Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Clarity SM vs ConnectWise PSA comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

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

Clarity SM
Ranking in Help Desk Software
25th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
IT Service Management (ITSM) (27th)
ConnectWise PSA
Ranking in Help Desk Software
24th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Business Management Software (1st), Professional Services Automation (PSA) (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of Clarity SM is 1.2%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ConnectWise PSA is 2.1%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Help Desk Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
ConnectWise PSA2.1%
Clarity SM1.2%
Other96.7%
Help Desk Software
 

Featured Reviews

Türker Kara - PeerSpot reviewer
Quite good back-end architecture for end users but the API is very, very bad
Our company uses the solution for system, program, service request, change, and knowledge-based management.  We perform CMD authorizations and use a lot of integrations for our in-house or third-party applications. We also use Salesforce automations and Microsoft orchestrations.  We have about…
JonMcWilliams - PeerSpot reviewer
Very useful for ticketing and billing purposes
In this case, we have the ability to fire on tasks. An email can be sent, and it is being received into the Kaseya tool or Autotask. Autotask then can parse the email appropriately and route it based on the rules that we set up. In that sense, it's very dynamic, and I can immediately identify which client is making a support request. It can route it to the appropriate queue and then send out the appropriate notifications. As work is done on the ticket, you can also notify the person requesting support or other pre-designated contacts so that they're kept in the loop. ConnectWise PSA is making its updates, and its integration with Office 365 has been really good. I like the fact that the solution integrates with IT Glue. ConnectWise PSA is making improvements, and it's a little bit more dynamic. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We centralized our knowledge from various sources into one source of truth that is continually updated."
"The most valuable features are the requests and incident tracking."
"It has helped us to organize a lot of our assets, so we have configuration items to attach to our change management. We can have tickets for change management and set them aside for an approval process."
"Our users access it via the web. We have external and internal sources, and we're now introducing the mobile app portion so our computer engineers can respond to tickets remotely."
"It allows IT to handle users on a personal basis. It allows IT to have a name and a face, and we interact with the end-users."
"We have decreased training and talk time, and all those good stats, just by reusing information, not reinventing it, every time we get a call."
"It is easy to tell what needs fixing and the priority of things."
"When users have a problem, they report using Service Desk and it is very useful for this."
"Contains every feature that a VAR or MSP would want."
"The ease of reporting is valuable. We have a weekly management meeting, and we gather numbers from ConnectWise in preparation for that. It is helpful for measuring how we're doing in our performance."
"I like the search function up top where if you know what you're searching for, you can find it pretty quickly. Because you've got the option to change what the search parameters are, whether you're searching for a project, quote, ticket, or an invoice, you can kind of pick and choose what you're looking for."
"It's a pretty simple web interface. The rules engine was really easy to set up, and it ingests emails very well."
"The most valuable feature is the management of projects from start to finish."
"The initial setup isn't too difficult."
"It handles ticketing pretty well, and it's not something I have many critiques for."
"The platform is easy to use."
 

Cons

"The upgrade was pretty complex."
"There are some issues regarding the knowledge base and the configuration manager."
"We went from 12.1 to 14, so there was a lot involved in it. The issues we had were migration issues, getting our information from one place to the next and making sure everything was as everyone needed."
"Ease of support and upgrades need much improvement."
"On permissions, there are options to do groups and options to do roles. What is practical, you have to pick one or the other, for both read and write permissions."
"The CA products integrate well together but I would like to see better integration with third-party solutions."
"The monitoring tool is in need of improvement."
"Clarity tech support has gotten worse since Broadcom acquired CA Technologies. We're not getting the support we've come to expect as a large enterprise. Clarity's support needs to improve, or it's going to lose market share."
"There should be some improvements to the interface. It is not completely intuitive. When you click in a blank area of a screen, you'll find some options."
"The custom reporting needs to be improved."
"ConnectWise PSA’s graphical interface is a little old."
"Their reporting options aren't great. BrightGauge was something that we added on, and that enhanced the experience."
"All other ticket systems can search previous tickets, whether they were homegrown in Oracle or something else. I'm talking about searching the actual contents of the discussions in the ticket. In ConnectWise, you can only search the summaries. It's ridiculous."
"The speed could be better, and the reporting could be a lot better."
"The technical support of ConnectWise PSA is not very good."
"The tracking inventory or the way it tracks the products is not very good."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I don't see anyone other than large companies being able to afford this system."
"The pricing is based on a subscription model."
"The solution is quite reasonable compared to other solutions in the market."
"It is a bit expensive, but you definitely get what you pay for. It is worth it!"
"Pricing is simple, as it’s per concurrent analysts."
"There is a subscripted needed to use Clarity SM. The price of the solution could be less expensive. ServiceNow is less expensive and BMC Helix is priced similar to Clarity SM."
"Clarity offers a perpetual license. Customers purchase the license once and then pay for maintenance. CA provides a subscription model as well. Both models are available for our customers."
"I think pricing of this model is suitable for growing corporations."
"I have one monthly license for all of the ConnectWise products I use, and it's $85 per user."
"The pricing is not based on my clients so much as it is on how many people I have accessing the system, and I think it's pretty good."
"We're paying $940 a month for 14 users."
"The pricing of ConnectWise Manage is reasonable."
"The cost can be the main barrier. It's not a solution for a three person company. It just isn't going to be cost effective. Because ConnectWise Manage does have everything there, the licensing is a little bit restrictive as far as how they want to granularly assign licenses rather than having more of an all-inclusive package."
"There are some different add-ons and benefits that are optional and come at an additional cost."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Help Desk Software solutions are best for your needs.
867,497 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Computer Software Company
37%
Performing Arts
8%
Comms Service Provider
5%
Financial Services Firm
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise66
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business17
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ConnectWise Manage?
In our case, the solution is priced out by the user we have in the system. The pricing is not based on my clients so much as it is on how many people I have accessing the system, and I think it's p...
What needs improvement with ConnectWise Manage?
The technical support of ConnectWise PSA is not very good.
What advice do you have for others considering ConnectWise Manage?
In this case, we have the ability to fire on tasks. An email can be sent, and it is being received into the Kaseya tool or Autotask. Autotask then can parse the email appropriately and route it bas...
 

Also Known As

CA Service Desk Manager, Clarity Service Management, CA Service Management, Unicenter Service Desk, CA SDM, CA Service Catalog, CA Business Service Insight
ConnectWise Manage
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Banco G&T Continental City of Perth, FEMSA, Fujitsu, Manpower, Muslim Commercial Bank - MCB, Punjab National Bank, Santa Clara County Social Services, Stefanini
IT Connexx, High Standards Technology Inc, Solvere One, MyIT, ConnectWise, Simpatico Systems, Fred IT Group, ECS, OneStop, K2 Technologies, Clark Integrated Technologies, Jmark, Geek on Wheels
Find out what your peers are saying about Clarity SM vs. ConnectWise PSA and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
867,497 professionals have used our research since 2012.