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

Clarity SM vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk comparison

Broadcom and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Help Desk Software category. Broadcom is ranked #24, while SolarWinds is ranked #16 with an average rating of 9.0. Broadcom holds a 1.2% mindshare in HDS, compared to SolarWinds’s 1.3% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of Broadcom users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.
Clarity SM
Read 107 Clarity SM reviews
  • 813 Views
  • 577 Comparison Views
85% willing to recommend
SolarWinds Web Help Desk
Read 7 SolarWinds Web Help Desk reviews
  • 576 Views
  • 467 Comparison Views
85% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report
Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

Clarity SM and SolarWinds Web Help Desk compete in IT service management. Clarity SM has advantages in pricing and support, while SolarWinds Web Help Desk offers superior features.

Features: Clarity SM provides strong ticket management, automated workflows, and a user-friendly interface. SolarWinds Web Help Desk includes comprehensive asset management, detailed reporting capabilities, and advanced customization options.

Room for Improvement: Clarity SM could enhance its reporting features, expand integration capabilities, and improve the depth of customization. SolarWinds Web Help Desk may benefit from simplifying its on-premises installation, enhancing its user interface, and offering more economical scaling options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Clarity SM is known for its simple cloud-based deployment and responsive customer service. In contrast, SolarWinds Web Help Desk has a more complex on-premises installation but provides extensive documentation to support users.

Pricing and ROI: Clarity SM offers lower initial setup costs, resulting in a favorable ROI with its economical scalability. SolarWinds Web Help Desk requires a higher upfront investment but delivers value through a rich toolset for long-term benefits.

DOWNLOAD THE COMPLETE REPORT
To learn more, read our detailed Clarity SM vs. SolarWinds Web Help Desk Report (Updated: July 2025).
Buyer's Guide
Clarity SM vs. SolarWinds Web Help Desk
July 2025
Download the complete report
Helped 865,384 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

Clarity SM
Ranking in Help Desk Software
24th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
IT Service Management (ITSM) (26th)
SolarWinds Web Help Desk
Ranking in Help Desk Software
16th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.7
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 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 SolarWinds Web Help Desk is 1.3%, up from 0.8% 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…
Read full review
Shadi Shaar - PeerSpot reviewer
Supports case and incident reporting with responsive support
Some features in the product are supposed to run. However, if they don't, it may require some time to configure or fix them, such as asset management. We have been struggling with asset management in SolarWinds Web Help Desk. The software offers a range of features that we haven't fully utilized, such as inventory management and an approval system. While we are utilizing the asset management functionality, there have been some defects that need addressing. Some users prefer to have another big interface, but unfortunately, this option is not available in SolarWinds Web Help Desk.
Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"As of late, I really like the BI functions."
"It helps when you have an incident or performing a problem change management process."
"We can search open and closed cases to find what we have done in other incidents."
"Clarity is flexible to implement and integrate. It gives the developer or consultant a broad space to work and customize based on what the customers want."
"We centralized our knowledge from various sources into one source of truth that is continually updated."
"Ability to write macros, which can in turn trigger some condition or could be conditioned to basically trigger notifications, the workflow desk, or web calls. It is huge benefit to customize it."
"The most valuable fractures of Clarity SM are its ease of use and security. I have been highly satisfied. We've been able to integrate it with email and an SMS gateway for the purposes of notifications. That works very well."
"Being able to specify event rules and SLAs that can help to automate some of the processes that people are doing manually is valuable."
More Clarity SM pros
"Once installed, it runs like a charm and doesn't ever crash."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the assets management module."
"It has a pretty good search function. If you do the advanced search, you can basically search for anything in any field. If I do a search on the request field and just put in some terms I'm searching for, I can usually find the ticket that I'm looking for."
"SolarWinds is scalable as far as adding devices and servers."
"It is easy to use."
"SolarWinds supports case and incident reporting. This includes logging incidents and tracking them efficiently. Additionally, it is compatible and approved by the ITIL foundation and standards, meeting world-class standards."
 

Cons

"​Compared to some of the other products, I think we are bit behind​.​"
"The interface is pretty straightforward, but I think for some end-users a little more simplified user interface would help."
"The API is very, very bad so we developed our own."
"Improvements would include simplification in the user interface, being more expandable, better documentation. The user interface is fairly cluttered, and we can update it the way we need to, but it just seems dated."
"The CA products integrate well together but I would like to see better integration with third-party solutions."
"The cost of this solution is too high, which is why we're leaving."
"If I had to choose, it would be more around the user interface than the mobile experience."
"The SDM administration and customisation needS deep information about architecture and vendor support continuously."
More Clarity SM cons
"The interface feels clunky to me compared to some other systems that I've used. I used ManageEngine Service Desk prior to this at my previous job and that had stuff like categories that we use that I don't see in SolarWinds."
"We would like to see automation included in the next release. We would like to eliminate the L1, and L2 support, by at least 80%. To do this, we need automation with AI (Artificial Intelligence) in combination with ML (Machine Learning)."
"This solution needs to have mobile application support added."
"A little outdated compared to newer products that include protection and detection."
"It would be good if there were training and tutorial videos on the Web Help Desk."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I don't see anyone other than large companies being able to afford this system."
"Pricing is simple, as it’s per concurrent analysts."
"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."
"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!"
"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."
"They charge by the technician. It costs $117 per technician per year."
"When you compare with ManageEngine and ServiceNow, SolarWinds is reasonable."
report
See which vendors are best for you
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Help Desk Software solutions are best for your needs.
See recommendations
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Performing Arts
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Retailer
16%
Performing Arts
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What needs improvement with SolarWinds Web Help Desk?
Some features in the product are supposed to run. However, if they don't, it may require some time to configure or fix them, such as asset management. We have been struggling with asset management ...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Web Help Desk?
SolarWinds Web Help Desk is a case management system. Each user logs their concerns or problems into the portal, which are then assigned to one of our support engineers responsible for managing the...
See all answers
What advice do you have for others considering SolarWinds Web Help Desk?
SolarWinds Web Help Desk could be beneficial for generating automated responses, such as ONIQ. Since we receive multiple cases from similar backgrounds, it would streamline the process if the syste...
See all answers
 

Comparisons

ServiceNow vs Clarity SM Logo
ServiceNow vs Clarity SM
Compared 53% of the time
JIRA Service Management vs Clarity SM Logo
JIRA Service Management vs Clarity SM
Compared 47% of the time
More Clarity SM Competitors
ServiceNow vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk Logo
ServiceNow vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk
Compared 17% of the time
Freshservice vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk Logo
Freshservice vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk
Compared 17% of the time
Zendesk vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk Logo
Zendesk vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk
Compared 17% of the time
BMC Helix ITSM vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk Logo
BMC Helix ITSM vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk
Compared 14% of the time
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk Logo
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk
Compared 14% of the time
More SolarWinds Web Help Desk Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Clarity SM
August 2025
Clarity SM reportDownload Clarity SM product report
Buyer's Guide
Help Desk Software
August 2025
SolarWinds Web Help Desk reportDownload SolarWinds Web Help Desk product report
 

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
No data available
 

Overview

Service desk capabilities, an integral part of the CA Service Management solution, can enable you to deliver efficiencies in IT service management to business consumers, power users and decision makers. Mobility and collaborative self-service capabilities provide a modern user experience for accessing services and performing tasks, which can help drive user adoption, satisfaction and productivity.

Learn More: https://www.ca.com/us/products...

Broadcom

SolarWinds Web Help Desk simplifies service management with unified ticketing, asset, knowledge, and change management. Key features include:

  1. Maintain asset inventory by managing the use, availability, and health of IT assets, and tracking this over time.
  2. Control change management, It regulates and manages change requests through automated approval workflows and panel voting options.
  3. Employs robust reporting and monitoring using a built-in reports and dashboards to track ticket status, technician performance, and customer support needs.
  4. Automate ticketing management that Automate service request management through ticket creation, assignment, routing, and escalation.
  5. Centralize your knowledge management, Leverage a built-in help desk knowledge base to create and maintain KB articles and promote end-user self-service for common issues.
  6. Meet your SLAs, it has "SLA breach approaching" notifications and date-specific SLA reminder alerts that help customize escalation and de-escalation workflows.
SolarWinds
 

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
Instacart
Buyer's Guide
Clarity SM vs. SolarWinds Web Help Desk
July 2025
Free Report: Clarity SM vs. SolarWinds Web Help Desk
Find out what your peers are saying about Clarity SM vs. SolarWinds Web Help Desk and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
DOWNLOAD NOW
865,384 professionals have used our research since 2012.
See our Clarity SM vs. SolarWinds Web Help Desk report.
See our list of best Help Desk Software vendors.

We monitor all Help Desk Software reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.