Buyer's guide Β· Technology
We compared eight IT service management platforms on public pricing, free plans and trials, deployment options, ITIL process coverage by plan, AI features and integrations, using each vendor's own pricing and product pages.
- Small IT teams starting out: Jira Service Management is free for 3 agents; ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus Standard is free for up to 5 technicians.
- Mid-market teams that want fast setup: Freshservice publishes four clear tiers from $19 per agent per month, billed annually.
- Full ITIL scope at one price: HaloITSM sells a single all-inclusive licence at Β£66 per agent per month; SysAid Professional is $89 per agent per month with AI included.
- On-premises or hybrid needs: ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus, HaloITSM and Ivanti Neurons for ITSM all offer non-cloud deployment.
- Large enterprises with a platform team: ServiceNow ITSM and Ivanti Neurons for ITSM are quote-based and built for complex estates.
IT service management (ITSM) software runs the service desk and the processes around it: incidents, service requests, problems, changes, assets and the configuration database, usually with a self-service portal and SLAs on top. This guide covers platforms sold as ITSM suites; lighter customer-support help desks are compared separately.
The order below is not a quality ranking. Products with public list prices come first, in ascending entry price; quote-based platforms follow. Every product is described with the same fields, and each fact comes from the vendor's own pages.
ITSM software compared at a glance
| Platform | Pricing | Best for | Link |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Jira Service Management | Free for 3 agents; Standard $20, Premium $51.42 per agent/mo; Enterprise custom | Teams already on Jira | Site β |
| 2. Freshservice | Starter $19, Growth $49, Pro $99 per agent/mo, billed annually; Enterprise custom | Mid-market IT teams | Site β |
| 3. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus | Cloud from $645/yr (Professional, 2 technicians + 250 assets); Standard free up to 5 technicians | Cost-conscious and on-premises teams | Site β |
| 4. HaloITSM | Β£66 per agent/mo, billed annually (GBP list price); single plan | One all-inclusive price | Site β |
| 5. SysAid | Professional $89 per agent/mo; Enterprise custom from 20 agents | AI included in the base price | Site β |
| 6. TOPdesk | Essential Β£51, Engaged Β£72, Excellent Β£101 per agent/mo (GBP list prices) | IT plus facilities service desks | Site β |
| 7. ServiceNow ITSM | Quote-based; packages Foundation, Advanced and Prime | Large enterprises | Site β |
| 8. Ivanti Neurons for ITSM | Quote-based; no public price | Hybrid and Ivanti estates | Site β |
Prices are public list prices as displayed on each vendor's pricing page on 4 October 2026, before tax and discounts, in the currency the page showed (USD unless marked GBP). Billing terms and seat counts change the real cost, so confirm on the vendor's pricing page. Method: see how Kurums evaluated these tools below.
Which ITIL processes are in which plan?
The biggest price differences in this category are not between vendors but between plans. Most suites sell incident and request management at the entry tier and hold problem, change and release management for a higher one. On the pages we checked, change management starts at Premium for Jira Service Management, Pro for Freshservice, Engaged for TOPdesk, Enterprise for ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus and Advanced for ServiceNow. HaloITSM and SysAid Professional include those processes in their single published price.
Before comparing per-agent prices, write down which processes you need in the first year, then price each vendor at the plan that actually contains them.
The 8 ITSM platforms in detail
Jira Service Management
Best for teams already on JiraBest for: IT teams that already work in Jira or Confluence, and small teams that want to start on a free plan.
| Attribute | Jira Service Management |
|---|---|
| Public pricing | Free: $0 for 3 agents. Standard: $20 per agent per month. Premium: $51.42 per agent per month. Enterprise: custom, billed annually. Sold as part of Atlassian's Service Collection. |
| Free plan / trial | Free plan for 3 agents; free trial of paid plans |
| Deployment | Cloud; self-managed Data Center plans also listed |
| ITSM scope by plan | Standard includes asset and configuration management; Premium adds advanced incident and problem management and change management |
| AI features | Rovo AI, with usage credits that rise by plan; virtual service agent on Premium and Enterprise |
| Integrations | Atlassian Marketplace with over 1,000 apps and integrations |
| Security and admin | Data residency on paid plans; SSO through Atlassian Guard |
| Main limitation | Change management and advanced incident and problem management require Premium |
- A permanent free plan for up to 3 agents.
- Requesters are not charged; only agents are licensed.
- The Premium plan that carries change management costs more than 2.5 times Standard.
Freshservice
Best for mid-market IT teamsBest for: Mid-market IT teams that want a cloud service desk running quickly without a dedicated platform team.
| Attribute | Freshservice |
|---|---|
| Public pricing | Starter $19, Growth $49, Pro $99 per agent per month, billed annually. Enterprise: custom. Freddy AI Copilot add-on: $29 per agent per month, billed annually. |
| Free plan / trial | No free plan; 14-day free trial |
| Deployment | Cloud |
| ITSM scope by plan | Starter: incident and knowledge management, support portal. Growth adds service catalog, SLA and on-call management. Pro adds problem, change and release management. |
| AI features | Freddy AI Copilot (paid add-on), Freddy AI Agent |
| Integrations | Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Workspace, AWS, Azure, GitHub and others |
| Security and admin | SSO listed on all plans; audit logs and sandbox on Enterprise |
| Main limitation | Problem and change management start at Pro; the AI Copilot is priced separately |
- Four published tiers with a clear feature step at each level.
- SSO is included from the entry plan.
- A team that needs change management pays the $99 Pro price, plus $29 if it wants the Copilot.
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
Best for cost-conscious and on-premises teamsBest for: Small and mid-sized IT teams that want a low entry cost, and organisations that must run the service desk on their own servers.
| Attribute | ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus |
|---|---|
| Public pricing | Cloud: Standard from $1,545 per year for 10 technicians; Professional from $645 per year for 2 technicians and 250 assets; Enterprise from $1,595 per year for 2 technicians and 250 assets. On-premises editions are priced separately. |
| Free plan / trial | Standard edition free for up to 5 technicians; 30-day free trial |
| Deployment | Cloud and on-premises |
| ITSM scope by plan | Standard: service desk. Professional adds IT asset management. Enterprise adds change, problem, release and project management and the CMDB. |
| AI features | Zia AI assistant included in all editions; Zia Agents on Enterprise |
| Integrations | ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot integrations named; wider ManageEngine and Zoho suite |
| Security and admin | ITIL practice certification and PinkVERIFY stated on the product page |
| Main limitation | Price depends on technician count, asset count and paid add-ons, so totals are harder to predict |
- A free edition and an on-premises option.
- AI assistant included without a separate fee.
- Full ITIL process coverage sits in the Enterprise edition or in paid add-ons.
HaloITSM
Best for one all-inclusive priceBest for: Teams that want every ITIL process in one licence with no tiers or add-ons, with a choice of cloud or on-premises.
| Attribute | HaloITSM |
|---|---|
| Public pricing | Β£66 per agent per month, billed annually (GBP price shown; other currencies are available on the pricing page). One plan with no tiers or add-ons; named and concurrent licences. |
| Free plan / trial | No free plan; 30-day free trial, no credit card required |
| Deployment | Cloud, private cloud or on-premises |
| ITSM scope by plan | Incident, problem, change, asset and CMDB, service catalog, self-service portal and SLAs all included |
| AI features | Halo AI, included in the licence |
| Integrations | Not listed on the pages we checked |
| Security and admin | ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type II listed; SSO via SAML and OIDC; audit logging |
| Main limitation | No low-cost entry tier for teams that only need ticketing |
- One published price covers every module, which makes budgeting simple.
- End users are free; only agents are licensed.
- Small teams that need only basic ticketing pay for the full suite.
SysAid
Best for AI included in the base priceBest for: Mid-sized IT teams that want AI assistance and core ITIL processes bundled rather than sold as add-ons.
| Attribute | SysAid |
|---|---|
| Public pricing | Professional: $89 per agent per month. Enterprise: custom, starting at 20 agents. |
| Free plan / trial | No free plan; free trial with no credit card |
| Deployment | Cloud |
| ITSM scope by plan | Professional: request, incident, change and problem management, asset management with 250 assets included, SLA management |
| AI features | AI Copilot for agents and end users and pre-built AI agents included; tailor-made AI agents on Enterprise |
| Integrations | Microsoft Entra ID, Intune, Microsoft 365, Slack and Salesforce named; automation credits included |
| Security and admin | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, MFA and SSO, multi-region data residency listed |
| Main limitation | Only two plans, and the entry price is higher than tiered rivals |
- Change and problem management are in the published plan, not held for a higher tier.
- AI features are included in the per-agent price.
- Sandbox environment is an add-on on Professional.
TOPdesk
Best for IT plus facilities service desksBest for: Mid-sized organisations, particularly in the UK and Europe, that run IT and other service departments on one desk.
| Attribute | TOPdesk |
|---|---|
| Public pricing | Essential Β£51, Engaged Β£72, Excellent Β£101 per agent per month (GBP prices shown; the page lets you change currency and agent count). |
| Free plan / trial | No free plan or self-serve trial found; demo on request |
| Deployment | Cloud (SaaS), hosted in a regional data centre |
| ITSM scope by plan | Essential: incident management, self-service portal, asset management, knowledge base. Engaged adds change, problem and SLA management. Excellent adds project management. |
| AI features | AI categorisation, knowledge generation and search from Engaged; summarisation and assistants on Excellent |
| Integrations | 90+ integrations and an API |
| Security and admin | Not stated on the pages we checked |
| Main limitation | Change and problem management and all AI features start at the Engaged plan |
- Three published plans with a clear process step between them.
- Asset management is included from the entry plan.
- No free plan or self-serve trial on the pages we checked.
ServiceNow ITSM
Best for large enterprisesBest for: Large enterprises with a dedicated platform team that want ITSM as part of a wider workflow platform.
| Attribute | ServiceNow ITSM |
|---|---|
| Public pricing | Quote-based. Three packages: ITSM Foundation, ITSM Advanced and ITSM Prime; no public price. |
| Free plan / trial | No free plan or self-serve trial; demos available |
| Deployment | Not stated on the pages we checked |
| ITSM scope by plan | Foundation: incident, request and service catalog, asset management and CMDB. Advanced adds change, problem, major incident and on-call management. |
| AI features | Virtual Agent in Foundation; AI agents for ITSM in Prime; Now Assist |
| Integrations | Microsoft Teams and Slack named; broad platform ecosystem |
| Security and admin | Not stated on the pages we checked |
| Main limitation | No public pricing; change and problem management are in Advanced, not Foundation |
- Asset management and the CMDB are part of the entry package.
- ITSM sits on a platform that also covers other enterprise workflows.
- Cost can only be established through a sales quote.
Ivanti Neurons for ITSM
Best for hybrid and Ivanti estatesBest for: Enterprises that already use Ivanti endpoint or security products, or that need on-premises or hybrid deployment.
| Attribute | Ivanti Neurons for ITSM |
|---|---|
| Public pricing | Quote-based; no public price on the product page. |
| Free plan / trial | No free plan or self-serve trial; demo on request |
| Deployment | Cloud, on-premises or hybrid |
| ITSM scope by plan | Incident, problem, change, configuration, request, service catalog, release and IT asset management |
| AI features | Generative AI summarisation, ticket classification and knowledge article generation |
| Integrations | Over 1,000 connectors, including Workday, ADP, Jira, CrowdStrike and Okta |
| Security and admin | SOC 2 and ISO/IEC 27001 listed; PinkVERIFY certification stated |
| Main limitation | No public pricing or self-serve trial, so evaluation runs through sales |
- Three deployment models, including hybrid.
- Wide connector library for HR, security and identity systems.
- You cannot compare cost without a quote.
Kurums Match: which ITSM platform fits?
We are a team of 3 to 5 agentsBudget is tight
Start with the free plan of Jira Service Management (3 agents) or the free Standard edition of ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus (up to 5 technicians).
We need change management from day oneWithout a tier jump
We must host it ourselvesOn-premises or hybrid
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus, HaloITSM and Ivanti Neurons for ITSM list on-premises deployment.
We want a quick cloud rolloutMid-market, no platform team
Freshservice has four published tiers and a 14-day trial.
We run a large, complex estatePlatform team in place
ServiceNow ITSM and Ivanti Neurons for ITSM are quote-based enterprise options.
Buying tip
Count agents, not employees, and ask each vendor to confirm in writing which plan contains change and problem management, how many assets are included, and what AI features cost. Those three lines move the total more than the headline per-agent price.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between ITSM software and a help desk?
A help desk handles tickets. ITSM software adds the processes around them, such as problem, change and release management, an asset and configuration database, a service catalog and SLAs, usually aligned to ITIL practices.
How is ITSM software priced?
Most vendors charge per agent or technician per month, often billed annually, with end users free. Some editions also count assets, and enterprise platforms are quoted individually. AI features are sometimes included and sometimes a paid add-on.
Is there free ITSM software?
Yes. On the pages we checked, Jira Service Management is free for 3 agents and ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus Standard is free for up to 5 technicians. Both limit the process scope compared with their paid plans.
Do we need ITIL certification to use these tools?
No. The tools ship with ITIL-style processes built in, but you can start with incident and request management and add other practices as the team matures.
Cloud or on-premises?
Cloud is the default for most vendors here. If policy or regulation requires your own infrastructure, shortlist the vendors that list on-premises or private cloud deployment and confirm feature parity with their cloud edition.
Related comparisons
Last updated 4 October 2026 Β· Pricing checked 4 October 2026.
Disclosure: Kurums is reader-supported and shows advertising. No vendor paid to be included in this comparison, and the order is not a quality ranking. Sponsored positions in the Kurums Solutions Directory are labelled and never affect editorial comparisons. How we make money.
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