What users are saying about
Top Rated
129 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener noreferrer'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 8.2 out of 100
Based on 129 reviews and ratings
46 Ratings
<a href='https://www.trustradius.com/static/about-trustradius-scoring' target='_blank' rel='nofollow noopener noreferrer'>trScore algorithm: Learn more.</a>Score 8 out of 100
Based on 46 reviews and ratings
Likelihood to Recommend
ConnectWise Automate
We heavily rely on it's automation and ability to run script for pushing additional tools and fixes to client end points. However, creating scripts is not particularly intuitive. We have only 1 person on staff that can setup scripts, and we have to use an outside vendor for more advanced work. We recently started using AutoElevate to handle UAC, and we have a script that allows us to push it to new client end points easily.
IT Specialist
Wooden Spoon TechnologiesInformation Technology & Services, 1-10 employees
SolarWinds N-central
N-Central would be most appropriate in a situation where an experienced admin would like a product that is as customizable as possible. The products allows for a lot of customization, but would be less appropriate in a situation where a less experienced admin is looking for a product that requires less set up.

Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Information Technology & Services Company, 11-50 employeesFeature Rating Comparison
Monitoring Tasks
ConnectWise Automate
8.5
SolarWinds N-central
—
Remote monitoring
ConnectWise Automate
8.6
SolarWinds N-central
—
Network device monitoring
ConnectWise Automate
7.5
SolarWinds N-central
—
Multiple Server Monitoring
ConnectWise Automate
8.8
SolarWinds N-central
—
Multi-device monitoring
ConnectWise Automate
8.8
SolarWinds N-central
—
Automated alerts and notifications
ConnectWise Automate
8.6
SolarWinds N-central
—
Management Tasks
ConnectWise Automate
8.3
SolarWinds N-central
6.4
Patch Management
ConnectWise Automate
8.3
SolarWinds N-central
6.4
Service configuration management
ConnectWise Automate
8.3
SolarWinds N-central
—
Software and hardware inventory
ConnectWise Automate
8.7
SolarWinds N-central
—
Policy-based automation
ConnectWise Automate
8.1
SolarWinds N-central
—
Reporting
ConnectWise Automate
7.7
SolarWinds N-central
—
Performance data reports
ConnectWise Automate
8.2
SolarWinds N-central
—
Customizable reporting
ConnectWise Automate
8.4
SolarWinds N-central
—
Data visualization
ConnectWise Automate
7.6
SolarWinds N-central
—
Risk analysis
ConnectWise Automate
6.7
SolarWinds N-central
—
Security
ConnectWise Automate
7.9
SolarWinds N-central
—
Data backup and recovery
ConnectWise Automate
6.8
SolarWinds N-central
—
Antivirus and malware management
ConnectWise Automate
8.1
SolarWinds N-central
—
Adinistraor access control
ConnectWise Automate
8.8
SolarWinds N-central
—
Pros
ConnectWise Automate
- Desktop sharing / view with chat to the operator, file sharing and pass-through for keyboard strokes
- Computer/server monitoring with thresholds and warning
- Search - tracking down computers when you have many by name, logged in user, IP
- End user ticket raising is built into the tray icon which make access really easy

Verified User
Manager in Information Technology
Retail Company, 201-500 employeesSolarWinds N-central
- Remote tasks - entry-level techs can run basic tasks without physically touching a piece of equipment.
- Remote support - remote controlling user devices is easy and saves a lot of time with having to initiate a remote session.
- Management of devices, particularly patch management and anti-virus management - you can automatically approve and deploy patches and schedule automatic AV scans.
NOC Supervisor
One2One IncInformation Technology and Services, 11-50 employees
Cons
ConnectWise Automate
- They have conflicting scheduling paradigms. When scheduling patching for clients, the 1st Friday is interpreted as the very first Friday of the month, even if this is the 1st of the month. For scripting, the 1st Friday of the month is interpreted as the 1st Friday of the 1st FULL WEEK of the month. This makes no sense to have two different interpretations, and makes it unreliable to schedule recurring scripts to fall when recurring maintenance does. The scripts need to be done manually because of this.
- There is no way to dictate reboot orders for patch policies. This tied directly in with my first point. We have some clients that require reboot orders. This is not possible without having different patch policies for each server and specifying a time this way. But, there aren't small enough increments of time to make this reliable, plus patching duration might vary. Excluding reboots with patching and scheduling reboot scripts fixes this. However, this can't be done once on a recurring schedule due to the different scheduling paradigms already discussed. We have to schedule these manually each month.
Level 2 Network Technician
SpringthroughInformation Technology & Services, 11-50 employees
SolarWinds N-central
- It is a large piece of software and does take some time to get set-up and configured.
- Limitations with some basic monitoring like site down/internet down and server state make it difficult to have accurate monitoring information.
- Reports and reporting are minimal, not very customizable and not pretty.
Managed Services Adminsitrator
Diversified Computer Resources, IncComputer Networking, 11-50 employees
Likelihood to Renew
ConnectWise Automate
ConnectWise Automate 8.0
Based on 3 answers
Support and the Speed of supporting the latest technology is the main reason for not giving this a 10. But the product is powerful and flexible. The best way that I can sum it up is "You can get out of it what you put in to it"
Managing Partner
Oversee My ITInformation Technology and Services, 11-50 employees
SolarWinds N-central
SolarWinds N-central 8.8
Based on 2 answers
Overall we have liked our solar winds experience, however, as our company has grown to support larger enterprises, this product does not have the functionality that our teams need in order to fully support them. The lack of granularity with backups and lack of ability to support nutanix environments is slowly drawing us into the use of other tools.

Verified User
Executive in Engineering
Computer & Network Security Company, 11-50 employeesUsability
ConnectWise Automate
ConnectWise Automate 3.2
Based on 3 answers
The UI is pretty confusing. There are Right-clicks, ctrl+clicks, Shift clicks, it's all very convoluted. With the latest gussying up, it's now arguably prettier, but very slow... I dread using it now...
Chief Executive Officer
Healthy IT, Inc.Computer Networking, 1-10 employees
SolarWinds N-central
SolarWinds N-central 8.6
Based on 3 answers
The user interface is fairly straight forward, with logic groupings for objects. I did not deploy this software, but am one of the daily administrators. Once you get the correct agent package (Which can be a challenge) the integration into AD is not bad. The UI could be more customized, but that may have been a design choice.

Verified User
Engineer in Information Technology
Information Technology and Services Company, 51-200 employeesPerformance
ConnectWise Automate
ConnectWise Automate 3.0
Based on 8 answers
It used to be great, but then they broke reporting, speed and responsiveness with version 11 and the new Patch Manager. It's really bad and their support people are way behind on fixing so many bugs. They have really gone downhill. If they don't get it together soon, we'll start looking around.
IT Service Director
Innovation ComputingInformation Technology and Services, 1-10 employees
SolarWinds N-central
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
ConnectWise Automate
ConnectWise Automate 8.1
Based on 26 answers
ConnectWise Automate lets you manage more endpoints, with enhanced productivity and improved service, all without increasing expenses.It can manage patches and updates across thousands of computers. We also use it for customized monitoring and alerting on workstations and servers. Monitoring is really robust and granular. It does a great job of gathering a TON of data about the network, and that data is searchable. There are a bunch of different reports built in. Integrates with Manage, Control, and other applications. It does a ton of stuff out of the box, and has endless customization options.
System Engineer
Gurnick Academy of Medical ArtsHigher Education, 201-500 employees
SolarWinds N-central
SolarWinds N-central 8.3
Based on 14 answers
Every time we have reached out to SolarWinds they are quick to respond, even offering support chat 24/7. Their support team is great and works with you to find solutions to issues. They have taken items we had issues with before and used those to create updates so that the issue is handled better in the future.
Senior Consultant
Moser ConsultingInformation Technology and Services, 201-500 employees
Online Training
ConnectWise Automate
ConnectWise Automate 7.1
Based on 2 answers
LabTech online training is very very thorough in training and helping individuals understand the theory and practical side of using a Remote Monitoring & Management. The training has multiple methods of explaining each section which helps to re-enforce everything about the Training Modules. I have had some Engineers lose their interest after a number of modules because they said that it was too much, that was too similar. I've found that the training is tailored towards a technical background but the Sales training does help NON technical individuals familiarize themselves with the Remote Monitoring and Management components and how it relates to Managed Services.
Director of Managed Services
LightWire, IncInformation Technology and Services, 11-50 employees
SolarWinds N-central
No score
No answers yet
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
ConnectWise Automate
ConnectWise Automate 7.3
Based on 2 answers
Start small and learn the in's and out's before making policies and rolling things out company wide. Ask the questions of why if you don't agree with something or your company does things a different way. Usually they are done a certain way for a reason. Start simple with roll out and slowly enable or add on the functionality that is needed.
Managing Partner
Oversee My ITInformation Technology and Services, 11-50 employees
SolarWinds N-central
SolarWinds N-central 8.2
Based on 4 answers
Make sure if you your using a vm you follow the instructions for provisioning to the letter or it will be starting from square one
I.T. Manager
ET&TInformation Services, 11-50 employees
Alternatives Considered
ConnectWise Automate
The Continuum RMM is very simplistic in comparison to Automate. The scripting engine in Continuum doesn't compare at all with the scripting in Automate. Continuum has a single level of agent grouping (all agents for a client are in a single group). For clients that have 100's of endpoints across many locations this gets messy. In Automate, you can create 'sites' under each client and move systems into them to not only organize, but to allow running of scripts on those groups.Unlike Continuum, Automate allows you to dynamically add systems to groups. Each group can be configured to run certain scripts, perform tasks or monitor for something specific. An example would be servers with SQL server. You could add these to a group based on SQL being installed and then monitor for specific SQL related events. The remote control in Automate has proven to be much faster and more reliable than LogMeIn that is used in Continuum.
President
PC Works Plus, Inc.Computer & Network Security, 11-50 employees
SolarWinds N-central
SolarWinds N-central is on the more unique side of tools because it can do so many things, and do most of them quite well. For patching, it is much easier to use than SCCM. In terms of monitoring, it is not great out of the box and requires tweaking to take full advantage. Since it is agent-based, any time an agent fails to check in, it means that that device is effectively no longer being managed. It can take a great deal of effort to maintain and remediate agent issues.
It is a great tool to manage small to medium-sized environments, but would struggle to cover all the angles required in a larger enterprise setting.

Verified User
Administrator in Information Technology
Information Technology and Services Company, 1001-5000 employeesReturn on Investment
ConnectWise Automate
- We found we were able to provide good monitoring of our customers sites which was an objective. However, that came at a significant time investment that never seemed to be finished.
- We were able to negotiate a price that worked for us for an up-front purchase which was nice.
- We found the pricing to be very competitive.
- Bottom line for us was despite the pros of the product, we found other RMM solutions to be a better overall "value" due to not having to dedicate technicians to maintaining the product.

Verified User
Partner in Information Technology
Computer & Network Security Company, 11-50 employeesSolarWinds N-central
- Allows the service desk to quickly connect to computers and troubleshoot issues in less time
- Minimizes user downtime by allowing installs to run in the background
- Allows for management of updates and the ability to let the user postpone the update if needed
Service Delivery Leader
ContegixInformation Technology and Services, 201-500 employees
Screenshots
Pricing Details
ConnectWise Automate
General
Free Trial
Yes
Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
ConnectWise Automate Editions & Modules
Edition
Implementation Fee | $700 |
---|---|
Agents | $1.00-$6.002 |
- per month/per agent
Additional Pricing Details
—SolarWinds N-central
General
Free Trial
—Free/Freemium Version
—Premium Consulting/Integration Services
—Entry-level set up fee?
No
SolarWinds N-central Editions & Modules
—