The 7 Best Freshservice alternatives for smarter IT management in 2026

IT service management in 2026 goes far beyond simple ticket tracking; it’s now about a complete overhaul of operational efficiency. Freshservice, while a popular ITSM tool, doesn’t include Agentic AI capabilities and other features that some teams want or require.

To find the best Freshservice alternatives, we did three things:

• Looked at leading review platforms like G2, Reddit, and Capterra to see what other users use and recommend
• Compared each platform’s key features, pricing, and pros and cons
• Did our own research into real-world use cases of each platform

For teams looking to elevate their support infrastructure, finding the right alternative to Freshservice means balancing cutting-edge technology with practical, user-friendly solutions that can genuinely improve daily operations.

7 best Freshservice alternatives for smarter IT management in 2026

1. Atera
2. Jira
3. ServiceNow
4. Zendesk
5. ManageEngine
6. SolarWinds
7. Datto Autotask

Below, we have outlined the key features, as well as the pricing, pros, and cons for each of the Freshservice alternatives to assist you in selecting the best option for your IT team’s needs.

Let’s begin!

1. Atera

Key differences

1. Key features: When looking at Atera vs Freshservice, Atera is an all-in-one, Agentic AI IT management platform that combines features like RMM, PSA, remote access, asset management, and patch management into one platform. Comparatively, Freshservice’s features include ITSM features such as service desk and asset management.

2. Agentic AI: Both Atera and Freshservice integrate AI into their ticketing systems. Of the two, only Atera integrates Agentic AI with other areas of IT management, such as device troubleshooting and script generation. Atera’s two AI agents, Robin and AI Copilot, tackle manual and repetitive tasks fully autonomously, capable of eliminating up to 40% of your IT workload instantly.

3. Pricing structure: Both Atera and Freshservice offer pay-per-user/technician pricing. Of the two, only Atera integrates all the key IT management capabilities into the pricing plans, such as RMM, PSA, AI agents, and remote access.

Features and capabilities

Atera is a great value alternative to Freshservice as it allows IT teams to manage their entire IT infrastructures from one unified platform.

Atera’s RMM allows you to remotely monitor and manage various endpoints, such as workstations and servers. 

Atera’s device page

Upon onboarding, you can use Atera’s Network Discovery tool to get a list of every asset and component in your IT environment. The Network Discovery tool scans your network for security risks and lets you set up alerts for unmonitored workstations and servers, so you’re always in the know.

To manage end-user support requests, Atera’s ticketing system comes in handy. This is one of the areas where Atera’s AI Copilot makes a significant difference. It can automatically summarize and respond to tickets, and can even resolve them automatically.

Atera’s AI Copilot assisting with ticketing

And even before the tickets land on technicians’ desks, Autopilot is taking care of the first-tier support, which drastically reduces ticket volume.

Whether you are a large enterprise or an SMB, Atera’s AI Copilot helps streamline complex workflows, automate repetitive tasks, and deliver superior results faster.

Agentic AI technology

At Atera, we’re recognized as leaders in the AIOps industry, with G2 selecting Atera as the #1 best AIOps tool for 2026.

Atera’s autonomous IT agents handle routine tasks instantly, cutting resolution times to minutes by handling tickets, delivering real-time solutions, and supporting technicians with insights and actions.

Atera’s Robin is ideal for enterprises dealing with high ticket volumes and staff shortages. It handles your first-tier support by interacting with users on channels, like Slack, email, Teams, or your Customer Portal.

Autopilot doesn’t just respond to user queries; it’s capable of solving actual issues, whether it’s password resets, installing pre-approved software, running scripts, or configuring devices.

For complex issues that require a human technician, Atera’s AI Copilot comes in handy for technicians.

Atera’s AI Copilot assistant is much more than a tool. It’s your IT partner, powered by industry-leading Agentic AI technology, assisting with all IT management tasks.

Copilot assists with generating Splashtop summaries, spinning up OIDs, generating scripts, crafting CLI commands, generating articles, and more.

Atera’s AI agents aren’t just about automation; they’re a transformation in how IT operations are managed.

Atera’s users, such as Leeds United, are already reducing their tickets by 35% with our AI agents, a drastic reduction for a company of their size.

Zack Barr, the service desk analyst from Leeds United, commented:

• “The AI copilot is like having another team member. Tickets have been reduced by 25-35% and it’s assisting us with knowledge base generation.“

Pricing plans and value for money

At Atera, we’re big advocates of transparent pricing. While enterprises can request a custom quotation, the pricing plans range from $149 to $219 per month for IT departments and from $129 to $209 per month.

With all of our pricing plans, you can manage unlimited endpoints for a fixed monthly fee. This makes scaling predictable, and you can scale without increasing your bottom line.

Atera’s pricing plans are as follows:

Atera pricing plans for IT departments:

• Professional: $149 per month, per technician
• Expert: $189 per month, per technician
• Master: $219 per month, per technician
• Enterprise: Custom quotation; contact sales to get pricing

Atera 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.

Customer reviews and ratings

Atera’s G2 rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (800+ reviews)

What Atera users are saying on G2:

• “I have recently joined an IT group as 1st/2nd line support who have also just started using Atera. I have had no prior experience to a program like this before but it is extremely easy to set up processes and to integrate,” a G2 user says.

• “What I like the most is the UI or interface; it’s easy to navigate and use. The remote desktop feature is outstanding. Anyone can work on Atera because it’s very simple,” a G2 user says.

Atera’s Capterra rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (400+ reviews)

What Atera users are saying on Capterra:

• “Atera is helping us solve tickets in a very short space of time using their Copilot in the PSA that analyses a ticket, suggests solutions, and helps respond professionally,” a Capterra user says.

• “Incorporating Atera’s AI assistant has brought about a delightful change in automating among my operations,” a Capterra user says.

2. Jira Service Management

Jira Service Management is an IT service management software that integrates capabilities, such as service desk, knowledge management, asset management, and change management into one platform.

Compared to Freshservice, Jira Service Management offers more functionality in its reporting, change management, and automation. This is also reflected in the pricing, as Jira Service Management is more expensive.

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5.0 stars (750+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars (600+ reviews)

Jira Service Management Pricing:

• Free: Free for up to 3 technicians
• Standard: $22 per month, per technician
• Premium: $49 per month, per technician
• Enterprise: Pricing based on custom quotation. Visit their website to learn more.

3. ServiceNow ITSM

ServiceNow ITSM helps users manage different aspects of IT within an organization, from setting up fundamental equipment to detecting and addressing service interruptions. With its incident management module, you can identify and act upon incidents. Incidents can be assigned to the right technicians and prioritized according to their severity.

As a Freshservice competitor, ServiceNow ITSM is more complex and comes with a steep learning curve. This may be a drawback for small businesses but an advantage for those who want high customization.

G2 rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 (800+ reviews)

Capterra rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 (30+ reviews)

ServiceNow ITSM pricing:

• Based on a custom quotation. Contact the ServiceNow team to find out more.

4. Zendesk

Zendesk is a customer service platform where users can manage tickets, set up client portals, create knowledge base articles, and automate workflows. According to a Reddit user, Zendesk is a good option because it integrates with a wide range of third-party software.

Zendesk is mainly designed for ticket management and doesn’t cover other IT management needs, such as asset management. This may be a drawback for IT teams looking for all-in-one solutions.

G2 Rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 stars (6,000+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 stars (4,000+ reviews)

Zendesk Pricing:

• Suite Team: $55/month/agent (billed annually).
• Suite Growth: $89/month/agent (billed annually).
• Suite Professional: $115/month/agent (billed annually).
• Suite Enterprise: Talk to sales for a customized quote.

5. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is a service management tool that lets users handle incidents, create self-service portals, and manage SLA assets. As part of its incident management tool, ManageEngine offers automated ticket routing, customizable workflows, and ticket templates.

According to this Reddit thread, most users see Freshservice as more intuitive than ServiceDesk Plus. However, ServiceDesk Plus offers more customization.

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5.0 stars (200+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 stars (200+ reviews)

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus Pricing:

• Standard: Starts from $16 per month, per technician
• Professional: Starts from $33 per month, per technician
• Enterprise: Starts from $78 per month, per technician

6. SolarWinds Service Desk

SolarWinds Service Desk’s two main features are asset lifecycle management and incident management. With the asset management feature, you can track hardware and software assets, monitor usage, and manage warranties. The incident management feature is made for tracking, prioritizing, and resolving tickets.

According to users on Reddit, a noticeable drawback of SolarWinds is the lack of customer support, as some users say they wait for a response for weeks.

G2 rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 stars (700+ reviews)

Capterra rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (500+ reviews)

SolarWinds Service Desk pricing:

• Essentials: $39 per month, per technician
• Advanced: $79 per month, per technician
• Premier: $99 per month, per technician

7. Datto Autotask PSA

One of Datto’s products, Autotask PSA, is used by MSPs for IT service management. Its key features include a service desk for managing tickets, contract management for managing contracts, time tracking, and an SLA manager.

Autotask PSA is suited to IT teams looking for PSA capabilities, as it lacks other features like RMM and asset management. Autotask PSA can be integrated with Datto RMM for those capabilities, although this comes at an extra cost.

G2 Rating: 4.2 out of 5.0 stars (400+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 stars (130+ reviews)

Datto Autotask PSA Pricing:

• Datto Autotask PSA’s pricing is based on a custom quotation. 

Choosing the best Freshservice alternative for your team

Still unsure which alternative to Freshservice is the best? The right choice ultimately depends on your organization’s needs.

Need a tool for handling tickets? A simple ticketing system might be enough. Need a tool for handling all aspects of IT, such as asset management, ticketing, and remote monitoring? An all-in-one IT management solution, such as Atera, is your best bet.

Atera combines RMM, IT asset management, Agentic AI, ticketing, patch management, and remote access into a single, cost-effective solution. This makes it a popular choice among IT teams looking for a solution to manage their entire infrastructure.

An easy way to get started? Sign up for Atera’s 30-day free trial, or contact our sales team for a custom demo!

What is Freshservice?

Freshservice is mainly used for IT ticketing but also combines other ITSM capabilities, including asset management, project management, and change management, into the same platform. The features are supported by workflow automation with the aim of freeing your team from manual and repetitive tasks.

Why look for a Freshservice alternative?

After reading reviews from G2, Capterra, Reddit, and Gartner, many users reported that Freshservice’s main limitations are:

• Limited advanced features
• Ticketing issues
• Insufficient reporting

Let’s look at each limitation in more detail and see what customers have said.

1. Limited advanced features

The main customer complaint of Freshservice is its limited advanced features. 

In fact, “Missing features,” “Limited features,” and “Limited customization” are the three main cons Freshservice customers have reported on G2:

The lack of advanced features is mainly related to Freshservice’s ticketing and asset management. Users say the ticketing system is great for basic end-user support but find it lacking for anything more advanced.

This complaint seems to be consistent across all platforms, as one Reddit user commented, “Freshservice is great if you’re looking to keep things simple. If you need complex workflows, pick something else.”

While these limitations might still work for small companies, enterprises with hundreds of agents will quickly find that they limit their growth.

2. Ticketing issues

Not only do users report limitations in Freshservice’s ticketing system, but they also report issues using it on a regular basis.

Users report limitations, such as difficulty splitting tickets, inconvenient message threading, and automatic ticket reopening on replies.

Related to this, one G2 user commented, “Tickets display new communications at the bottom of the thread. There is no way to display the newest communications at the top.

3. Reporting is limited

Freshservice has a reports module that provides insights into the efficiency of your service desk, but many users agree that it is their biggest limitation.

One Reddit user specifically said, “The biggest complaint is reporting and having access to raw data. Seems that just having a tabular dataset to present is a challenge!”

Freshservice offers report templates, but many users agree that customizing them further is difficult/impossible.

What are Freshservice’s strengths?

Although Freshservice has its limitations, it also has notable strengths, including ease of use and its combined ticketing and asset management.

Let’s also look at what customers said regarding them.

1. Ease of use

Customers report that Freshservice’s main advantage is its ease of use. One G2 user specifically said, “Freshservice is straightforward to use and fairly easy to set up, so you don’t need to spend months trying to get it to work.”

2. Combined ticketing and asset management

Though ticketing and asset management in Freshservice have limited customization, users appreciate that they’re combined into one product, reducing the need to switch between multiple tools. 

One G2 user said, “We appreciate Freshservice’s helpdesk portal, ticketing solution, and change management.”

Freshservice pros and cons: Takeaways

To conclude the two previous sections, the pros and cons of Freshservice are:

The pros, according to user reviews:

• Ease of use and setup
• Combined ticketing and asset management

The cons, according to user reviews:

• Limited advanced features
• Customers face usage issues in ticketing
• Reporting is not customizable