The Best ConnectWise Alternatives for MSPs: PSA and Remote Access

ConnectWise pricing isn't published. Contracts default to multi-year terms. ScreenConnect has had multiple price hikes since the acquisition – up to 275% on some legacy tiers. And when you try to leave, you find out the cancellation window closed 90 days ago.

MSPs are looking for ConnectWise alternatives at a steady clip, but here's what most comparison posts get wrong: ConnectWise Manage and ConnectWise Control are two completely separate problems. Switching your PSA is a months-long migration. Replacing your remote access tool can happen in a week. Confusing the two wastes time and money.

This post splits them. Section one covers ConnectWise Manage alternatives – PSA platforms that handle ticketing, billing, time-tracking, and client management. Section two covers ConnectWise Control alternatives – remote access and unattended access tools. Each section includes real pricing from community reports and a direct comparison table.

If you're also considering the open-source route, both sections include a free, self-hosted option that's in active production use.

What ConnectWise Actually Costs in 2026

Before comparing alternatives, it helps to know what you're actually paying. ConnectWise doesn't publish pricing for Manage. Based on community reports from r/msp and Capterra reviews, mid-market MSPs running 5–15 techs pay roughly $85–$110 per user per month for ConnectWise Manage. First-year total cost of ownership – including implementation, training, and integrations – runs 40–80% above the base licensing figure.

ConnectWise Control (ScreenConnect) does publish pricing:

• One: ~$30/month (1 tech, 10 unattended agents)
• Standard: ~$45/month per concurrent tech
• Premium: ~$55/month per concurrent tech

MSPs running both products together report a combined cost of $150–$200+ per tech per month. That number doesn't include ConnectWise Automate (RMM), which is a separate license entirely.

Four Contract Traps MSPs Hit Every Year

Before you sign or renew, know these four clauses. They're common across ConnectWise contracts and have burned a lot of shops.

1. The auto-renewal window. Most ConnectWise agreements require written cancellation notice 60–90 days before the renewal date. Miss it, and you're locked in for another year. This isn't buried – it's in the MSA – but it gets missed because the reminder rarely comes from your rep.

2. Mid-contract tier escalation. ConnectWise's MSA confirms that usage caps exist in "confidential, client-specific schedules." Multiple r/msp users have reported hitting undisclosed workflow or API limits and being pushed to a higher-cost tier with no exit option mid-contract.

3. Module bundling. ConnectWise products are sold in bundles. Removing modules you don't use – say, a quoting add-on you never set up – typically voids the bundled pricing. You pay for it whether you use it or not.

4. Price increase clauses without a cap. Community reports describe 15–20% annual increases at renewal, with no CPI or percentage cap in standard contract language. If your agreement doesn't explicitly limit annual increases, assume they'll happen.

What to do: Get every usage cap in writing before signing. Negotiate a maximum annual increase (≤5% or CPI, whichever is lower). Require 90-day advance written notice of any price change.

Section 1: ConnectWise Manage Alternatives (PSA)

A PSA needs to cover the basics without making your techs want to quit: ticketing, time entries, billing, client documentation, a client portal, and integrations with your RMM and accounting tools. The ConnectWise Manage alternatives below cover all of that – without the opaque pricing or multi-year lock-in.

HaloPSA

Price: ~$89–$109/user/month (pricing scales down slightly for larger teams)
Contract: Month-to-month
PSA + RMM: PSA only – pair with a separate RMM

HaloPSA is a genuine ConnectWise Manage alternative for mid-market shops. It covers complex billing workflows, deep customization, and has a modern interface that won't trigger a revolt from your service desk team. If you're running 10–50 techs and your billing structure is more complex than break-fix – recurring, project-based, or mixed – HaloPSA handles it.

The catch: it's PSA-only. You'll need a separate RMM (NinjaOne, TacticalRMM, Datto RMM) to complete your stack. That's not a dealbreaker for shops that already have a strong RMM, but it does add a tool-sprawl variable.

OpenFrame

Price: $5/month per device (Gen 1)
Contract: No lock-in
PSA + RMM: RMM, remote access, MDM, SIEM, patching, EDR+EPP live now; PSA and documentation in progress

At $5/device/month, OpenFrame undercuts every other unified platform in this list. The Gen 1 stack includes RMM (TacticalRMM), remote access (MeshCentral), MDM (FleetMDM), SIEM, patching via Chocolatey and Homebrew, and EDR+EPP – all on a single data model with one deployment. No stitching tools together. No per-module add-on fees.

Two built-in AI agents: Fae handles client-facing work – intake, diagnostics, automated status updates, and escalation routing. Mingo handles the back-end – script generation across PowerShell, Bash, and Python, patch enforcement, and bulk operations.

One honest caveat: the PSA (ticketing, billing, client portal) is still in development. If you need a PSA right now, pair OpenFrame with ITFlow or HaloPSA while that module ships. For shops where the RMM and remote access costs are the immediate pain, Gen 1 already delivers at a price point most vendors don't come close to.

Worth disclosing: Flamingo is behind OpenMSP, where this post lives.

Best for: Cost-focused MSPs who want to kill vendor sprawl now and don't need a full PSA immediately.

SuperOps

Price: $79–$159/user/month (PSA + RMM bundled; tier determines feature depth)
Contract: Month-to-month; 30-day free trial
PSA + RMM: Yes

SuperOps targets growing MSPs who want a single-vendor stack at a price that's published and doesn't require a sales call to find out. The platform bundles PSA and RMM, includes built-in AI automation for things like ticket categorization and alert routing, and doesn't lock you into a long-term contract.

For a 5–30 tech shop that's outgrown a lightweight tool but doesn't want to inherit ConnectWise's complexity, SuperOps is worth a serious look. The 30-day trial means you can test it against your real workload before committing.

Syncro

Price: $129/user/month (Core); $179/user/month (Team)
Contract: Month-to-month, no minimums, no per-endpoint fees
PSA + RMM: Yes, with remote access included

Syncro's pricing model is the cleanest in the space: one flat rate, unlimited endpoints, no per-device charges, no contracts. The Core plan covers PSA, RMM, and remote access in a single subscription. That structure makes your monthly cost predictable in a way that ConnectWise's quote-based pricing never is.

It's best suited for 1–10 tech shops. Syncro doesn't have the deep billing customization that HaloPSA offers, but for a shop running standard recurring managed services, that's rarely a problem.

Atera

Price: $129–$249/user/month depending on tier
Contract: Month-to-month
PSA + RMM: Yes; unlimited endpoints per tech license

Atera's defining feature is the per-tech pricing model with no endpoint limits. If you're managing a large device count relative to your headcount, Atera's math works out very differently than platforms that charge per device. The platform covers PSA and RMM, includes AI-assisted scripting, and has a clean enough interface that onboarding doesn't require a week of training.

It fits solo operators and small shops best. Larger teams sometimes find Atera's reporting and billing customization too lightweight for complex MSP operations.

Open Source: ITFlow

Price: Free (GPL-licensed, self-hosted)
Contract: None
PSA + RMM: PSA only

ITFlow is the only open-source PSA built specifically for MSPs. It covers ticketing, invoicing, asset tracking, password management, domain and SSL certificate monitoring, and a client portal. It hit a stable production release in 2025 after several years of active development.

For a 1–5 person shop running on spreadsheets and shared inboxes, ITFlow is a significant upgrade at zero licensing cost. You'll need a Linux server to host it (Apache or Nginx), and you won't get pre-built connectors for accounting platforms or RMM tools – but for basic MSP operations, it covers the essentials.

A full breakdown of ITFlow alongside other open-source PSA options is at Open Source PSA for MSPs – Ready for Production?

PSA Comparison Table

Section 2: ConnectWise Control Alternatives (Remote Access)

ConnectWise Control was ScreenConnect before ConnectWise acquired it in 2015. It's a solid remote access platform – unattended access, attended support sessions, session recording, multi-platform agents. But since the acquisition, pricing has moved steadily upward. Splashtop documented a specific price hike on legacy ScreenConnect tiers that hit some MSPs with a 275% increase.

The good news: remote access is the easiest part of your stack to swap. The tools below are all in active use across the MSP community in 2026.

NinjaOne

Price: ~$3–4/endpoint/month (remote access included in RMM subscription)
Contract: Typically annual; ask for month-to-month
Open source: No

If you're already evaluating a new RMM, NinjaOne includes remote access as part of the platform – no separate license needed. With 20,000+ MSP customers and a consistently strong showing in community comparisons, it's the default alternative for shops that want a commercial, fully supported tool with remote access built in.

The per-endpoint pricing means your cost scales with your managed device count. At typical MSP device-per-tech ratios, it's usually cheaper than paying separately for RMM and remote access.

Splashtop

Price: From ~$5/user/month (Business Access); MSP edition starts around $8.25/user/month
Contract: Month-to-month available
Open source: No

Splashtop positioned itself directly as a ScreenConnect replacement after ConnectWise's price increase, and it shows. The MSP edition covers unattended access, attended support, session recording, and multi-monitor handling. Performance is fast – comparable to ScreenConnect in real-world use.

For budget-conscious shops that primarily need remote access without a full RMM, Splashtop is the most straightforward commercial replacement.

AnyDesk

Price: From ~$14.90/month (Solo plan); MSP plans are quoted
Contract: Typically annual; check per-seat limits carefully
Open source: No

AnyDesk is fast and lightweight – it uses its own DeskRT codec that performs well on low-bandwidth connections. It's a good fit if your team needs fast attended remote sessions and doesn't require deep RMM integration. Check the per-seat limits on any plan before signing; some MSPs have been surprised by how quickly costs scale.

RustDesk

Price: Free (self-hosted); $9.90/month for hosted relay
Contract: None
Open source: Yes

RustDesk is an open-source remote desktop platform that supports self-hosted relay and signaling servers, meaning your session traffic never touches a third-party server. It supports custom branding, which matters for MSPs white-labeling their support tools. For shops with a privacy-focused client base or strict data residency requirements, RustDesk is the one to evaluate.

The hosted relay option at $9.90/month removes the self-hosting requirement while keeping the open-source licensing.

Open Source: MeshCentral

Price: Free (Apache 2.0 license, self-hosted via Node.js)
Contract: None
Open source: Yes

MeshCentral is what most open-source RMM stacks use for remote access. It's the default remote access layer in TacticalRMM, and it covers full web-based remote desktop, terminal access, file transfer, and session recording. It's faster and lighter than ScreenConnect in side-by-side tests, and it has notably better Linux agent support – an area where ScreenConnect has historically struggled.

The trade-offs compared to ScreenConnect: attended support requires an EXE rather than a browser link, and the multi-monitor UI is less polished. Neither is a dealbreaker for most MSP use cases.

MSPs running full open-source stacks – TacticalRMM plus MeshCentral plus ITFlow – consistently report 30–50% reductions in software licensing costs compared to equivalent commercial stacks.

If you're building out or auditing an open-source RMM stack, the full breakdown is at Open Source RMM Software: 7 Platforms, 12 Stacks, 60+ Tools

Remote Access Comparison Table

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best ConnectWise Manage alternative for a small MSP?

For 1–5 techs, Syncro's flat pricing with no endpoint fees and no contract is the easiest switch. For 5–15 techs that need more billing flexibility, SuperOps gives you PSA and RMM in a single subscription at a transparent price. If you want zero licensing cost and are willing to self-host, ITFlow is production-ready for basic MSP operations.

Is there a free alternative to ConnectWise Control?

Yes. MeshCentral is free, open-source (Apache 2.0), and actively maintained. It covers unattended access, remote desktop, terminal, and file transfer. It's the remote access component in most open-source RMM stacks. RustDesk is a second free option, with the added benefit of a $9.90/month hosted relay if you don't want to run your own server.

How much does ConnectWise Manage cost per user?

ConnectWise doesn't publish pricing. Based on community reports from r/msp and software review platforms, mid-market MSPs typically pay $85–$110 per user per month for ConnectWise Manage alone. First-year total cost – including implementation and training – often runs 40–80% higher than the base licensing figure.

What is ITFlow and is it production-ready?

ITFlow is a GPL-licensed, open-source PSA built specifically for MSPs. It handles ticketing, invoicing, asset tracking, password management, domain and SSL monitoring, and a client portal. It hit a stable release in 2025 and is in active production use at small MSPs. It requires a self-hosted Linux environment and doesn't include RMM or pre-built accounting integrations.

Can I replace both ConnectWise Manage and Control with one tool?

Yes. Syncro and SuperOps both bundle PSA and RMM (with remote access included) in a single subscription. Atera does the same. None of them require separate licensing for the remote access component the way ConnectWise does.

What are the biggest ConnectWise contract traps to watch out for?

Four: the auto-renewal cancellation window (60–90 days written notice required), mid-contract tier escalation from undisclosed usage limits, module bundling that prevents removing unused add-ons, and price increase clauses with no annual cap. Negotiate all four explicitly before signing. Get usage caps in writing, cap annual increases at ≤5%, and require 90-day advance notice of any price change.

The Bottom Line

There's no single replacement for ConnectWise that works for every shop – but the alternatives have caught up. For PSA, HaloPSA and SuperOps are the two strongest paid options depending on your team size. Syncro wins on pricing simplicity for smaller shops. For remote access, Splashtop is the fastest commercial replacement for ScreenConnect, and MeshCentral is the go-to for shops going open source.

The contract traps are the part most MSPs overlook until they're already locked in. Know the cancellation window, get the usage caps in writing, and cap annual increases before you sign anything.

If you're building a full stack from scratch or auditing your current tool costs, the OpenMSP tools directory maps 97 open-source alternatives across 19 MSP software categories – including every tool mentioned in this post.