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Atera vs ManageEngine Desktop Central MSP [EOL] comparison

Atera and ManageEngine are both solutions in the Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) category. Additionally, 93% of Atera users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of ManageEngine users who would recommend it.
Atera
Read 15 Atera reviews
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  • 1,145 Comparison Views
93% willing to recommend
 

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between Atera and ManageEngine Desktop Central MSP [EOL] based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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

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To learn more, read our detailed Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) Report (Updated: April 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)
April 2025
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Helped 850,671 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

Atera
Average Rating
9.2
Reviews Sentiment
8.1
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
IT Service Management (ITSM) (13th), Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (4th), Patch Management (10th)
ManageEngine Desktop Centra...
Average Rating
9.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

JC
Having fewer hardware replacements saves us in annual costs
There is a new version of the interface coming out. I have been asking for a new version for a while. While the interface is nice, I guess the developer thinks one way and the user thinks another. So, I think the interface is getting a big overhaul. This is what they have mentioned in their webinars and stuff. It is in beta, but I'm not on the beta program, so I haven't seen it. I can't really complain about the old interface, but now that I have heard there is a new one coming, all I want is the new one. The one thing that could do with improvement is the reporting. This is from someone who worked in an MSP, where I would want to run a report and be able to just present that to a client. Reports are fine for internal use, where they never leave your company. However, if I was an MSP, I would probably want a little bit more information or the ability to customize some of it without having to edit PDFs.
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Donathon Ong - PeerSpot reviewer
Responsive support, a straightforward setup, and great endpoint management
There have been a few bugs. I would hope there would be a direct integration to the various cloud solutions, like Intune. Right now, ManageEngine is a separate solution. It doesn't integrate with Intune, AirWatch, or MobileIron in the cloud. It doesn't have this integration with the respective cloud solutions, and if it could have this kind of integration, it would be better. I wouldn't deploy ManageEngine as a standalone since it works better as a compliment rather than an entire solution.
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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"There are a lot fewer hardware replacements. Once people migrated from old style hard disks over to SSDs, you have things like hard disks filling up faster. So, I run a script to clear out all the waste, e.g., all the temporary files and downloads. A lot of our business runs through a custom web application that we built. This involves people downloading a lot of PDFs and Excel files, and not just having them sitting in folders. With Atera, I can just go through and clean the temporary files out."
"Atera has saved our organization money. We look at Atera as an extra employee that we only pay about $300 a month. This is incredible savings over having to hire somebody to do all the tasks that Atera performs for us."
"I really like the Shared Script Library and automation tasks which they have implemented... because all the Atera users in the community can share their scripts and their automation tasks knowledge. The same goes for the Shared SNMP Template Library."
"It's very easy to use, not just for me, but even for people who have claimed, "I'm not very good at IT." Once you have it installed and you have it set up, it pretty much works by itself. It really helps you do what you need to do. It's easy to use for a beginner, compared to some of the other larger RMMs that are a little bit more complicated."
"All of the features of Atera are valuable because they allow the customers to achieve their goals. It is easy to use, has good collaboration, and has zero maintenance."
"It is reliable, and when it is working, it works without issues."
"The most valuable features of this solution are automatic batch matching and unattended support access."
"I have better access when I go to look for something regarding either a specific user or software. It is easier to locate. When I am troubleshooting with my clients on the phone, I am not fiddling around looking through a bunch of ticket notes trying to locate something. It makes me a lot more efficient."
More Atera pros
"The features that I have found most valuable are the threats and patches element of it. We have done quite a lot of testing compared to other vendors with identifying the vulnerabilities. This means a lot more accuracy in terms of the patches and making sure it's all up to date."
"The endpoint management is great."
"The most valuable feature was the patching system to apply Windows or other programs and the ability to install operating systems in computers using the network. Additionally, it is easy to use."
"The solution is easy to understand. For example, when you remoting to the user's system, you don't have that option to only log in. On this product, you are connecting to the user's computer, it prompts you for what you want to do. You can select that you want to assist the user. The user on the other side will receive a prompt stating that there is someone trying to connect to your system, they can accept or decline the connection. Overall, the solution is easy to connect to the user's system."
"Easy to manage and it looks good."
"ManageEngine Desktop Central MSP has different features and it uses one agent to execute the features of the application. In this case, the remote control, distribution software, deployment, patch management, and configuration in different systems. ManageEngine Desktop Central MSP has multi-platforms. They have recently implemented new features, such as endpoint security that incorporates vulnerability management and browser security."
"The interface is intuitive, easy to use, and has a low learning curve."
 

Cons

"There should be enhancements in network monitoring capabilities beyond just physical devices like computers and servers. It would be beneficial to include better tools for monitoring networking infrastructure such as routers. Additionally, while Atera excels in ticket management, I believe there's room for improvement in user authentication and security features, especially when accessing and managing remote equipment. These updates would contribute to a more robust and secure user experience overall. Atera should include a monitoring tool integrated with Azure or similar cloud platforms. It would be beneficial to have capabilities for monitoring network growth and automatically generating statistics based on system stability and performance metrics. This feature would help us better manage and optimize our equipment and network resources, especially for strategic customer planning and resource allocation."
"The mobility of Atera is also a feature which needs to be addressed so that it can be used on iPads, iPhones and things of this nature. I would also like to see an agent included on these devices so that I can monitor, maintain and manage them."
"The billing module has a standard layout which is too limited for my needs."
"There is definitely room for improvement with its automation capabilities."
"I would like to see more mobile device management. iPad is a big one. I know they've been working on some of that. For me, it would be amazing if I could do tablet devices and even expand it to POS systems or the like. I know that a lot goes into that but I've seen it is an area they're looking at."
"They are working on an update, and I would like to see more stuff outside of just computers and servers. Increasingly, we need to be able to monitor and manage network devices. Atera is improving on that already, which is one place that it is currently lacking."
"It will be interesting if Atera can integrate all kinds of products. In North America, there are a lot of resellers, like Ingram Micro, Tech Data, Arrow Electronics, etc. It would be amazing if Atera could integrate with these products. If they could integrate with these products for MSPs, it would be much easier. Then, if you are buying something, and need to add something, you don't need to jump from place to place because this is a very quick sales instrument for use on a daily basis."
"Customization could be improved."
More Atera cons
"Stability is sometimes negatively affected by updates."
"When there is a new user at a store, for example, you have to create it in the ManageEngine Desktop Central MSP AD but the process could be better. They call us with the user's information but if it was possible for them to populate the information when they log the user on IM, and when clicking on ADManager in the system, the information could populate there. We would then only have to add a little more information which would save time."
"Although they say it is an enterprise solution, we don't have 24/seven human support. All we have is only 24/five support available from the vendor."
"Right now, ManageEngine is a separate solution. It doesn't integrate with Intune, AirWatch, or MobileIron in the cloud."
"The partnership models and subscriptions can be improved, as regional master resellers sometimes hog the space."
"I have found ManageEngine Desktop Central MSP has many different network issues. Additionally, they need to incorporate more features, they are lacking add-ons."
"Since this is an on-premise solution we had to update it a couple of times, and because we needed to use a command line to the server, it was not very easy, at least at that time to update the solution. The cloud version of this solution does not have this problem, but on the premise version, it was fairly cumbersome to apply to the Desktop Central server. This process could be made easier. This was the only issue I found with my colleague."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It comes with unlimited devices, so the fixed price cost is taken out of my budget. So, I'm all good."
"The value of the product is perfect, neither cheap nor expensive. I think it is the right rate. It would be awesome if it continued to be the same price because it is a great solution that I like. I like it because I'm not paying per device. I have some customers on monthly contracts and some of them are on break'n fix. If I have a client who is on break'n fix, and they need to pay per agent, then I am losing money. If they were ever to change structures, going to pay-per-device model, then I would need to think about changing to something else."
"In terms of cost, it's not very expensive. I’d rate it around three or four out of ten, considering its value for money."
"With Atera, the more you add, the cheaper the cost of the additional endpoints will be."
"As an internal IT, it's gold right there. It is money in the bank."
"We pay per user. I am the only user. It is $150 per user. If I need to add one, it is not as costly as expanding with other providers."
"One of the biggest issues I face is the need to pay per technician. I've dealt with other platforms that you need to have 250-500 devices. Even though the cost declines as the number of devices a person has increases, they still require you to pay for 250 or 500, respectively. With Atera, the number doesn't matter as you always pay the same amount. I approximate that Atera saves me $100 per week."
"Atera happened to have the best pricing model."
More Atera pricing and cost advice
"ManageEngine Desktop Central MSP is a less expensive solution than competitors in Latin America."
"This product has an easy setup, good support, and a good price."
"This product is very cheap compared to others."
"When we sold the solution to one customer, we found out the customer found out that one of their requirements was not being solved because the license only applies to five computers. We all thought at the time the current license that the customer bought covers the 600 computers because of this problem, the license model could be explained better and could be further improved."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Retailer
7%
Educational Organization
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Atera?
Pricing is low. It costs around 149 bucks per month.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Atera?
It should improve its processes.
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Atera?
Atera is integral to our daily operations. We use it for RMM, PSA, our ticket system, and contact with people. We also integrate it with different products.
See all answers
Ask a question
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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Atera
May 2025
Atera reportDownload Atera product report
Buyer's Guide
ManageEngine Desktop Central MSP [EOL]
April 2025
ManageEngine Desktop Central MSP [EOL] reportDownload ManageEngine Desktop Central MSP [EOL] product report
 

Also Known As

No data available
Desktop Central MSP
 

Overview

Atera offers a comprehensive solution for MSPs and IT Professionals. The platform provides in one integrated solution: full remote monitoring and management (RMM), PSA, remote access, patch management, billing, reports, and so much more! Atera’s disruptive pricing model also helps managed IT service providers scale their business while providing continued best-in-class service. All plans include unlimited devices, meaning you only pay per technician.Everything you need, in one easy-to-use platform

  • Thousands of paying users in over 75 countries
  • Free 30-day trial, no credit card or commitment required
  • No hidden fees or restrictions, all plans include unlimited devices
  • Seamless integration with your favorite IT tools including: Splashtop, AnyDesk, TeamViewer, and ScreenConnect

What can Atera do for you?

  • Improve Efficiency. Atera delivers customers the tool suite for IT management. Everything you need in an all-in-one, easy-to-use platform.
  • Automation. Set alerts and proactively prevent issues for your clients. Minimize time spent on manual tasks and spend more time on what matters most, serving your customers.
  • Disruptive Pricing, Unlimited Devices. Per technician-based pricing with unlimited servers and workstations means you can cover it all, at one fixed price.
Atera

Desktop Central MSP is an integrated Desktop and Mobile Device Management software that helps managed service providers to efficiently manage their customers' desktops, servers, laptops and mobile devices from a central point. It is suitable for small, medium as well as large MSPs.

ManageEngine
 

Sample Customers

MSPs, IT consultants, and IT departments worldwide trust and use Atera. 
South Jersey Techies, DCI, Lumen 21, Provendo, Saga, Gyver, AcroTec
Buyer's Guide
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)
April 2025
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