The 14 best IT help desk software platforms in 2026, checked for ITIL
Two free registers certify IT help desk tools, and each lists platforms the other doesn’t. Here’s where 14 platforms stand, from Platinum to not listed.
33 min read
TL;DR
- As of October 2026, two free registers check the ITIL (formerly the IT Infrastructure Library) claims IT help desk vendors make: PeopleCert’s ITIL accreditation list and Pink Elephant’s PinkVERIFY. Each lists a major platform the other doesn’t. ServiceNow holds 18 PinkVERIFY processes for its Australia release and isn’t on PeopleCert’s list, while Jira Service Management is PeopleCert Gold and isn’t on PinkVERIFY.
- Five platforms sit on both registers: BMC Helix, Halo, ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus, Freshservice, and SysAid. The first three are certified for change and configuration on both.
- A certificate names a product, and you buy a plan. Find the plan that holds the certified change process before you compare prices.
What will your auditor ask for?
An IT help desk can hold an ITIL certificate and still leave you with nothing to show an auditor, because the change module can live one plan above the one you bought. An ITIL column in a roundup tells you little unless it says what earns a “yes.”
Start from the register row, then check the plan. An audit may sample change records, so the register evidence matters most when an auditor is coming.
This list ranks 13 of the 14 platforms by who checked the claim, not by who made it. Computer, our own entry and overall pick, is an AI layer rather than a help desk, so it comes first and sits outside the register ranking. Of all 14, five sit on both registers, three on PeopleCert’s alone, three on PinkVERIFY’s alone, and three on neither. Each verdict then says who should buy it, which is the part of “best” a register can’t settle.
What is IT help desk software?
IT help desk software is the system an internal IT team uses to track employee requests and incidents as tickets. The team routes each ticket to the right people and resolves it against a service level. Most platforms add a self-service portal, a knowledge base, and records of the hardware and software employees use.
Around the ticket sit the processes both registers certify: problem, change, and configuration management, with configuration data kept in a configuration management database (CMDB).
What does “ITIL-aligned” mean?
“ITIL-aligned” means what the vendor says it means, until someone else checks. Two public registers do the checking, and they measure different things:
- PeopleCert’s ITIL accreditation grades software against over 650 criteria across 20 ITIL 4 practices, from Bronze to Platinum Global. Part of the grade depends on how many of the vendor’s staff hold ITIL certificates. PeopleCert, which owns the ITIL trademark, calls itself and its assessors “the only organizations in the world legitimate to confirm that a particular software product is ITIL compatible.”
- Pink Elephant’s PinkVERIFY has run since 1999. It certifies named IT service management (ITSM) processes, such as change and configuration management, against “industry best practices for specific ITSM processes.” Pink Elephant says it is now “aligned with multiple ITSM frameworks as well as ISO/IEC 20000.” Stephen Mann, Principal and Content Director at ITSM Tools, writes in the article on PeopleCert’s site linked above that PinkVERIFY “now certifies an ITSM tool’s ITSM-process capabilities rather than its ITIL 4 practice alignment.”
The registers’ coverage has shifted before: Atlassian says Jira Service Management passed a PinkVERIFY ITIL 4 assessment in 2023, and that the certification expired in 2024 after ITIL 4 certification moved to PeopleCert.
How did we check the registers?
This is desk research: we read PeopleCert’s accreditation list and the PinkVERIFY register for the 14 platforms on Monday, September 21, 2026, down to the practices on each PeopleCert tool page. We re-read both lists on Tuesday, October 13, and Thursday, October 15, 2026. Then we read each vendor’s pricing pages for where change and problem first appear, what that plan costs, and how the AI is sold.
The ranking runs in four groups: both registers, PeopleCert only, PinkVERIFY only, and neither. Within a group, platforms certified for change and configuration on both registers come first, and the registers’ own counts order the rest. Computer, our own entry, sits outside that ranking because it holds no register listing, so the ranking runs from entry 2 to entry 14.
PeopleCert-only ranks above PinkVERIFY-only because PeopleCert, which owns the ITIL trademark, runs ITIL tool accreditation, so a requirement written as “ITIL-accredited” points to its list. If an auditor will sample your change records, read the PinkVERIFY-only group, entries 10 to 12, just as closely, because it certifies named processes such as change.
What we didn’t do: we didn’t run the products, re-audit either register, or score implementation. A certificate says a tool supports a practice, not that your team will run it well. The Reddit quotes in some entries are single voices, linked and dated. Where no conversations exist, we have left Reddit out.
How do the 14 IT help desk platforms compare on ITIL certification?
“Not listed” means the platform isn’t on that register, and “not published” means the vendor’s own pages don’t say. Each entry names the register listing or vendor page behind its row. Prices are each vendor’s published entry point for the plan named, so billing terms and agent counts differ, and each entry’s pricing section gives the basis. PeopleCert sets its grade from the practices certified and how many of the vendor’s own staff hold ITIL certifications, so a higher grade can carry fewer practices.
Verdict: Computer is our overall pick for teams that keep their help desk and want an AI layer over it. If you need certified change and configuration on both registers, BMC Helix is the top register-certified pick. It carries the most outside evidence on this list: PeopleCert Platinum, from a 2020 assessment, and 18 PinkVERIFY processes. Halo and ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus are certified for change and configuration on both registers too, and they publish their prices.
1. Computer, by DevRev – an AI layer over the help desk you keep
Our IT page argues with this whole list: “The best IT ticket is the one you never have to open.” We built Computer to work as a layer on the help desk you already run. The page describes it creating tickets in ServiceNow. Our service desk post says that when a request isn’t resolved, Computer hands it back to your team.
Which actions run depends on the system: data syncs in through connectors, and actions run as Agent Studio skills you set up, each with its own permissions and an optional approval step. Confirm the write actions you need in a demo.
This DevRev video has our Co-Founder and CEO, Dheeraj Pandey, on why employees shouldn’t wait on people for routine requests, and where people still bring judgment to the complex ones.
On the registers – PeopleCert: not listed. PinkVERIFY: not listed.
Best for – IT teams that keep their certified help desk and want routine requests finished inside it.
Key features
- Actions in your systems – Agent Studio skills that write, alongside connectors that sync data in.
- Approval step – “Needs Approval,” switched on per skill.
- Audit trail and rollback – every action logged, traceable, and reversible.
- Agent Studio – no-code, low-code, and high-code builds.
Pricing
Billing is by credits, not seats: our Mini plan is free, and Pro and Max are “Contact us” plans, and Agent Studio starts on Pro.
Limitations
- We’re on neither register.
- Our pages describe no change management module.
- We don’t publish a price for Pro or Max.
- Our Agent Studio help article lists agents for internal teams as “coming soon.”
AI nativeness
Computer’s agents are the product, so there’s no version without them, and you pay for their work in consumption credits rather than per seat.
Verdict: Use Computer to finish routine requests inside the help desk you keep, starting with the actions a demo confirms. Judge it by how many of those requests it closes without a handoff to your team. If you’re choosing the system of record itself, the certified desks below are the shortlist.
If your help desk passes the audit and the queue still grows, the fix may not be another certificate. Book a 15-minute demo of Computer, bring your most repetitive request, and check which actions it can take in your systems.
2. BMC Helix – Platinum with PeopleCert, 18 PinkVERIFY processes, and no published price
BMC Helix is Platinum with PeopleCert and holds 18 processes on PinkVERIFY, and both registers certify its change and configuration. BMC’s subscriber documentation puts change, problem, and the CMDB in the entry Standard package, with a minimum of three users.
There are two catches: PeopleCert’s Platinum is for version 21.3, assessed in 2020, and nobody outside a sales call knows what Standard costs.
On the registers – PeopleCert Platinum, 12 practices, for ITSM 21.3. PinkVERIFY, 18 processes, for BMC Helix 25.4.
Best for – Large enterprises that want certified change and configuration in the base package. It runs in the cloud, on-premises, or in a government region.
Key features
- AI incident insights – major incidents and problems, surfaced early.
- Smart Recorder – free-text ticket entry instead of a rigid form.
- CMDB – “a single source of truth” for infrastructure and services.
- Teams swarming – incident summaries and timelines in Microsoft Teams.
Pricing
BMC prices by named or concurrent users, and pricing comes by request.
Limitations
- No published price for any package.
- HelixGPT needs your own large language model (LLM) and isn’t offered in the Impact Level 4 or 5 (IL4 or IL5) government clouds.
- The autonomous Ticket Resolver agent is on Advanced only.
AI nativeness
Included, not metered: BMC HelixGPT “is not licensed as a separate SKU” (stock keeping unit), but you supply the model and its compute. That’s generous on the invoice and less so on the architecture diagram.
What Reddit says
A commenter who says their organization has 18,000 staff weighs the upgrade from Remedy against the bill:
“It is worlds better than in its Remedy days but obviously a costly option if your ticket volumes are pretty low.”
Verdict: Buy it if an auditor will ask for certified change and configuration evidence, and your budget is enterprise-sized. Ask for a current PeopleCert assessment, since the Platinum one dates from 2020. If you need a price before a sales call, ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus prints one.
3. Halo (formerly HaloITSM) – certified twice, with everything in one license
Halo is certified for change and configuration management on both registers, yet its own site only says “ITIL-aligned.” It sells everything at one price, with no editions.
On the registers – PeopleCert Bronze, 11 practices. PinkVERIFY, 11 processes, with change, configuration, and AI Capability, the register’s code for AI features.
Best for – Teams that want certified governance and no edition to outgrow.
Key features
- Change control – standard, normal, and emergency changes.
- CMDB – assets, configuration items, and services.
- Reporting – 1,000+ built-in reports.
- AI agents – in web chat, Teams, Slack, and the portal.
Pricing
Halo prices by agent only: $99 per agent a month at 10 agents in the US, $89 at 50, and £69 in the UK on annual billing, with “No tiers, no bolt-ons, no locked-away features.” Halo also offers monthly billing.
Limitations
- Required onboarding at an unpublished cost.
- On-premises needs Windows Server and SQL Server.
- Two AI features need your own AI connection.
AI nativeness
Included, with no consumption pricing and a built-in OpenAI connection.
What Reddit says
No locked-away features also means someone has to assemble them:
“Whilst it’s very customizable, you have to [build] it all yourself.”
Verdict: The pick for certified change and configuration at one published price, as long as someone can build the workflows. If procurement wants Gold or higher, Freshservice and SysAid hold Gold.
4. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus – certified twice, with editions to decode
Like Halo, ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus holds both registers’ certification for change and configuration, and it prints its prices. Reading them takes a spreadsheet: change, problem, and the CMDB come in Enterprise. Below it, you buy them one module at a time, though Standard can’t add the CMDB.
On the registers – PeopleCert Silver, 14 practices, for the February 2023 version. PinkVERIFY, 10 processes, including change, configuration, and AI Capability.
Best for – IT teams that want certified governance at a price they can read today, on Cloud or their own servers.
Key features
- Change management – a change advisory board (CAB), a calendar, and a history of changes.
- Release management – rollout and backout plans with implementation checklists.
- Integrated CMDB – with a relationship map you can export.
- Zia – AI that predicts categories, priorities, and technicians on Cloud.
Pricing
ManageEngine prices by technicians, modules, and assets, and Standard is free for up to five technicians. Cloud editions start at $13, $27, and $67 per technician a month, billed once a year. On-premises editions start at $120, $248, and $598 per technician a year. Below Enterprise, problem management is a $1,595-a-year add-on and change and release a $3,195 one on Cloud, or $1,195 and $2,395 on-premises.
Limitations
- The CMDB isn’t available on Standard.
- Several AI predictions are Cloud only.
- Zia’s AI agents come only with Cloud Enterprise.
AI nativeness
Included and unmetered on Cloud: Zia’s features cost nothing extra within your edition, and Zia agents come “at no added cost or metered pricing.”
What Reddit says
An admin who has run ServiceDesk Plus for about 10 years, at two companies of around 200 employees, skipped the change add-on and says the workaround passes audit:
“We don’t have the change management add on, but just created a process where we have a ticket category of Change Management and all change tickets get that category, we then create a task for a 2nd person to approve the change. Auditors are fine with that process.”
Verdict: Certified change and configuration at a readable price, once you’ve done the edition math. Halo skips the math with one license.
5. Freshservice – ITIL Gold, with change management starting at Pro
On Freshservice, the two registers’ listings differ on configuration, and they cover releases four years apart. PeopleCert’s 2022 assessment certified 14 practices, including service configuration management, while PinkVERIFY’s listing for Freshservice 2026 covers six processes, and configuration isn’t one. Which one matters depends on whether your auditor samples the CMDB.
On the registers – PeopleCert Gold, 14 practices. PinkVERIFY, six processes: change, not configuration.
Best for – IT teams that want ITIL accreditation at published prices and will pay for Pro to get change and problem.
Key features
- Change management – CAB approvals, rollout plans, and backout plans.
- CMDB – with the IT asset management package from Growth.
- Workflow Automator – drag-and-drop automation on every plan.
- Service catalog – a branded portal from Growth.
Pricing
Freshservice prices by agent, and the process you need decides the plan: Starter is $19, Growth $49, and Pro $99 per agent a month, billed once a year. Problem, change, and release management start at Pro, and Freddy AI Copilot costs $29 per agent a month more, billed annually, on Pro and Enterprise.
Limitations
- Change and problem management start at Pro.
- Audit logs are Enterprise only.
- We didn’t find an on-premises edition on Freshworks’ pages as of October 2026, so ask if you need one.
AI nativeness
Bolted on in part: Copilot is a paid add-on, and Enterprise includes the Freddy AI Agent (Classic), with 1,200 sessions per license a year.
What Reddit says
An admin who has run it beside Halo compares the clicks:
“I strongly dislike Halo compared to Fresh. Everything takes an extra 6 clicks to the 2 it takes in Fresh.”
Verdict: ITIL accreditation and published prices from one vendor, as long as your auditor doesn’t need configuration certified on both registers. BMC Helix, Halo, and ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus have that.
6. SysAid – the whole certified process in one $89 plan
SysAid puts request, incident, change, and problem management into one paid plan, with a CMDB and AI included. PeopleCert lists it at Gold, while SysAid’s own certification page still shows an older Silver badge for seven practices, so quote the register rather than the badge.
On the registers – PeopleCert Gold, 11 practices, version 24.1. PinkVERIFY, three processes: change, incident, and problem.
Best for – Teams that want the full process set and AI at one price.
Key features
- Change management – CAB collaboration and exportable audit logs.
- CMDB – relationship maps across assets and services.
- AI Triage Agent – sets category, assignee, and priority.
- Journey tab – a per-ticket audit log.
Pricing
SysAid prices by agents and assets: $89 per agent a month with 250 managed assets, and the billing term isn’t published. Enterprise starts at 20 agents, with a custom price from sales.
Limitations
- SysAid Copilot and AI Builder are cloud only.
- Enterprise pricing isn’t published.
- Custom-built AI agents come only with Enterprise.
AI nativeness
AI-native pricing: it’s in the seat, with “No usage caps” under a fair usage policy.
Verdict: The full process set and AI at one price, for teams whose configuration process only needs PeopleCert’s certification.
7. Jira Service Management – ITIL Gold for Jira shops, with change behind Premium
Jira Service Management changed registers: its 2023 PinkVERIFY certification expired in 2024, and it now holds PeopleCert Gold for the July 2025 cloud release, with 10 practices that include change enablement and service configuration management. Two Atlassian pages haven’t caught up: the ITSM page still says “Jira Service Management is PinkVERIFY™ Certified,” and the help desk page claims PinkVERIFY for four processes the register doesn’t list.
The governance processes sit a plan up: since Wednesday, October 16, 2024, change management, problem management, and major incidents are Premium and Enterprise only. Standard keeps core incident management and Assets, the CMDB, with 5,000 objects. For teams on Jira Software, the service desk and the engineering backlog share a vendor, which can outweigh everything else on this page.
On the registers – PeopleCert Gold, 10 practices, Jira Service Management Cloud, July 2025. PinkVERIFY: not listed.
Best for – Teams on Jira Software and Confluence that want an ITIL-accredited desk and will pay for Premium to run change and problem.
Key features
- Intake anywhere – email, Microsoft Teams, Slack, a widget, or a portal.
- Assets – a CMDB with dependency mapping from Standard.
- Request Router – a Rovo agent that suggests type, urgency, and priority, then routes.
- Knowledge base – Confluence-powered, with no Confluence license needed.
Pricing
Atlassian prices by agents and Rovo credits, and it sells Jira Service Management only inside its Service Collection. It’s free for three agents, then $26.90 per agent a month on Standard and $61.60 on Premium for the first 15, on monthly billing, while Enterprise is sold on annual billing only. Rovo includes 250 credits per user a month on Standard and 700 on Premium, and extra usage bills at $0.01 a credit from Thursday, December 3, 2026.
Limitations
- Change and problem management need Premium or Enterprise.
- New customers get Cloud only, since Data Center closed to them on Monday, March 30, 2026.
- The virtual service agent comes only with Premium and Enterprise.
AI nativeness
Built in and metered: Rovo comes with every paid plan. Its credits decide how far the AI goes before the invoice changes.
What Reddit says
One admin who ran problem and change queues on Standard put a number on the move to Premium, and another says moves like it are a pattern:
“We use Jira Service Management with problem queues and change request queues and have been for a few years now. They are moving these features from Standard to Premium, so our JSM component goes from $530 to $1380/month as well.”
“Atlassian has a history of getting users reliant on a feature and then changing the pricing.”
Verdict: When your engineers live in Jira and procurement wants ITIL accreditation by name, Premium is the price of keeping one vendor. For change management below Premium’s price, InvGate’s Pro includes it at $500 per agent a year.
8. InvGate Service Management – ITIL accreditation at a price small teams can read
InvGate Service Management holds PeopleCert’s ITIL accreditation across 15 practices, including change and configuration, renewed in 2026 for version 8. It isn’t on PinkVERIFY’s register, though an InvGate blog post from December 2024 announced a PinkVERIFY renewal for 2025, so ask InvGate about that before procurement does.
On the registers – PeopleCert Bronze, 15 practices. PinkVERIFY: not listed.
Best for – Teams of up to 50 agents that want ITIL accreditation at a published price.
Key features
- No-code change workflows – approvals, CAB reviews, and risk steps.
- Change Risk Agent – scores each change request as it arrives.
- Virtual Service Agent – Teams, WhatsApp, Slack, and the portal, from Pro.
- Knowledge Discovery – turns closed tickets into knowledge.
Pricing
InvGate prices by agent, billed once a year: Starter is $1,499 a year for five agents, Pro is $500 per agent a year for five to 50, and Enterprise starts at $12,000.
Limitations
- Change management isn’t in Starter.
- On-premises deployment comes only with Enterprise.
- InvGate reserves the right to charge for AI later.
AI nativeness
Included for now: no usage caps, and a person approves every AI suggestion.
Verdict: ITIL accreditation at a published price for teams of up to 50 agents, with the PinkVERIFY renewal the one question to settle with InvGate.
9. TOPdesk – accredited in its top plan, with one desk for every department
TOPdesk’s ITIL accreditation has a plan name on it: PeopleCert lists “TOPdesk Excellent,” the top of three plans, assessed in 2022. That’s the certificate-versus-plan problem in one line, because change and problem management start a plan lower, in Engaged.
On the registers – PeopleCert Bronze, 15 practices, for TOPdesk Excellent (2022). PinkVERIFY: not listed.
Best for – Organizations that want one desk for every department, with an on-premises option.
Key features
- CMDB and asset management – every plan, one price for 50 assets or 50,000.
- Known error database – from problem management.
- Change Planner – schedules authorized changes.
- AI Triage – suggests category, priority, and team, in Excellent.
Pricing
TOPdesk’s per-agent rate falls as you add agents: at 30 agents, Essential, Engaged, and Excellent cost $64, $91, and $128 a month each, and above 50 agents TOPdesk quotes.
Limitations
- Change and problem management aren’t in Essential.
- Most generative AI, including the Robin assistant TOPdesk launched in October 2026, is Excellent only.
- No billing term stated.
AI nativeness
Included by plan: “nothing to buy separately,” with more AI in Engaged and most in Excellent.
What Reddit says
One friction point you’d only find by logging in:
“Switching between user and admin interface requires sign out and sign in.”
Verdict: One desk across departments, on-premises if you like. Buy Excellent if you need the plan PeopleCert’s listing names.
10. ServiceNow – 18 certified processes, and not on the ITIL owner’s list
ServiceNow holds 18 PinkVERIFY processes, including change and configuration, level with BMC Helix. It isn’t on PeopleCert’s ITIL accreditation list, though ServiceNow’s own ITIL page says its ITSM is “built on the ITIL framework.” The one body that says it can confirm ITIL compatibility doesn’t list it.
The missing listing tells you more about the ITIL column than about ServiceNow’s service desk. ServiceNow puts incidents, changes, problems, and requests on one CMDB, and it says AI now ships in every package.
The certificate ServiceNow does publish is about itself: its trust page lists ISO/IEC 20000-1:2018, which certifies how ServiceNow runs its own IT, not what the tool does for yours. The Prime package adds an L1 IT Service Desk AI Specialist. ServiceNow says it resolves assigned incidents end to end and escalates when its confidence is low, and that availability may vary in FedRAMP, IL5, and self-hosted deployments.
On the registers – PinkVERIFY, 18 processes for ServiceNow’s Australia release, including change and configuration. PeopleCert: not listed.
Best for – Large enterprises that want one platform for IT and other departments, and buy through an account team.
Key features
- One CMDB – incidents, changes, problems, and requests on shared configuration data.
- Machine-learning assignment – routes incidents to the correct group.
- Omnichannel help – portal, Teams, Slack, voice, chat, or mobile.
- Preconfigured service level agreements (SLAs) – response and resolution targets for P1 through P4.
Pricing
Every package is quoted: ServiceNow sells ITSM Foundation, Advanced, and Prime with no published prices, behind a single “Get Custom Quote” button. Foundation includes the CMDB, asset management, and Virtual Agent, while change and problem start in Advanced, and building your own AI agents is Prime only. ServiceNow meters AI use in assists.
Limitations
- No published price for any package.
- Change and problem management aren’t in Foundation, the entry package.
- ServiceNow says AI availability may vary in FedRAMP, IL5, and self-hosted deployments.
AI nativeness
Built in, then metered: ServiceNow says every customer “now starts with a complete AI package,” and assists decide how far it stretches.
What Reddit says
In a thread calling ServiceNow a “parasitic” product, an admin at a company of about 2,000 users, who plans to automate annual audit reporting with ServiceNow modules, pushes back:
“I feel like a lot of admins on here don’t have auditing requirements.”
Verdict: One of the two deepest PinkVERIFY process sets here, on a platform that reaches past IT. If procurement requires PeopleCert’s ITIL accreditation, ServiceNow isn’t on that list, and BMC Helix holds Platinum.
11. Ivanti Neurons for ITSM – 14 PinkVERIFY processes, with endpoint management next door
Ivanti Neurons for ITSM, now marketed as Ivanti ITSM, holds 14 PinkVERIFY processes. It isn’t on PeopleCert’s ITIL list, though Ivanti’s product page calls the same certificate “14 core ITIL 4 processes.” Its base package includes incident, problem, change, configuration, and IT asset management.
On the registers – PinkVERIFY, 14 processes, including change and configuration. PeopleCert: not listed.
Best for – Enterprises that want service and endpoint management from one vendor, in any deployment.
Key features
- Self-healing bots – fix issues before employees report them.
- Auto Triage – fills category, service, and owner team from the ticket.
- Integrations – 1,000+ no-code connectors.
- Agentic AI – persona-based agents that update incidents in plain language.
Pricing
Every package is quoted: Ivanti sends every package to sales.
Limitations
- No published price.
- AI needs Ivanti ITSM 2024.2 or later on SaaS, and it isn’t available for FedRAMP.
- SaaS includes one terabyte of storage and 100,000 API calls a day.
AI nativeness
Tiered and SaaS-only: Analyst AI Assist in every package. The Self-Service AI Agent comes with enterprise service management (ESM) or as an add-on.
What Reddit says
Reporting is the complaint to test in a trial:
“I also had to use the ITSM component, and I couldn’t get the reporting detail out of it we wanted.”
Verdict: A fit if your endpoint team already runs Ivanti and your auditor accepts PinkVERIFY’s 14 processes as outside evidence.
12. SolarWinds Service Desk – change approvals in a $39 plan, with no certification for them
SolarWinds Service Desk puts change requests and approvals in its $39 Essentials plan, the lowest published per-technician price for a plan with change on this list, though neither register certifies that process.
On the registers – PinkVERIFY, two processes: incident and request. PeopleCert: not listed.
Best for – Small teams after basic change control at a low per-technician price.
Key features
- Change approvals – in Essentials.
- CMDB links – tied to tickets.
- Virtual agent – from Advanced.
- Integrations – over 200.
Pricing
SolarWinds prices by technician: $39, $99, or $124 each a month, billed once a year.
Limitations
- Audit history starts at Advanced.
- Essentials has no AI.
- Cloud only.
AI nativeness
Tiered: suggestions from Advanced, generative AI on Premier.
Verdict: Change control at the lowest published per-technician price here, and for audit evidence, SysAid is PeopleCert Gold at $89 per agent a month.
13. Zendesk – for IT teams already running Zendesk
Zendesk sells an Employee Service edition for IT and HR. It doesn’t claim a certification: its comparison page promises “ITIL compliance.” We didn’t find a change management module or a CMDB on Zendesk’s public pages as of October 2026; its help center offers a workflow recipe that “will outline a very simplistic change management process.” What it does publish is the part employees see: AI agents that handle requests “From password resets to access approvals.”
On the registers – PeopleCert: not listed. PinkVERIFY: not listed.
Best for – Support teams on Zendesk that want IT on the same tool.
Key features
- AI agents – in every plan, priced per automated resolution.
- Problem linking – incidents tied to problems, on every suite.
- Asset management – from Growth, 500 assets included.
- Approvals and catalog – from Growth.
Pricing
Zendesk prices by agents and resolutions: $29, $59, or $99 per agent a month paid once a year, plus $1.50 to $2.00 for each extra automated resolution and $50 per agent a month for Copilot.
Limitations
- No change module or CMDB on its public pages.
- Audit logs are Enterprise only.
- Asset management covers hardware only for now.
AI nativeness
Outcome-priced: agents in every plan, extra resolutions billed.
What Reddit says
A January 2025 comment relays three ITSM gaps a Zendesk partner named, and Zendesk has since added problem linking on every suite:
“Zendesk doesn’t support a lot of fairly standard ITSM features (change management, problem management, and CMDB) natively.”
Verdict: Worth it when support already runs Zendesk and IT’s needs stop at requests and assets. If change records will be sampled, a certified change process gives you outside evidence for the process behind them, and Freshservice has one on both registers.
14. Inquirly – unlimited agents on every published plan, and no published change module
Inquirly is a customer communication platform, and its homepage says it is “designed to streamline support and drive conversion.” Email, chat, WhatsApp, and social messages land in one shared inbox, where its AI assistant, Aily, answers from your own docs, tone, and context.
Inquirly earns a look from an IT team for one reason: every published plan carries unlimited agents.
On the registers – PeopleCert: not listed. PinkVERIFY: not listed.
Best for – Small SaaS support teams that want AI answers from their own docs without paying per seat.
Key features
- Shared inbox – email, chat, WhatsApp, and social messages in one workspace.
- Aily – an AI assistant that works from your docs, tone, and context.
- Workflow automation builder – with automation rules and macros.
- SLA management and tracking – on Pro.
Pricing
Inquirly doesn’t price by agent: Lite is free, Elite is $25, and Pro is $40 a month, each with unlimited agents. On annual billing, Elite is $20 and Pro is $32 a month. A launch offer showed 50% off when we checked on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, and Enterprise pricing comes from sales.
Limitations
- No change module, CMDB, or asset management on its public pages. Inquirly’s own comparison calls it “not the right fit” if your main need is change management, asset management, or device inventory.
- The Pro plan lists Voice AI, AI Insights, and call management as “soon.”
- Enterprise pricing isn’t published.
AI nativeness
AI from the Elite plan up: Aily comes with every paid plan, and Lite has none. On its own, Aily answers routine questions and creates tickets, and for your agents it suggests replies.
Verdict: A fit for SaaS customer support with everyone in the queue and no per-seat bill. Change records for an auditor would need another system, such as SysAid, with certified change in one published plan.
Which plan holds the certified change process?
Of the 10 platforms here with a certified change process, six sell change above the entry plan:
- TOPdesk’s accreditation names its top plan, Excellent. Change and problem start a plan lower.
- Freshservice’s change and problem start at Pro, and its audit logs at Enterprise.
- Jira Service Management moved both to Premium on Wednesday, October 16, 2024.
- InvGate has problem in Starter and change in Pro.
- ManageEngine sells them as add-ons below Enterprise, and the CMDB as an add-on for Professional.
- ServiceNow puts them in ITSM Advanced, with no published price.
BMC Helix, Halo, SysAid, and Ivanti put change in the entry plan. Four of the 14 publish no price for any paid plan: BMC Helix, ServiceNow, Ivanti, and Computer. So budget from the plan that holds the certified process: Freshservice starts at $19 per agent a month, and its change process at $99.
Who is not on this list, and why
Some names from other roundups aren’t here, each for a reason you can check. Atera bundles remote monitoring and management into every per-technician plan, so there’s no like-for-like way to price its help desk against the rest.
Espressive, now part of Resolve (an agentic automation and orchestration company), and Aisera, now part of Automation Anywhere (an agentic process automation company), are AI agents that work over a help desk rather than help desks themselves, so the register test doesn’t apply to them. Siit runs “directly in Slack and Teams” and is on neither register, so it fits a guide to chat-based desks better than this one.
What an agent’s audit trail proves, and what a certified change process proves
An auditor walking through your change process asks two different questions, and it’s easy to answer the wrong one:
- The first is whether your tool supports a controlled change process, and a register listing that covers change is outside evidence for that.
- The second is what happened, and who approved it. That’s a record, and AI agents now write a lot of it. Our “How Computer works” page says you can set approval gates on any action and keep “a full audit trail for every action, every trace, and every trigger.” In Agent Studio, each skill’s “Needs Approval” setting is off by default, so you switch it on for the actions that need sign-off.
Keep the two apart, because those gates govern an agent’s own actions. Our pages don’t map them to ITIL change control, and we’re on neither register, so Computer works alongside your certified desk rather than standing in for it. Our Trust Center lists SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO/IEC 27001:2022, which cover how we protect your data, not how a help desk runs change.
Amar Gautam, Head of DevRev Labs, starts from a request every IT team gets: an employee moves into a new role on Monday and needs access to a reporting dashboard. An agent can’t close that with an answer. It has to know who the person is and what the new role entitles them to, then perform the change “with authority, in a system of record,” which is where approval gates and the audit trail come in. His question for every request like it:
“What would it take to resolve that, rather than route it?”
– Amar Gautam, Head of DevRev Labs
Three questions to ask in the demo
- Which register lists this product, and for which version?
- Which plan holds the certified process, and what does it cost at your agent count?
- Can they show you a change record the way an auditor would sample one?
A vendor that answers all three with links has done your reading for you. Put the same three to every vendor on your shortlist before you book a second call.
What to watch on the registers next year
Two rows are worth rereading in September 2027: ServiceNow on PeopleCert’s list, and Jira Service Management on PinkVERIFY. A new listing would add outside evidence for that platform, though it wouldn’t change which plan holds the certified process. Until then, the checking stays with you, and both registers are free.
Want the requests off the queue as well as the certificate on file? Book a demo of Computer and bring the one your team finishes by hand most often.
