N-central and N-sight RMM are N-able’s two remote monitoring and management (RMM) platforms, and Take Control is its remote access tool. N-able’s website now presents the platforms as N-central UEM and N-sight UEM.[14] All three are licensed under the N-able Software Services Agreement or EULA, which define a Device as a physical or virtual server, workstation, computer, mobile device or end point.[13] The RMM platforms count managed devices. Take Control counts technicians who are logged in at the same time. Quantities are committed on the Sales Order and billed as described in N-able Quantity Commitment and usage billing.
Editions
| Product | Editions or modes | Counting basis |
|---|---|---|
| N-central | Professional mode, Essential mode, per device[1] | Device licence pool per server |
| N-sight RMM | Agent in server mode or workstation mode[7]; features such as Managed Antivirus, Web Protection, Backup & Recovery, EDR[9] | Billed devices per customer and feature |
| Take Control | Standard | 1 concurrent technician, 50 registered devices, 0 end-user licences per licence[11] |
| Take Control Plus | Plus | 1 concurrent technician, 500 registered devices, 10 end-user licences per licence[11] |
Metrics
N-central
N-central devices are added “in either Professional or Essential license mode”. The mode is set when a device is first added and can be changed later in the device properties.[1] A Professional Mode device license is “per Individual Device”. Professional devices “count towards your device licensing limit”.[1] N-central knows three kinds of device: network devices such as workstations, laptops, servers, routers, printers and storage; mobile devices; and cloud service devices such as Office 365 resources.[4] The Essential Mode device license covers a reduced feature set. N-able suggests it for break/fix customers, proofs of concept, à la carte programs, and mixed estates with “Essential on workstations and Professional on Servers”.[1] Catalog proof: N-central Professional licences are consumed per individual device.
N-sight RMM
N-sight RMM’s public documentation does not publish a licence definition. The Invoice Details guide shows the billing unit in practice. The usage breakdown lists, for each customer, “various devices that are being billed”, grouped into feature sections such as Web Protection, Managed Antivirus and Node, and compares committed with deployed quantities.[8] The agent is installed “in server mode or workstation mode”, and servers and workstations are treated differently for monitoring.[7] Laptops fall under the workstation device type.[10] The catalog records this as N-sight RMM billed device. Catalog proof: N-sight agents run in server mode or workstation mode; N-sight usage is reported per billed device and feature.
Take Control
Take Control counts concurrent logins, not named people. “Licensing is concurrent. Licenses are not assigned to specific technicians, they are instead managed through logins.” A licence is needed for each simultaneous login to the desktop console, the mobile console or the Admin Area’s Remote Access Mode, “even if no remote session is open”.[11] One logged-in technician may run several sessions at once. There is no limit on the number of technician accounts.[11] An end-user license lets an end user register 10 devices with Take Control Plus.[11] Catalog proof: Take Control licences are concurrent logins, not named technicians.
Counting / floors
N-central 15-day minimum. “Licenses are applied for a minimum period of 15 days.” The period starts when the licence is first applied, not when the device is imported. A device whose licence use changes keeps the original licence until the 15 days have passed, and only then does the licence return to the pool. After 15 days, removing a licence returns it to the pool immediately.[1][2] Short-lived devices, such as build machines or re-imaged laptops, therefore hold a licence for at least 15 days. Catalog proof: N-central licences apply for a minimum of 15 days.
Essential limits. Remote Control and patch management are “only available on Professional licenses”. Essential devices also lack custom services, Backup Exec, SNMP and EDF monitoring, and scheduled tasks. Their monitoring runs at intervals of 15 minutes to 4 hours. When a device moves from Essential to Professional, N-central re-applies service templates automatically.[1] Enabling a Professional-only feature thus requires the device to consume a Professional licence. Catalog proof: Essential mode excludes remote control and patch management.
Backup is counted separately. Backup enabled through N-central is not licensed through N-central device licences. It is controlled on the backup server, and N-able bills licences “that have been active that month”. Backup devices do not appear in N-central’s Administrative License Usage Report.[5] A reconciliation must therefore use backup billing data as well as the N-central report. Catalog proof: Backup enabled from N-central is billed by devices active in the month.
Take Control peak billing. Take Control charges “for the highest number of licenses used in a given month”. Accounts cannot downgrade licences past their commitment. All annual licences renew on the same date, and an upgrade to Take Control Plus is prorated for the rest of the annual term.[12] Licences are consumed per “Product Lane”: web Admin Area, desktop and mobile. A technician logged in on Windows and on Android uses two licences. A second login in the same lane logs out the first.[12] Administrators using the Admin Area without Remote Access Mode consume no licence.[11] Unattended agent installs are capped in line with the number of technician licences. Attended applet sessions are unlimited.[11] Catalog proof: Take Control charges the monthly peak and bars downgrades below commitment; Each Take Control product lane consumes its own licence.
Virtualization & partitioning
Neither platform documents a host-based or processor-based rule. Under the contracts, a virtual machine with an agent is a Device in its own right.[13] N-central lists VMware servers among the network devices that Professional mode manages.[1] Catalog proof: Virtual machines count as Devices.
Cloud / BYOL
N-sight RMM and Take Control are N-able-hosted services. N-central can be customer-operated, in which case the server has “an initial 30-day activation period”. Until activation it is limited to 10 Essential licences, 40 Professional licences, 20 customers or sites and 5 mobile devices, and branding and custom services are restricted.[3] Catalog proof: N-central limits before activation.
Programs
- Trials. N-sight RMM “Trials are limited to 10 device installations”.[6] N-central has the 30-day activation period described above. Both fall under the contractual Evaluation License. Catalog proof: N-sight RMM trials are limited to 10 devices.
- Take Control Plus Panic Button. This is a single-use option that gives “an unlimited number of full-featured technician licenses for a 10-hour period”.[11]
- Integrated add-ons. N-sight RMM features such as Managed Antivirus, Web Protection, Backup & Recovery and EDR appear as separate billed sections of the usage breakdown.[8][9] The standalone Cove Data Protection has replaced N-sight’s integrated Backup and Recovery for new use.[10]
Out of scope
- Per-device prices and minimum device counts, which are set on Sales Orders.
- Legacy N-central add-on licences such as NetPath, patch management and mobile device licences, whose documentation pages were not retrievable.
- Security add-ons, covered in N-able EDR, MDR and Mail Assure licensing.