17 years helping Canadian businesses
choose better software
What Is N-central?
N‑central® RMM (Remote Monitoring and Management) gives you the power to automate, monitor, manage, and secure all your environments at scale. Gain control and manage Windows, Mac, Linux, network devices and more from a centralized location. Integrate into your tech stack to build the best-in-breed solution set for Managed Service Providers and IT departments.
Who Uses N-central?
Growing and scaling Manage Service Providers (MSPs) Medium to large businesses
Where can N-central be deployed?
About the vendor
- N-able
N-central support
- Phone Support
Languages
English
N-central pricing
Starting Price:
- Yes, has free trial
- No free version
N-central does not have a free version but does offer a free trial. N-central paid version starts at US$1.75.
About the vendor
- N-able
N-central support
- Phone Support
Languages
English
N-central videos and images
Features of N-central
Alternatives to N-central
Reviews of N-central
A must have as a RMM solution for any MSP.
Comments: Easy to use and learn. A must have for our clients where time is of the essence when an incident occurs where downtime is business threatening.
Pros:
The ability to automate as much as possible is key in our business. Using maintenance scheduling is one of the most important features and was key to choosing this product over others.
Cons:
I wish there were more integrations with other industry software.
Alternatives Considered: Datto RMM
Reasons for Choosing N-central: Poor implementation and support was heading downhill since being sold a few years ago.
Switched From: ConnectWise Automate
Reasons for Switching to N-central: This was more established and had more features for our business between the two.
It may not be the best, but it's not worth switching.
Comments: It's better than many of the RMMs out there if you need good scripting and patch management. The Sentinel 1 integration was terrible and the backup integration is not great either.
Pros:
The automation policies you can create deploying software offer a lot of power and flexibility in terms of variables you can set by side and time scheduling.
Cons:
Take control is painful to use after using Connectwise Control. I've also had an open issue with the RPD protocol under Take Control that has been open for months unresolved.
Covid-19 - reduction of services applied after 5 years during a pandemic.
Comments: Over all they are very good at taking your money and over the years have been hard to communicate with. It’s all sales sales sales.
Pros:
Over the years this software has been hit and miss, we would spend a lot of time trying to get errors fixed. It was getting better, they also keep changing the sales rep that deals with me. When they call they talk about a different business and advise the customers name and customer to me. It’s happened twice!
Cons:
The biggest thing I didn’t like was when they removed remote control from my essential Licence’s. To make it worse it was done over the covid-19 pandemic. they are asking me to buy Licence’s and I have refused. We are social distancing and this has made it stressful for myself and my customers.
N-able Response
4 years ago
Hi Phillip, I'm very sorry that you are unhappy. Our decision to remove remote control from N-central Essentials licenses was made months before the COVID-19 outbreak. We believe Professional N-central licenses provide the proper remote monitoring and management capability that workstations and servers require. We understand that remote work and therefore remote control is very important for you right now. Therefore, we have offered SolarWinds Take Control Plus, a standalone remote support solution, free of charge for 90 days. In addition, for a limited time, Take Control Plus licenses also come with 25 additional end-user accounts (for a total of 35) for partners to extend to employees and clients. Simply complete this form before June 30, 2020 https://www.solarwindsmsp.com/products/take-control/trial You may also be interested in these resources to help you navigate this unprecedented time: www.solarwindsmsp.com/covid-19-resources Be well. - Shelley O'Brien, N-central PMM
Reliable software for support, inventory, etc.
Comments: Having used N-Central for over two years now, I can say with confidence that we get our money's worth out of it. There are numerous features that should meet the needs of most IT professionals. For desktop support, asset management, machine information and patch management, N-Central is top notch. We've been utilizing it more and more in different areas as time passes.
Pros:
We use this for remote support moreso than anything. Overall, that's where we get the most bang for our buck. Very reliable in that regard, with little to no input needed from the end user. Also works well for inventory purposes, along with seeing the stats on a certain machine, what programs are installed, etc. The reporting features are also a big plus!
Cons:
Occasionally we have issues installing it on Windows 11 machines, but as time passes, that seems to be happening less and less. Another issue is being able to automatically deploy software to computers. It's a great feature, unless said software is over 100mb. That's been an issue in the past and I wish they would raise that limit.
Alternatives Considered: TeamViewer Remote and Splashtop
Reasons for Choosing N-central: Wasn't a fan of constantly having to login and give a code for Zoho to start a support session.
Switched From: Zoho Assist
Reasons for Switching to N-central: Great pricing, more features.
Powerful RMM Tool, Reporting Can Be Improved
Comments: Overall, we have been very happy with the product. It does require some investment in configuration, but that investment allows for a very powerful product. I have been extremely impressed with N-Central management's willingness to help ensure our deployment is successful.
Pros:
N-Central is very powerful and customizable. Configuration is very granular and allows experienced administrators to configure almost limitless monitoring. N-Central staff has gone above and beyond what was expected to make sure our deployment is successful.
Cons:
Reporting could be improved. The reporting interface is very basic and requires a separate Microsoft Windows SQL server to use. From speaking with contacts at N-Central, this system is planned to be replaced in the very near future.
Alternatives Considered: ConnectWise Automate
Reasons for Choosing N-central: After being sold to a venture capital firm, Kaseya support had been lacking. Additionally, the product improvements began to suffer at that time.
Switched From: Kaseya VSA
Reasons for Switching to N-central: N-Central proved to be a much more customizable product than Automate. Our previous experience with ConnectWise support led to skepticism about the level of support that would be provided.
