SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS) vs. N-able N-central

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
Score 8.0 out of 10
N/A
DameWare Remote Support from Austin IT company SolarWinds is remote administration software for the remote control of desktops, laptops, and servers behind or outside the firewall, allowing registry editing, restart services, logging activity, account and password management, and more. The mobile app also provides access from a phone or tablet. DameWare Remote Support licensing is per technician, the number of end-user remote machines is irrelevant; one technician may receive a license for…
$276
per technician, unlimited end users
N-able N-central
Score 7.1 out of 10
N/A
MSPs and IT professionals use N-able™ N-central® to monitor and manage devices and complex networks remotely. N-central provides visibility and efficiency as the user's needs scale. N-central can help users: 1. Proactively monitor everything on a customer network—not just servers and workstations—and troubleshoot. 2. Stay on top of threats with features like MFA, antivirus, integrated endpoint detection and response, data backup, disk encryption, email protection,…N/A
Pricing
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)N-able N-central
Editions & Modules
Dameware Mini Remote Control
$276
per technician, unlimited end users
Dameware Remote Support
$388
per technician, unlimited end-users
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)N-able N-central
Free Trial
YesNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional DetailsDameWare Remote Support and Mini Remote Control are licensed based on the number of technician users that use the software for remote administration. There are no limits or restrictions for the number of end-users supported or the number of remote endpoints/computers supported. As you buy higher counts of licenses, the per-seat pricing goes down giving you a reduced total price.
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)N-able N-central
Considered Both Products
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)

No answer on this topic

N-able N-central
Chose N-able N-central
With Bomgar there are codes and/or a website that the user has to login to before we can connect remotely. N-central allows us to click on the machine and log in. We can set it to prompt the user to accept the connection, or on some computers, we can just log right into it.
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)N-able N-central
Remote Administration
Comparison of Remote Administration features of Product A and Product B
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
8.5
65 Ratings
3% above category average
N-able N-central
-
Ratings
Screen sharing10.053 Ratings00 Ratings
File transfer10.050 Ratings00 Ratings
Instant message7.647 Ratings00 Ratings
Secure remote access with Smart Card authentication8.416 Ratings00 Ratings
Access to sleeping/powered-off computers9.035 Ratings00 Ratings
Over-the-Internet remote session8.148 Ratings00 Ratings
Initiate remote control from mobile9.025 Ratings00 Ratings
Remote management of servers & workstations9.258 Ratings00 Ratings
Remote Active Directory® management7.139 Ratings00 Ratings
Centralized management dashboard8.238 Ratings00 Ratings
Session record8.55 Ratings00 Ratings
Annotations7.94 Ratings00 Ratings
Monitoring and Alerts8.75 Ratings00 Ratings
Multi-platform remote control7.231 Ratings00 Ratings
Monitoring Tasks
Comparison of Monitoring Tasks features of Product A and Product B
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
-
Ratings
N-able N-central
5.9
3 Ratings
22% below category average
Remote monitoring00 Ratings5.43 Ratings
Network device monitoring00 Ratings5.03 Ratings
Management Tasks
Comparison of Management Tasks features of Product A and Product B
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)
-
Ratings
N-able N-central
6.0
4 Ratings
18% below category average
Patch Management00 Ratings6.04 Ratings
Best Alternatives
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)N-able N-central
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Score 9.8 out of 10
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Score 9.2 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
mRemoteNG
mRemoteNG
Score 9.7 out of 10
NinjaOne
NinjaOne
Score 9.2 out of 10
Enterprises
Remote Desktop Services
Remote Desktop Services
Score 9.0 out of 10

No answers on this topic

All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)N-able N-central
Likelihood to Recommend
8.5
(66 ratings)
4.9
(22 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.0
(13 ratings)
9.1
(2 ratings)
Usability
9.0
(10 ratings)
2.0
(4 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
8.5
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
5.0
(9 ratings)
1.0
(8 ratings)
In-Person Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
5.0
(8 ratings)
8.4
(2 ratings)
Configurability
9.5
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
9.5
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
8.0
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.5
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.5
(2 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS)N-able N-central
Likelihood to Recommend
SolarWinds
I feel like this is a very robust solution that I would recommend to anyone who relies heavily on remote support. Most of the colleagues I work with already use SolarWinds products to one extent or the other. I feel the price for the solution is very fair and a good value for the product.
Read full review
N-able
In my opinion, N-able N-central is a good "learn your lesson and move onto something better" tool. I've used many RMM tools over the years and I feel that this one is slow, does a terrible job with reporting, alerting, monitoring, software deployments, etc. The ability to turn on services like AV, backup, etc easily is cute, but you're not going to be able to use your own tools with this easily. In my experience, if you do turn those tools on for testing during the trial, you'll be charged later (despite it being a trial). They also turn off your ability to monitor these increased costs or to turn them off yourself. As a company, I found that they were impossible to work with. The sales team is right there if you want to buy something - but if you need anything other than to buy something, in my experience, they take days or weeks to navigate. I found that they are not a terribly ethical company and are more concerned with making a few dollars than creating a partnerships with MSPs. I can see value is in the advertised price of $99 for a hundred endpoints. However, you need to remember to not trial any other tools (like AV, backup, etc).
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Pros
SolarWinds
  • Troubleshooting computers remotely without the need for the user to even be around.
  • Install software that needs to be installed manually without having to travel.
  • Viewing what the user is doing specifically that triggers the issue, making replicating issues way simpler.
Read full review
N-able
  • 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.
Read full review
Cons
SolarWinds
  • It would be nice if the installed agent would be able to check in with the server so that I can connect to laptops, etc that have the agent pre-installed for when they are off network.
  • DameWare could do better with the mobile app. I cannot connect in from the outside with the mobile app to provide quick support if needed. This kind of defeats the purpose of a mobile app. If I am on the network, I probably have access to my workstation.
Read full review
N-able
  • Expensive software
  • The support team are terrible
  • Sales team will promise the world to get you over the line
  • Subscription management is tedious
  • Old software with very little development and the support team will not provide any further information on this - no roadmap
  • Integrations galore - but none of them are effective
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
SolarWinds
This application is one of my most used tools when it comes to supporting end users and the network as well. I don't have to run all over the place to get things done when I can access multiple computers on the network at the same time to accomplish multiple tasks in a minimal amount of time.
Read full review
N-able
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.
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Usability
SolarWinds
Because it has enhanced my ability to trouble shoot more issues during the day. Instead of having to go to each machine and spend time at the machine, I can remote in from my desktop and assist the person 90 per cent of the time. I also use it from home to remote in which saves me the time from having to return back to the workplace.
Read full review
N-able
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.
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Reliability and Availability
SolarWinds
Yes, always available.
Read full review
N-able
No answers on this topic
Performance
SolarWinds
The application always seems responsive to me
Read full review
N-able
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
SolarWinds
I use a Samsung mobile device; DameWare Mobile was working and then after an Android update it started crashing. I reported the issue to DameWare and worked with the technicians and developers to gather data for them to correct the issue. They quickly published a beta release for me to test (which corrected the crashes) and then published an update to the Google Play Store.
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N-able
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.
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In-Person Training
SolarWinds
It was excellent
Read full review
N-able
No answers on this topic
Online Training
SolarWinds
The videos were more than sufficient to learn the product
Read full review
N-able
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
SolarWinds
It helps greatly if you know someone already using DameWare Remote Support. I was fortunate as my tech support guys were using it at their hospital and assisted me through the purchase, download and implementation of remote support. As well as, knowing how many licenses to purchase at the time. You have to make sure that anyone assisting in IT can have access to the program with their own license.
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N-able
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
Read full review
Alternatives Considered
SolarWinds
We previously utilized LogMeIn. They increased the pricing of their solution which made us reconsider it. I inherited LogMeIn. I am not a big fan of hosted solutions for some vital IT processes. There was convenience in LogMeIn, but there were also risks about the solution that I was never completely comfortable with. I had utilized DameWare at a previous company, so I knew what I was getting with it. It was an easy decision for me to make. DameWare is an exceptional product.
Read full review
N-able
Our version of SolarWinds was old and running on old hardware, but it was way easier to setup and do things with. It did not do everything N-able does such as patch management, or at least we didn't have a module to do so if one existed. However it definitely seemed easier to use and possibly more stable.
Read full review
Scalability
SolarWinds
You get an 8 because of the constant initial freeze on most connections. Takes a reconnect to have it work.
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N-able
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
SolarWinds
  • DameWare has allowed us to maintain our non-traditional approach to IT support. It allows our administrators to work from anywhere and has extended their reach to clients domestic and abroad.
  • Return on investment was realized as soon as we purchased the licenses. We don't have to maintain a large office space or overhead costs due to the flexibility it allows our administrators.
  • First call resolution has increased drastically since implementing DameWare company-wide. The user no longer has to wait to reproduce an error. We can screen share and view it as it happens and mitigate the issues.
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N-able
  • Reduced time to manage and support servers and endpoints.
  • Provides support dept with more accurate information to assess and resolve issues quicker and more efficiently.
  • The subscription cost associated with N-central, to our clients has a good profit margin for us.
Read full review
ScreenShots

SolarWinds Dameware Remote Support (DRS) Screenshots

Screenshot of DameWare Remote Support Management ConsoleScreenshot of Remotely Connect to Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X ComputersScreenshot of Over-the-Internet Remote Session via Secure Proxy ServerScreenshot of Connect to Remote Computers from iOS and Android Mobile Devices

N-able N-central Screenshots

Screenshot of N-able N-central DashboardScreenshot of Remote desktop access with Take Control