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Lost laptops.
Wasted IT hours.
Freight bills you didn’t budget for.
Most “affordable” asset trackers don’t show you these costs upfront. But the right platform pays for itself by preventing those leaks before they drain your budget. You’ll avoid hidden expenses, free up IT hours, and even turn old devices into credits that offset future spend.
In this guide, we’re breaking down the best asset tracking software by what matters most: cost savings, automation, compliance, and ROI. Let’s find the one that works for your specific needs.
In-office, hybrid, or remote? Firstbase equips your team (from 50 to 5,000 employees) with one platform to manage laptops, monitors, keyboards, and more across 150+ countries.
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On the surface, spreadsheets, basic trackers, and manual processes look “cheap.” But the hidden costs stack up fast.
Start with data security: 50% of former employees still have access to corporate apps. That negligence creates not only breach risks but also compliance fines. Morgan Stanley’s $35M penalty is proof of how costly poor retrieval visibility can be.
Then there’s productivity loss. Employees stuck with outdated devices lose about $3,600 in annual output. Meanwhile, IT spends an average of five hours per remote worker each year just coordinating device logistics. For a 1,000-person company, that’s 5,000 staff hours (or $250K in salaries) spent on box-shipping chores instead of strategy.
Add unrecovered physical assets to the mix. Gartner estimates 30% of fixed IT assets are “ghosts” (missing, untracked, or left in a former employee’s closet). Others suggest retrieval rates dip as low as 50% for remote teams. Every lost laptop is both a sunk cost and a security liability.
Even HR feels it: delayed shipments during onboarding and sloppy offboarding drive turnover and frustration. Replacing a salaried worker costs 6-9 months of pay.
The truth is, “good enough” asset tracking bleeds money across IT, finance, and HR. So, a more unified, lifecycle-led approach is basic, not an option.
Since today's distributed work is the reality, you’ll need smarter lifecycle management. Let’s compare the best asset tracking software side-by-side.
ManageEngine’s AssetExplorer offers an IT asset management solution that inventories hardware and software across sites, automates life-cycle workflows, and provides a CMDB to visualize relationships (all in one console).
Its asset discovery supports agent-based and agentless scans. Agentless uses WMI for Windows, while the cloud probe can scan Windows, macOS, Linux, SNMP devices, and virtual machines.
Beyond inventory, AssetExplorer includes purchase, vendor, and contract management to tie financials to assets and track renewals.
AssetExplorer suits IT leaders who need an on‑premises tool to track hardware and software across campuses while maintaining strict control over data. Its network discovery and license management features help compliance teams, but it lacks built‑in logistics or recycling services.
Freshservice’s IT Asset Management software services track hardware, software, and cloud assets from procurement through retirement in one system of record. It builds a multi-source CMDB so you can map CIs and dependencies with minimal manual effort, giving operations a current view of what’s deployed and how it’s connected.
Its contract management module tracks terms, links contracts to covered assets, and raises expiry alerts to avoid renewal misses. Teams can extend discovery and inventory through native integrations (e.g., Intune, Jamf, Automox, Chrome, Workspace ONE, and cloud connectors).
Teams that want ITSM and ITAM under one roof with robust discovery (agent + probe), strong SaaS spend control, mobile audits, and ready-made connectors to MDMs and cloud platforms.
ServiceNow’s IT Asset Management tools span Hardware Asset Management (HAM) and Software Asset Management (SAM) on the Now Platform. At its core is the ServiceNow CMDB, which stores configuration items and their relationships so asset data, services, and dependencies stay in one system of record.
Because ServiceNow is on the same platform as IT service management and operations modules, asset data isn’t siloed. It directly supports incident resolution, change management, and compliance reporting. For finance and procurement, this means a lot more visibility into depreciation and spend.
ServiceNow ITAM is best for large enterprises already invested in the ServiceNow ecosystem. It offers deep process automation and analytics, but requires significant configuration and does not handle physical logistics or resale.
Asset Panda is an asset tracking platform designed to adapt to your processes rather than force rigid templates. It centralizes asset records in a web app and syncs with iOS/Android so teams can update data wherever they work.
Configuration is flexible, with customizable fields and workflows to fit your use cases. You’ll be able to add unlimited users and assign permissions to control who sees and changes what. The cloud-based platform supports audits, maintenance tracking, and lifecycle management from acquisition to disposal in one system.
Asset Panda suits organisations that need a flexible, customizable asset database and require unlimited user access. It’s strong on visibility and integrations, but doesn’t handle shipping or end‑of‑life logistics.
Firstbase is more than an asset tracker. It’s a complete physical operations engine paired with a SaaS portal to support distributed work. The platform manages procurement, deployment, break/fix, returns, warehousing, resale, and compliance from one interface.
Customers can purchase or lease IT equipment from Firstbase or have the company handle legacy fleet management, while employees order devices through a self-service portal. Firstbase operates warehouses in key regions to store and refurbish equipment and provides courier pickup and return kits, ensuring 97% retrieval of exiting employee devices.
The platform integrates with HRIS and ITSM/ITAM systems, so employee and asset data flow through approvals and audits.
Firstbase is ideal for distributed organisations that want to eliminate manual equipment logistics and free IT, HR, and finance teams from shipping chores. It’s particularly valuable for remote or hybrid companies across multiple countries, where managing customs, repairs, and data destruction in‑house would be complex and costly.
For years, IT and Finance leaders have treated device management and IT asset disposition (ITAD) as two separate workflows. Intune, Jamf, and other MDM platforms tell you who has which laptop, its compliance status, and its last check-in.
But once that device leaves circulation, say, an employee exits or a refresh cycle kicks in, many teams are left with spreadsheets, or worse, lost equipment. That gap is exactly where costs pile up: ticket backlogs, unexpected write-offs, and compliance risks.
By connecting your MDM data with a lifecycle platform like Firstbase, the same real-time inventory data you trust from Jamf or Intune is seamlessly integrated. Also, the end-of-life processes (retrieval, secure wiping, resale, or destruction) are automated and tracked. You get a single source of truth from deployment to disposal.
When an employee leaves, Firstbase gets the alert directly from your HR system. Address verification is automated, a pre-labeled return kit is shipped out, and courier pickup is scheduled.
Devices come back within 30 days on average: graded, wiped to NIST 800-88 standards, and logged into the same dashboard that shows active fleet data. That 97%+ retrieval rate is nearly double the industry norm.
From there, eligible devices are remarketed. Instead of disappearing into an opaque ITAD process, resale credits are issued quarterly with per-asset reporting.
Customers report saving $125 per departing employee, reclaiming 700+ IT hours, and recouping $175,000+ in residual value simply by making retrievals reliable.
The smart buyer’s checklist for choosing the best asset tracking software
Anything less, and you’re still bleeding time, budget, and compliance.
We have a clear bottom line: the best asset tracking software shouldn’t just tell you where a laptop last checked in; it should also provide a clear view of the current asset location. It should protect budgets, compliance, and employee experience across the entire lifecycle.
While legacy tools stop at inventory, Firstbase closes the loop with global retrieval, ITAD, resale, and SLA-backed logistics. Unlike juggling multiple vendors or service providers, our single in-house infrastructure and automation streamline every step (from procurement to end-of-life) in one platform. Our customers see measurable impact: $100,000 saved in shipping costs, 5,000 hours in IT labor, all with 99% customer satisfaction.
It’s time to see the difference for yourself. Book a quick, 30-minute demo to cut costs, reclaim IT bandwidth, and give employees a smoother experience.
