OpenText Service Management (SMAX) vs TOPdesk comparison

OpenText and TOPdesk are both solutions in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category. OpenText is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.0, while TOPdesk is ranked #13 with an average rating of 7.5. Additionally, 88% of OpenText users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 84% of TOPdesk users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 29, 2026

TOPdesk and OpenText Service Management (SMAX) are competing products in IT service management. TOPdesk has an advantage in pricing and customer support, while OpenText SMAX stands out for its feature depth and overall value.

Features: TOPdesk offers valuable features such as self-service portals, incident management, and change management. OpenText SMAX provides advanced automation, machine learning, and topic analytics for incident and problem management.

Room for Improvement: TOPdesk could benefit from feature expansion, more advanced automation, and better AI integration. OpenText SMAX could improve ease of deployment, user interface design, and training resources.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: TOPdesk provides a straightforward deployment model with strong customer support. OpenText SMAX, while more complex to implement, offers optional modules and scalable solutions, aligning well with intricate IT environments.

Pricing and ROI: TOPdesk has lower setup costs and offers attractive ROI. OpenText SMAX, despite requiring a higher initial investment, provides compelling long-term ROI through its extensive functionality and automation tools.

To learn more, read our detailed OpenText Service Management (SMAX) vs. TOPdesk Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

OpenText Service Management (SMAX) vs. TOPdesk

June 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

Automation Anywhere

Featured Reviews

Venkat Sivaprakash

Management Consultant at Accenture

Has significantly improved document-driven workflows and reduced processing time across finance and HR functions

Automation Anywhere has evolved significantly and upgraded itself to provide agentic AI and AI-based automation solutions for document automation. The product has matured considerably over time. We can create workflows that can call an API. We can include prompts in particular workflows for ChatGPT-related functions, connecting to an LLM and RAG to perform tasks. For document automation, modern features are available to train documents, ensuring high accuracy and repeatability over time. The system is very easy to use. I recently completed a course in document automation, typically designed for people involved in coding and technical aspects. Though I understand coding comprehensively, I don't do actual coding. The course was very accessible. Currently, extensive coding isn't necessary due to the hybrid model incorporating GenAI aspects, low-code, no-code capabilities, APIs, and numerous pre-built objects in Automation Anywhere. The features include GenAI-driven prompting methods and workflow creation capabilities. In these workflows, we can create decision boxes and call APIs without coding. We simply pull objects, drop them, connect them, and add minimal coding when needed. The most crucial aspect isn't coding but rather sizing the automation and fleshing out the details. Automation Co-pilot takes notes and performs automated analysis. It can extract details from videos, summarize conversations, and provide detailed information. During calls, it identifies instructions and performs tasks such as preparing reports and reconciliation. Automation Anywhere can also connect with Microsoft Co-pilot. Through Co-pilot, real-time operations can be executed, allowing direct interaction between vendors and automation through this component.

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HugoAlmeida

Head Of Delivery at Timestamp ITM

Centralized service processes have improved cross‑department visibility but reporting still needs work

The machine learning capabilities in OpenText Service Management (SMAX) are somewhat not published the way they should be. They work pretty well, but they are not used as much in the current experience of our customers. They have them; the solution has them, but they usually go a little bit below the radar in terms of visibility. I believe there is room for improvement when it comes to machine learning capabilities. OpenText Service Management (SMAX) has room to improve mainly on reporting components. The reporting components include dashboards, and while OpenText Service Management (SMAX) has a reporting module, it's somewhat limited, so I believe it has room to improve there, with more inclusion of artificial intelligence in the models and more in project management and portfolio management capabilities. We want to see better use and more functionalities enabled with the already existing capabilities such as AI and reporting in the next OpenText Service Management (SMAX) release, but one important thing we think should be included is a module for metrics, similar to Google Analytics, that focuses on the metrics of the tool usage. The module shouldn't just report on the components of OpenText Service Management (SMAX) but also track how the tool is used by end users, for example, what functionalities users utilize more frequently, the performance of those functionalities, and how long it takes them to open a ticket or log in, focusing on applicational monitoring metrics and performance management metrics.

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Martina Peneva

People Technology Lead at Scandinavian Tobacco Group

Implement service management changes while addressing UI improvements

Topdesk's user interface makes it easy to handle requests and escalate them to other groups or reassign them when working on a single ticket. Additionally, the service management tool in HR allows for a change in delivering services, replacing email communication with ticket raising. The knowledge library enables the local HR to store and share relevant information and frequently asked cases, enhancing collaboration. The ticket system also facilitates escalating cases to other involved departments. IT, HR, and some other teams primarily use this system.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of the platform right now for us is just getting the most out of the tool. When I first joined the company, we were on version 11, which is the on-premise version of Automation Anywhere. Getting over to the new cloud platform A360 has enabled us to get the most out of general RPA or robotic process automation."

"The ease of use is its key novel feature, as I have actually trained people in finance who have not written a piece of code in their lives and they are able to pick it up."

"It is a great product."

"It automates forms for our customers and our analysts."

"I have been using this solution for a while now, and I think that it is a very good platform."

"The customer engagement is really deep, and they work with the “gemba”. They work with operations very closely. I also believe they have a good product roadmap."

"The ability to build automation without coding is its most valuable feature."

"Instead of packages like other RPA tools, I think the repo check-in and check-out feature enables the same in AA."

More Automation Anywhere pros

"The most valuable features of Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX) are that it is user-friendly, easy to configure, and adaptable."

"OpenText Service Management Automation X provides valuable features such as topic analytics for incident and problem management. It also includes natural language processing for analyzing technical descriptions. Additionally, it features a virtual chatbot capable of processing natural language to interact effectively with end users. This service enhances customer support and is not subject to the limitations often found in offerings from other vendors."

"The tool is very easy to use."

"OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is effective for all sectors, such as IT and HR."

"It offers a range of tools for sales and configuration. It's like a business process improvement platform, suitable for various lines of business operations."

"The product provides an interface for the end users to make requests."

"This is a cordless application that can be used throughout any organization."

"The customization features are quite good, and we have a very good local vendor helping us in this regard."

More OpenText Service Management (SMAX) pros

"The most valuable feature of TOPdesk is its ease of use if you have implemented it in the right way. If you're not implementing it in the right way, then it's very difficult."

"Technical support is great and we have not had any issues with them."

"When it comes to implementing new features, they listen to what their customers want via a suggestion forum that they have."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ticketing feature."

"Change management is the most critical feature."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the incident management module."

"Its ITSM approach is quite useful."

"As we have moved to an off-premises deployment, we get regular updates."

More TOPdesk pros

Cons

"Some NLP AI is required to work in combination with RPA, especially for reading unstructured emails."

"Our users would like more online community forums where they can exchange information. I would also like a better way to monitor and manage all the automations we have running within our systems because our CoE governance must be robust so we are always aware of what's happening."

"Where minor but widespread changes are made to the cloud product being operated upon, changing the cloned search values individually was incredibly time consuming, and it shut down the RPA service until it was fixed."

"It is frustrating at times to experience this instability, but we do find a solution and we are working on it to be better."

"The initial setup for the program was not straightforward. It was definitely complex."

"Room for improvement is more on the IQ Bot side: How quickly we can adopt and deploy it?"

"When I change the name of a variable in the Variable Manager, I would really like it to change in the code."

"We are still hoping to see improvements in its ability to have the client answer automatically and reconnect when Windows updates are applied."

More Automation Anywhere cons

"The contract management feature can be improved."

"OpenText Service Management (SMAX) has some stability challenges that are crashable and not stable at times."

"The solution lacks sufficient documentation."

"The tool has negatively impacted our productivity."

"The product's connectivity with third-party products is an area of concern where improvements are required."

"SMAX lacks in integrations as well as written documentation."

"The reporting functionality is not the best as it is not easy to use."

"OpenText Service Management (SMAX) has room to improve mainly on reporting components. The reporting components include dashboards, and while OpenText Service Management (SMAX) has a reporting module, it's somewhat limited, so I believe it has room to improve there, with more inclusion of artificial intelligence in the models and more in project management and portfolio management capabilities."

More OpenText Service Management (SMAX) cons

"An operator is also a user but requires creating two different records."

"In some fields, it's just not good enough."

"One of the disadvantages of TOPdesk is the reporting tool. It is very poor and not in real-time. You do not always receive the correct information."

"All companies have processes that need to be adjusted. When you have a change, you need to name it, and many companies have a set of changes you can use. It would be helpful if there were more space in TOPdesk to name the change or use metadata to record the kinds of changes."

"If I open a ticket on the infrastructure team, I can't move it to the financial team for them to manage the ticket."

"From a UI perspective, there is room for improvement. It sometimes takes many steps to do something simple, like creating or moving a knowledge item."

"It is time-consuming to add new users."

"This solution is modular so you only buy what you need, but I prefer what some companies are doing where they include everything in the package."

More TOPdesk cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They have a ridiculously expensive bot licensing structure, especially for the Asian region."

"It's the best RPA tool, but the pricing could be improved."

"The solution itself is free unless we want to add the support option but we have to pay for the bots we use."

"It has good licensing costs which are average for the market."

"With the rebate processing automation that we did, it has provided us a savings of around an hour or two a person on a daily basis, which is quite a lot of savings."

"Automation Anywhere is reasonably priced because it can sustain us for a long period."

"The pricing is a bit higher."

"Automation Anywhere is expensive."

More Automation Anywhere pricing and cost advice

"The solution is somewhat cheaper than the competitors."

"The cost of the license for SMAX varies depending on the configuration, including the number of seats for users and the customer's specific requirements. It's not a fixed cost and can vary."

"TOPdesk's pricing is cheaper than Jira's."

"Compared to other products in this segment, I think that they are priced well and not too expensive."

"The solution is inexpensive compared to competitors."

"The solution's pricing is reasonable and not expensive."

"The cost of the solution on a yearly basis is $20,000. Technical support is not extra. It's included in the yearly cost. Updates are also included. The solution is good at keeping its product up to date."

"There are three fee options to choose from for a company and these options compared to market prices are very high. For example, if I use one of the first options for 10 assets, then it costs 20,000 Euros. If you went to competitors, then you pay less."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Construction Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Computer Software Company

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Educational Organization

10%

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	154
Midsize Enterprise	82
Large Enterprise	536

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	3
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	4

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	2
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	7

Questions from the Community

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

It depends on your use case. Is it simply to automate a couple of processes? Is it to augment a human team? AA is ver...

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How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

From my experience using AA tool, it depends on the applications that you want to automate, because there some applic...

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How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

It is a highly preferred RPA tool. You can check my Automation Anywhere Review to know more.

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?

We mostly deal with OpenText Service Management (SMAX), Service Management, and UCMDB, the UD Discovery, Unified Disc...

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What advice do you have for others considering Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?

We are still working with OpenText and Splunk. I remember that Splunk is now with what Cisco AppDynamics bought. We a...

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What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?

OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is okay, not expensive and not the cheapest. It is overall good.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for TOPdesk?

The solution's pricing is reasonable and not expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with TOPdesk?

From a UI perspective, there is room for improvement, as some tasks like creating or moving a knowledge item within t...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for TOPdesk?

I use Topdesk to change the way we deliver our services in HR to the business. Instead of writing an email to a parti...

See all answers

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Compared 13% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 4% of the time

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Compared 14% of the time

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Compared 10% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

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Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Automation Anywhere

June 2026

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Buyer's Guide

OpenText Service Management (SMAX)

June 2026

OpenText Service Management (SMAX) report

Download OpenText Service Management (SMAX) product report

Buyer's Guide

Help Desk Software

May 2026

Download TOPdesk product report

Also Known As

Automation Anywhere, Testing Anywhere, Automation Anywhere Enterprise, Agentic Process Automation System (Now Certified for WorkSpaces)

OpenText Service Manager, Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)

No data available

Interactive Demo

Automation Anywhere

OpenText

Demo not available

TOPdesk

Overview

Automation Anywhere offers ease of use, robust system connectivity, and GenAI-driven document automation through a cloud-native platform, significantly enhancing productivity across multiple industries with advanced AI features.

Delivering a comprehensive suite of tools designed for easy integration and rapid deployment, Automation Anywhere drives efficiency by reducing costs and automating repetitive tasks. Its cloud-native platform supports broad industry adoption, including advanced AI features like process automation and Co-Pilot, streamlining complex workflows with minimal technical skills required. Users benefit from robust integration capabilities, which facilitate seamless interaction with multiple systems. However, there is room for improvement in areas such as user-friendliness for beginners, stability, flexible licensing, and enhanced OCR functionality. Organizations in sectors such as banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare gain from the improved operational efficiency and ROI Automation Anywhere offers.

What are the important features of Automation Anywhere?

Ease of Use: Simplifies automation tasks with a user-centric interface.
Robust Connectivity: Provides seamless integration with multiple systems.
GenAI-Driven Document Automation: Leverages AI to automate document management.
Process Automation & Co-Pilot: Enhances workflow automation with advanced AI.
Cloud-Native Platform: Enables rapid deployment and integration.

What benefits should be evaluated in reviews?

Time Savings: Automation drastically reduces manual processing time.
Cost Efficiency: Decreases overall operational costs by automating tasks.
Productivity Enhancement: Streamlines workflows with AI-driven tools.
Improved Integration: Enhances ability to work with multiple systems.
Scalability: Supports growth with a flexible cloud-native architecture.

In the insurance industry, Automation Anywhere is utilized for automating processes such as enrollment management and compliance checks. Its applications extend to supply chain management, financial transactions, and business performance monitoring across sectors like banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare, helping organizations to automate routine tasks, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.

Automation Anywhere

OpenText Service Management Automation X delivers efficient service management automation with user-friendly configurability across IT, IoT, HR, and finance sectors. It enhances business processes through integrated incident management and natural language processing with virtual chatbots.

OpenText SMAX blends user-friendly design with broad language support and robust storage. It enables organizations to deploy in both on-premise and cloud environments using Kubernetes. SMAX excels in business process improvement, incident management, and uses intelligent agents for autonomous alerts and issue resolution. However, it requires enhancements in integration capabilities and documentation, third-party product connectivity, and contract management. Users face challenges with process automation and search functionality, demanding greater customization and flexibility.

What are the key features of OpenText SMAX?

User-Friendliness: Simplifies service management across departments.
Configurability: Allows customization to meet specific needs.
Adaptability: Effective across IT, IoT, HR, and finance.
Language Support: Broad language capabilities for diverse users.
Storage Capabilities: Efficient and reliable data management.
Process Improvement: Tools for streamlining business operations.
Incident Management: Effective handling and resolution of issues.
Natural Language Processing: Chatbots that enhance customer support.
Automation: Facilitates seamless logistics and service catalog management.

What benefits and ROI should users evaluate?

Enhanced Efficiency: Streamlines service management processes.
Improved Customer Support: Virtual chatbots provide superior assistance.
Scalability: Adaptable to growing business needs.
Cost Reduction: Optimizes resource usage and reduces operational costs.
Employee Onboarding: Simplifies and accelerates onboarding processes.

Banks and telecom companies primarily employ OpenText SMAX for service management automation, leveraging its ESM and ITSM capabilities. Deployed on-premise and via cloud, organizations in regions such as Saudi Arabia focus on integrations and upgrades, using SMAX as an end-user portal for incident management.

OpenText

TOPdesk enhances ITSM with valuable features like change management and incident management. Its modules support service level and asset management. Users find its interface effective for ticket handling and request escalation.

TOPdesk primarily supports IT service management across organizations, facilitating the complete ITSM lifecycle. It offers modules for change, incident, and configuration management, along with features for ticketing and asset management. The service management capabilities extend to HR, helping employees raise tickets efficiently. Some organizations utilize it for onboarding, offboarding, and maintaining a knowledge library. It addresses needs in project management and financial approvals.

What Are The Key Features of TOPdesk?

Change Management: Streamlines processes necessary for IT changes.
Incident Management: Ensures issues are tracked and resolved promptly.
Reporting Modules: Offers metrics on service performance.
Call Module: Manages customer interactions effectively.
Service Level Management: Monitors and maintains service quality.
Asset Management: Tracks and manages organizational assets.
Reservation Management: Simplifies resource reservations.
Ticketing Feature: Enhances departmental collaboration.
Knowledge Library: Facilitates information sharing across teams.

What Benefits Should Users Look For?

Improved Collaboration: Enhances communication across IT and HR.
Comprehensive ITSM Support: Covers incident, change, and configuration.
Streamlined Onboarding: Supports seamless integration for new employees.
Enhanced Project Management: Assists in managing extensive projects.
Efficient Request Handling: Simplifies ticket management processes.
Informed Decision-Making: Provides insightful reporting data.

TOPdesk is widely used in diverse sectors for ITSM. Organizations employ it for lifecycle management of IT services, leveraging its change and configuration modules. It aids HR departments in managing service requests and employee transitions, providing valuable support in IT and project management.

TOPdesk

Sample Customers

Google, Linkedin, Cisco, Juniper Networks, DellEMC, Comcast, Mastercard, Quest Diagnostics

Zurich Airport, Envirosuite, Norsk Helsenett, Achmea, University of Milan, World Vision, Petroleum Development Oman, Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories (TJDFT).

City of Amsterdam, University of Edinbroughm, IKEA, KLM Catering Services, FloraHolland, BOVAG, PostNL, Total, Hilton, Oce, Canon, Agip, Compass Group, Serco, Danone, BMW, Eneco, And many more.

Buyer's Guide

OpenText Service Management (SMAX) vs. TOPdesk

June 2026

Free Report: OpenText Service Management (SMAX) vs. TOPdesk

Find out what your peers are saying about OpenText Service Management (SMAX) vs. TOPdesk and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.

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