IT asset management is the record of what hardware and software the company owns, who holds it and what it cost.
This guide ranks the products on whether they find assets themselves or wait to be told, what the first ninety days cost in data cleaning, how the licence is counted, and how the register comes back out.
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In short
What IT asset management software does
IT asset management records every device, licence and contract the organisation owns, tracks who holds each one, and follows it from purchase through to disposal.
In this order: setup effort, what it really costs, how your data comes back out, whether
you can leave, and who each IT asset management tool is built for. Why those five, and why there is no
score out of ten, is on the how we work page.
Enterprises where a single licence audit can cost millions
Any organisation below roughly a thousand employees
Country is where the vendor is headquartered or contracts from, which is a
different question from where your data is hosted. Where the two tell different stories, the
entry says so.
Open-source asset register you can host and export yourself
Ranked #1 of 12 in Best IT Asset Management Software in 2026.
Free tierOpen sourceSelf-hostablePublished pricingNorth America
Snipe-IT ranks first because of the exit test, with a lighter setup than GLPI. Self-hosted, open source, with a documented API and a database you can read, it is, with GLPI, one of the two products here that cannot hold your register hostage, and of the two it is the quicker to stand up and the one with a published hosted plan.
It handles check-in and check-out, warranty dates and depreciation cleanly and stops there. You supply the discovery, through an import or an integration, and you supply the server maintenance if you self-host rather than paying for their cloud.
What stands out
Open source
Self-hostable
Published pricing
Where it costs you
No network discovery: assets must be imported or integrated
Software licence handling is a list, not a compliance engine
Right for
IT teams that want a clean register and full control of the data
Wrong for
Companies that need to find undocumented devices on the network
United StatesFree open source self-hosted; hosted plans from $39.99 a month with unlimited assets, published
Finds what is on the network before you write the register
Ranked #2 of 12 in Best IT Asset Management Software in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingEurope
Lansweeper starts from the opposite end to Snipe-IT: it scans and tells you what exists, including the switch in the cupboard and the server nobody decommissioned. For most companies the first scan is the single most useful day of the project.
Where it is weaker is everything after discovery, namely contracts, costs and the disposal record, so pairing it with a register is common. Remote laptops need the agent, which is an extra deployment step.
What stands out
Agentless discovery
Belgian vendor
Published pricing
Where it costs you
Financial and lifecycle fields are thinner than a dedicated register
Tier pricing by asset count escalates faster than expected
Right for
Networks where nobody is confident the current inventory is complete
Wrong for
Teams that only need a tidy register of known laptops
BelgiumFree plan with full detail on 100 assets; paid per asset per year, published tiers
French open-source asset register with a service desk attached
Ranked #3 of 12 in Best IT Asset Management Software in 2026.
Open sourcePublished pricingEurope
GLPI gives you an asset register, an inventory agent and a service desk for nothing, which is why it is everywhere in French and European public administration. Run it on your own server and no vendor can raise the price.
The trade is entirely in effort: you install it, you roll out the agents, you handle version upgrades, and you accept an interface designed by engineers. The paid subscription buys third-level support and the maintainer's own plugins, not an easier product.
What stands out
Open source
Service desk included
EU vendor
Where it costs you
Installation, agent rollout and upgrades are entirely your work
English documentation and community lag the French
Right for
Public bodies and technical teams wanting a free, self-hosted system
Wrong for
Small teams with no Linux administration time available
FranceOpen source; paid Network subscription and cloud, published
Devices, software subscriptions and who pays for them in one place
Ranked #4 of 12 in Best IT Asset Management Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestEurope
Setyl answers the question most modern IT teams actually have, which is not where the server is but which employee holds which laptop and which of the eleven subscriptions they were given is still being paid for.
It reads from device management, HR and accounting rather than scanning, so the joiner and leaver flow works without manual entry. If those upstream systems are messy, Setyl shows the mess accurately and cannot fix it for you.
What stands out
SaaS spend tracking
UK vendor
Integrations first
Where it costs you
No network discovery for unmanaged or unconnected hardware
Accuracy depends on the tidiness of the systems it reads
Right for
Distributed companies where devices and subscriptions both need owners
Wrong for
Estates with servers, network gear and machines to scan
United KingdomFrom $300 a month, quoted by plan and headcount; trial available
IT asset register with licence reconciliation as a paid add-on
Ranked #5 of 12 in Best IT Asset Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
EZO AssetSonar sits in the middle of this list on purpose: published per-asset pricing, a hardware register, software installations counted against what you bought through the SAM add-on, and integrations into the helpdesk you already run.
That covers the ordinary compliance question without an implementation project. It will not survive a complex licence audit and its discovery is lighter than the specialists, but for a few hundred machines it is usually enough and it is buyable without a call.
What stands out
Published pricing
Licence reconciliation
Helpdesk integrations
Where it costs you
Discovery agent is less thorough than Lansweeper's scanning
Reporting is rigid outside the prebuilt views
Right for
Mid-sized IT teams needing hardware and software counted together
Wrong for
Enterprises facing a serious Oracle or SAP licence audit
United StatesPer asset per month, published; software licence module extra
Discovery, register and remote actions at a mid-market price
Ranked #6 of 12 in Best IT Asset Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingLatin America
InvGate Asset Management bundles network discovery, the asset register and remote actions such as software deployment, and launches remote sessions from the asset record through TeamViewer, AnyDesk or RDP, which you license separately.
Pricing is published per IP device, which makes the business case straightforward. Software entitlement reconciliation is the weak spot, and the matching service desk is a separate product, so closing the ticket-to-asset loop means buying both. Worth a trial against Lansweeper if remote support matters to you.
What stands out
Discovery included
Remote actions
Published pricing
Where it costs you
Licence compliance is shallow next to USU or Flexera One
Small European presence, so check support hours carefully
Right for
Mid-market IT teams wanting discovery and remote support together
Wrong for
Organisations whose main problem is software licence exposure
QR-code tracking for laptops and everything else you own
Ranked #7 of 12 in Best IT Asset Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingEurope
Timly is a general asset tracker from Switzerland that IT departments adopt when laptops are only part of what they lend out. QR labels and a phone camera make the annual physical count achievable rather than theoretical, and maintenance and return dates are handled properly.
Network scanning is an optional add-on module and software licences are not counted, so treat it as the register half of the problem unless you price the scanning module too.
What stands out
Swiss vendor
QR and mobile
Any asset type
Where it costs you
Network scanning is an add-on and software licences are not counted
Add-on modules make comparison with IT tools difficult
Right for
Organisations tracking laptops alongside tools, vehicles and equipment
Wrong for
Pure IT estates needing software compliance and discovery
SwitzerlandFrom €195 a month, published; add-on modules extra
A configurable register that will model anything you own
Ranked #8 of 12 in Best IT Asset Management Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Asset Panda lets you define the fields, the actions and the workflow for any kind of asset, and the mobile app turns a physical audit into an afternoon with a phone.
That configurability is genuinely useful in schools, clinics and facilities, where the asset is as likely to be a projector as a laptop. It is also an empty box on day one that needs someone to model it, and quote-only pricing means you cannot benchmark it quickly.
What stands out
Highly configurable
Mobile app
Quote-only
Where it costs you
No network discovery: devices arrive by import or MDM sync
Pricing is quote-only, which slows any comparison
Right for
Schools and facilities teams auditing mixed assets on foot
Wrong for
IT teams that need unmanaged devices found on the network
United StatesQuoted annually by asset count; 7-day trial
Asset register bundled into a service desk you already wanted
Ranked #9 of 12 in Best IT Asset Management Software in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Freshservice is the pragmatic answer when you need both halves: every ticket is attached to a device, and the leaver process runs through the same tool. That integration is worth more day to day than a deeper standalone register.
The pricing is the catch, since the asset capability lives on higher plans and the included asset allowance runs out, after which packs are added. Price it at your real device count, not per agent.
What stands out
Service desk first
Published pricing
Discovery agent
Where it costs you
Asset features start on Growth; more assets and licence management are quoted
Discovery is adequate rather than thorough
Right for
Teams buying a service desk and an asset register in one decision
Wrong for
Anyone wanting asset management without a ticket system
United StatesPer agent per month, published; 100 asset units included, more quoted
German software licence management for audit season
Ranked #10 of 12 in Best IT Asset Management Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestEurope
USU IT Asset Management is bought for one meeting: the one with a vendor's licence auditor. It reconciles entitlements against actual use for the licence models that generate the largest bills, and it comes from a German vendor with an EU hosting option, which shortens the procurement discussion.
It is not a laptop tracker, it needs an implementation project, and below a few thousand employees the licence exposure rarely justifies the cost.
What stands out
Licence compliance
German vendor
SAP and Oracle depth
Where it costs you
Enterprise implementation project rather than a subscription
Hardware register is secondary to the licence engine
Right for
Large German and EU firms exposed to SAP or Oracle audits
Wrong for
Mid-sized firms with no on-premises licence estate to defend
Agentless discovery down to application dependencies
Ranked #11 of 12 in Best IT Asset Management Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Device42 discovers infrastructure rather than endpoints, and the dependency mapping is the reason to buy it: knowing which application will break when a server moves is worth more than the inventory itself during a data centre exit or cloud migration.
It became part of Freshworks, so ask directly about roadmap and support commitments. Pricing is quoted per device, and pointing it at a laptop estate is using a survey instrument as a tape measure.
What stands out
Deep discovery
Dependency mapping
Quote-only
Where it costs you
Now inside Freshworks, so roadmap ownership is worth asking about
Overbuilt for endpoint and laptop tracking
Right for
Infrastructure teams mapping servers and dependencies before a migration
Wrong for
An office IT team tracking laptops and phones
United StatesQuoted per device, annual subscription
Software licence optimisation at enterprise scale and enterprise cost
Ranked #12 of 12 in Best IT Asset Management Software in 2026.
Pricing on requestNorth America
Flexera One maintains the recognition and licence-rule library that makes enterprise software asset management possible at all, and at genuine scale it pays for itself on one avoided true-up.
Everything about it is enterprise: multi-year agreements, partner implementation, and a team internally who own it. Smaller organisations that buy it end up with a licence they use at ten per cent, which is an expensive way to learn that Snipe-IT would have answered the question.
What stands out
Enterprise SAM
Licence library
Partner-led
Where it costs you
Multi-year contracts with partner-led implementation
Needs internal specialists to produce any value
Right for
Enterprises where a single licence audit can cost millions
Wrong for
Any organisation below roughly a thousand employees
United StatesQuoted per organisation, multi-year agreements
IT asset management records every device, licence and contract the organisation owns, tracks who holds each one, and follows it from purchase through to disposal. The differences that matter are rarely in the feature list, so this is
the order we would work through them.
01
Decide whether you need a published price
7 of the 12 tools here publish what they cost; the other 5 quote per organisation. The ones you can compare without a sales call: Snipe-IT, Lansweeper, GLPI, EZO AssetSonar, InvGate Asset Management, Timly, Freshservice.
02
Decide how much the jurisdiction matters
These 12 vendors are established in 7 countries across 3 regions (North America 6, Europe 5, Latin America 1). That decides whose disclosure law applies to what the vendor holds, wherever the servers are.
03
Consider whether you want the source
2 of these are open source: Snipe-IT, GLPI. Hosting one yourself trades a subscription for maintenance.
Does it find assets, or wait to be told about them
This split decides whether the register is still true in a year. Discovery products scan the network and report what answers: Lansweeper, InvGate Asset Management and Device42 work this way, and the first scan almost always finds machines nobody had documented. Register products wait to be fed: Snipe-IT, Asset Panda and Timly (unless you add its scanning module) hold excellent records of whatever someone entered, and nothing at all about the laptop bought on a departmental card.
Most organisations need both halves, either through one product that does both or through an import from one into the other. The honest test is what happens to a device that is never plugged into the office network, because a scanner never sees it and only an agent or an integration will.
Run the trial's discovery against a real subnet and count how many assets surprised you.
Ask how remote laptops that never touch the office network get into the register.
Decide who is responsible for recording an asset bought outside the IT budget.
Hardware tracking and licence compliance are different products
Knowing you own four hundred laptops is easy. Knowing whether your Oracle, SAP or Microsoft deployment matches what you bought is a different engine, because entitlement rules depend on cores, users, virtualisation and contract wording rather than on installations counted. USU IT Asset Management and Flexera One maintain those rule libraries and charge accordingly.
EZO AssetSonar, with its paid SAM add-on, counts installations against purchases, which handles ordinary desktop software and will not survive a serious audit. Snipe-IT and Timly do not attempt it. The question to settle before shortlisting is which vendor could realistically audit you in the next three years, and how large that bill could be, because that number decides whether this capability is worth paying for at all.
List the vendors who could audit you, and estimate the exposure for each.
Ask whether licence rules are maintained by the vendor or entered by you.
Check that virtualised and cloud-hosted instances are counted the way your contract counts them.
The joiner and leaver loop is where registers die
An asset register is accurate on the day it is built and decays from then on, and the decay happens at people changes. If recording a device against a new starter is a separate task somebody has to remember, it will be skipped within a quarter.
Products that read from the HR system and the device management console keep up automatically, which is what Setyl is built around and what Freshservice gets by having the tickets in the same place. The other end matters more: a leaver's laptop needs collecting, wiping and recording as wiped. That record is the one an auditor or a data protection officer will ask for, and it is also the proof that a lost device held no personal data.
Connect the HR system so a new starter creates an assignment without anyone typing it.
Make asset return a step in the offboarding checklist with a named owner.
Store the wipe or disposal certificate against the asset, not in a separate mailbox.
What the register costs to keep, and how it comes back out
Pricing splits three ways here and they are not comparable: per asset at Lansweeper and EZO AssetSonar, by plan and headcount at Setyl, and per agent plus asset packs at Freshservice. Model each against your real numbers, because a company with two devices per person pays very differently under each. Then look at the exit, which nobody does at purchase.
The register is a list of your own property, and it should leave as a full export including custom fields, attachments and history. Snipe-IT and GLPI settle this by giving you the database. Elsewhere, ask specifically whether attachments such as invoices and disposal certificates come out with the records, or only the table rows.
Price all three models with your own device and headcount numbers before shortlisting.
Export the full register during the trial and check custom fields and attachments came with it.
Ask what happens to your data ninety days after the contract ends, in writing.
What goes wrong most often when buying IT asset management software
Buying a register and expecting it to find anything. Without discovery or an integration it only ever contains what someone typed in.
Counting installations and calling it licence compliance. Entitlement rules depend on cores, users and contract wording, not on a count of installs.
Leaving asset assignment out of the onboarding and offboarding checklists, then wondering why the register is wrong within two quarters.
Storing disposal and wipe certificates outside the asset record, so the one document an auditor asks for cannot be produced against the device.
07
Frequently asked questions
8 answers
What is the best IT asset management in 2026?
Snipe-IT leads our ranking of 12. Does one job properly: what the asset is, who has it, what it cost and when the warranty ends, with a clean API and a database you own.
Discovery is not included, so assets arrive by import or integration. The interface is plain, software licence compliance is basic, and self-hosting means you maintain the server and the upgrades.
Which IT asset management tools publish their pricing?
7 of the 12, with the pricing model each one publishes:
Snipe-IT: Free open source self-hosted; hosted plans from $39.99 a month with unlimited assets, published.
Lansweeper: Free plan with full detail on 100 assets; paid per asset per year, published tiers.
GLPI: Open source; paid Network subscription and cloud, published.
EZO AssetSonar: Per asset per month, published; software licence module extra.
InvGate Asset Management: Per IP device per year, published tiers.
Timly: From €195 a month, published; add-on modules extra.
Freshservice: Per agent per month, published; 100 asset units included, more quoted.
The other 5 quote per organisation.
Is there a free IT asset management tool?
Snipe-IT, Lansweeper offer a free tier or a free self-hosted edition.
Where are these IT asset management vendors established?
In 7 countries across 3 regions: North America 6, Europe 5, Latin America 1.
Snipe-IT: United States.
Lansweeper: Belgium.
GLPI: France.
Setyl: United Kingdom.
EZO AssetSonar: United States.
InvGate Asset Management: Argentina.
Timly: Switzerland.
Asset Panda: United States.
Freshservice: United States.
USU IT Asset Management: Germany.
Device42: United States.
Flexera One: United States.
Which IT asset management tools are open source?
Snipe-IT, GLPI.
Which IT asset management tools can you host yourself?
Snipe-IT. The other 11 are hosted by the vendor only.
What should you use instead of Snipe-IT?
Lansweeper and GLPI are the next two on this page. Lansweeper is for Networks where nobody is confident the current inventory is complete; GLPI is for Public bodies and technical teams wanting a free, self-hosted system.
Who should not buy Snipe-IT?
Companies that need to find undocumented devices on the network. No network discovery: assets must be imported or integrated.
If your IT asset management product belongs among these 12, tell us what it does and who it is for. Inclusion is an editorial call; what a listing is and is not is set out under software advice.
