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Clarity SM vs TOPdesk comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Clarity SM
Ranking in Help Desk Software
22nd
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
22nd
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
107
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
TOPdesk
Ranking in Help Desk Software
17th
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
15th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of Clarity SM is 1.6%, up from 1.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of TOPdesk is 2.1%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Help Desk Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
TOPdesk2.1%
Clarity SM1.6%
Other96.3%
Help Desk Software
 

Featured Reviews

Türker Kara - PeerSpot reviewer
Application & Software Architect at Turkiye Finans Participation Bank
Quite good back-end architecture for end users but the API is very, very bad
Our company uses the solution for system, program, service request, change, and knowledge-based management.  We perform CMD authorizations and use a lot of integrations for our in-house or third-party applications. We also use Salesforce automations and Microsoft orchestrations.  We have about…
Martina Peneva - PeerSpot reviewer
People Technology Lead at Scandinavian Tobacco Group
Implement service management changes while addressing UI improvements
Topdesk's user interface makes it easy to handle requests and escalate them to other groups or reassign them when working on a single ticket. Additionally, the service management tool in HR allows for a change in delivering services, replacing email communication with ticket raising. The knowledge library enables the local HR to store and share relevant information and frequently asked cases, enhancing collaboration. The ticket system also facilitates escalating cases to other involved departments. IT, HR, and some other teams primarily use this system.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"There is a lot of flexibility in the system. There has not yet been a case where we've had people come to us and say, "Hey, can you guys do this?" and we can't. Some of it is obviously a little bit more complicated at times, but the flexibility in the system provides a lot."
"The in-service catalog is quite useful."
"We especially like the look of xFlow. That looks very personal, so they can keep track of how things are going with their ticket, if it has been worked on, what the status of it is. It seems to be a little more user friendly. The user can see more from a distance right away."
"It's fairly easy to use, from a UI standpoint."
"It has helped us to organize a lot of our assets, so we have configuration items to attach to our change management. We can have tickets for change management and set them aside for an approval process."
"Being able to specify event rules and SLAs that can help to automate some of the processes that people are doing manually is valuable."
"It gives us one central location to know, not only who is contacting us, but what they're contacting us for, what application they're contacting us for."
"The value for the clients is that you can save information in the application and get reports with that information."
"When it comes to implementing new features, they listen to what their customers want via a suggestion forum that they have."
"Its ITSM approach is quite useful."
"The most valuable feature of this solution is the incident management module."
"Change management is the most critical feature."
"This solution has provided me with a well-defined process and interaction, compared to my previous tool, GLPI."
"The most valuable feature of TOPdesk is its ease of use if you have implemented it in the right way. If you're not implementing it in the right way, then it's very difficult."
"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ticketing feature."
"The most valuable feature of TOPdesk is the reports."
 

Cons

"The SDM administration and customisation needS deep information about architecture and vendor support continuously."
"If I had to choose, it would be more around the user interface than the mobile experience."
"Diversifying notification methods with pop-ups or ready-made WhatsApp or Skype integration packages would be welcome."
"Just little technical tweaks here and there. Like more options. For example "Organization." We wanted that to be available inside the change order, as well as the ticket and the request. And that's not available."
"We would like more information about all the configurations that we have on our infrastructure side."
"The interface for the users is a bit old-fashioned and not user-friendly."
"They need to improve the High Availability, and the native integration between CA Service Desk Manager, CA Process Automation, CA Service Catalog and CA Unified Self-Service."
"We talk a lot about the idea that Service Desk Manager should be more "service" oriented, not just ticket oriented."
"The solution should be made more user-friendly."
"From a UI perspective, there is room for improvement. It sometimes takes many steps to do something simple, like creating or moving a knowledge item."
"All companies have processes that need to be adjusted. When you have a change, you need to name it, and many companies have a set of changes you can use. It would be helpful if there were more space in TOPdesk to name the change or use metadata to record the kinds of changes."
"If I open a ticket on the infrastructure team, I can't move it to the financial team for them to manage the ticket."
"One of the disadvantages of TOPdesk is the reporting tool. It is very poor and not in real-time. You do not always receive the correct information."
"Change management implementation, facility management, and making reservations on assets can be improved."
"An operator is also a user but requires creating two different records."
"The solution's change management could be better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is a bit expensive, but you definitely get what you pay for. It is worth it!"
"The pricing is based on a subscription model."
"I think pricing of this model is suitable for growing corporations."
"Clarity offers a perpetual license. Customers purchase the license once and then pay for maintenance. CA provides a subscription model as well. Both models are available for our customers."
"The solution is quite reasonable compared to other solutions in the market."
"There is a subscripted needed to use Clarity SM. The price of the solution could be less expensive. ServiceNow is less expensive and BMC Helix is priced similar to Clarity SM."
"Pricing is simple, as it’s per concurrent analysts."
"I don't see anyone other than large companies being able to afford this system."
"There are three fee options to choose from for a company and these options compared to market prices are very high. For example, if I use one of the first options for 10 assets, then it costs 20,000 Euros. If you went to competitors, then you pay less."
"The cost of the solution on a yearly basis is $20,000. Technical support is not extra. It's included in the yearly cost. Updates are also included. The solution is good at keeping its product up to date."
"TOPdesk's pricing is cheaper than Jira's."
"The solution is inexpensive compared to competitors."
"The solution's pricing is reasonable and not expensive."
"Compared to other products in this segment, I think that they are priced well and not too expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Marketing Services Firm
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Performing Arts
8%
Media Company
8%
Computer Software Company
13%
Educational Organization
11%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Healthcare Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise15
Large Enterprise66
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise7
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for TOPdesk?
The solution's pricing is reasonable and not expensive.
What needs improvement with TOPdesk?
From a UI perspective, there is room for improvement, as some tasks like creating or moving a knowledge item within the library require many steps instead of simple actions like drag and drop. This...
What is your primary use case for TOPdesk?
I use Topdesk to change the way we deliver our services in HR to the business. Instead of writing an email to a particular person or visiting their desk, I ask employees to raise a ticket for servi...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

CA Service Desk Manager, Clarity Service Management, CA Service Management, Unicenter Service Desk, CA SDM, CA Service Catalog, CA Business Service Insight
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Banco G&T Continental City of Perth, FEMSA, Fujitsu, Manpower, Muslim Commercial Bank - MCB, Punjab National Bank, Santa Clara County Social Services, Stefanini
City of Amsterdam, University of Edinbroughm, IKEA, KLM Catering Services, FloraHolland, BOVAG, PostNL, Total, Hilton, Oce, Canon, Agip, Compass Group, Serco, Danone, BMW, Eneco, And many more.
Find out what your peers are saying about Clarity SM vs. TOPdesk and other solutions. Updated: January 2026.
881,733 professionals have used our research since 2012.