LogMeIn’s most popular products include:
LogMeIn Pro – Remote desktop access software for small businesses and home users Logmein Central – IT management software for businesses, including three key feature sets: remote control, background management, and automation Logmein Rescue – Remote monitoring and management software for IT service desks and managed service providers
Why do you need an alternative? In recent years, LogMeIn has been on a merger and acquisition spree—it’s most prominent purchases include Lastpass (2015), NanoRep (2017), Citrix GoToMeeting business (2017), Bold Software (2017), and Jive (2018). As a result, LogMeIn now owns more than 10 different software products (including GoToAssist, GoToMyPC, GoToMeeting, and join.me), and like any company that grows so quickly, it has struggled to integrate the operations of all these entities into its own corporate structure. These struggles have left the company facing criticism from its customers. The company failed to deliver some planned product enhancements in 2018 and has also been slow to address some product quality issues that have crept in on the back of its attempts to realign its disparate and rapidly expanding engineering teams. Additionally, the company has mishandled communications with customers. As a result, it is now restructuring, and its co-founder Michael Simon has resigned from the board of directors. LogMeIn User Frustration and Price Hikes Despite the question marks over product quality and operations, LogMeIn has still enforced a number of major price hikes on its users, which impacted most of its product offerings. This brought about serious affordability concerns for many of its users. One example of this is LogMeIn Central shifting from plan-based to menu-based pricing in December 2018. This resulted in LogMeIn Central Basic going from $50 per month to its new base plan, which starts at $80 per month for 25 computers. Meanwhile, the full package, which replaced the Central Premier plan and covers patch management, process automation, and IT reporting, went from $133/month to $219 per month for 25 computers. And it’s even worse if you manage more than 25 computers. Despite the company’s attempts to restructure to manage its operational challenges, there are no reasons to believe that LogMeIn products for remote support, and in particular for IT Management, will ever go back to being affordable. Fortunately, there are a number of excellent alternatives to LogMeIn for companies looking for a remote support solution or video conferencing, that are both excellent value for money and include rich feature sets. In this article, we’ve set out the 10 best ones for you to check out.
Best LogMeIn Alternatives for Remote Support & Remote Desktop Access
Best LogMeIn Alternatives for Remote Support & Remote Desktop AccessGoverlan Teamviewer BeyondTrust (formerly Bomgar) Windows Remote Desktop Services RealVNC AnyDesk Chrome Remote Desktop ezTalksZoom WebEx
If you’re in the market for a business solution for IT management, Goverlan Reach offers a great alternative to LogMeIn Central, Rescue, and GoToAssist/ RescueAssist. Goverlan Reach is designed to provide remote support in an environment where there is a wide mix of end-users, systems, devices, and unattended machines inside or outside the network using disparate operating systems including Windows, Mac OS, Linux, or even VDI machines. Goverlan Reach offers some powerful features for remote support, including Advanced Remote Control, Background System Management, IT Process Automation, Active Directory Management, Software & Patch Management, IT Reporting, IT Compliance & Global Configuration, and Service Desk Software Integrations. Goverlan provides the ability to share screens, record sessions, transfer files, and chat with users during a remote session. It is easy-to-deploy and its user interface is very intuitive. Goverlan Reach is not only the most versatile solution we found, but it is also the best value for money. While many of its competitors have been heavily hiking their prices up over the past few years, Goverlan has kept its price increases modest and its pricing practices straightforward, and continues to focus on adding value through a rich feature set. It comes in three different editions Standard, Pro, and Enterprise. Price: Goverlan Reach starts at $29 per month per concurrent technician and includes unlimited endpoints as well as no cap on the number of sessions. A free trial is available on the Goverlan website. Visit: goverlan
Another of the big players in the Remote Access Software market is Teamviewer, and this is definitely worth considering if you are a business or home users looking for remote control, remote desktop sharing, online meetings, web conferencing, and file transfer between computers in one package. The TeamViewer remote access software is easy-to-use, scalable and allows you to connect to and monitor any device, anywhere in the world. From desktop-to-desktop, desktop-to-mobile, mobile-to-mobile, or to unattended devices like servers and IoT devices. It requires no pre-installed, IT-administered software to receive help, and supports Windows, Mac OS, Linux, Chrome OS, iOS, Android, Windows Phone, and BlackBerry. It also offers seamless Integration with most of the top IT-enablement platforms, alongside bank-level security and multi-user remote support sessions. TeamViewer is free as long as it’s only for personal use. TeamViewer’s Remote Control for professional use costs $49 per month but is limited to 1 concurrent session. The corporate license starts at $199 per month for up to 3 concurrent sessions. Visit: Teamviewer
BeyondTrust, formerly known as Bomgar, allows cross-platform remote access, either via a cloud-based app or desktop software, depending on the package you choose. You can also take up a seven-day free trial to try out the services. Each plan allows unattended access, screen sharing, file sharing, and collaboration. Designed with security in mind it encrypts all data in transit using TLS 1.2, and data at rest allows for modified encryption. It also offers integration with key business software modules such as CRM, ITSM, SIEM and password tools. You also have the option to use BeyondTrust’s open API to create custom integrations. One of the main benefits of BeyondTrust is its customization. The software permits extensive modifications to many features. You can also easily manage team users, roles, and session permission settings. BeyondTrust for remote support is priced at $1,995 per year for a concurrent license. Visit: beyondtrust
Windows Remote Desktop Connection is a free feature built into the Microsoft Windows Operating System, Ultimate, and Business versions that give fast and complete access control over a remote PC. Supported by Windows and Mac OS X, the tool is simple, easy-to-use and easy to set up, making this tool a great fit for beginners and amateurs. Windows Remote Desktop Connection can be accessed from your PC’s System settings, found in the control panel. The router of the remote PC needs to be routed on port 3389 to direct it to the PC you want to connect to. Note that this tool is not capable of controlling multiple PCs at a time. Visit: Microsoft
RealVNC provides both free and paid versions of its Remote Desktop Client. The software consists of a server and client application for the Virtual Network Computing (VNC) protocol to control another computer’s screen remotely. RealVNC offers the dependability and features like cross-platform remote control, VNC authentication, encryption, file transfer, collaboration tools, and chat, to ensure a good remote connection experience for the person on the other end of it. The cross-platform utility allows you to connect individually to a remote computer or also connect multiple PCs behind a public IP Address. The supported platforms for this software are Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, UNIX, Ubuntu, and Raspberry Pi. The software is free for private use, while it is $30 per desktop for Personal Commercial Use and $44 per desktop for Enterprise Use. Visit: RealVNC
AnyDesk is another feature-rich alternative that allows users to access their devices from anywhere in the world. In areas like transfer speeds and reliability of connection, AnyDesk performs extremely well. Furthermore, AnyDesk offers high frame rates, even double that of competitors like TeamViewer. As for security, AnyDesk relies on TLS 1.2 technology along with RSA 2048 asymmetric encryption to verify every connection. The free version is perfectly fine for personal use while you have to pay for business or commercial use. Visit: www.anydesk.com
This remote desktop software is available as an extension for the Google Chrome browser. It is accessible on any operating system and is fully secured. Setting up is simple and the add-on costs nothing. Chrome Remote Desktop provides an easy-to-use setup for getting your remote desktop connection, allowing users to remotely access any desktop and its contents right from their browser. It’s simplicity and versatility make it a great LogMeIn alternative for anyone looking to get up and running quickly with a basic remote connection. Visit: Chrome Remote Desktop Best LogMeIn Alternatives for Video Conferencing
ezTalks provides a reliable web conferencing and video conferencing solution for a wide range of scenarios—from online meetings to webinars or training and sales presentations. It gives you the ability to host up to 100 participants in its free version and up to 500 in its pro version. ezTalks comes in both cloud and on-premise versions and includes powerful features such as HD video/ audio chat, IM, screen sharing, record, and whiteboard. It also offers mobile-friendly compatibility with iOS and Android platforms. Visit: www.eztalks.com Zoom is a cloud-based video conferencing platform, designed to offer HD-quality video conferencing as well as simple group messaging. Unlike other services that cater to larger organizations that can afford a premium video conferencing suite, Zoom provides an economical solution that focuses on supporting essential features, such as high-quality HD video and good audio quality. It also offers a wide range of subscription packages. Zoom performs well, and its rich set includes the ability to chat, share files, and invite contacts to a meeting. Zoom also supports phone-dial-in and H.323/SIP room systems that enable video conferencing with anyone you want no matter where they are. Zoom runs on Windows XP or later and on Mac OS X 10.6.8 (Snow Leopard) or later. Visit www.zoom.com
Cisco’s WebEx free and premium tool allows you to remotely connect with people based on different systems through free mobile or desktop applications. Meeting hosts can share their desktop and choose to pass over the control of mouse and keyboard to other presenters. Sharing files, chat and face-to-face live interaction, scheduling in Outlook, and password protected messaging are also possible with this tool. Supported by Windows, Mac OS X, Linux and Mobile Apps, Cisco’s WebEx would be a great fit for your needs if you are looking for a premium business solution or to remotely access a desktop with an added bit of interaction to it. While it is free for 3 people, paid plans include Premium 8 ($24 per month for up to 8 attendees), Premium 25 ($49 per month for up to 25 attendees) and Premium 100 ($89 per month for up to 100 attendees). Visit www.webex.com
