ConnectWise Automate vs. VNC Connect

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
ConnectWise Automate
Score 7.9 out of 10
N/A
ConnectWise Automate, formerly LabTech, is a remote monitoring and management (RMM) platform. It provides powerful automation to discover and manage devices, monitor for problems, and scripts repetitive action.
$700
VNC Connect
Score 7.6 out of 10
N/A
VNC® Connect is presented as a secure, simple remote desktop solution. It enables users to remotely access and control their devices wherever they are in the world, whenever they need to. VNC® Connect covers a wide range of remote access use cases with a single subscription, from remote working to IT support.
$3.39
per remote computer per month
Pricing
ConnectWise AutomateVNC Connect
Editions & Modules
Agents
$1.00-$6.00
per month/per agent
Implementation Fee
$700
Professional - Device Access
$3.39
per remote computer per month
Enterprise - Device Access
$4.59
per remote computer per month
Professional - Instant Support
$16.99
per named technician per month
Enterprise - Instant Support
$33.49
per named technician per month
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
ConnectWise AutomateVNC Connect
Free Trial
YesYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
ConnectWise AutomateVNC Connect
Considered Both Products
ConnectWise Automate
Chose ConnectWise Automate
Before LabTech, we used Kaseya 6, which was terrible. Currently with LabTech, we use ConnectWise for our ticketing, PRTG and Auvik for network monitoring. We selected LabTech, because it met our price point and they are a local company, that we can easily work with to meet our …
Chose ConnectWise Automate
Labtech is a lot easier to use than its competitors, they provide get documentation and support for common issues.
VNC Connect

No answer on this topic

Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
ConnectWise AutomateVNC Connect
Monitoring Tasks
Comparison of Monitoring Tasks features of Product A and Product B
ConnectWise Automate
6.1
21 Ratings
18% below category average
VNC Connect
-
Ratings
Remote monitoring7.221 Ratings00 Ratings
Network device monitoring5.120 Ratings00 Ratings
Management Tasks
Comparison of Management Tasks features of Product A and Product B
ConnectWise Automate
6.3
21 Ratings
13% below category average
VNC Connect
-
Ratings
Patch Management6.020 Ratings00 Ratings
Policy-based automation6.921 Ratings00 Ratings
Remote Administration
Comparison of Remote Administration features of Product A and Product B
ConnectWise Automate
-
Ratings
VNC Connect
7.7
31 Ratings
7% below category average
Screen sharing00 Ratings10.027 Ratings
File transfer00 Ratings8.314 Ratings
Instant message00 Ratings8.118 Ratings
Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication00 Ratings9.04 Ratings
Access to sleeping/powered-off computers00 Ratings6.09 Ratings
Over-the-Internet remote session00 Ratings9.129 Ratings
Initiate remote control from mobile00 Ratings8.118 Ratings
Remote management of servers & workstations00 Ratings4.76 Ratings
Centralized management dashboard00 Ratings9.015 Ratings
Session record00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Annotations00 Ratings5.36 Ratings
Monitoring and Alerts00 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Multi-platform remote control00 Ratings9.010 Ratings
Best Alternatives
ConnectWise AutomateVNC Connect
Small Businesses
NinjaOne
NinjaOne
Score 9.2 out of 10
Getscreen.me
Getscreen.me
Score 9.8 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
NinjaOne
NinjaOne
Score 9.2 out of 10
mRemoteNG
mRemoteNG
Score 9.7 out of 10
Enterprises

No answers on this topic

Remote Desktop Services
Remote Desktop Services
Score 9.0 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
ConnectWise AutomateVNC Connect
Likelihood to Recommend
7.5
(58 ratings)
9.0
(37 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
10.0
(4 ratings)
8.0
(8 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(4 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
Performance
3.0
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
7.0
(14 ratings)
8.0
(2 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(3 ratings)
7.0
(2 ratings)
Implementation Rating
5.0
(2 ratings)
8.0
(2 ratings)
Configurability
10.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
7.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
ConnectWise AutomateVNC Connect
Likelihood to Recommend
ConnectWise
I recommend it to all IT colleagues; regardless of the size of the PCs with which you work most of the time, the application allows connection stability between computers that make it possible to continue working or taking care of the infrastructure from afar.
Read full review
RealVNC
It is very easy to use if the remote device is already set up to receive connections, so if you are setting up devices before deploying them, it is a great tool to have. It is well-suited to use when shadowing users or using it as a teaching tool. There are other products that are better if you are trying to help someone on a one-use basis.
Read full review
Pros
ConnectWise
  • 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
Read full review
RealVNC
  • VNC Connect does an excellent job in remotely connecting to a computer through either your local area network or even another computer on the internet. As long as the VNC Connect services is installed and the client is running in the background.
  • VNC Connect provides password protection to prevent unauthorized users from attempting to remotely access your computer. There's an option to have a separate password to remotely view vs view & access a computer. You can even add an additional level of security by turning on the feature to require Windows login credentials.
  • VNC Connect provides an additional set of controls after a remote connection has been established with another computer. You can have special keystrokes like Ctrl+Alt+Del sent as a command sequence to the other computer as well as access more than a single screen when in use at the remote computer location.
Read full review
Cons
ConnectWise
  • 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.
Read full review
RealVNC
  • Its a pretty straight forward product - I would like to see more tools with a "wow" factor.
  • Panel colors are blah - I would like more eye-catching colors.
  • A more consistent look with all platforms - like Mac & PC.
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
ConnectWise
The primary reason for this rating is that ConnectWise Automate is currently so integral to our operations that moving away would involve more man hours than we would realistically have to invest. However, ConnectWise Automate is also completely capable of meeting all of our business needs and customizable to the point where if something is not meeting those needs out of the box, it can be modified to do what we want. From only installing software on machines if a different software package exists, to push a new version of that software is available, to check if credentials for user/machine have been updated to our new standards and then updating them if they have not, ConnectWise Automate is capable of doing everything we ask of it.
Read full review
RealVNC
VNC is a solid product for the price. It simply works and its reliable across different platforms. Some products state they work well in the Mac environment but don't deliver. This one does what it says. Connections are reliable, but of course, this depends on internet connections. The product works well over wireless connections as well. It delivers on what a remote tool should deliver on. My technicians are happy with the product and customers appreciate the ease of use when letting us connect to their systems. Some also appreciate the remote support while they are multi-task.
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Usability
ConnectWise
Basic use of the product is fairly easy. Information about the machines you manage can be found in customizable dashboards, which can be unique for each user, and, therefore, properly suited to the users' needs/job function. This is not a 10 because some of the interfaces are very clunky (Patch Management), and some features are not intuitive and not well documented (reporting). Scripting and Patch Management have a fairly steep learning curve (For structure in patch management and syntax in scripting), but once learned, they work well.
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RealVNC
VNC Connect is a solid product and our techs are very confident that they can get the job done using it. Reliability is key for us since we have a small support team and many users to support. It also helps keep us in the background more allowing the end-users to multi-task. VNC supports our goal of providing quick and efficient services.
Read full review
Performance
ConnectWise
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.
Read full review
RealVNC
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
ConnectWise
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.
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RealVNC
VNC Connect is a reliable product that has been around for a long time. It is reasonably priced and works well in the Mac & PC environment. When you have a small team that supports many users we need tools that we can rely upon and that will get the job done on the first try. Many customers appreciate the quick assistance and can multi-task while our team works on their computer issues remotely. From a customer service point of view, this tool gives us transparency and efficient effectiveness.
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Online Training
ConnectWise
The Online training has been re-done and needs a lot more work. When you look at training in different roles, it shows a lot of the same topics but no explanation to what is different about them. Several times that topics are the exact same, but they make you re-take the same information for a different topic, instead of marking that you have already completed that portion of training.
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RealVNC
The training is very informative, quick and to the point. All of the details one would need are present so the user doesn't have to go searching for additional information just to use the application. The layout of the training was also neat and concise, some of the other training sessions for other companies I've done in the past were confusing and not well thought out, this one is much more superior
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Implementation Rating
ConnectWise
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.
Read full review
RealVNC
No problem at all, love the product.
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
ConnectWise
I believe the monitoring and alerts in Continuum command is better, but [ConnectWise Automate (formerly LabTech)] does have stronger scripting, and perhaps a better interface. N-Central is inferior on all fronts to both. I did not make the purchasing decision. I would myself likely pick Continuum if I had to make a on the spot choice.
Read full review
RealVNC
VNC is light and sleek with the quick setup, was impressed with the quick setup despite poor Internet connection outdoor. TeamViewer is good, but the pricing is not as good as VNC. Both do the basic job, but VNC still outperform TeamViewer in terms of performance and ease of use.
Read full review
Return on Investment
ConnectWise
  • 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.
Read full review
RealVNC
  • I have just used the software for about 1 month and so far so god. I am saving time whenever I can access my client's computers from my desk as opposed to having to leave my office to go to their offices. Saves me time and the client money.
Read full review
ScreenShots

ConnectWise Automate Screenshots

Screenshot of Monitor: Find problemsScreenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of Screenshot of