ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs Desk Manager

Freshdesk

Freshservice

LiveAgent

Freshdesk is a cloud-based, omnichannel customer service software for businesses of all sizes, with solutions that increase agent productivity and improve customer satisfaction.

Freshservice is an online ITIL service desk with ticketing & asset management capabilities, and incident, problem, change, release, and knowledge management tools.

Award-winning live chat, help desk, ticketing and call center software with powerful AI features. Start for free with a 30-day trial.

Trainee

Requires fine-tuning to avoid Email/SMS alerts can be too frequently or lack filtering.

Technical Support Specialist

Supports SAML sign ins and 2FA which is always good

Network and network security engineer

As an IT professional, solutions such as ManageEngine are essential for the prompt service delivery of HelpDesk employees within the organization.

ServiceDesk Plus helps to automate IT help desk processes such as knowledge base, SLAs, self-service, and reports. With optional asset & project management.

Access Controls/Permissions

Activity Dashboard

Activity Tracking

AI Copilot

Alerts/Escalation

Alerts/Notifications

Analytics

Approval Process Control

Asset Assignment

Asset Lifecycle Management

Asset Tracking

Assignment Management

Audit Management

Audit Trail

Automated Routing

Availability Management

Barcode/Ticket Scanning

Barcoding/RFID

Benchmarking

Billing & Provisioning

Catalog Management

Change Management

Chatbot

Chat/Messaging

Check-in/Check-out

Client Portal

CMDB

Collaboration Tools

Commenting/Notes

Communication Management

Communications Management

Complaint Monitoring

Compliance Management

Compliance Tracking

Configurable Workflow

Configuration Management

Content Library

Contract/License Management

Corrective and Preventive Actions (CAPA)

Cost Tracking

Customer Support

Customizable Branding

Customizable Fields

Customizable Forms

Customizable Reports

Customizable Templates

Dashboard

Dashboard Creation

Data Import/Export

Data Visualization

Depreciation Management

Disposal Management

Document Management

Document Storage

Drag & Drop

Email Alerts

Email Management

Email Templates

Event Logs

Fixed Asset Management

Forms Management

Full Text Search

Help Desk Management

Historical Reporting

Incident Management

Incident Reporting

Inventory Management

Inventory Tracking

Investigation Management

Issue Auditing

Issue Management

Issue Scheduling

Issue Tracking

IT Asset Management

IT Asset Tracking

IT Incident Management

Knowledge Base Management

Knowledge Management

Live Chat

Location Tracking

Macros/Templated Responses

Maintenance Management

Maintenance Scheduling

Mobile Access

Mobile Alerts

Mobile App

Mobile Interface

Monitoring

Multi-Channel Communication

Multi-Language

Multi-Location

Online Forums

Performance Metrics

Pre-built Templates

Prioritization

Problem Management

Procurement Management

Projections

Project Management

Most users consider ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus to deliver strong value for money, praising its comprehensive features and competitive pricing. Some users say add-ons and integrations raise costs, and some reviewers feel annual price increases are concerning.

Value for money

The ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus integration most frequently cited by reviewers is ManageEngine Endpoint Central, an unified endpoint management (UEM) product rated 4.4 out of 5 for its integration with ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus.

Integrations

By industry, ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus reviewers are most commonly professionals in information technology and services (16%). The most frequent use case cited is help desk (75% of reviewers).

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

Windows

Web-based

Linux

Android

iPhone

iPad

SolarWinds Service Desk

Zendesk Suite

JIRA Service Management

ServiceNow Customer Service Management

ServiceNow

SysAid

Spiceworks Cloud Help Desk

Jira

TOPdesk

Atera

Zoho Desk

osTicket

TeamViewer ONE

Standard (Cloud)

 Professional (Cloud)

 Enterprise (Cloud)

Complex and unintuitive interface

47% of reviewers feel negative about Ease of Use, reporting that the interface can be confusing and outdated compared to competitors. Users think navigating the system and customizing templates or workflows is challenging, especially for those new to the platform. Some reviewers find reporting and data export unintuitive, requiring extra manual effort. They indicate that basic tasks like tracking ticket statuses or modifying the user interface are not straightforward. Reviewers mention that the lack of user-friendly design and limited customization options make it harder for end users and administrators to efficiently operate the software.

Streamlined and flexible setup

it specialist

Really easy to configure, deploy and therefore quick to start using.

Service Delivery Manager

Easy to setup and get started, mostly conforms to ITIL standards

96% of reviewers feel positive about Setup, noting that they find the initial configuration process straightforward and quick. Users think the setup is intuitive, allowing them to get started with minimal effort and adapt the system to their organization’s needs. Reviewers appreciate that the product offers easy integration with other ManageEngine and third-party tools, which they say reduces onboarding time. Some reviewers find the setup process aligns well with ITIL standards and say the clear navigation and customizable options make it easy to tailor workflows and configurations to fit their specific business requirements.

Comprehensive ticket management tools

Network & Infrastructure Engineer

The ticket automation is also good in that we can get third-party systems to email the service desk and then automation can look at this email and then create a ticket based on a template designed for that service and then open it in the service desk without any end-user requirement.  

86% of reviewers feel positive about Ticket Management, highlighting its ability to centralize and streamline the handling of incidents, requests, and changes. Users indicate that customizable templates, automated workflows, and integration with email and directory services help them efficiently track, assign, and resolve tickets. Reviewers appreciate features like detailed tracking, robust reporting, and the ability to manage multiple ticket types in one place. Some users say the knowledge base and notification system improve communication and user satisfaction, while the dashboard and automation features simplify monitoring and managing ticket progress.

System Network and İnformation Sec Manager

Its comprehensive capabilities in critical areas such as request management, SLA tracking, automation workflows, and reporting have markedly improved the quality of our daily operations.

Service Desk + is not only a ticketing service, it allows you to run reports, track assets, automate solutions for tickets etc.

Network administrator

We also have Endpoint Central Cloud, and I don't like that we cannot use all remote functionalities available for support in this tool when we have integration, it should be nice to have all those remote alternatives directly in ServiceDesk Plus when we are working on support ticket.

IT System Engineer

The deployment of the ticketing system was really fast and allowed for security mfa to be enabled. When it comes to value for money its fantastic and has a great learning curve as it has a knowledge page too.

IT Team Lead

A very powerful tool that I would advise to any team that wants to implement heavy customisations and process automation whilst keeping associated costs minimal.

We are working with ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus first on-presmises and after move to the cloud, the migration was was easy and faster.

Senior Technician

I use this system in my full time job as a technician and it has a huge list of features which make it easy such as different job views, informative dashboard and handy buttons on the taskbar.

You can create many teams and then create rules for those teams.

Network Security Engineer

ServiceDesk Plus provides pre-built integrations for commonly used functionalities (Software installations/uninstallations and remote control).

Its user-friendly platform for both end-users and IT teams has accelerated the adaptation process.

Sever Analyst

The Dark mode feature is not the best solution to making it more easily readable and there are not enough options to make it look better

Overall, I can confidently say it is a reliable solution for organisations seeking to professionalise their processes and strengthen their service management.

ServiceDesk+ has 2 server versions: Linux based and Windows based.

Price has always been reasonable for our use case and never had any issues with audits running though them.

Team Leader

Additionally, they have many integration capabilities like MS Teams, Endpoint Central, Jira and these are just native ones.

We recently switched to another ticketing system and although there were a lot of new features, they weren't ideal for our line of work and found it much easier to navigate Service Desk Plus.

You can train a new user to use it within minutes

You can adjust the order of tickets by date, name, technician assigned and more.

Technical Engineer

Ticketing tool is one of the best that eases the work of the IT Technicians, it is very easy to deploy and Integrate with other applications, it has lot of features which are very useful like Asset Management, Change Management, Problem Management, we can even fetch the reports in an instant.

IT Engineer

Also, inventory tracking connected to Desktop Central (now Endpoint Central) is hit and miss and when moving from either instance's on-prem to cloud, things break and assets have to be re-entered, but end up having the cloud cutover date, not the original asset acquired date.  

Chief Technology Officer

It helped me get a handle not only on the incoming tickets and requests, but also the machines that were at the company, as well as helped get a knowledge base for users to have.

Head of Infrastructure and Networks

Default view for some aspects like changes are over complicated, pre built forms and categories would save time, a lot of time is needed to fully customise the platform.

Administrator

Can be a bit of a burden to update with only command line automated options.

The different views for tickets you have to manage is great to manage the workflow.

Engineer TI Sr.

It does not have antivirus available, they are only allowed through integrations.

Technician and end users can manages tickets it improves responsiveness.

ServiceDesk Plus is a highly customizable ITSM tool with many modules.

Senior Engineer

The built-in templates are really helpful and can be employed with customisations based on requirement basis to need clients unique requirements.

Director of IT

The help desk software was exactly what I wanted in a help desk solution.  

Overall it's a good platform for teams of any size.

Helpdesk Manager

The user interface looks dated and can be somewhat unintuitive

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs Desk Manager Comparison (2026)

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

Desk Manager

Overview

Video & Screenshots

Pricing

User reviews

Key features

Integrations

Alternatives