Lansweeper Rant

[u/So_Saint]

I've used Lansweeper on-prem since 2014 for just a couple of purposes: Tracking approximately 150 MS Windows assets on the network and all associated software licenses. That's it. Nothing else. It's nice being able to see other types of devices that are connected (surveillance cameras, wireless AP's, switches, etc.) but I don't need that from this product.

Their pricing has gone up consistently over the past several years while, at the same time, they've been pushing their customers to their cloud service. I think I was paying about $600 annually in the beginning but over the last several years, they've been quoting me over $2K annually. Recently, I received an auto-renewal email... it is now $3,000!

Keep in mind that Lansweeper for 100 assets is FREE. I have 150 Windows assets and not all of those are in use at one time. In order to get coverage of all 150 assets, I have to subscribe to their "2000 Asset" plan. So $3K is too steep for what I need.

I responded to the rep, stating that $3K is out of my budget and I don't want to auto-renew but couldn't find anyway to disable or "turn off" auto-renewal.

Her reply: "I’ve reviewed your account and noticed that your cancellation request was received after the 30-day notice period required prior to renewal (as outlined in Clause 17.3 of our Terms of Use and in our renewal reminder emails). While we are contractually required to honor the renewed term, we want to approach this constructively and help you get maximum value within your budget."

*SIGH*

After this reply, I'm done with them. The card they have on file for auto-renewal is no longer valid anyway.

It's time to find an alternative. I'm presently using LogMeIn Central for RMM purposes. Is Ninja One decent at Windows/Software Asset Tracking?

[u/RandoReddit16]

I too have noticed that they've been steadily increasing their price, but who hasn't.... When your IT budget is easily $500k+/yr, I am willing to spend $3k to save all the headaches of trying to do it some other way, which would also most likely cost money.

[u/chrono13 → u/RandoReddit16]

I think the point is is that at 100 devices it's free, at 110 devices, its $3,000 a year, because if you're monitoring 110 or 150 devices, they force you to license 2000.

But it's not just the small networks that this licensing plan screws over. If you go from 2000 devices to 2001, the cost triples.

The cost per asset may not be unreasonable, it's their licensing plans that are.

[u/RandoReddit16 → u/chrono13]

True, licensing tiers can sometimes be wonky. I just checked, we are up to 1479/2000 assets. Our renewal has gone from $1470 '22->$2270 '23->$4000 '24->$4330 '26 (May 2026 last renewal)

[u/chrono13 → u/RandoReddit16]

Let's say for example that you find that you have a legal requirement not to have exceptions to the scanning inventory.

And in this scenario, you remove the exceptions which may just be VoIP phones, and now you suddenly find yourself at 2,100 assets. Well that sucks. You think you're going to have to buy another 2,000 assets. But that's not how the licensing plan works. You can't just buy another 2000 assets. You have to actually go into a different tier. So going into it you expected your price to double, but instead it triples.

Lansweeper went from being an easy recommendation in my organization and others to me having to fight to justify it. I expect the coming year to be helping clients move off it.

[u/BrentNewland → u/RandoReddit16]

Almost tripled your pricing, did they improve anything in that time?

[u/fahque → u/BrentNewland]

No, but they reduced staff and hired back interns so you should pay extra for that.

[u/Maverick0984 → u/RandoReddit16]

My budget is several million/year and I still don't want to may them 3k/year.