TechRadar Verdict
Atera is a perfect RMM and PSA tool for MSPs and small businesses, thanks to its per-technician pricing model. With advanced AI functions, Atera makes it easy to resolve issues and automate tickets. Plus, there are also a lot of automation options that automate patch management.
AI assistant
Intuitive and easy-to-use dashboard
Robust ticket management
Extensive shared script library for automations
Detailed reports
Costly for large businesses
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Aterais RMM and PSA software that allows businesses and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to manage endpoints for various clients. Unlike other RMM platforms, Atera charges you on the basis of the number of technicians you have, rather than the endpoints.
It also offers an AI assistant that helps you automate tasks and solve tickets, setting it apart from others in the industry. At the time of writing, over 12,000 customers, including Domino’s, Sodexo, and Grant Thornton, use Atera to manage around 5 million devices.
In this in-depth Atera review, we’ll discuss its primary features, pricing, and overall performance. We’ll also compare it with the competition to help you find out if it’s the right choice for your business
Atera: Plans and pricing
Atera’s pricing structure is different from other RMM software on the market. It bills users on the basis of the number of technicians — instead of the number of endpoint systems managed.
This is beneficial for small businesses or MSPs where only a few technicians handle the entire endpoint management. There are two types of plans with Atera: one for IT departments and the other for MSPs.
For instance, let’s say you’re an MSP handling 50 systems. If you choose an endpoint-based pricing structure, you can expect to pay anywhere between $150-500 per month ($2-10 per endpoint). However, with Atera, you’d only pay $258 for 50 endpoints (considering two technicians).
Plus, Atera goes beyond traditional RMM functions and offers features like remote access, helpdesk and ticketing, network discovery, and patch management. This makes it a good value-for-money business tool for system monitoring.
There’s also a 30-day free trial, which you can avail of without entering your credit card details. This will allow you to try it out without risking a single penny.
A downside of Atera is that its Action AI doesn’t come included with any of the subscriptions – you’ll have to contact the sales team to get a custom quote for this add-on.
Atera: Features
Atera lets you monitor system activities in real time and also offers automated alerts. You can get live data on metrics like system resources, logged-in users, network and IP health, and active directories, among others.
Action AI
A feature that truly sets Atera apart from the competition is its Action AI, available for both technicians (Copilot) and end users (Autopilot).
Let’s say you’re an end user and facing issues with your printer. All you have to do is open Autopilot on your device and describe your problem using a simple text. The AI assistant will then run a check and suggest solutions. Next, you can click on the solution option to fix the issue.
This saves a lot of time for technicians and end users, saving them the ordeal of raising a ticket, establishing a remote connection, and then fixing the issue. With Atera, the entire problem can be solved by the end-point user himself.
The Copilot for technicians also works similarly. It can look for issues on the system and help you resolve the problem with just a click. However, since this is a paid add-on, it can increase the overall cost of system management.
Automation
Besides this, you can also automate a lot of redundant tasks, so your team can focus on more critical functions. For instance, routine tasks like deleting temp files, rebooting systems, running full system scans, and checking new updates can be handled automatically by Atera with the help of Scripts.
Scripts are simple commands that help IT teams automate various processes. With Atera, you can either upload a custom script or choose one from its vast Shared Script Library. These readymade scripts can be further customized to suit your task.
Even better, these are routinely checked for malware by Atera, making them safe to use. The platform supports formats such asMSI, Bash files, CMD files, and PowerShell.
All connected devices get their own Customer Portal, which can be used to raise service tickets. These tickets are automatically synced with the Atera UI. The platform has also introduced AI ticker tagging, which recognizes support tickets based on keywords and auto-assigns them to the right technician for quicker response.
You can even pull automated reports from Atera, which shows you metrics like total tickets resolved and average time taken to resolve issues. This helps gauge overall customer satisfaction and technician performance.
Patch management
Another area where Atera does an excellent job is patch management, which allows you to ensure that the software, hardware, and OS on your connected devices (Windows, MacOS, and Linux) are up to date. You can even automate patching and set schedules to regularly check for updates. Tasks such as disk defrag, scheduled reset, and cleanups can also be automated.
The Patch Status Summary report shows you a summary of all patches and updates for servers as well as desktops. This way, you can quickly find out if any patches are missing.
Network Discovery
Atera also offers robust Network Discovery features that allow you to identify all the devices within a given network and simplify onboarding. This also gives you a detailed view of the network topology and efficient network management.
You can even set up custom alerts for unmonitored servers, workstations, and SNMPs, and keep an eye on new devices and IP address changes.
Integrations
Last but not least, we were also impressed by the sheer number of integration options Atera offers. You can connect with Splashtop, AnyDesk, or TeamViewer to access systems remotely. Several accounting integrations such as QuickBooks and Xero and Calendar integrations likeGoogleCalendar andMicrosoft365 Calendar are also available.
Atera: Interface and performance
Atera’s dashboard serves as a single source of truth for technicians, with various widgets providing critical information on connected endpoints. For instance, you can check the live status of tickets: open, pending, due today, or overdue.
Similarly, you can also see the number of alerts per customer, divided into three categories: ‘Information’, ‘Warning’, and ‘Critical’. There’s a widget showing you the number of online and offline devices and a map widget with the exact location of all managed devices.
We also found a couple of bar charts showing the number of tickets opened and resolved over the past 7 days. The best part is that you can fully customize your dashboard: add, delete, or resize widgets as per your preference.
Plus, there’s a panel on the left-hand side with detailed information on tickets, customers, devices, and alerts. Overall, the interface is clean and easy to navigate, with no performance lags.
Atera: Security
Atera is a secure RMM and PSA platform, as it complies with ISO/IEC 27001, 27017, 27018, and 27032, SOC 2 Type 2, GDPR, and HIPAA. Although Atera is not subject to PCI-DSS compliances, it still complies with them to protect its customers’ card details.
Additionally, the platform maintains detailed audit logs for account establishment and modifications, and you can also add multi-factor authentication to your accounts for increased security. What’s more, managers can choose to impose role-based access control (RBAC) across devices.
All your data on Atera is encrypted using industry-standard and rock-solid AES-256 encryption. It’s also worth noting that although Atera uses third-party tech for its AI functions, it doesn’t share any customer data nor does it use that data for training its own systems.
Atera: Support
Atera has a rich collection of training videos and articles and its web knowledgebase has several FAQs on topics like RMM, ticketing, billing, and reporting. Plus, Atera’sYouTubechannel has 50+ useful videos that will familiarize you with the product.
Atera also offers 24/7 email and live chat support, and there’s also an online form you can fill out for pre-purchase queries. Overall, there’s no dearth of support options on Atera.
Atera: The competition
Atera is ideal for small businesses and Managed Service Providers (MSPs) since it offers a per-technician pricing model instead of a per-end point, which reduces the overall cost of management. However, large businesses involving complex infrastructures may find Atera expensive.
In that case, you can consider alternatives likeNinjaOne. Although you’ll have to contact their sales team for an exact quote, you can expect to pay $2-4 per endpoint. You also get 100+ monitoring templates with NinjaOne, which is the number one patch management tool as of the G2 Spring 2024 report.
On the other hand, if you’re a small business looking for a really affordable RMM product, considerTeamViewer. It offers a free plan, where you can connect unlimited non-work devices. Plus, it’s easy to set up and use, making it ideal for beginners.
Atera: Final verdict
Atera is certainly among the best RMM software out there, thanks to its AI assistant and easy-to-use and customizable dashboard. Atera’s Action AI (Copilot and Autopilot) helps solve redundant and frequent system queries quickly so that technicians can focus on the complex issues at hand. Its per-technician pricing model makes it affordable for small businesses and MSPs.
The best part is that Atera extends its functions beyond just remote system management and allows full-fledged helpdesk, billing, and reporting functions, besides robust patch management, and network discovery. We also like that it also offers ample integrations with existing business tools.
That said, Atera can quickly become expensive for large businesses, where specialized technicians handle only a few complex systems. In that case, an endpoint-based pricing structure would be ideal.
Atera: FAQs
How much does Atera RMM cost?
Atera’s offers two sets of plans: one for IT departments and the other for MSPs. The cheapest plan costs $129/technician/month. Instead of charging users on the basis of the number of endpoints managed, Atera charges them per technician managing endpoints.
This means that even if you have 50 endpoints managed by a single technician, you only have to pay $129/month. This makes Atera affordable for small businesses and MSPs.
What sets Atera apart from other RMMs?
Atera incorporates AI assistants for technicians and endpoint users, which saves a lot of time for both parties. Users can use Autopilot to identify and solve regular queries at the system level itself, without raising any support ticket.
Similarly, technicians can use Copilot to identify issues with a given ticket and resolve them with just a click of a button. Furthermore, the AI assistant can also help auto-assign tickets to the right agent based on keywords, which ensures faster resolutions.
What aspects can I monitor with Atera?
Some of the many metrics you can track with the Atera agent on your Windows, Mac, and Linux systems include RAM, motherboard and hard disk usage, overheating issues, current load on CPU and temperature, and Windows services, events, and processes.
Krishi covers buying guides and how-to’s related to software, online tools, and tech products here at TechRadar. Over at Tom’s Guide, he writes exclusively on VPN services. You can also find his work on Techopedia and The Tech Report. As a tech fanatic, Krishi also loves writing about the latest happenings in the world of cybersecurity, AI, and software.
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