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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
26th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
IT Service Management (ITSM) (28th)
ConnectWise PSA
Ranking in Help Desk Software
20th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
Business Management Software (1st), Professional Services Automation (PSA) (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of Clarity SM is 1.0%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ConnectWise PSA is 2.3%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
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

"Scalability is very good. We have scaled to more users and more functionality."
"It has all our configurations. All our infrastructure configurations are on a single pane of glass to view, allowing for one single point of information."
"the ticket system makes sure that everyone gets taken care of, and that makes for a better customer experience. Using the system verifies that no one gets left behind."
"Logging every action in Service Desk Manager (SDM)."
"The value for the clients is that you can save information in the application and get reports with that information."
"The solution's back-end architecture is very good for end users."
"When users have a problem, they report using Service Desk and it is very useful for this."
"All the interactions and orchestrations of every problem, we can analyze what happens in the organization and which kind of incident we have."
"The product has been pretty stable so far."
"Contains every feature that a VAR or MSP would want."
"It's a pretty simple web interface. The rules engine was really easy to set up, and it ingests emails very well."
"I also like ConnectWise's ability to set up queries. I can set up all these different queries that look for specific things and end up with a list of results, like feedback from the client or the ticket status."
"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."
"All the features of ConnectWise Manage are valuable. However, ticketing, customer management, customer communication, technician efficiency, calendars, coding, billing, invoicing, and contract management are available. It's a complete solution. Additionally, the company is responsive with the ability to progress or make necessary changes happen."
"The initial setup isn't too difficult."
"We're using the solution for ticketing and billing, and those features are useful."
 

Cons

"The SDM administration and customisation needS deep information about architecture and vendor support continuously."
"Needs custom dashboards, without them it takes too long to view some information (though xFlow is an improvement)."
"The cost of this solution is too high, which is why we're leaving."
"The API is very, very bad so we developed our own."
"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."
"I would also like to see a simpler reporting tool. They went from one fairly robust, very complex, reporting tool - it was great - and then they went to another one that was also fairly complex and robust. That's a great tool for people who are report writers, but for the average person who just wants to get a quick little report, it's like handing somebody a chainsaw because they have to break some toothpicks in half."
"We would like to see them integrate more of a service catalog, which is more of an Amazon-type fill in your bucket, then sign in, once you decide what you want."
"They need to improve the High Availability, and the native integration between CA Service Desk Manager, CA Process Automation, CA Service Catalog and CA Unified Self-Service."
"It would be nice if ConnectWise gave us more flexibility when using customized fields in the interface. You can set up a user-defined field, but those don't port over to tables. It's really inconvenient."
"The technical support of ConnectWise PSA is not very good."
"The custom reporting needs to be improved."
"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."
"Has a very outdated 90s interface and not all features are accessible via the mobile app."
"The tracking inventory or the way it tracks the products is not very good."
"It needs to be easier to share tickets between users who need to work together."
"A lot of times, it'll take a couple of moments for things to go through. If you're not patient about it, it may seem like things aren't working."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"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."
"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."
"Pricing is simple, as it’s per concurrent analysts."
"It is a bit expensive, but you definitely get what you pay for. It is worth it!"
"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."
"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."
"The pricing of ConnectWise Manage is reasonable."
"I have one monthly license for all of the ConnectWise products I use, and it's $85 per user."
"We're paying $940 a month for 14 users."
"There are some different add-ons and benefits that are optional and come at an additional cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
35%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Retailer
5%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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.
 

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: April 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.