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Active Roles by One Identity vs Dameware Remote Support comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 20, 2026

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

Active Roles by One Identity
Ranking in Active Directory Management
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
88
Ranking in other categories
User Provisioning Software (3rd), Non-Human Identity Management (NHIM) (1st)
Dameware Remote Support
Ranking in Active Directory Management
20th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
3
Ranking in other categories
Remote Access (30th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Active Directory Management category, the mindshare of Active Roles by One Identity is 12.6%, up from 9.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Dameware Remote Support is 2.8%, up from 0.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Active Directory Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Active Roles by One Identity12.6%
Dameware Remote Support2.8%
Other84.6%
Active Directory Management
 

Featured Reviews

Varun Mehra - PeerSpot reviewer
collaboration support engineer at a retailer with 11-50 employees
Automation has transformed onboarding and access control and now streamlines daily governance
While One Identity Active Roles is a strong identity and access management solution overall, there are a few areas where it could improve. One challenge we experienced was the initial setup and configuration complexity. Deploying workflows, policies, and delegation models require careful planning and a good understanding of the Active Directory environment. For organizations without experienced administrators, the learning curve can feel quite steep in the beginning. The user interface could also be more modern and intuitive. Some administrative tasks require navigating through multiple menus and the overall experience could be simplified for faster day-to-day management. Another area for improvement is reporting and customization. While the auditing features are good, creating highly customized reports sometimes requires additional efforts or scripting knowledge. More built-in reporting templates and easier dashboard customization would be helpful. We have also noticed that troubleshooting workflows or synchronization issues can occasionally take time because the logs can be very detailed and technical. Better diagnostic tools and simpler error explanations would improve the operational experience. That said, once the platform is properly configured and maintained, it performs reliably and delivers strong automation, delegation, and governance capabilities. One additional area where One Identity Active Roles could improve is cloud integration and hybrid environment management. While it works well with Active Directory and the Microsoft environment, organizations moving heavily towards cloud-first infrastructure may want even deeper and more seamless integration with modern SaaS platforms and identity providers. Performance optimization in large environments could be improved. In very large enterprise deployments with complex workflows and multiple managed domains, some administrative actions and synchronization tasks can occasionally feel slower than expected. Another point is documentation and onboarding resources. The product is feature-rich, but some advanced configurations require going through extensive documentation. More practical examples, guided setup wizards, and easier to follow best practice guides would help new administrators adopt the platform faster. Overall, the core functionality is solid, and most of the pain points are related more to usability, complexity, and modernization rather than the reliability. One additional improvement I would mention is around integration flexibility with third-party ITSM and DevOps tools. While the platform integrates well within Microsoft-centric environments, broader out-of-the-box integration and simpler API workflows for non-Microsoft ecosystems would make deployment and automation easier for organizations using diverse infrastructure. Another area is upgrade and migration simplicity. In enterprise environments, version upgrades and environment migration sometimes require careful planning and testing. Streamlining that process with more automated compatibility checks and migration assistance would reduce operational overhead.
it_user323577 - PeerSpot reviewer
Tier1 - IT Support Technician at a comms service provider with 501-1,000 employees
We're able to see issues from the users' perspectives, but there are issues when connecting over VPN.
The ability to see issue from users perspective and installation of software. Worked well for awhile but issues with it connecting over VPN was a major drawback. We've been using it since 2009. We also utilize GoToAssist which has more features and runs smoother. It also allows us to send…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"One Identity Active Roles has positively impacted our organization by making Active Directory management much more efficient, reducing manual work, improving control over permissions, and providing better visibility into changes, which has helped both security and compliance efforts."
"One Identity Active Roles has helped us improve security with smooth processes."
"Instead of deleting accounts, we like the deprovision option so that we can reverse any accidental deletions. It also gives a higher level of quality control in terms of enforcing any number of variables, such as making sure that an account has a description entered before the account can be created. We can backtrack and know the history of it that way."
"One Identity Active Roles has had a very positive impact on our organization, mainly by improving efficiency and security at the same time."
"One Identity Active Roles has positively impacted the organization by significantly improving efficiency through automating repetitive tasks and saving time for the IT team."
"We have seen a good return on investment because the automation feature has reduced manual efforts by around thirty to fifty percent and improved efficiency with reduced workload, saving our engineers time."
"It's valuable to us in that it resembles the native tools that most people have grown accustomed to... Active Roles resembles traditional tools, such as from Microsoft. That is really good because it eases the way people interact with the tool."
"Overall, One Identity Active Roles has significantly reduced the complexity and workload in Active Directory administration in our organization."
"Using DameWare has made the troubleshooting process faster."
"It was very easy to install."
"The ability to control admin rights through AD groups allows the techs to have all of the rights that they would normally without adjustments on the backend of the product."
 

Cons

"One Identity Active Roles can be improved, as the user interface could be more modernized and the reporting and analytics feature could be enhanced."
"One area that could be improved in One Identity Active Roles is the user interface and initial configuration process, as some advanced workflows and policy settings can be complex for new administrators."
"The initial setup could be simpler because sometimes it feels like it should be more straightforward."
"The solution needs an attestation process that includes certification and recertification attestation."
"For ActiveRoles, it would be good if the product supports multi-scripting language. You can use only VBScript."
"The way you can search groups could be better."
"The initial setup of One Identity Active Roles can be more simplified."
"For mid-sized to small companies, I do not know if it would be that useful, considering the tool's purpose."
"SolarWinds has a great KB but many of the articles are lacking updated information and the keyword search is lacking if you don't have previous experience with the product and encounter issues."
"Worked well for awhile but issues with it connecting over VPN was a major drawback."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing for Active Roles is expensive but not as expensive as other solutions like Okta."
"It's expensive."
"The price is reasonable. It costs us about 1 million Danish kroner annually, and we also spend about half as much on consultants."
"The pricing is on the higher end."
"It's fairly priced."
"The licensing model is a simple user-based model, not that much complicated."
"The pricing is high. I have not been involved with the renewal or cost aspect, but I know it is not cheap by any means. However, it is very useful for our environment."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
24%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Computer Software Company
10%
Consumer Goods Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business96
Midsize Enterprise16
Large Enterprise45
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for One Identity Active Roles?
Our experience with the pricing, setup cost, and licensing of Active Roles by One Identity has been very positive. Although Active Roles by One Identity is not the lowest-priced solution, we believ...
What needs improvement with One Identity Active Roles?
Overall, we are very satisfied with Active Roles by One Identity, but there are a few areas that could be improved. The user interface could be more modern and intuitive, especially for new adminis...
What is your primary use case for One Identity Active Roles?
Active Roles by One Identity is our main solution for simplifying and automating user account management in our Active Directory environment. We use it for tasks like user provisioning, deprovision...
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Also Known As

Quest Active Roles
DameWare, SolarWinds DameWare, SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

City of Frankfurt, Moore Public Schools, George Washington University, Transavia Airlines, Howard County, MD. See all stories at OneIdentity.com/casestudies
Illinois School District
Find out what your peers are saying about Active Roles by One Identity vs. Dameware Remote Support and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
909,099 professionals have used our research since 2012.