Alternatives ยท 9 min read
Choosing an Atera alternative: per-technician pricing and what it hides
Written for: MSPs and internal IT teams reviewing an Atera subscription or comparing per-technician and per-device licensing models.
Written by the 247connect Marketing Team
Meter shape
In short
Atera is known for pricing per technician rather than per device, which is unusual in the RMM market and is often the reason teams choose it and the reason they later review it. Per-technician pricing is predictable while the team is small and the estate grows, and less compelling when the team grows faster than the estate or when only part of the bundled platform is in use. A fair comparison models twelve months under each candidate's meter, audits which modules are genuinely operated, and tests remote session quality on a real network.
Key takeaways
- Per-technician pricing favours small teams with large estates and gets less attractive as the team grows.
- Bundled platforms are only good value when the bundle is operated; audit module usage before renewing.
- Model twelve months under each meter using your own technician, session and device counts.
- Check whether ticketing, reporting and remote control are all in the tier you are quoting.
- Session speed and reliability deserve their own test, separate from the feature comparison.
- Confirm what the audit log records and whether it can be exported before a subscription lapses.
How per-technician pricing behaves
A per-technician meter charges for the people doing the work and ignores the number of machines they manage. That is attractive when a small team looks after a large or fast-growing estate, because adding devices does not move the bill.
The shape reverses when the team grows. Hiring three technicians on a per-technician model changes the annual figure immediately, where a per-device or fixed-price model would not. Seasonal or part-time staff also sit awkwardly, since a person who connects twice a month can cost the same as one who connects all day.
Model both directions: twelve months at today's team and estate, and twelve months after a plausible year of change in each. The candidate that wins on today's numbers is not always the one that wins on next year's.
Audit the bundle before you price the alternatives
Bundled platforms combine remote control, monitoring, patching, automation, ticketing and reporting. The value of a bundle depends entirely on how much of it is operated, and the honest answer is often two or three modules.
Go module by module and record when each was last used deliberately and who owns it. If ticketing runs through a different system, if reporting is exported once a year, and if the automation library has not changed since onboarding, you are comparing against a much smaller product than the marketing page describes. That makes focused tools legitimate candidates rather than downgrades.
Score every candidate on the same rows
Whatever shape of product you end up buying, use one sheet for all of them so the comparison survives scrutiny later.
- Time to a working remote session on a normal broadband or 4G link.
- Managed and on-demand access, both included in the quoted plan.
- Modules you will actually operate, each with a named owner.
- Enforced multi-factor authentication, group-scoped permissions and end-user consent on attended sessions.
- Audit log contents, retention and export format.
- Platform coverage across the real operating system mix in the estate.
- Silent deployment and outbound-only connectivity.
- Twelve-month cost at today's numbers and at a realistic projection.
Trial plan
Shortlist three on paper, trial two on live tickets for a fortnight. Install agents on a representative device sample including one awkward machine and one remote site, handle a fixed number of real tickets on each tool, and record time to session every single time.
Run the unhappy paths deliberately: a sleeping device, a user on a slow link, a session handed to a colleague, a reboot with automatic reconnection, and a file transfer in both directions. Then decide with the technicians in the room and the cost model on the table.
Common mistakes
- Modelling only today's team size on a per-technician meter.
- Paying bundle prices for two modules and calling the rest optionality.
- Assuming ticketing or reporting is included at the tier you were quoted.
- Comparing session quality from a demo rather than from your own tickets.
- Letting a subscription lapse before exporting audit history.
Frequently asked questions
- Is per-technician pricing better than per-device?
- It depends on the ratio between your team and your estate. Per-technician pricing suits a small team managing many machines, because devices are free to add. Per-device pricing suits a larger team managing a stable estate. Model twelve months under both meters with your own numbers, then repeat the model with a realistic year of growth in each direction.
- How do I tell whether a bundled platform is worth it?
- List each module and record when it was last used deliberately and who owns it. If two or three modules carry the work, price focused tools for those jobs and compare. A bundle is good value when the bundle is operated, not when it is merely available.
- What should I test during a remote support trial?
- Time to session on a normal connection, behaviour on the unhappy paths (sleeping device, slow link, session handover, reboot and reconnect, two-way file transfer), silent deployment across a device sample, and whether the audit log records what you would need to hand to an auditor.
- Does switching platforms mean migrating data?
- Rarely much. Remote access data is mostly configuration and history. Export audit logs and any reports you must retain, rebuild groups and permissions, deploy the new agent alongside the old one for a fortnight, and remove the old agent through the same automated task.
Why teams choose 247connect
Fixed, predictable pricing
Unlimited operators with five concurrent connections per user, so the bill does not move every time the team grows.
Both access models included
Managed (unattended) access to devices you own and on-demand (attended) access to devices you do not, in the same console.
Fast time to session
Sessions typically connect in around eight seconds, which is the number a support desk feels dozens of times a day.
Zero-trust, AES-256 encrypted
Outbound agent connections with no inbound port to forward, and session activity logged against a named operator.
Try it on your own estate
A 14-day trial with 2 on-demand licences and 10 managed devices, no credit card required.
Where 247connect fits: it is a focused remote access and support layer, not a bundled platform with ticketing and monitoring, so if you operate the whole bundle it is not a like-for-like swap. If your audit shows remote control and an audit trail are the modules carrying the work, its fixed pricing with unlimited operators removes the per-technician calculation entirely, and the 14-day trial covers ten managed devices so you can test it against real tickets.
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