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ManageEngine Endpoint Central vs N-able N-central 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:
 

Categories and Ranking

ManageEngine Endpoint Central
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
69
Ranking in other categories
Client Desktop Management (1st), Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) (2nd), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (2nd)
N-able N-central
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Systems Management solutions, they serve different purposes. ManageEngine Endpoint Central is designed for Client Desktop Management and holds a mindshare of 19.5%, down 32.4% compared to last year.
N-able N-central, on the other hand, focuses on Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM), holds 6.0% mindshare, down 8.9% since last year.
Client Desktop Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ManageEngine Endpoint Central19.5%
Symantec Client Management Suite13.1%
KACE Systems Management Appliance (SMA)12.3%
Other55.099999999999994%
Client Desktop Management
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM) Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
N-able N-central6.0%
Kaseya VSA12.8%
NinjaOne10.2%
Other71.0%
Remote Monitoring and Management (RMM)
 

Featured Reviews

MS
Solutions Consultant at Team Computers
Experience improves with intuitive setup and comprehensive features but needs enhancements for Apple integration
From a ManageEngine perspective, there is room for improvement regarding the Platform SSO technology introduced by Apple, which allows you to integrate your hardware with your identity providers. It used to be only a few selected ones via OIDC protocols or some other protocols, which are not necessary anymore. If a customer is already using Microsoft 365, they can integrate with any MDM for Platform SSO, which essentially hardens their device identity with the person logging in for the first time. It also helps automate enrollment and provide a zero-touch experience. Currently, while some MDM tools InTune and Jamf support this feature, ManageEngine still does not fully support Platform SSO via Microsoft or Google. I have customers using ManageEngine who are looking forward to this solution, and if ManageEngine can provide it, it would enhance the overall product value. For enterprise users, the solution needs improvement. For SMB, it is straightforward; if it is a small company of 100 to 500 users, anything below 1,000, they do not have much of a compliance or security requirement—they just want to manage their devices and push applications. Simple tasks are easier to accomplish. However, when it comes to enterprise-grade deployment, many complex configurations need to be considered, such as Wi-Fi configurations, network configurations, VPN configurations, and advanced certification deployment, such as ACME certification deployment practice introduced by Apple. These are a few things that can be improved on that side, but from a basic user perspective, if someone is in the SMB market or a company just starting off pre-IPO, without going into compliance, they typically find Zoho and ManageEngine to fit their needs. For enterprise-grade deployments, it is more than enough for Windows, but for Apple, it is still in development and not up to the mark.
NM
Senior Operations Specialist at Tagit cc
Transition has been smooth and integration supports compliance with ease
The transition to N-able N-central was very smooth. We were confident that our migration would not affect any operations. It was easy to migrate our clients into the new solutions. What we have experienced is that only branding has changed along with the way reports are structured. The solution is more advanced and the transition was well thought out. The process is managed properly. Regarding the integration capabilities of N-able N-central, my colleagues who work with this solution recently completed an ISO quality audit. The auditor could understand and manage how we handle our assets and environment because it's quite simple, even for someone who doesn't use the platform daily. This demonstrates that we are using a solution that meets our compliance requirements. N-able N-central is easy to use. Once licenses are provisioned, it's simple for my team to deploy the solution from anywhere remotely, provided there is internet access or remote access to the device.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"ManageEngine has improved my organization because right now we can actually monitor and find out which software products are installed on each desktop, and we can then figure out which ones have to get patched and so forth."
"The solution is definitely scalable."
"The easy application deployment allows you to use the solution directly, the solution works very well, it offers excellent performance, the initial setup is pretty straightforward, we find the solution to be pretty stable, and the product can scale well if you need it to."
"DC9 is a simple, cheap and complete software distribution tool, also to configure all necessary options to control all kinds of OS options on the workstations like in Microsoft Group Policy Editor."
"I like being able to image over the network. That's a nice feature that it has. Patch management is pretty decent on it as well."
"All of Desktop Central's features are valuable, especially its simplicity."
"With all the alerting and everything else that you have to set up with it, it takes a minute to get it up and running and have everything the way you wanted."
"The most valuable features of ManageEngine Endpoint Central are patch management and remote access and management."
"The most valuable feature of N-able N-central is the many options it has."
"The most helpful features of N-able N-central include providing a single pane of glass for many insights in an environment regarding their patching, their assets, their devices in general, and the active issues that they show."
"N-able N-central is an easy tool to implement with customers."
"N-able N-central is very scalable."
"It's a very robust product. They're continuing to invest and put new enhancements into the product. They're very open about what their roadmap is, which is very good for us because then as a business, we can plan."
"N-able N-central has numerous good features. The asset tracking capability is powerful, allowing you to track hardware and software on devices connected to your network. The remote control is smooth, securely enabling remote access to servers and routers. It can be integrated with ticketing systems and other tools like CrowdStrike and N-able EDR for comprehensive network monitoring and security. The automation feature is handy, allowing you to schedule tasks, respond to system triggers, and automate problem resolution, such as handling disk space issues automatically."
"The transition to N-able N-central was very smooth; we were confident that our migration would not affect any operations, and it was easy to migrate our clients into the new solutions."
"I like the remote connectivity, reporting suite, and patch management module."
 

Cons

"The stability of ManageEngine Desktop Central could improve. We have found that at times it can become a bit unstable."
"I would like to have the option to install the agent remotely. When we change a PC, we have to uninstall the agent and then re-install it on the new one, and it is a difficult procedure."
"The main issue that needs improvement is the pricing."
"The reporting analytics could improve in ManageEngine Desktop Central. However, there are some third-party add-ins or modules you can purchase to do reporting analytics."
"I really feel like asset explorer should be a component of desktop central."
"At one time, they delivered an agent that ate up your CPU and your memory."
"Desktop Central has very good information, however, you can't customize the dashboards."
"Computer imaging is powerful but breaks frequently."
"The integration with other applications could be better."
"It was previously expensive and tedious to manage different licenses."
"Involving AI in the platform could improve it further."
"There is room for improvement in the development of custom monitoring services."
"We have to do the effort ourselves because Enable is not really strategically going there because I assume there's not much money to make to improve that or to convince customers to start with their product."
"At this moment, we encounter stability issues with N-able N-central from time to time."
"N-central has limited mobile device management (MDM) support, specifically for Android devices. This limitation affected a deal with a client who had numerous Android devices to manage. It would be beneficial if N-central could expand its MDM support to include Android devices."
"The solution's overall integration should be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price could be cheaper."
"Could provide more services on the standard license"
"The product is cheap."
"We pay about $250 a year for our license."
"The pricing is average."
"Choose wisely between the Professional and Enterprise editions, based on your needs."
"The price is moderate."
"Affordable for any customer."
"The pricing and licensing are average, almost six out of ten."
"N-able N-central is not an expensive solution."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Outsourcing Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
14%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Construction Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise35
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise1
 

Questions from the Community

How to choose between ManageEngine Desktop Central and Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager (formerly SCCM)?
ManageEngine Desktop Central is very easy to set up, is scalable, stable, and also has very good patch management. What I like most about ManageEngine is that I can log on to every PC very easily a...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ManageEngine Endpoint Central?
I would rate the pricing as seven; it is quite expensive from my point of view for ManageEngine Endpoint Central.
What needs improvement with ManageEngine Endpoint Central?
It would be great to see some additional options within ManageEngine Endpoint Central. A better monitoring tool to analyze network traffic related to patch management would be something good to see...
What needs improvement with N-able N-central?
The MSP part of N-able N-central has evolved over the years. They have been trying to move from professional or network server and desktop licensing to make it more comprehensive. With professional...
What is your primary use case for N-able N-central?
We have been dealing with Enable EDR and N-able N-central, which is a management center. It's the NOC solution that we are currently running our asset management on. We are managing tasks in that e...
What advice do you have for others considering N-able N-central?
There's a new node for N-able N-central which they have addressed. Our outstanding items include reviewing our pricing and partnership level, which can provide additional benefits when we exceed 10...
 

Also Known As

ManageEngine Desktop Central, Desktop Central, ManageEngine Desktop Management MSP
SolarWinds N-central, SolarWinds MSP N-central
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Strathallan School, BMI Healthcare, Comercial Kywi, First Priority Federal Credit Union, Gerab National Enterprises
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