Action1 review

Action1 is primarily a patch management and vulnerability assessment tool that helps you keep all your endpoints up to date and free from vulnerabilities. Founded in 2018 by cybersecurity veterans Alex Vovk and Mike Walters, Action1 now manages more than 10 million endpoints with a patching success rate of 99%.

With P2P patch distribution, real-time vulnerability assessment, and an extensive Software Repository, Action1 ensures you stay on top of both OS and third-party app patching. However, the best part is that Action1 is completely free for up to 100 endpoints. So, if you’re a startup or a small business, Action1 is, quite frankly, free for you. 

However, no tool is perfect, and one of the biggest downsides of Action1 is that it works only for Windows devices, meaning you cannot patch macOS and Linux systems with Action1.

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Action1: Plans and pricing

Action1 RMM is completely free for the first 100 endpoints and no, this isn’t a free trial – it’s actually free forever. This is great news for startups and small businesses that have little to no money to spare for a reliable RMM solution.

After you’ve crossed the threshold of 100 endpoints, you’d have to reach out to their sales team to get a quote. This is because Action1 doesn’t put out its pricing in the open and the quotation you secure depends on how hard you can negotiate, just like it is with NinjaOne.

However, after a bit of digging around, we found that Action1 prices can be around $2/endpoint in packs of 50 endpoints, i.e., after the free 100 endpoints. This boils down to $100/month, which is slightly more expensive than the likes of SuperOps.

That said, if yours is a large business and you’ve been using Action1 for quite some time, you can expect a pricing of less than a dollar per endpoint. 

With Action1, you’ll have to spend time with their sales team to work out a deal, which may not be what you’re looking for, as this can just end up wasting your time – it’s always good to know how much you’ll be paying before committing to a purchase.

Action1: Features

Action1 focuses a lot on remote patch management and allows you to automate the entire process – from scanning networks for missing patches to installing them. Its robust and quick vulnerability management suite identifies missing patches across all your networks and reduces the time between detection and patching.

A real standout is that it offers free one-time vulnerability assessment for all your endpoints. Once the agent is installed, it runs a full analysis and reports all detected vulnerabilities.

The platform also supports third-party patching, which addresses vulnerabilities in third-party applications such as Zoom, Chrome, java, Firefox, etc. Many RMMs only focus on OS patching, but that’s not the case with Action1.

Action1 also maintains a dedicated Software Repository with all the latest versions of supported applications. Sure, other RMMs also have similar databases, but Action1’s repository is managed by an in-house team of dedicated technicians instead of relying on communities.

What we also liked about Action1 is that it minimizes bandwidth usage by allowing private P2P software distribution. Whenever an Action1 agent needs to download a new installation or an update, it first checks with other Action1 agents on the local network using a protocol called Local Peer Discovery. 

If no agent has that particular update, the agent will then retrieve it from Action1 cloud servers and make it accessible to other peers. This ensures that the same file isn’t being downloaded again and again from the servers.

You can also generate two types of reports with Action1: scheduled and custom. Schedules reports are sent at a set interval. For example, you can pull out a scheduled report on the number of pending patches every week. 

Custom reports, on the other hand, generate customized reports as per leveraged data sources. Even better, you can apply multiple filter layers to further drill down these extensive reports.

Action1 also offers a dedicated MSP solution for IT businesses managing their clients’ endpoints. It works like any other patch management solution: define policies, set up alerts, and configure automatic remediation and patching. 

However, Action1 sets itself apart with its excellent remote assistance capabilities. Technicians do not need to install any agent on their systems – they can offer interactive remote assistance directly from their browser. Last but not least, the sessions are secured with multi-factor authentication and military-grade AES-256 encryption.

Action1: Interface and performance

Action1 has a modern and well-designed interface which is easy to interpret and navigate. There are various widgets with information on endpoint summary, vulnerability remediation compliance and deadlines, and update deployment statuses. 

We liked the use of various colors across the board, too – anything critical is shown in red to highlight urgency.

You can double-click every single widget for more information on each parameter. For example, the Vulnerability Remediation Compliance dashboard tells you about ‘overdue’ and ‘due soon’ vulnerabilities across systems. These are divided based on the conditions in the service-level agreements and can be customized as per your patching policy.

All in all, we found Action1’s performance at par with industry standards, with minimum lags and technical glitches. 

Action1: Security

Action1 takes security seriously and ensures that businesses get a secure operational environment. The platform complies with SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, CSA, CISA, and GDPR. Just like SuperOps, Action1 is also hosted on the AWS platform, which employs top-tier surveillance and physical security.

Before you receive a new patch, it goes through intensive malware scanning with over 50 different engines. If any potential threat is found, the patch is blocked immediately. 

Action1 has also teamed up with HackerOne (a well-known group of ethical hackers that help businesses comply with security standards) to conduct penetration tests across its systems. The process involved injecting the system with a simulated cyberattack to identify vulnerabilities.

That’s not it, though, as Action1 also has an active Bug Bounty Program, where researchers and seasoned experts can find vulnerabilities in return for a monetary reward. This ultimately results in a secure business environment for Action1 customers.

Action1: Support

Unlike other RMM solutions, Action1 offers dedicated phone numbers in several locations. This includes Houston, the UK, Australia, Singapore, Brazil, and France. There’s also a toll-free number you can call – as well as an email address for written and lengthy queries. 

The platform has a robust and helpful customer support team, which responds to and solves queries quickly. In some cases, complex queries are handled by engineers themselves instead of support agents. There's no dearth of self-help guides, either, and you'll have access to a lot of ‘how-to’ videos, webinars, blogs, and extensive documentation that will help you with operational or technical queries. 

All in all, we were quite impressed by the extent of support Acrion1 offers, although live chat would have made things a whole lot better.

Action1: Final verdict

Action1 is a vulnerability and patch management solution that scans all your networks for missing updates and helps you keep all your systems up to date. Although Action1 does just one thing – patch management, it does it pretty well. 

For instance, it supports P2P software distribution, which eases the load on your bandwidth. Plus, besides OS, it also helps you patch common third-party apps like Zoom, Chrome, Firefox, and more. In fact, Action1 has an in-house managed Software Repository, which is updated on a regular basis. 

One of the biggest positives of Action1, however, is that it's completely free for startups and small businesses with up to 100 endpoints.

Wrapping up, if you need a tool exclusively for patch management, Action1 is a good choice. However, there’s a caveat to keep in mind: Action1 works only with Windows OS, meaning macOS and Linux systems cannot be patched with Action1. This can be a deal breaker for some businesses.

Action1: FAQs

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