CMMS software boosts your equipment’s operational health, reducing maintenance costs while enhancing productivity via equipment availability.
We’ve reviewed 20+ providers using our advanced review methodology. We’ve tested features such as work order creation and preventive maintenance triggers to determine the top options on the market better today.
- eMaint CMMS: Best Overall
- MicroMain: Best for Manufacturing
- Maintenance Connection: Strong Reporting Tools
- Maintenance Care: Best Free Option
- MaintainX: Most Scalable Option
- Brightly Software: Best Asset Lifecycle Management
- Upkeep: Best for Equipment Maintenance
- Limble CMMS: Best Mobile App
- MPulse: Advanced Maintenance Scheduling
- EZOfficeInventory: Best Check-Out/Check-In
1 eMaint CMMS - Best Overall
Why we chose it: In our eMaint review, we liked its flexibility and user-friendly interface. Based on our other reviews of CMMS, we found that eMaint offers unique features not found in all systems, such as interactive plans and proprietary sensors, along with plenty of customization options—allowing businesses to tailor the software to their specific needs. The responsive customer support and extensive help resources, including eMaint University and webinars, make adopting and maximizing the system’s potential easy.
We would not recommend eMaint if you are a small business or would not fully utilize the software’s extensive features. We feel the quoted price would make the software more of an investment than what a typical small business likely needs. However, its multi-currency, multilingual, and multi-location capabilities make it a good fit for mid-market to enterprise-level companies.
2 MicroMain - Best for Manufacturing
Why we chose it: In our MicroMain review, we recommended the software for manufacturing companies looking to digitalize their assets and streamline their maintenance processes. During our demo, we felt the software allowed for efficient task management with regard to maintenance requests. Though we found the purchase order feature lacking, we liked that MicroMain included a free module for all employees to submit work order requests.
Overall, MicroMain is a well-integrated CMMS, providing spare parts, OEE, depreciation, and reporting.The system’s multi-site functionality allows businesses of all sizes to ensure they have their facilities covered. Additionally, MicroMain’s CMMS software offers benefits such as safety management, data analysis for cost reduction, and easy periodic audits. The platform also delivers an instant view of operations, less disruption during maintenance, and lower repair costs for manufacturing firms.
3 Maintenance Connection - Strong Reporting Tools
Why we chose it: We picked Maintenance Connection because it includes over 150 prebuilt reports and customization options right out of the box. The software offers maintenance history reports for completed work orders, parts used, repairs made, and other essential data for preventive maintenance tasks. It also provides asset and equipment depreciation reports. With this information, managers can understand asset lifespan, history, and current requirements and make informed capital planning decisions.
Additionally, Maintenance Connection delivers automated notifications and exports. The “My Dashboard” tool features KPIs for response times, mean time between failures, and backlog hours. Users can also personalize their dashboard with shortcuts to favorite reports. Finally, Maintenance Connection makes it easy to create PDF documents and visual reports that can be scheduled to run automatically and shared with teammates for company-wide insights.
4 Maintenance Care - Best Free Option
Why we chose it: Maintenance Care made our list because of its forever-free edition. It provides online work orders, task management with notifications and updates, notes history, search filters, and basic reporting. Once activated, users have instant access to guides that help teach them how to get the most out of the software.
We found the online work order page to be a real strength of the free edition. This page lets users submit work order requests, manage pending work orders, view maintenance lists, receive instant notifications, send tasks via email, and check for duplicate entries. Additionally, techs can streamline communication, prioritize tasks efficiently, and improve building efficiencies with Maintenance Care’s user-friendly interface and customizable dashboards.
5 MaintainX - Most Scalable Option
Why we chose it: MaintainX is our top pick for scalability. As businesses grow and operations become more mobile, MaintainX scales with those needs. It’s a maintenance software that’s easy to use on computers, smartphones, and tablets, accessible for all team members regardless of location. It also eases communication even as a business scales, with a chat feature and a mobile app that lets you update and add photos on the go. Some advanced features are only in the pricier plans, but the basic tools are available for everyone.
The software comes with different pricing tiers, starting with a free option and scaling up to more advanced features in paid plans. We find this tiered approach helpful for growing businesses; they can start with the basics and upgrade as their needs grow, ensuring that they only pay for the features they need at each stage. Overall, it’s a good choice for companies that need to manage maintenance tasks at an affordable price point.
6 Brightly Software - Best Asset Lifecycle Management
Why we chose it: Brightly Software, formerly known as Dude Solutions, offers a complete CMMS solution focused on asset lifecycle management. We found Brightly’s core CMMS platform, Asset Essentials, worth highlighting. It optimizes the performance, reliability, and longevity of assets, making it an ideal choice for organizations looking to extend the life of their equipment and infrastructure.
With features like advanced asset tracking, predictive maintenance, and capital planning tools, Brightly Asset Essentials helps businesses reduce downtime, manage costs, and make data-driven decisions about their asset investments. The intuitive interface and customizable dashboards further enhance the user experience, ensuring that maintenance teams can easily manage their tasks and workflows.
7 Upkeep - Best for Equipment Maintenance
Why we chose it: UpKeep is another CMMS software with strong asset management. It also provides advanced equipment maintenance tools for manufacturers. UpKeep’s asset management system helps manage manufacturing facilities by creating recurring work orders for light checks, floor cleaning, and safety walkthroughs. Overall, we found UpKeep adept at identifying breakdown trends and reducing unplanned downtime to save on costs.
Additionally, UpKeep’s parts and inventory module can help automate inventory control. It enables the generation of purchase orders directly within the CMMS, enabling all staff to actively manage stock levels and track vendors for specific parts. Users can even set minimum quantity thresholds for parts to receive timely alerts when levels fall below the minimum, ensuring proactive management of low stock situations. Overall, UpKeep helps improve asset reporting, increases the usability of machinery, and automates maintenance work order creation.
8 Limble CMMS - Best Mobile App
Why we chose it: We went with Limble CMMS because it was designed to be a mobile-first CMMS solution. The use of their mobile app encourages a paperless approach to boosting productivity among maintenance staff, improving communication, and improving asset diagnostics. Available on both iOS and Android devices, the mobile app lets technicians view their assigned work orders and PMs, log work orders, receive push notifications, start new work orders, log problems, and look up critical asset info.
9 MPulse - Advanced Maintenance Scheduling
Why we chose it: MPulse made our list due to its maintenance scheduling capabilities, which help organizations optimize their routines and reduce downtime. The software offers a full set of tools for planning, tracking, and managing preventive, corrective, and predictive maintenance tasks. MPulse also includes features like calendar views, automatic reminders, and the ability to schedule maintenance based on various triggers such as time, usage, or condition metrics.
MPulse features a dual work order system: planned (or preventive maintenance) and unplanned, auto-scheduled based on set intervals. Its Resource Leveling feature provides a simple calendar interface for efficient task and staff scheduling. Key tools include work order management, preventive maintenance planning, and service requests, all designed for professional use.
10 EZOfficeInventory - Best Check-Out/Check-In
Why we chose it: We picked EZOfficeInventory for its check-out and check-in system. Notably, it streamlines asset management, particularly for tools, equipment, and electronic devices frequently loaned out or moved between locations. This system even allows users to track who has which assets, their due return dates, and the condition of the items when they are checked out and returned. In this way, the platform enhances accountability among users, reduces the chances of lost or misplaced items, and ensures the timely return of assets.
Additionally, EZOfficeInventory allows techs to attach important details, such as user manuals or maintenance records, to each asset’s profile during check-out. Overall, we think it’s a good pick for companies looking to improve their asset utilization, maintain accurate inventory levels, and ensure their equipment’s proper care and maintenance.
What is CMMS Software?
CMMS, or computerized maintenance management software, maximizes the runtime and lifespan of machinery or equipment systems by managing maintenance operations in real time. This is accomplished through a comprehensive set of software functionalities for equipment management, such as asset management, predictive and preventive maintenance alerts, and work order management.
Also referred to as just maintenance management software, CMMS software programs are important tools to be familiar with for companies with significant equipment assets. This is largely because they track maintenance activities and the upkeep of the assets. This helps track the associated costs of the work, with the ultimate goal of prolonging an asset’s lifespan at minimal expense.
Assets commonly tracked in CMMS software include facilities, buildings, equipment, vehicles, machinery, and spare parts. Sometimes called enterprise asset management software (EAM software), the goal of CMMS software is to track the upkeep of assets and the associated costs of the work, with an ultimate goal of prolonging an asset’s lifespan at the most minimal expense possible. This means your business and maintenance team can spend time and resources getting profitable jobs done, rather than dealing with equipment-related problems.
Features of CMMS Software
Maintenance scheduling, work requests, barcode scanning via mobile app functionality, and user-friendly tools are some of the most desired features of CMMS software. The common CMMS features used in maintenance programs by facility managers include:
| Feature | Definition |
|---|---|
| Asset management | Record general information on company assets (buildings, vehicles, technology, and more) such as the frequency of asset use, issues, ongoing costs, and asset specifications. |
| Equipment inventory management | Tracks information on equipment used in maintenance and repair operations usually including tools and parts. View maintenance history of specific items. Alerts can be set to warn of low stock levels to ensure the proper materials and tools are always available for both routine and emergency maintenance. |
| Predictive maintenance | Scans equipment data for performance trends and uses condition-based monitoring to alert the appropriate staff of any potential issues. |
| Preventative maintenance | Create schedules, track procedures, set maintenance routines, balance workloads, and more. |
| Work order management | Create a trackable document identifying what work needs to be done and how it should be accomplished. Can include advanced features such as rules-based approval management, scheduling management, change orders, and reporting. |
Benefits of CMMS Software
The most common benefits of CMMS software include:
Lower Total Cost of Maintenance With CMMS
A capable equipment maintenance system means less time and money spent on both planned and unplanned maintenance. By keeping accurate tracking on equipment maintenance, a CMMS allows you to plan maintenance before expensive repairs are required:
- Track when preventative maintenance is required and identify optimum times to perform it
- Provides a centralized repository for maintenance instructions and info
- Offers consistency in reporting, managing, and tracking repairs.
Ensuring Quality Control and Productivity With CMMS
A business that provides top-notch goods and services greatly impacts customer satisfaction and retention. Limiting breakdowns is critically important to reducing cycle times. Your delivery speed is a business differentiator, as equipment in sub-standard condition yields inferior products and services.
Cash-Flow and Planning With CMMS Software
Equipment failures are a major source of unplanned expenses. Implementing and executing a proper maintenance plan is fundamental to eliminating unexpected and burdensome costs.
CMMS software helps you limit unpredictable and large costs. They also help you spread costs much more evenly and predictably. Some CMMS programs even provide sophisticated tools to repair replacement decisions based on reliable data.
What CMMS Software Does Your Business Need?
CMMS solutions apply to a huge variety of industries. Manufacturers, facility management firms, industrial and commercial service firms, contractors, agricultural operations & more. The benefits of a computerized maintenance management system remain the same:
- Lower total cost of maintenance.
- Improvements in quality control.
- Increased productivity.
- Stronger ability to accurately budget and plan cash flow.
If you’re in the market for CMMS software, you’ll want to analyze your exact needs based on several factors, such as the size of your company.
- New buyers and small businesses: Smaller businesses will need maintenance management, but is CMMS right for them? CMMS allows for a very customizable approach to your maintenance management. Because of this, many industries can benefit from what CMMS has to offer, and it can be a good fit for a small business for the same reasons it benefits a larger enterprise.
- Existing CMMS users desiring additional functionalities: Advanced CMMS will provide you with better reporting, which will help your business make smarter decisions. A better CMMS tool will offer important performance metrics and trackers to look at things like average times to repair and look at the lifespan of certain pieces of equipment to judge overall equipment effectiveness.
- Large companies: All businesses may have regulatory compliance issues, but larger enterprises tend to be under the microscope more when it comes to adhering to them, and thus, will want to ensure they are recording procedures and inspections accurately. This helps them work with OSHA, FDA, and any type of compliance agency so they can provide detailed documentation.
Is QuickBooks a CMMS Software?
A solution like QuickBooks Online is not going to give you CMMS software functionality that will provide long-term sustainability. It does not offer the handful of required functionalities most CMMS options will provide you, such as scheduling maintenance, as well as predictive analytics to ensure preventative maintenance is doing its job. Because of this, we recommend you keep QuickBooks for accounting and find an add-on for CMMS.
While QuickBooks may not be able to offer any CMMS functionality, many CMMS solutions will integrate with QuickBooks. This will help ensure all of your business software is linked together. There are also many field service software add-ons available for QuickBooks that may provide some (but not all) of the functionality typically found in CMMS, such as work order management and scheduling.
CMMS Software Pricing
The cost of CMMS software will start between $29-$70/user/month. This reflects entry-level software that is usually intended for use by less than 3 users. Onboarding costs for these subscription-based pricing models will range from $600-$2,500 upfront.
Most vendors will charge a monthly cost per user, which usually means the bigger your company, the bigger the cost. CMMS solution vendors may also charge depending on the types of assets being maintained, the number of assets stored in your system, and more. Most CMMS software options are cloud-based, meaning they have a subscription-based pricing model. While still possible with some vendors, most CMMS software is subscription-based and can not be bought outright.
Many companies may try to go without CMMS software and manually handle preventive maintenance. Combined with the low cost of QuickBooks for your basic accounting and inventory, this is one way to keep your software costs at their lowest. This manual method typically uses spreadsheets. However, these methods become much harder to track your equipment because spreadsheets lack sustainability.
The more tasks each repair job has, the more that needs to get added to the schedule. Having to go back and forth to check off maintenance steps is far too time-consuming to be practical this way.
Common Pain Points of CMMS Software
Some of the most common headaches people experience in selecting, buying, implementing, and maintaing CMMS software include:
Integration Issues
Very often CMMS users are not office-based workers. The average CMMS user at your organization may well be someone on the production floor. Or, they may primarily work on the job site or in the field. As a result, mobile device access can be particularly useful. Many systems offer support for mobile access.
One of the challenges of implementing a computerized maintenance management software system is the number of integration points that may be present. CMMS programs very frequently need to integrate with software providing the following functionality:
- Inventory control
- Fixed asset management (asset depreciation)
- Scheduling
- Accounts payable
- Project management
- Material resource planning
- Costing
- Production floor management
- Work order management
- Budgeting
The wide array of integration points is one of many reasons it’s usually advisable to partner with an experienced CMMS provider for implementation services.
Work Order Assignment Issues
When dealing with a high volume of work orders, it can become difficult to manage who is getting assigned what, and the combination of needing to schedule based on past work history can be time-consuming with a weaker CMMS software (or a manual process). A good CMMS software can automate most of this process from beginning to end.
Maintenance Software Technology Trends
- Integrated QMS and CMMS software in manufacturing. Manufacturing used to be an industry where companies got by handling areas such as machine maintenance, order processing, bill of materials, and quality control, all separately. However, a live production environment that has you processing an order requires that you know which equipment is available, handle a bill of materials, and monitor the resulting product to ensure objectives can be met. A unified software helps bridge the gap, given the relationship each task in the manufacturing process has with each other.
- CMMS Software Cloud Adoption and Mobile Use. Recent years have shown a lot of CMMS solutions move to the cloud. This is due to installation times and less IT involvement. Companies can save money on hardware fees and labor costs as fewer personnel are needed to maintain the system. The rise in mobile technology allows maintenance managers to have all the information at their fingertips via a mobile device. This eliminates the need for them to step into the office for the day to receive any dashboard, reports, or schedules.
- Condition-based maintenance. This type of maintenance is done when the need arises. Condition-based maintenance, or CDM, is likely to make it’s way to CMMS solutions in time. Limiting maintenance to just preventative and predictive can sometimes miss certain situations where maintenance can be needed; as it pops up. CDM relies on machine readings to determine how a machine is currently doing and if maintenance needs to be handled immediately. The benefits of CDM include decreased maintenance costs and reduced human error influences. Disadvantages can include high upfront costs and unpredictable maintenance periods, making it hard to budget for these maintenance costs.
