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BMC Helix Discovery vs Spiceworks comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 18, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
6.6
BMC Helix Discovery offers 314% ROI, streamlines audits, boosts efficiency, reduces costs, and saves administrators up to 80% time.
Sentiment score
7.8
Spiceworks provides high ROI as a free tool, benefiting efficiency, issue resolution, and stability despite setup time investment.
BMC Helix Discovery has delivered a very good return, and we cannot stop using it at this moment.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.0
BMC Helix Discovery support is responsive and professional, but response times and technical effectiveness need improvement according to users.
Sentiment score
7.4
Spiceworks offers excellent, free email-based support, with strong community assistance and some criticisms for lacking direct phone support.
When opening a severity one ticket, they respond within four to six hours, which is commendable.
The response has been satisfactory, though improvements could be made in response time and overall competence.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
BMC Helix Discovery offers flexible deployment, strong scalability, and effective integration, ideal for medium to large organizations.
Sentiment score
7.4
Spiceworks is scalable for small to large setups, though larger organizations may face challenges; newer versions improve scalability.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
BMC Helix Discovery is praised for its high stability and reliability, though minor early issues were quickly resolved.
Sentiment score
6.6
Spiceworks is stable but may slow down or crash with large setups; proper configuration enhances performance and stability.
In the past four to six years, I cannot recall encountering any bugs.
 

Room For Improvement

BMC Helix Discovery requires better management, integration, customization, automation, and IoT capabilities, addressing technical support and license issues.
Spiceworks users desire enhanced monitoring, scalability, reporting, integration, and user-friendly features with faster performance and lower resource consumption.
I would like to see a lower price and better technical support.
It uses a Berkeley database, and the query language is not easy to master for performing complex queries.
 

Setup Cost

BMC Helix Discovery's pricing varies significantly, perceived as fair or expensive, with complex licensing and additional feature costs.
Spiceworks provides a customizable, free help desk solution with optional costs for premium features, suitable for small to medium businesses.
The price is about twelve per license per year, and the support is included.
 

Valuable Features

BMC Helix Discovery offers agentless discovery, flexible deployment, and integration for efficient asset management and predictive IT operations.
Spiceworks offers SMBs a free help desk, inventory management, user-friendly interface, and strong community support for IT needs.
This is very useful for compliance as it helps in audits by providing a comprehensive view of all assets and software.
What we're looking for and trying to move towards is autonomous operations so that AI is implemented to suggest resolutions and to quickly identify faults or repeated patterns with no human intervention.
The best aspect of BMC Helix Discovery is its flexibility. You can perform scanning at any time, and it provides substantial data for extraction.
Additionally, it is free software.
 

Categories and Ranking

BMC Helix Discovery
Ranking in IT Asset Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
28
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Spiceworks
Ranking in IT Asset Management
12th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
47
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (15th), IT Infrastructure Monitoring (47th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the IT Asset Management category, the mindshare of BMC Helix Discovery is 7.4%, down from 8.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Spiceworks is 2.1%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Asset Management
 

Featured Reviews

Fairoz Gadad - PeerSpot reviewer
Effortless network component identification, provides API details, and an easy setup
We need to discover anything in the network and ensure that the discovered data is moved into the CMDB for asset management The best part is that whenever there is an outpost or any particular network, it can identify servers, routers, switches, etc. It immediately understands which component it…
Rohit Samel - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud storage with no hardware needed and great comprehensive reports
The software is cloud-based, so I do not need to store any data locally. It is a fully software-based solution, eliminating the need for investment in hardware. We have the capability to create reports as needed. It is good software to use, as there were no incidents where I needed to contact technical support. Additionally, it is free software.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which IT Asset Management solutions are best for your needs.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Comparison Review

it_user174738 - PeerSpot reviewer
May 31, 2015
Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor
I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
7%
University
14%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Government
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BMC Helix Discovery?
I like the artificial intelligence and machine learning that it uses in the solution. Because once the solution discovers all the assets, all the infrastructure, and all the dependencies between se...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for BMC Helix Discovery?
The price of BMC Helix Discovery is licensed by asset. It is challenging to maintain licenses, as every piece of equipment is considered a license. We pay attention to the growth of assets. The pri...
What needs improvement with BMC Helix Discovery?
The query language is somewhat challenging to learn. It uses a Berkeley database, and the query language is not easy to master for performing complex queries.
What do you like most about Spiceworks?
The solution is easy to use and easy to manage.
What needs improvement with Spiceworks?
I am unable to provide suggestions for improvement at this moment, however, I can provide feedback later. Currently, there do not seem to be any issues.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Discovery, ADDM, Atrium Discovery & Dependency Mapping
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Windstream Communications, News UK, Mercator Group, Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR)
Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Symantec, Webroot, EMC, Pertino
Find out what your peers are saying about BMC Helix Discovery vs. Spiceworks and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.