ConnectWise Automate vs Meraki Dashboard comparison

The compared ConnectWise and Cisco solutions aren't in the same category. ConnectWise is ranked #10 in RMM , and holds a 6.3% mindshare in the category. Cisco is ranked #22 in NMS , with an average rating of 8.4, and holds a 0.7% mindshare. Additionally, 85% of ConnectWise users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 98% of Cisco users who would recommend it.

ConnectWise Automate

Read 15 ConnectWise Automate reviews

1,957 Views
1,292 Comparison Views

85% willing to recommend

Meraki Dashboard

Read 59 Meraki Dashboard reviews

3,291 Views
2,797 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

ConnectWise Automate

Meraki Dashboard

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between ConnectWise Automate and Meraki Dashboard based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about NinjaOne, Kaseya, TeamViewer and others in Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM).

To learn more, read our detailed Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) Report (Updated: March 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)

March 2026

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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

ConnectWise Automate

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (10th)

Meraki Dashboard

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

5.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Network Monitoring Software (22nd)

Mindshare comparison

ConnectWise Automate and Meraki Dashboard aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. ConnectWise Automate is designed for Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) and holds a mindshare of 6.3%, up 5.9% compared to last year.
Meraki Dashboard, on the other hand, focuses on Network Monitoring Software, holds 0.7% mindshare, down 1.3% since last year.

Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
ConnectWise Automate	6.3%
Kaseya VSA	14.3%
NinjaOne	11.4%
Other	68.0%

Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)

Network Monitoring Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Meraki Dashboard	0.7%
Zabbix	4.3%
SolarWinds NPM	3.6%
Other	91.4%

Network Monitoring Software

Featured Reviews

Sean Saeb

Partner and CIO at Caspian IT Group

Responsive, integrates well with other applications, and the technical support is helpful

There is always room for improvement. I haven't had any problems, and they're doing a great job, in my opinion. They're doing quite well. In most cases, when we discover an issue, we report it to their engineers, who then schedule a fix. Normally, when we request something, I can see it happening within three to four months. This is a raw system. Of course, it has some flaws that could be improved. But, it's something that we will have to work with to get to the point where we need this, we request it and they do their best to make it happen. There is a lot of integration with other applications through Automate, and I believe they are working with all of the industry leaders to get the integration going. I am very pleased to be working with them.

Read full review

MURALI NIDAMANURI

Managing Director at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees

Dashboard provides comprehensive network security and management capabilities

I don't have specific handy names. Meraki Dashboard uses multiple functions where we can configure SSIDs, firewall policies, DHCP, multiple VLANs and DHCP configurations, VLAN configurations, access control policies, MAC binding, client access based on MAC authentication and certificate-based authentication. We have configured SSO for Windows Active Directory by configuring the RADIUS services. We have implemented many customer requirements in Meraki Dashboard. With the detailed visibility feature of Meraki Dashboard, I get connected clients information, including how much data each client downloaded and what applications they accessed. I can obtain detailed data including ISP links level monitoring and speed. I can perform speed tests, generate analytics reports, convert to Excel based on each user for each department, create dashboards, monitor and limit bandwidths, and restrict specific URLs. The advanced security configuration in Meraki Dashboard is useful for network security. Substantial security can be achieved within Meraki Dashboard itself, eliminating the need for additional firewalls to protect your network. You can configure WAN monitoring, users' ACLs, URL filtering, web filtering, and department-wise access configuration for specific client applications. It's completely cloud-managed, and in a simplified way, you don't need to visit any physical infrastructure to monitor activities. Apart from access points, everything is in the cloud. We have monitored IoT solutions, CCTV monitoring, and can detect and control intrusions. When people connect IoT devices to your network, Meraki Dashboard can detect what device it is and control those access controls, even with different operating systems.

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

"Remote monitoring allows the organization to react more quickly to emergencies, particularly offline devices/locations."

"Technical support is really good; they are helpful and responsive."

"The automated scripts feature means that we can set up for a lot of different things and they have reduced tech input drastically, in the sense that a task only needs to be done once instead of 100 times."

"The most value we get from this solution is that everything is on a patch cycle, so all my team has to do is go through patches, whereas previously, they were doing all the patches manually."

"A good automated scripts feature."

"Scripting and patch management are really important for us. Patch Manager is something that we use a lot, and we would love to have it continually improved. It is one of the most useful features for us for controlling patches and other things for different clients."

"The initial setup is easy and the deployment is quick."

"The most value we get from this solution is that everything is on a patch cycle."

More ConnectWise Automate pros

"Meraki dashboard deserves an Oscar."

"It is very easy to manage, has good security, and is working well with our firewall."

"It improved the marketing solution of the company where I deployed it and it improved the way they gather marketing data tremendously."

"I feel Meraki is one of the best at what it does even if it is not fitting to large enterprises."

"Easy to configure with great troubleshooting feature."

"We find that Meraki has all the features you need to be able to enable complex network protocols for AV equipment. We deal with a streaming product over IP, and Meraki is fantastic at that."

"The ease-of-use and the analytics are really effective tools."

"We like how Meraki Dashboard lets you manage all the devices in a single pane of glass. The dashboard is intuitive and easy to use. They are constantly updating the functionality. Switches from other vendors have the same features for the life of the device, but Meraki is always improving."

More Meraki Dashboard pros

Cons

"In Patch Manager, there should be more reportability so that it is easier to see the updates that I have applied to a machine and when the next update will happen. A lot of times, it seems like all the information is kind of thrown all over the place, and you can't really see it all at the same time. There should be a simplified patch data view that allows us to quickly confirm that our various clients are getting patched as they should be."

"They always change the GUI to some dumb-down version of tiles which are more "user-friendly", but slows my team down in the end."

"The project management needs improvement and there's a section of the product called configuration that also needs to be improved."

"The menu doesn't always load properly."

"Their support needs to be better."

"They always change the GUI to some dumb-down version of tiles which are more "user-friendly", but slows my team down in the end."

"The fixed client for Automate is slow. The web client is not very intuitive."

"Their support needs to be better."

More ConnectWise Automate cons

"Price could be reduced."

"The downside to the simplicity is that you can't get as granular as you could with the Cisco APs."

"The coverage has been an issue for us."

"The pricing for this solution needs to be improved."

"I appreciate the security that has been provided by Meraki, but they specifically require port 80 which is highly vulnerable towards Meraki domain itself, so I would like to remove it."

"There needs to be a better way of identifying some hardware. For example, there is some hardware where only the mask address is available - not the full name."

"For instance, you should be able to see if something has been blocked by a firewall rule by looking at a live log of traffic moving through the device. It helps you troubleshoot issues and understand if your rules are working. You need to ensure the firewall is blocking the right things. That's unavailable in the Meraki Dashboard. You have to send the logs to a log server. We use SolarWinds locally, but it's not natively built into Meraki. We're also using Cisco ISA and another tool called Smoothwall."

"It would be helpful to have the ability to create a floor plan based on an existing PDF or JPEG, which is automatically converted into a usable network map."

More Meraki Dashboard cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"From what I've overheard, it is pretty comparable to other solutions in terms of price."

"Pricing and licensing are reasonable."

"I pay $85 a month per user for a ConnectWise package that contains multiple solutions."

"I believe Automate is available for around $2."

"It is said to be expensive."

"Licensing is around under 1000 pounds. The licensing is either one year, three years, five years or ten years and during the licensing, we can choose to renew it per year or per every three years. We've got a license for three years. It's about 160 or about 200 pounds each."

"From a pricing perspective, they are still expensive."

"Meraki Dashboard is a utility and portal that's part of the Meraki solution."

"The solution is currently the most expensive on the market."

"The pricing of the tool is relatively high compared to other solutions. It comes with a premium that exceeds that of its competitors by approximately 25 percent."

"My view is that it's expensive, but it's the best."

"You don't have to pay for the dashboard."

More Meraki Dashboard pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Performing Arts

Healthcare Company

Computer Software Company

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

Educational Organization

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	10
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	1

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	23
Midsize Enterprise	13
Large Enterprise	26

Questions from the Community

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Meraki Dashboard?

I would rate the pricing for Meraki Dashboard as one.

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What needs improvement with Meraki Dashboard?

Regarding Meraki Dashboard, I would suggest improvements to Cisco ISE integration. I have used Cisco ISE for port security and I never liked the GUI because it is difficult. If I need to check the ...

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What is your primary use case for Meraki Dashboard?

My main use case for Meraki Dashboard is as a NOC engineer for the MSP, where we have three sites. We add all the sites to Meraki Dashboard for live monitoring. I am the one who uses LogicMonitor, ...

See all answers

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Compared 6% of the time

Zabbix vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 4% of the time

SolarWinds NPM vs Meraki Dashboard

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

ConnectWise Automate

April 2026

Download ConnectWise Automate product report

Buyer's Guide

Meraki Dashboard

March 2026

Download Meraki Dashboard product report

Also Known As

LabTech for IT Service Providers, ConnectWise Automate for Corporate IT Departments, ConnectWise Automate for IT Service Providers

No data available

Overview

ConnectWise Automate is an IT management tool that helps deliver IT services at the speed of business. Our remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform provides powerful automation to discover & manage devices, monitor for problems, and automate action. Deliver streamlined reactive and proactive managed services, stop putting out fires, and start focusing on what matters most. See why over 5,500 partners worldwide chose ConnectWise Automate by visiting ConnectWise.com or calling 877-522-8323.

ConnectWise

Meraki Dashboard is a comprehensive cloud-based platform that offers centralized management and control for all Meraki networking and security products. It provides a user-friendly interface, allowing administrators to easily monitor and configure their network infrastructure from anywhere. With real-time visibility, troubleshooting becomes effortless, ensuring optimal performance and minimizing downtime.

The intuitive dashboard offers a holistic view of the network, enabling quick identification of potential issues and proactive measures. It simplifies network deployment and scaling, with zero-touch provisioning and automatic firmware updates. The robust security features include advanced threat protection, content filtering, and VPN connectivity.

Meraki Dashboard also offers powerful analytics and reporting capabilities, providing valuable insights into network usage, application performance, and user behavior. With its seamless integration and scalability,

Meraki Dashboard is the ideal solution for organizations of all sizes, ensuring efficient network management and enhanced productivity.

Cisco

Sample Customers

I-M Technology, Mainstay Technologies, PC Works Plus, Integrity IT, Kerkhoff Technologies Inc., Marathon Consulting, Christenberry Sales Company, EDTS, Secom Technology, Ready to View, ARRC Technology, DaVinci Digital, JNR Networks, Quinn Technology Solutions, PCIT, Liberty Technology, Capital Computers & Networks, Atlanta Technology Force, Doberman Technologies, First Column Enterprises, CisCom Solutions

Coop eG, Peet's Coffee & Tea, Priefert Manufacturing, Century Care Management, Clifton College, Zürs Ski Resort, Capital FM Arena, MAXI Autohöfe

Buyer's Guide

Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)

March 2026

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