HEAD TO HEAD · RATED SEPTEMBER 2026
Last reviewed 27 September 2026 · Service Desk Compare reviewers
Halo wins on the business-teams weights and scores at least as high on every criterion.
Totals and ranks on this page use the business-teams weights (five criteria at 20% each; ITIL and CMDB shown for information only). For ITIL and CMDB weighted scores, see the full ITSM ranking.
Halo
7.7 / 10
Rank 5 of 9 on the business-teams ranking
Full ITSM ranking: rank 2= at 7.8
£66 per agent per month (UK list, annual)
Read the Halo reviewServiceDesk Plus
7.1 / 10
Rank 6= of 9 on the business-teams ranking
Full ITSM ranking: rank 4 at 7.4
Free for 2 technicians; Standard from $13 per technician per month
Read the ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus reviewScroll for more
| Criterion | Weight | Halo | ServiceDesk Plus | Higher score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ITIL practice coverageWhy these scoresHalo: Incident, problem, change and request management with ITIL-aligned workflows, all in one licence. ServiceDesk Plus: 14 ITIL-certified and 14 PinkVERIFY-certified practices; full change, release and problem management need Enterprise or paid add-ons. | Info only | 8.5 | 9 | ServiceDesk Plus |
Automation and AI assistanceWhy these scoresHalo: The only vendor whose pages document all six lifecycle stages we track, including closure when a requester replies with thanks. ServiceDesk Plus: Zia, predictive triage and routing, and ChatGPT and Copilot integrations, with fewer autonomous resolution claims than peers. | 20% | 8 | 6.5 | Halo |
Time to valueWhy these scoresHalo: A 30-day full-feature trial helps, but the platform spans ITSM, CRM, billing and projects, so scoping takes time. ServiceDesk Plus: A free edition for two technicians, but edition, add-on and cloud or on-premises choices add planning time. | 20% | 6.5 | 6.5 | Tie |
Configuration management (CMDB)Why these scoresHalo: Assets and CMDB are included in the single licence rather than sold as an add-on. ServiceDesk Plus: CMDB is included in Enterprise and sold as a $1,195 annual add-on on Professional. | Info only | 8 | 8 | Tie |
Usability for non-IT requestersWhy these scoresHalo: An end-user virtual agent works across web chat, Teams, Slack and the self-service portal. ServiceDesk Plus: A service catalog out of the box and the Zia virtual agent, with fewer requester channels documented than peers. | 20% | 7 | 6.5 | Halo |
IntegrationsWhy these scoresHalo: Halo states over 250 native integrations. ServiceDesk Plus: Deep native integration with the wider ManageEngine product range. | 20% | 8 | 7 | Halo |
Pricing transparencyWhy these scoresHalo: One published per-agent price with no tiers or bolt-ons; the US dollar figure sits behind a currency selector. ServiceDesk Plus: Edition prices and add-on prices are published for both cloud and on-premises. | 20% | 9 | 9 | Tie |
Halo scores higher on 3 criteria, ServiceDesk Plus on 0, and 2 are tied among the five scored criteria.
| Plan | Price | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| One plan | £66 per agent/month | Billed annually. UK list price; the page offers a currency selector for other regions. Named or concurrent licences at the same price. |
| Halo Enterprise Package | $1M a year | Unlimited licences and funded implementation, fixed price. |
| Trial | 30 days | All features and modules. |
Source: Halo pricing
| Plan | Price | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 2 technicians, 250 IT assets, Standard edition. |
| Standard | From $13 per technician/month | Help desk, service catalog. Problem, project and change/release management are add-ons at $1,195 a year each. |
| Professional | From $27 per technician/month | Adds IT asset management. CMDB add-on $1,195 a year. |
| Enterprise | From $67 per technician/month | Help desk, asset, change, release, problem, projects and CMDB included. No limit on the number of end users. |
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| Stage | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 01 Logged | Documented | End-user virtual agent triages and logs requests on chat, Teams, Slack and portal Source |
| 02 Categorised | Documented | AI suggestions for categorisation and prioritisation Source |
| 03 Routed | Documented | AI suggestions for team routing and SLA-breach warnings Source |
| 04 Resolved | Documented | Process agents auto-resolve known issues Source |
| 05 Closed | Documented | A requester's thank-you reply is read as resolution Source |
| 06 Reviewed | Documented | Ticket records turned into standardised knowledge Source |
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| Stage | Status | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 01 Logged | Partial | Zia virtual support agent; intake channels not detailed on the page read Source |
| 02 Categorised | Documented | Predictive intelligence for ticket triage Source |
| 03 Routed | Documented | Predictive routing and assignment Source |
| 04 Resolved | Partial | Zia virtual agent and generated replies; no autonomous resolution claim Source |
| 05 Closed | Not documented | |
| 06 Reviewed | Documented | Problem management (Enterprise or add-on) Source |
What each vendor's public pages document for each stage, as read on 27 Sep 2026. 'Not documented' means we did not find it on the pages we read, not that the product cannot do it.
Choose Halo if automation and AI assistance and integrations matter most to your team. It scores 8 and 8 there, against ServiceDesk Plus's 6.5 and 7. The only vendor whose pages document all six lifecycle stages we track, including closure when a requester replies with thanks. We list it as best for: teams that want every module in one per-agent licence. Read the Halo review
ServiceDesk Plus does not score higher than Halo on any of the five scored criteria; it ties on time to value and pricing transparency. Choose it for reasons outside our scores, such as fit with tools you already run. We list it as best for: teams that need on-premises or cloud with the same edition pricing. Read the ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus review
On the business-teams weights, Halo scores 7.7 and ServiceDesk Plus 7.1 out of 10, ranking 5 and 6= of 9 on the business-teams ranking. Halo leads on 3 criteria and ServiceDesk Plus on 0, with 2 tied.
Halo lists £66 per agent per month (UK list, annual); ServiceDesk Plus lists Free for 2 technicians; Standard from $13 per technician per month. Pricing units differ (per agent, per seat or per technician), so compare the plan that includes the practices you need. On pricing transparency Halo scores 9 and ServiceDesk Plus 9. The calculator prices both for your agent count.
On ITIL practice coverage Halo scores 8.5 and ServiceDesk Plus 9; on configuration management (CMDB) Halo scores 8 and ServiceDesk Plus 8. Both score the same on CMDB.