ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is ManageEngine’s IT service management and help desk product. It is sold as an on-premises application and as a cloud service. It is licensed on two counts: the number of technicians who can log in, and the number of IT assets (nodes) under management.[1] The edition chosen, Standard, Professional or Enterprise, determines which modules are available and whether IT assets are licensed at all.[5] End users who raise requests are not counted. ManageEngine states that the customer pays for administrators and technicians, with no restriction on the number of IT end users.[5] When several service desks run on one installation under Enterprise Service Management (ESM), each instance carries its own licence.[3] On-premises copies are governed by the ManageEngine EULA,[6] and ServiceDesk Plus Cloud by the ManageEngine on-demand Terms of Service.[7]
Editions
The pricing page describes three editions, each shown for both cloud and on-premises deployment.[5]
| Edition | Vendor description | IT assets licensed | Starting price, cloud view (per technician per month) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | IT help desk | No[5] | US$13[5] |
| Professional | IT help desk + asset | Yes[5] | US$27[5] |
| Enterprise | IT help desk + asset + change + projects | Yes[5] | US$67[5] |
The pricing page notes that IT assets apply only to the Professional and Enterprise editions.[5] Prices are published as bundles of technicians and IT assets, for example 2 technicians and 250 IT assets. A free Standard edition covers up to 5 technicians.[5] Customers who need more than 10,000 IT assets buy the extra assets through the sales team.[5] The ESM FAQs also name an Asset plan among the editions that can be chosen for a new instance.[5]
Moving down an edition removes modules but keeps their data. On premises, moving from Enterprise to Professional removes the Problem, Change, Service Catalog and CMDB modules, while their data stays in the database.[1] The cloud FAQ describes the same downgrade as removing Service Catalog, Problem and Change.[4] Choosing a language in the Personalize link requires a separate Multi Language licence.[1]
Add-ons
Modules that are built into Enterprise are sold as add-ons for the lower editions. In the add-on table shown with the on-premises FAQs (annual subscription, English only), Service catalog, Problem management and Project management are listed at US$1,195 each for Standard and Professional. Change and release management is US$2,395, CMDB is US$1,195 for Professional only, and all of these are “Out of the box” in Enterprise.[5] The same table lists a Fail over service add-on at US$2,395 for Standard and Professional.[5] For the cloud Custom Functions add-on, the pricing FAQ gives a worked example: 25 technicians cost US$3,195 per year, a band that covers 21 to 100 technicians.[5]
Metrics
| ManageEngine term | Catalog row | What ManageEngine says |
|---|---|---|
| Technician login | Technician (ServiceDesk Plus) | Licensing is based on the number of nodes and the number of technician logins.[1] |
| Node / IT asset | IT asset (node) | Any asset whose product type is IT asset is a node. Nodes are discovered by scanning and each takes up a licence.[1] |
| Service desk instance | Service desk instance | Each service desk instance (HR, Facilities, IT, Legal and so on) requires a licence.[3] |
Counting / floors
Technicians (as retrieved 2026-09-27). Any number of technicians can be created, but only as many as the licence allows can log in. The default administrator login counts toward that number. The FAQ’s example is a 10-technician licence, which lets 10 technicians, including the default administrator, log in.[1] The remaining technicians are Non-Login technicians. They cannot sign in, but they can receive SLA violation emails, group notifications and scheduled reports. Their email replies are appended to the request, which suits field technicians.[1] Because the default Administrator account takes a licence, the FAQ explains how to delete it or remove its login.[1] The cloud FAQ uses the same login-based model.[4] ServiceDesk Plus Cloud is also subject to the Terms of Service rule that user licences may not be shared by more than one individual, other than by reassignment.[7] Catalog proof: ServiceDesk Plus counts technician logins and nodes; non-login technicians are free; ServiceDesk Plus places no restriction on the number of end users; Cloud user licences may not be shared by more than one individual.
IT assets (nodes). Nodes are assets whose product type is an IT asset, such as workstations, servers, printers, routers, switches and access points.[1] The count of IT assets corresponds to the maximum number of assets in the licence, so a 250-node licence allows 250 IT assets. Non-IT assets are recorded separately.[2] Three rules reduce the count:
- An IT asset moved to the Expired or Disposed state is no longer a node and stops taking a licence, although its history is kept.[1] Catalog proof: Expired or Disposed IT assets stop consuming a node licence.
- Peripherals such as monitors can be recorded as asset components, which are not counted as assets for the licence.[1] Catalog proof: Asset components and non-IT assets do not count as nodes.
- Assets whose product type is classed as non-IT are not nodes.[2]
When a domain scan would exceed the licence, the product reports “License maxed out”. The FAQ points to the Assets view on the home page to see how many IT assets are already counted.[1]
Floors. No minimum purchase is published beyond the smallest price bundle. The free Standard edition covers up to 5 technicians.[5] Free edition users can buy an optional annual maintenance service at US$35 per technician per year, a charge that applies only to the free edition (ServiceDesk Plus free edition AMS - per technician, annual).[5] For paid customers, technical support is included at no charge.[5]
Enterprise Service Management instances
ESM runs several service desks, such as IT, HR and Facilities, from one ServiceDesk Plus installation. Up to 15 instances can run at a time.[3] Licensing is per instance:
- Each instance needs its own licence. That licence carries its own edition, technician logins and add-ons, and can be Standard, Professional or Enterprise.[3] A licence cannot be shared between instances. The sales team can split an existing licence into separate licences, one per instance.[3]
- The base IT instance must always be licensed. A customer that wants to keep only a Facilities instance still buys two licences, one for IT and one for Facilities.[3]
- A retired instance becomes read-only but still counts against the instance licence. The licence is freed only when the instance is deleted.[3] Catalog proof: A retired service desk instance keeps consuming its instance licence until deleted.
- Only one instance may use the free allotment of 5 technicians. Every other instance is billed on its technicians and IT assets, and each can have its own billing cycle.[5] Catalog proof: Only one service desk instance may use the free 5-technician allotment.
- A new installation comes with a default licence and two instance licences valid for 30 days, each with two technicians. New trial instances are created as Enterprise edition.[3]
Expiry. When the on-premises licence expires, the default IT instance falls back to the free Standard edition. The other instances become read-only with the status “License Expired”, and only the OrgAdmin can apply a new licence.[3] If the service is down because of expiry, the licence can be applied from the server command line.[1] Catalog proof: On ServiceDesk Plus licence expiry the IT instance falls back to the free Standard edition.
Virtualization & partitioning
ServiceDesk Plus is not priced on the capacity of the server it runs on, and the retrieved documents contain no processor or partitioning rule. On premises, the EULA’s Single Installation License and the one-server restriction apply to the ServiceDesk Plus application server.[6] A virtual machine discovered by a scan whose product type is an IT asset is counted as a node like any workstation or server. The node definition makes no exception for virtual assets.[1]
Integration with Endpoint Central
From build 11300, ServiceDesk Plus can use the Endpoint Central agent for scanning. For new customers, inventory and warranty features are served from Endpoint Central for all ServiceDesk Plus nodes. Features such as remote control, chat, announcements, Wake-on-LAN and system manager need an add-on licence and work only for the nodes it covers.[2] When both products are licensed separately, the Endpoint Central licence caps what the integrated console can manage. In the FAQ’s example, a site with 1,000 ServiceDesk Plus nodes and 500 Endpoint Central computers can manage only 500 computers in the integrated console.[8] Catalog proof: Integrated ServiceDesk Plus and Endpoint Central are limited by the Endpoint Central count. See ManageEngine Endpoint Central licensing.
Cloud / BYOL
ServiceDesk Plus Cloud is sold as monthly or yearly subscriptions, with a discount for yearly terms. Each service desk instance is billed on its technician count and IT assets.[5] The pricing FAQ says customers can upgrade, downgrade or cancel at any time. Support runs 24x5 and is included in the subscription.[5] The on-demand Terms of Service add automatic renewal unless the customer gives notice at least seven days before the renewal date, and state that payments are not refundable.[7] Licences bought through a purchase order are applied from the back end once ManageEngine receives the PO.[4] The retrieved documents describe no conversion of on-premises licences into cloud subscriptions.
Programs
- Annual Subscription License and Perpetual License are the on-premises licence models in the ManageEngine EULA. A subscription must be renewed at least 10 days before expiry. A perpetual licence excludes support and updates unless maintenance is bought.[6]
- Free Edition, with optional paid AMS for up to 5 technicians.[5]
- ManageEngine cloud subscription for ServiceDesk Plus Cloud.[7]
- Evaluation License. Each service desk instance has a 30-day free trial. When it ends, the instance is deactivated unless the trial is extended.[5]
Out of scope
- ServiceDesk Plus MSP and SupportCenter Plus, which have separate licensing.
- AssetExplorer as a standalone product.
- Exact on-premises bundle prices, which the pricing page fills in by script and which could not be read reliably from the static page, and non-US currency prices.
- Remote Access Plus and other ManageEngine products sold as ServiceDesk Plus add-ons, which are licensed on their own metrics.