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Freshservice vs ManageEngine
March 18, 2025 | Author: Michael Stromann
15★
IT Service desk that's actually simple. Modernize IT and other business functions with a refreshingly easy-
16★
ManageEngine crafts comprehensive IT management software for all your business needs. We have complete and easy solutions for even your most difficult IT management problems, from keeping your business safe, to ensuring high availability, to making your users happy. We’re bringing IT together so you don’t have to.
Freshservice and ManageEngine are both ITSM solutions, which is a fancy way of saying they exist to make sure your company’s IT problems are handled before Dave from accounting throws his laptop out of the window again. They both let you track tickets, manage assets, automate mundane tasks and integrate with other software that also claims to make your life easier. They adhere to ITIL principles, which is a bit like saying they follow the ancient, mysterious rules of IT support sorcery, ensuring that things break in a well-documented and procedurally correct manner. Oh and they both have AI features, because if there’s one thing IT support needs, it’s a virtual assistant that can tell you in an emotionless monotone that your problem has been escalated to another department.
Freshservice, launched in 2014 by Freshworks, an India-and-USA-based company, is the shinier, newer of the two, designed for startups and modern enterprises who prefer their IT solutions to come with a user interface that doesn’t feel like it was designed by someone with a grudge against humanity. It lives entirely in the cloud, because installing things is apparently old-fashioned now. It also comes with built-in project management, which is helpful for when you need to turn your IT crisis into an exciting multi-stage disaster recovery plan with colorful charts. Perhaps most importantly, it has a no-code/low-code automation system, which means you can create workflows without knowing what an API is or why everyone keeps asking about it.
ManageEngine, on the other hand, is the seasoned veteran, having been launched in 2003 by Zoho Corporation in India, presumably back when IT support involved more fax machines and fewer existential crises over software subscriptions. Unlike Freshservice, it offers both on-premises and cloud options, catering to those who prefer their IT service management to come with a side of "we actually control our own data." It leans heavily into deep customization, complex ITSM capabilities and network monitoring, making it perfect for larger enterprises who need their IT department to function like a well-oiled bureaucracy. It’s also generally more affordable for big companies, because nothing says "enterprise-grade solution" like a pricing model that requires a spreadsheet to decipher.
See also: Top 10 IT Service Desk software
Freshservice, launched in 2014 by Freshworks, an India-and-USA-based company, is the shinier, newer of the two, designed for startups and modern enterprises who prefer their IT solutions to come with a user interface that doesn’t feel like it was designed by someone with a grudge against humanity. It lives entirely in the cloud, because installing things is apparently old-fashioned now. It also comes with built-in project management, which is helpful for when you need to turn your IT crisis into an exciting multi-stage disaster recovery plan with colorful charts. Perhaps most importantly, it has a no-code/low-code automation system, which means you can create workflows without knowing what an API is or why everyone keeps asking about it.
ManageEngine, on the other hand, is the seasoned veteran, having been launched in 2003 by Zoho Corporation in India, presumably back when IT support involved more fax machines and fewer existential crises over software subscriptions. Unlike Freshservice, it offers both on-premises and cloud options, catering to those who prefer their IT service management to come with a side of "we actually control our own data." It leans heavily into deep customization, complex ITSM capabilities and network monitoring, making it perfect for larger enterprises who need their IT department to function like a well-oiled bureaucracy. It’s also generally more affordable for big companies, because nothing says "enterprise-grade solution" like a pricing model that requires a spreadsheet to decipher.
See also: Top 10 IT Service Desk software
