in the end."

"Scheduling of automation could be improved and made more simple."

More ConnectWise Automate cons

"You can't really clone or replicate a device, that sort of feature would be useful. You can clone the site but you cannot clone the device."

"If I am a user and I have a seat on the fourth floor, if I move across the building, the system should be able to track me and should be able to figure out my whereabouts or my position within the building if I'm connected to the wireless. That would make the administrator's life easier in terms of reachability."

"They could improve the product by providing enhanced utilization reports and more detailed independent access reports."

"Meraki Dashboard could improve the user interface by making it more user-friendly. The configuring can at times be difficult."

"I am concerned about the fact that once your licensing expires the devices stop working and become a brick."

"Not a lot of training is available."

"There is a need for price reductions in developing countries, as the cost of Meraki is quite high."

"For instance, you should be able to see if something has been blocked by a firewall rule by looking at a live log of traffic moving through the device. It helps you troubleshoot issues and understand if your rules are working. You need to ensure the firewall is blocking the right things. That's unavailable in the Meraki Dashboard. You have to send the logs to a log server. We use SolarWinds locally, but it's not natively built into Meraki. We're also using Cisco ISA and another tool called Smoothwall."

More Meraki Dashboard cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I believe Automate is available for around $2."

"Pricing and licensing are reasonable."

"From what I've overheard, it is pretty comparable to other solutions in terms of price."

"I pay $85 a month per user for a ConnectWise package that contains multiple solutions."

"Licensing is around under 1000 pounds. The licensing is either one year, three years, five years or ten years and during the licensing, we can choose to renew it per year or per every three years. We've got a license for three years. It's about 160 or about 200 pounds each."

"The licensing fees are $180 USD, per AP, for three years."

"Meraki Dashboard is a utility and portal that's part of the Meraki solution."

"You don't have to pay for the dashboard."

"From a pricing perspective, they are still expensive."

"I’m not sure of the exact cost, however, it’s my understanding the Meraki WiFi is around $800. That’s for a three-year license. It’s about $150 a year."

"My view is that it's expensive, but it's the best."

"The pricing of the tool is relatively high compared to other solutions. It comes with a premium that exceeds that of its competitors by approximately 25 percent."

More Meraki Dashboard pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

11%

Performing Arts

Educational Organization

Real Estate/Law Firm

Computer Software Company

17%

Educational Organization

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	1

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	22
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	25

Questions from the Community

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

What do you like most about Meraki Dashboard?

We greatly utilize the network because we can plug it into the DNS, VPN, or equipment. It's very good. Meraki Dashboard enhances wireless network management. We appreciate its flexibility, as it al...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki Dashboard?

The cost of the Meraki solution is high, which may not be affordable for smaller companies, especially in developing countries.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Meraki Dashboard?

The aspect I find challenging about this solution is that it is too extensive and complex. For example, when comparing Meraki Dashboard to Juniper Mist, the latter is quite simple. Mist is a very a...

See all answers

Comparisons

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NinjaOne vs ConnectWise Automate

Compared 9% of the time

Atera vs ConnectWise Automate

Compared 9% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs ConnectWise Automate

Compared 7% of the time

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Cisco DNA Center vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 18% of the time

Zabbix vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 13% of the time

ThousandEyes vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 9% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 6% of the time

Mist AI and Cloud vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 6% of the time

More Meraki Dashboard Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ConnectWise Automate

September 2025

Download ConnectWise Automate product report

Buyer's Guide

Meraki Dashboard

August 2025

Download Meraki Dashboard product report

Also Known As

LabTech for IT Service Providers, ConnectWise Automate for Corporate IT Departments, ConnectWise Automate for IT Service Providers

No data available

Overview

ConnectWise Automate is an IT management tool that helps deliver IT services at the speed of business. Our remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform provides powerful automation to discover & manage devices, monitor for problems, and automate action. Deliver streamlined reactive and proactive managed services, stop putting out fires, and start focusing on what matters most. See why over 5,500 partners worldwide chose ConnectWise Automate by visiting ConnectWise.com or calling 877-522-8323.

ConnectWise

Meraki Dashboard is a comprehensive cloud-based platform that offers centralized management and control for all Meraki networking and security products. It provides a user-friendly interface, allowing administrators to easily monitor and configure their network infrastructure from anywhere. With real-time visibility, troubleshooting becomes effortless, ensuring optimal performance and minimizing downtime.

The intuitive dashboard offers a holistic view of the network, enabling quick identification of potential issues and proactive measures. It simplifies network deployment and scaling, with zero-touch provisioning and automatic firmware updates. The robust security features include advanced threat protection, content filtering, and VPN connectivity.

Meraki Dashboard also offers powerful analytics and reporting capabilities, providing valuable insights into network usage, application performance, and user behavior. With its seamless integration and scalability,

Meraki Dashboard is the ideal solution for organizations of all sizes, ensuring efficient network management and enhanced productivity.

Cisco

Sample Customers

I-M Technology, Mainstay Technologies, PC Works Plus, Integrity IT, Kerkhoff Technologies Inc., Marathon Consulting, Christenberry Sales Company, EDTS, Secom Technology, Ready to View, ARRC Technology, DaVinci Digital, JNR Networks, Quinn Technology Solutions, PCIT, Liberty Technology, Capital Computers & Networks, Atlanta Technology Force, Doberman Technologies, First Column Enterprises, CisCom Solutions

Coop eG, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Priefert Manufacturing, Century Care Management, Clifton College, Zürs Ski Resort, Capital FM Arena, MAXI Autohöfe

Buyer's Guide

Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)

August 2025

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