9 Best MSP software to manage your IT

Any MSP striving to remain competitive knows that customers are at the center of everything the company does. Excellent customer service goes beyond your company’s strengths; it’s something customers demand from you.

The best way for MSPs to deliver excellent customer service is by utilizing an all-in-one MSP software that helps to maintain client IT infrastructure remotely, manage client communication, and produce reports that demonstrate your value. Some MSP software can provide all of these capabilities under one platform, while others are limited to a single feature set, such as helpdesk and ticketing.

In this article, we will review the best MSP software tools to manage and secure your clients’ IT infrastructure in 2024, according to our research and findings. Before we review the software, let’s talk about what MSP software is, what types of software exist, and why you should invest in one.

What is MSP software?

MSP software is a suite of tools designed to help MSPs deliver, manage, and monitor IT services for their clients. These tools enable MSPs to manage clients’ IT infrastructure efficiently, ensure system reliability, and provide robust security.

The best MSP software include features such as remote monitoring and management (RMM), patch management, remote access, PSA, reporting, and analytics. It often also includes third-party integrations to enhance capabilities and streamline operations.

Some MSP software focus on specific aspects of IT management, such as professional services automation (PSA), or remote monitoring and management. A few all-in-one IT management tools, including Atera, offer all the tools MSPs require under one platform.

Types of MSP software

The different types of MSP software include RMM, PSA, patch management, network and device management, and all-in-one IT management. Following are some of the features and benefits of each type of aforementioned MSP software.

Remote monitoring and management software

Remote monitoring and management (RMM) software enables MSPs to monitor clients’ IT infrastructure remotely. RMM software continuously checks the health and performance of various devices, including servers, desktops, network devices, and more.

The key features of RMM software include real-time monitoring, alerts, and thresholds for different device types, IT automation, server monitoring, patch management, and comprehensive reporting and analytics. Some RMM products include built-in remote access, while others integrate with third-party remote access tools.

Professional services automation software

Professional services automation (PSA) software is a crucial tool for improving client communication and satisfaction. It provides a centralized system for managing client interactions and support tickets. Other key features of PSA software include time tracking, billing and contract management, and reporting and analytics.

The best PSA software also enables you to create customer portals, where you can provide training to employees and clients, keep track of open tickets, and access any knowledge base information.

Patch management software

Patch management software simplifies the process of updating and patching software applications and operating systems across clients’ IT environments. These tools scan the network to identify outdated and vulnerable software, download the necessary updates, and deploy them across all relevant devices.

Patch management is often part of an RMM or more comprehensive IT management platform. For example, Atera offers automated patch management through its all-in-one IT management platform.

Network and device management software

Network and device management software enables MSPs to monitor and manage clients’ network infrastructure and connected devices.

Similarly to patch management, network and device management is often included in RMMs or all-in-one IT management systems. For instance, network monitoring is an integral part of Atera’s all-in-one IT management solution.

All-in-one IT management software

Instead of using multiple MSP software solutions, MSPs can utilize an all-in-one solution to manage all of their IT needs from one place. All-in-one IT management software integrates RMM, PSA, patch management, network, ticketing, and device management into one product. These tools usually include advanced IT automations to eliminate repetitive tasks, reporting and analytics to track performance, and integration with third-party software to extend functionality.

One example of all-in-one IT management software is Atera. It combines all the necessary IT management tools into one platform and provides standout features, such as AI-powered IT (AIT), which enhances the efficiency of IT technicians.

Why you need MSP software

MSP software is not just a luxury—it’s a necessity for businesses looking to streamline their IT operations, enhance productivity, and stay competitive in an ever-evolving technological environment.

Investing in MSP software offers many benefits, including proactive IT management, streamlined operations, enhanced security, cost reduction, and centralized system management. 

Let’s examine each of the benefits in more detail.

Proactive IT management

One primary reason to use MSP software is the ability to manage IT systems proactively. A key component of MSP software is RMM, which enables you to monitor clients’ IT infrastructure proactively, identifying potential issues before they become critical. MSP software often has automated patch management, which can automatically download, install, and detect updates across all client systems.

Addressing issues proactively ensures high levels of service reliability and prevents downtime, increasing client satisfaction at the same time.

Reduction in manual tasks

The best managed service software solutions offer capabilities such as IT automation and scripting, which reduce the need for manual intervention and streamline processes. For example, with Atera, you can set up IT automation profiles to update patches automatically for all operating systems, delete temp files, run scripts, create system restore points, and more.

The latest MSP software tools also come with AI-powered capabilities, further reducing manual tasks. The AI features help to streamline tasks that are traditionally handled manually by IT professionals, such as ticketing.

Enhanced network security

Cybersecurity is paramount in today’s digital age. Security and threat management features in MSP software protect against malware, ransomware, and unauthorized access. Automated patch management helps to keep all clients’ systems up-to-date with the latest security patches, further reducing vulnerabilities.

Streamlined management of clients’ systems

Streamlined management is particularly true for all-in-one MSP software solutions, which provide centralized management of clients’ entire IT infrastructures. The top MSP software solutions allow you to onboard new customers seamlessly, and create customer profiles quickly, and switch between them easily.

The 9 best MSP software to manage client IT infrastructure

Next, let’s review the best MSP tools, according to our own research and findings. 

For each platform, we will highlight it’s key features, pricing, and the pros and cons. With this information, choosing the right software for your organization will be much simpler.

1. Atera

Atera is an all-in-one IT management solution for MSPs and IT departments. It provides MSPs with all the features they need for IT management, including remote monitoring and management, patch management, PSA, helpdesk and ticketing, remote access, and reporting and analytics – as well as AI-powered capabilities. For more functionality, Atera integrates with various third-party software.

Atera is the first IT management platform utilizing AI to power its platform. Atera’s AI-powered IT (AIT) paves a new way for IT management, improving customer satisfaction, operational efficiency, and technicians’ productivity by 10X.

Unlike most RMM pricing models, Atera offers industry-disruptive pay-per-technician pricing, where users can add unlimited endpoints/devices at no additional cost. This is one of the main benefits Atera customers appreciate on review platforms like G2, Capterra, Gartner, and GetApp.

Features and capabilities

MSPs face a number of repetitive tasks daily, which is why IT automation should be an integral part of any good MSP software. Not only does Atera offer IT automation through IT automation profiles, but it also provides Atera Copilot, an AI tool for automating repetitive tasks.

Atera Copilot helps to improve and automate nearly all aspects of IT management, such as scripting, composing ticket responses, managing SNMP devices, creating commands, and creating knowledge-based articles.

Agentic AI™, the powerful technology behind Atera Copilot, offers unprecedented advantages for MSPs. This innovative solution acts as an invaluable IT companion, revolutionizing day-to-day operations and championing a new way to manage IT. By leveraging real-time device diagnostics and AI-recommended actions, MSPs can troubleshoot issues with remarkable speed and accuracy.

Copilot’s ability to instantly summarize tickets, generate tailored responses, and provide proven AI solutions based on historical data significantly turbocharges efficiency, reducing manual triage and solving tickets exponentially faster.
Atera’s AI scripting helps create customized scripts to solve issues such as slow device performance or concurrent application crashes. You input details, and the AI generates a precise script to fix the issue.

User interface and usability

Atera combines numerous IT management tools into one platform, and seamless navigation between them has been a key component of its development. Atera has succeeded in making the platform intuitive and user-friendly, winning G2 awards for both ease of use and implementation.

Atera’s main admin dashboard view provides an overview of the health and status of your network infrastructure. Most tasks within Atera can be performed from the left sidebar.

Atera admin dashboard view

MSPs can create new customer profiles from the same left-hand panel. The steps involve creating a contract, selecting SLAs and threshold profiles, and adding the right contacts.

If there are any problems during or after the setup process, Atera offers 24/7 live chat support. One of Atera’s strong points is also its active IT community, where users can discuss best practices and troubleshoot common issues. Atera also has different self-help materials, including an extensive help center, webinars, and blog posts.

Pricing and value for money

One of Atera’s standout features is its transparent pay-per-technician pricing, which is specifically tailored to MSPs and IT departments respectively. For MSPs, the pricing plans range from $129 to $209/month, while for IT departments, they range from $149 to $199/month. Enterprise customers can request a custom quotation tailored to their needs. Atera’s clear and transparent pricing makes scaling predictable and prevents unexpected fees.

Most MSP software tools use pay-per-endpoint pricing, where you pay for the amount of endpoints/devices you manage. While this may benefit some organizations, it can also have significant downsides, such as unpredictability and increased costs. 

One Atera customer on Capterra appreciates that he can test certain things on devices before rolling them out without incurring additional costs. With per-endpoint pricing, experimenting and adding new devices increases the cost.

Atera G2 rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (550+ reviews)

What Atera users are saying on G2:

A G2 user mentions that alerting is one of Atera’s best features. Atera’s alerting system sends SMS or email notifications when new tickets arrive. Additionally, the ability to convert emails directly to tickets is useful and time-saving for the reviewer. Atera also provides numerous pre-developed ticket response templates that make responding to client questions easy.

Atera Capterra rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (350+ reviews)

What Atera users are saying on Capterra:

An IT service provider on Capterra mentioned spending thousands of dollars trying different IT management solutions before discovering Atera. The reviewer appreciates that Atera was built from the ground up by people who understand the process of running an MSP business. After signing up, you can start using Atera immediately and create customer profiles. For those new to MSP software, Atera’s pay-per-technician pricing offers a cost-effective way to get started.

Atera pricing:

Atera’s pricing plans for MSPs:

• Pro: $129 per month, per technician
• Growth: $179 per month, per technician
• Power: $209 per month, per technician
• Superpower (Enterprise): Custom quotation. Contact sales for pricing.

Atera’s pricing plans for IT departments:

• Professional: $149 per month, per technician
• Expert: $169 per month, per technician
• Master: $199 per month, per technician
• Enterprise: Custom quotation. Contact sales for pricing.

Get started with Atera with a 30-day free trial, no credit card required!

2. ConnectWise

ConnectWise offers various tools for MSPs to manage their clients’ IT infrastructure. Its most popular tool, ConnectWise PSA, offers PSA capabilities, such as service desk, project management, time tracking and billing, reporting, and more. ConnectWise PSA can be integrated with ConnectWise Automate for RMM and patch management capabilities.

ConnectWise’s features are split into various products, which each have their own price. If your company has the financial resources to pay for multiple subscriptions, ConnectWise offers a flexible choice for MSPs. Companies with less resources may benefit more from all-in-one solutions, such as Atera.

G2 Rating: 4.1 out of 5.0 (120+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.1 out of 5.0 (125+ reviews)

ConnectWise Automate Pricing:

• Custom quotation: ConnectWise RMM does not make its pricing available publicly. To know ConnectWise pricing, request a quote from their team

3. ManageEngine

Similarly to ConnectWise, ManageEngine offers a suite of products for managing IT environments. Its most popular product for MSPs is Endpoint Central MSP, which allows them to monitor and manage client IT environments remotely. Other key features include patch management, remote access, asset monitoring, and reporting and analytics.

ManageEngine is known for being a highly flexible solution, which is one reason why it’s popular amongst enterprise users. However, many customers consider the software difficult to use due to its flexibility. One Reddit user specifically mentions that the interface is confusing.

G2 Rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 (600+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 5.0 out of 5.0 (750+ reviews)

ManageEngine Endpoint Central Pricing:

• Professional: Starting at $104 per month, per technician
• Enterprise: Starting at $124 per month, per technician
• UEM: Starting at $139 per month, per technician
• Security: Starting at $205 per month, per technician

4. N-able

N-able’s two main products for MSPs are N-sight RMM and N-central RMM. The N-sight RMM is suitable for smaller MSPs seeking key RMM capabilities, while the N-central RMM is designed for larger networks with more advanced capabilities. Both of the products can be integrated with N-able MSP Manager for advanced PSA capabilities.

Similarly to ConnectWise, many of N-able’s features are split between the different products, so you may have to use multiple products to get all the IT management capabilities. MSPs with limited resources may find this to be a disadvantage.

G2 Rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 stars (170+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 3.9 out of 5.0 stars (40+ reviews)

N-central Pricing:

• The company does not publicly disclose its pricing; it is based on a custom quotation. To obtain the pricing, request a quote from N-able’s website.

5. Kaseya

Kaseya offers various products for IT management. MSPs mostly use Kaseya VSA, which offers all-in-one endpoint management capabilities. Key features of Kaseya VSA are real-time monitoring and alerting, automated patch management, auto-remediation, network monitoring, remote access, and asset management.

Kaseya VSA’s main drawback is the user interface, which users on G2 have reported as outdated. With modern IT management solutions, Kaseya’s interface would need to be overhauled to compete.

G2 Rating: 4.0 out of 5.0 (250+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.1 out of 5.0 (200+ reviews)

Kaseya VSA Pricing:

• Custom pricing system in place. Visit their website to learn more.

6. SuperOps

SuperOps combines remote monitoring and management and professional services automation (PSA) capabilities on one platform and is aimed at MSPs. Other key capabilities of SuperOps include IT automation, patch management, asset management, and a mobile app for managing clients’ IT infrastructure.

SuperOps charges its users pay-per-technician, similar to Atera. However, if you exceed your plan’s maximum number of endpoints, you will be charged an additional fee. The maximum number of endpoints for every plan is 150. This is a slight disadvantage compared to solutions such as Atera, which allows unlimited endpoints.

G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (100+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: n/a

SuperOps Pricing:

• Starting at $119, per month for the unified PSA and RMM package

7. NinjaOne

NinjaOne is an all-in-one solution for MSPs and IT departments. Its key features include RMM, patch management, helpdesk and ticketing, remote access, and reporting and analytics. NinjaOne also offers comprehensive third-party integrations for additional functionalities.

NinjaOne’s main advantage is its comprehensive feature set, but it also has drawbacks, including its pay-per-endpoint pricing. The more endpoints you add to the platform, the higher the cost gets, which isn’t ideal for scaling MSPs. If this applies to you, you may want to benefit more from solutions offering pay-per-technician pricing.

G2 Rating: 4.8 out of 5.0 (1,000+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.8 out of 5.0 (200+ reviews)

NinjaOne Pricing:

• Pricing is based on custom quotation. To learn more, visit their website.

8. GoTo Resolve

GoTo Resolve is an IT management solution aimed at IT managers and MSPs. It offers the capabilities to manage, monitor, and access clients’ devices. Other features of the platform include helpdesk and ticketing, IT alerting, patch management, and remote support capabilities. 

While GoTo Resolve aims to provide comprehensive IT management, it does lack some crucial features, such as advanced PSA. It does offer integrations with third-party PSA software, but this involves extra costs.

G2 Rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 (400+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 (190+ reviews)

GoTo Resolve Pricing:

• Free: Free to use, up to 3 technicians
• Standard: Starting at $57 per month, billed annually
• Premium: Custom pricing. Visit their website to get the pricing

9. Pulseway

Pulseway is a remote monitoring and management (RMM) software for MSPs and IT departments. The most notable features of the platform are IT automation, network monitoring, remote access, self-service portal, and patch management. Pulseway also integrates with various third-party software for more functionality.

One of Pulseway’s strengths is its mobile app, which is highly rated on both the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store. While customers highly appreciate this feature, many competitors offer mobile apps for managing IT environments.

G2 Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 (50+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 (180+ reviews)

Pulseway Pricing:

• Basic: Custom pricing available. Visit their website to find out how much the price is for your use case.

AI-powered MSP software for superior IT management

Unlike the vast majority of MSP software out there, Atera offers MSPs an AI-powered all-in-one solution for managing clients’ IT infrastructure. It provides RMM, PSA, patch management, IT automation, remote access, and reporting, all in one package. 

Atera’s IT management platform is powered by AI through Atera Copilot. The available AI capabilities help to automate and improve nearly all aspects of IT management, from IT ticketing to scripting to creating knowledge base articles to IT troubleshooting. With it, IT staff can work 10X more efficiently and focus on more strategic projects. 

For MSPs, Copilot is a game-changer in team empowerment and extension. It effectively elevates Tier-1 technicians to Tier-2 capabilities, freeing up senior staff to focus on strategic projects. This AI-driven assistant not only boosts teams’ capabilities but also improves the overall quality of work and boosts employee satisfaction too. 

By tapping into existing knowledge bases and automating tasks like creating custom scripts and generating knowledge base articles, Copilot ensures consistent, high-quality resolutions across all client interactions.

The result is a dramatic improvement in operational efficiency, customer satisfaction, and team productivity. MSPs using Agentic AI can deliver faster SLAs, reduce IT frustrations, and ensure higher levels of satisfaction on both sides of the ticket. This leads to enhanced client retention and opens up opportunities for MSPs to take on more complex IT challenges, driving their entire organization upward in the competitive landscape of managed IT services.

If you’d like to try Atera and its AI features, we offer a 30-day free trial with no credit card required!
You can also contact our sales team for a demo.