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BMC Helix ITSM vs Freshservice vs N-able MSP Manager comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of BMC Helix ITSM is 9.3%, down from 12.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Freshservice is 4.3%, up from 3.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of N-able MSP Manager is 0.8%, down from 0.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Help Desk Software
 

Featured Reviews

Ameet Darole - PeerSpot reviewer
Used for user ticket management, incident management, and event management
We had a manual event management process and a separate monitoring tool called Dynatrace. The alerts generated did not flow to the ITSM tool. With BMC Helix ITSM, the alerts flow and auto-route to respective technical support. If the alerts are resolved, the ticket will be automatically closed. So, the workload and automation are much better now. BMC Helix ITSM is a fast platform, so it is quite manageable. I would recommend BMC Helix ITSM to other users because it is a good solution. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.
Trilochana Gouda - PeerSpot reviewer
Smooth incident management and easy to use while needing better escalation management
We are using Freshservice for the IT ticketing system for business users We use the ticketing system primarily, which is very easy to use for all users. Freshservice is helpful, especially in incident management. Incident management is very helpful, and the system is straightforward, making it…
Yazan Albaw - PeerSpot reviewer
N-able MSP Manager centralizes service management, automates ticketing, and enhances client communication for streamlined IT operations.
For improvement, there's a feature I've already requested from N-able that I'd love to see in future releases. When adding a client, there should be a way to add multiple contacts under each client. Currently, we have to manually enter each contact’s details one by one, including their name, last name, password, and other information. It would be much more efficient if we could import contacts in bulk, perhaps using an Excel sheet or another import method. Additionally, it would be highly beneficial if MSP Manager could integrate with multiple RMM solutions. At the moment, we're limited to integrating with just one RMM, Expanding this capability would greatly enhance the versatility and value of MSP Manager.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The versatility and customizability of the product is what I like most."
"Improved our organization with better customer experience and reporting abilities."
"Reports have helped us to improve our IT processes. The main benefit is providing the right information to our decision makers."
"The most valuable features of BMC Helix ITSM are the service level management, configuration, and reporting tool."
"Initial setup is straightforward, and if you follow best practices, then future enhancements will be smoother."
"We find the incident management module the best. The reporting part is also useful. We use a feature called smart reporting, and it is very beneficial for us."
"Automatic orchestration is the most valuable. The feature for designating some cases or incidents to the right PM for resolution, first call resolution, and change management are also important. The self-service feature and knowledge base resolutions are helping the customers in resolving issues rather than opening tickets."
"We have seen year over year customer satisfaction improvement for the last five years."
"The solution has been very helpful engineering insights into the client's environment. We have been able to manage calls and incidence very efficiently which provides us with a clear understanding of the system warranty and the actions that we might need to take in terms of insights. The system is very dynamic and prevents any kind of over sides which is yours that there is smooth contract management. Also we can easily uphold SLAs and deliver enhanced services without breaching any agreements."
"The admin feature is the UI, so it's very clean. The asset management and its model are valuable as well."
"I do like the workflow automation capabilities, where based upon certain actions, it will automatically go and route tickets to a particular person. It is fairly user-friendly."
"It allowed the development team to concentrate on the client’s requirements instead."
"It's very handy and very easy to use."
"The most valuable features of Freshservice are the notifications, customization, and flexibility."
"The most valuable feature of Freshservice is you can assign downloaded tickets and the reports are useful."
"We use the ticketing system primarily, which is very easy to use for all users."
"This is a premier product and it has been around for a long time."
"I am impressed with the tool's integration with our mail system."
"The best advantage for us, since we use all N-able products, is that the MSP portal centralizes everything."
"I like that you can do all the things with it. You can patch, and you can run the scheduled tasks. You can remote in, upload files, and download files. You can log onto a computer PowerShell, or command prompt, without having to log into RDP. I also like its ease of use."
 

Cons

"Maybe the upgrade process and the release between environments should to be more transparent for anyone to execute it."
"Support could be better."
"The interface is somewhat dated as compared to technologies in use today."
"It needs a more organic workflow, so every field you create is labeled throughout the stack. BMC has a few products that they try to bundle together. Generally, that solution works. BMC should take a step back and think about the overall solution—not only ITSM but also CTI Integration along with chat. They have all that, but it's not an end-to-end holistic solution with the added reporting analytics."
"Maybe it could be more simplified and easier to change the reporting point of view, like from a different vendor to another."
"If I'm working with a client who wants to expand and move into other areas - they want to expand their workflow and other parts of the organization, they want to do some work with project management, they want to do some work with HR - I'm not sure that BMC Remedy is doing that. And it's because of their platform. Any software has a lifecycle. To me, BMC is a dated architecture."
"The user experience could be better."
"It has created more layers of bureaucracy."
"Asset management can definitely be improved because it doesn't pick up every single device on the network or every single piece of information. Some manual information still needs to be entered."
"They can improve the search. While searching the inventory, when I cancel a selected category, the search box disappears, and I have to reload the page. It is a small glitch. Currently, we can have only one plan per subscription. All users have to be on the same plan. We can't have two users for plan A and five users for plan B. It might be good if there was an option to have different plans within one subscription so that you can assign each agent to the corresponding plan."
"Freshservice automation capabilities are improving the way we respond to a few customers. There is a bit of delay when we must respond to the customer."
"The reporting and management information (MI) are very limited, and stopped realistic and timely reporting on outstanding incidents."
"Freshservice's technical support has issues with delays and translations."
"There is room for improvement in reporting for project management."
"I am not too happy with the page layout or screen layout since it always looks messy."
"A chat bot needs to be added to the portal."
"Its reporting is lousy and bad. It is not as good as it should be. There is too much work involved to get what you want. Most times, you have to call them to customize some stuff. I just don't like that part. They need to work on their reporting. They have a way to go."
"The tool needs to improve its customization of the user interface."
"What I would like to see is a simplified solution that is packaged better, where you can easily implement or turn on the functionality that you need."
"I'd like to see a way to import contacts in bulk using an Excel sheet or another import method."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"BMC Helix ITSM is a very cost-effective solution."
"The price of BMC Helix ITSM is expensive."
"It is costly, but it is well worth it."
"The price of BMC Helix ITSM could improve their price."
"The cost is relatively high, especially for the BMC Controller application. However, the expense is justified by the standard and reliable features it offers. This product's reputation in the market is strong, providing assurance in terms of data and other considerations."
"It is not very expensive and not very cheap. It is somewhere in-between. Some of the features are more expensive. There are also additional costs. If you want to use most of the features, you need to pay more."
"BMC is a little bit cheaper than ServiceNow, but BMC doesn't have the same capabilities in its entry-level product at the moment. The basic version does not have the DWP features that most of our customers are requesting."
"It is too expensive for a small business."
"It is good for the price you pay. It has different plans. If you need all features, you need to go for a higher plan. Currently, with the second tier plan, you cannot completely separate the group of agents. So, the agent in each group can see another person's ticket. You also cannot modify the rules based on the viewable, readable stuff and cannot have a custom role in this plan. If you want to do that, you have to go for a higher plan. It works in our case because it doesn't matter if the other group can see our ticket because it doesn't contain anything sensitive. We also didn't need the project or change management features. That's why we didn't go with a higher plan."
"The solution may be around 20,000 euros a year."
"Its price is great. Its pricing is supposedly a lot less than ServiceNow and other alternatives."
"It was a middle tier. It wasn't an expensive one. It was a tier model usage. Licensing costs varied between admin users and regular users."
"Freshservice is a fairly cheap solution. Though monthly payments can be made towards the licensing costs of the solution, my company prefers to make annual payments."
"It is $34 per license, per agent. Currently, we don't see any add-ons at extra fees."
"The cost at the current timing is very reasonable but as the product gains popularity, I anticipate it might become expensive. Fortunately my customers have been offered a generous discount making it more affordable for me and satisfying both my needs and customers requirement."
"I can't recall exactly how much we pay, but it is somewhere in the middle compared to the rest of the market. The more we purchase, the cheaper it becomes, and I think the solution offers good value for money."
"I would rate the tool's pricing an eight out of ten since it's not the cheapest one in the market."
"Don't get scared of the price tag because it's definitely worth it."
"I don't know the exact cost, but I know it's reasonable. Its cost of entry is not bad. I've had other organizations sign up for it. I don't know how much they paid, but it wasn't bad. You charge for every object. You charge for AV, and you charge for servers. There is a charge for everything or every object in that. I know we make money from it, but I don't know what it is."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
21%
Educational Organization
8%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Manufacturing Company
6%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BMC Helix ITSM?
If we consider major players like Ford or BMW, their core focus is manufacturing products like cars. To ensure smooth...
What needs improvement with BMC Helix ITSM?
In User Group sessions held by BMC in India, I mentioned the challenges with vast documentation, making it difficult ...
What is your primary use case for BMC Helix ITSM?
I am currently working as a BMC Remedy developer. I have been working for over ten years on the BMC platform. My comp...
What do you like most about Freshservice?
The solution has been very helpful engineering insights into the client's environment. We have been able to manage c...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Freshservice?
The solution offers flat licensing and appears to be cost-effective.
What needs improvement with Freshservice?
There is a need for improvement in terms of automatic escalation to the next level if an issue is not resolved. It sh...
What needs improvement with N-able MSP Manager?
For improvement, there's a feature I've already requested from N-able that I'd love to see in future releases. When a...
What is your primary use case for N-able MSP Manager?
At We Cybers, we utilize multiple N-able products, including RMM, EDR, and Passportal. N-able MSP Manager seamlessly ...
What advice do you have for others considering N-able MSP Manager?
N-able MSP Manager also shines with its robust automation and workflow capabilities, which I find truly impressive. U...
 

Also Known As

Remedy ITSM, Remedy, Helix Remedy
Flint
SolarWinds LOGICnow, SolarWinds MSP Manager
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Brookfield, HealthSouth Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Mercator, SAP, Stanford University
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Western Carriers, Judson University, Golf Canada, Travix, Proxama, Paymentez, Ready Auto Transport
Longleaf Systems, ITproMedia, Choice Technology, Halski Systems, Allixo Technologies, Nettech, Concept Technology
Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow, Atlassian, ManageEngine and others in Help Desk Software. Updated: June 2025.
860,745 professionals have used our research since 2012.