The same job, without the subscription
Here's how Census compares with popular IT inventory and management tools on price, licensing and hosting. Prices are each vendor's published list prices, checked on October 10, 2026, with sources below.
What will you pay over time?
Subscriptions cost the same every year. A perpetual license is paid once, and keeping it updated is optional.
List prices in US dollars, without tax, discounts or add-ons. Lansweeper Starter is free up to 100 assets and includes 2,000 assets; larger plans and Lansweeper Enterprise are priced by quote. NinjaOne publishes only a range ($1.50 at 10,000 endpoints up to $3.75 at 50 or fewer), so the lowest rate is used, which understates its cost for smaller fleets. Census add-ons (certificate renewal, extra help desk technicians) aren't included.
Licensing and hosting compared
| Steward IT Census | Lansweeper | PDQ | ManageEngine AssetExplorer | NinjaOne | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Perpetual: pay once | Annual subscription | Annual subscription: per device (Connect) or per admin (Deploy & Inventory) | Subscription (cloud price list shown) | Subscription, per device per month |
| Published list price | $1 per asset, one time (500 minimum, then blocks of 50); updates renewal $50/year, optional | Starter from $299/mo; Pro from $528/mo; both billed yearly, 2,000 assets included. Enterprise: quote | Connect: $12 / $18 / $28 per device per year (100-device minimum). Deploy & Inventory: $1,950 per admin per year | Cloud: $1,245/yr (250 assets) up to $16,695/yr (10,000 assets) | $1.50–$3.75 per device per month (published range); full pricing by quote |
| Free option | Up to 50 assets, every feature, no time limit | Free up to 100 assets (after a 14-day full trial) | Not listed on pricing page | Not listed on pricing page | 14-day free trial |
| Where it runs | Your Windows or Linux server, with no cloud account | Lansweeper platform, with scanning on your network | Connect: cloud. Deploy & Inventory: your Windows server | Cloud or on-premises | Cloud |
| Stop paying, keep using? | Yes. Your version works forever. | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription | Subscription |
| How devices get inventoried | Agentless network scans (WinRM, SSH, SNMP) and an optional agent | Agentless scanning and an optional agent | Connect: agent. Deploy & Inventory: agentless, Windows | Network scans and agents | Agent (RMM) |
Based on each vendor's public pricing page on October 10, 2026. Features and prices change; check with the vendor before you buy.
How much you get, side by side
What each product offers, from the vendors' own pricing and feature pages. Everything in the Census column comes with every license, including the free edition. Two add-ons, certificate renewal and extra help desk technicians, each start with a free allowance.
| Steward IT Census | Lansweeper | PDQ Connect | ManageEngine AssetExplorer | NinjaOne | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price & licensing | |||||
| 500 assets, first year | $500, once | $3,588 (Starter, 2,000 assets included)1 | $6,000–14,000 (Basic–Premium)2 | $2,345 (cloud, yearly)3 | $9,000–22,500 (published range)4 |
| Pay once, keep using it | |||||
| Runs on your own server | Classic only | Deploy & Inventory only | |||
| Free edition | 50 assets, every feature | 100 assets, discovery1 | Not listed | Free edition, limits not listed3 | 14-day trial |
| Discovery & inventory | |||||
| Agentless scans of computers (WinRM, SSH) | agent only10 | 11 | agent | ||
| Windows, Linux and macOS | Windows, macOS10 | 11 | 15 | ||
| Network devices over SNMP | Not listed | 11 | (network monitoring)13 | ||
| Network map from LLDP/CDP | (diagrams)1 | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | |
| Server hardware health (iLO, iDRAC) | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | (SNMP templates)13 | |
| Alert when an asset stops answering | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | 13 | |
| Security | |||||
| Vulnerability detection | Pro plan1 | Premium plan2 | Not listed | 14 | |
| Windows patching | Packages you build (Classic)12 | 2 | Not listed | 15 | |
| Third-party application patching | (winget) | Not listed | (package library)2 | Not listed | 15 |
| Linux patching | Not listed | 10 | Not listed | 15 | |
| Security compliance checks | ~470 (DISA STIG, NIST) | CIS-aligned checks5 | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed |
| End-of-life tracking | Pro plan1 | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | |
| BitLocker recovery keys | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | 16 | |
| SSL certificate renewal | (1 server free) | inventory only6 | 8 | Not listed | Not listed |
| Management | |||||
| Software deployment | Classic only12 | 2 | Not listed | 15 | |
| Remote desktop from the console | Not listed | Plus plan2 | Add-on, $315/session/yr3 | 4 | |
| Help desk with tickets | (1 technician free) | Classic, per-agent licenses7 | connect your own9 | Not listed | 17 |
| Software license compliance | SAM add-on1 | Not listed | 18 | Not listed | |
| Microsoft 365 license inventory | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | Not listed | |
included · Plan only in a higher plan, as an add-on or in one edition · not offered · Not listed: not found on the vendor's pricing or feature pages on October 14, 2026; it may be available through partners or another product of the same vendor. NinjaOne's price depends on the products you buy, so some of its features may cost extra. Lansweeper Classic is Lansweeper's older on-premises edition. Numbers link to the sources.
What costs extra elsewhere is included in Census
Subscription tools often hold back security and integration features for higher plans. In Census, every license, including the free edition, gets everything.
| Steward IT Census | Lansweeper | PDQ Connect | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vulnerability detection | Every edition | Pro plan and above ("Vulnerability and lifecycle insights") | Premium plan ($28/device/yr) |
| End-of-life tracking | Every edition | Pro plan and above | Not listed on pricing page |
| Integrations & API | Every edition: REST API, webhooks, syslog/CEF, Splunk | Starter: service-desk enrichment only. Pro: all integrations. Full API access: Enterprise | API-based integrations: Premium plan |
| Scheduled deployments | Every edition | Not listed on pricing page | Automated deployments: Plus plan and above |
| Remote Desktop from the console | Every edition (.rdp launch, console, screenshots) | Not listed on pricing page | Plus plan and above |
| Several sites | Unlimited remote scanners, included | Starter: 1 installation. Pro: up to 3. Enterprise: more | Cloud agents |
| Security compliance checks | Every edition: about 470 checks from DISA STIGs, Microsoft baselines and NIST mSCP for Windows, Linux and macOS, with a score per computer and fix commands | Configuration checks "aligned with CIS Benchmarks" (firewalls, services, registry settings), per Lansweeper5 | No built-in compliance checks (not found) |
| SSL certificates | Inventory + free renewal: certificates from Windows, Linux, macOS and device TLS ports, expiry alerts, and free Let's Encrypt certificates installed and renewed on 25+ services (1 server free, then $50/server or $500 unlimited, once) | Windows certificate store inventory and expiry reports; no issuing or renewal6 | No built-in certificate tracking; users write their own PowerShell scans8 |
| Help desk | Built in: tickets linked to assets, user portal, email to ticket, SLAs. 1 technician free, then $100 each, one time | Built-in help desk (Lansweeper Classic, on-premises): 1 agent included; more agents licensed separately per agent, price not published7 | No help desk of its own: buy a separate service desk (Freshservice, Zendesk, ServiceNow, Halo or Jira) and connect it, which needs the Premium plan ($28/device/year instead of $12 for Basic)9 |
"Not listed on pricing page" means the vendor's pricing page doesn't list the feature for that product. "Not found" means we found no such feature in the vendor's documentation on October 10, 2026. Either may be offered elsewhere or through partners.
Which is right for you?
Choose Census if…
- you want to own your inventory tool instead of renting it
- your asset data must stay on your network (healthcare, finance, government, schools, manufacturing)
- you want inventory, vulnerabilities, patching, compliance, deployment and a help desk in one program
- you run a mix of Windows, Linux, macOS and network devices
- you'd rather spend your budget on hardware than on renewals
Another tool may fit better if…
- you need a fully managed SaaS with no server of your own
- you're an MSP who needs per-client billing, backup and mobile device management in one cloud RMM (for example NinjaOne)
- you need OT/industrial protocol discovery today (on our roadmap if customers ask)
Sources
Sources 1–9 retrieved October 10, 2026, prices re-checked October 14, 2026; sources 10–18 retrieved October 14, 2026. All prices in US dollars, list price, before tax and discounts.
- Lansweeper, Plans & Pricing: lansweeper.com/pricing. Free up to 100 assets; Starter from $299/month and Pro from $528/month, billed annually, 2,000 assets included (Pro expandable to 9,000); Enterprise custom, from 10,000 assets; installations per plan; integrations and API by plan.
- PDQ, Pricing: pdq.com/pricing. Connect Basic $12, Plus $18, Premium $28 per device per year, 100-device minimum, with features by plan; Deploy & Inventory $1,950 per admin per year.
- ManageEngine, AssetExplorer pricing (cloud): manageengine.com/products/asset-explorer/pricing.html. Yearly: 250 assets $1,245; 500 $2,345; 1,000 $3,895; 2,000 $6,245; 5,000 $12,445; 10,000 $16,695.
- NinjaOne, Pricing: ninjaone.com/pricing. "As low as $1.50 USD per month at 10,000 endpoints, increasing to $3.75 USD at 50 or fewer endpoints"; 14-day free trial.
- Lansweeper, CIS Controls compliance: lansweeper.com/solutions/use-cases/cis-security-controls. "Audit and standardize configurations with built-in checks for firewalls, services, registry settings, and more—aligned with CIS Benchmarks."
- Lansweeper, Scan Windows computer certificates: docs.lansweeper.com, and certificate expiry reports: lansweeper.com/resources.
- Lansweeper, Manage helpdesk agents: docs.lansweeper.com. "The helpdesk part of Lansweeper is licensed on a per-agent basis… One free agent license is included."
- PDQ community, SSL certificate scanning: help.pdq.com, where users track certificates with custom PowerShell scanners.
- PDQ, ticketing integrations for PDQ Connect Premium: pdq.com/blog and connect.pdq.com.
- PDQ, System requirements for PDQ Connect: connect.pdq.com. The Connect agent supports 64-bit Windows and macOS.
- ManageEngine, AssetExplorer scan methods: manageengine.com. Windows, Linux and Mac computers, VMware and Hyper-V, and SNMP devices.
- Lansweeper, Installing software and updates: lansweeper.com, and Lansweeper's answers on deploying patches in its community: the deployment module of on-premises Lansweeper Classic runs packages the customer builds; the cloud product has no deployment module of its own.
- NinjaOne, Network management system: ninjaone.com/docs. SNMP v1/v2/v3 monitoring and alerts, with templates for devices such as Dell iDRAC and HP iLO.
- NinjaOne, Vulnerability management: ninjaone.com.
- NinjaOne, Patch management: ninjaone.com. Windows, macOS and Linux, and thousands of third-party applications.
- NinjaOne, Encryption key management: ninjaone.com/docs.
- NinjaOne, Ticketing: ninjaone.com.
- ManageEngine, AssetExplorer features: manageengine.com. Software license compliance, CMDB, purchase orders and contracts.
Lansweeper, PDQ, ManageEngine, AssetExplorer, and NinjaOne are trademarks of their respective owners. Steward IT is not affiliated with or endorsed by them. Spotted something out of date? Tell us and we'll correct it.
Try it on 50 devices, free
Every feature, no time limit, no credit card.