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NetLock RMM, reviewed and compared by the Breeze team

NetLock RMM Review: What It Does Well, Where the Free Tier Stops, and How Breeze Compares

NetLock RMM is an independently developed open source RMM from Germany: AGPL-3.0, multi-tenant, whitelabel, with remote shell and screen control and a free Community Edition capped at 25 devices. It is a solid console for running a fleet by hand. This page covers what NetLock does well, where the free tier stops, and how it stacks up against Breeze, the RMM we build, which puts the workers on the fleet instead of just a dashboard in front of it.

  • ✓ The workers built in, not a bolted-on chatbot
  • ✓ 4-tier risk engine: you set what runs autonomously
  • ✓ MCP server: drive Breeze from Claude Desktop, Cursor, or ChatGPT

NetLock Gives You a Console. Breeze Gives You the Workers.

The short review: NetLock RMM is good software for what it sets out to be. It is an independently developed open source project from Germany, released under AGPL-3.0 with an active v2.6.x release cadence and a growing GitHub community. It is genuinely open source, the Community Edition is free up to 25 devices, and self-hosting is first-class. The platform does a lot right: multi-tenancy with granular role-based permissions, remote shell and screen control, antivirus and firewall monitoring, security baseline enforcement, whitelabel, SSO and MFA, and a clean Docker or Kubernetes deployment. For EU teams prioritizing data sovereignty, the German origin and air-gapped support are real differentiators. None of that is in dispute here.

The difference is not feature-count; it is what the product is. NetLock, like every traditional RMM, is a dashboard: it surfaces alerts, and a human operates the console to triage and resolve them. Breeze is built the other way around. The workers are the product. They read an alert, investigate across the affected devices, apply the fix, and write up what they found and did, and a 4-tier risk engine decides what runs autonomously versus what waits for a technician to approve. You set those tiers. Low-risk routine work clears itself; anything sensitive stops for review.

That changes who does the work. With NetLock you are still the operator, scaling by hiring more technicians. With Breeze the workers scale with you. Breeze is also the first RMM to ship an MCP server, so you can drive the platform from Claude Desktop, Cursor, or ChatGPT, querying fleet state and triggering actions from the tools your team already uses. The Breeze Community core is AGPL-3.0, free to self-host with unlimited devices and technicians. Commercial extensions under ee/ (Wisp and Breeze AI for Office) have separate terms. Managed cloud is in public beta. Both projects share the open source values; they differ on whether you operate the fleet or something operates it for you.

The console under comparison: Breeze's actual dashboard, the same product you'd run instead of NetLock RMM.

Feature-by-Feature: Breeze vs NetLock RMM

Both are AGPL-3.0 open source. The differences are scope, compliance, and how the free tier is drawn.

Pricing Model

Breeze

Free self-hosted, no device cap; Breeze Cloud $4 a device a month from November 16, or $99 a month for each 250 devices on the beta plan if you start by November 15, every module, unlimited technicians, no contract

NetLock RMM

Free Community Edition up to 25 devices; Professional tier at €55/month for unlimited

License

Breeze

AGPL-3.0 core; commercial ee/ extensions have separate terms

NetLock RMM

Fully open source under AGPL-3.0

Free Tier Device Cap

Breeze

No device cap on self-hosted edition

NetLock RMM

25 devices on Community Edition

AI Governance

Breeze

Built-in 4-tier risk engine with autonomous and human-in-the-loop modes

NetLock RMM

No AI features or AI governance capabilities

Modules Included

Breeze

64 modules: patching, scripting, compliance, built-in AI, remote desktop, and more

NetLock RMM

Core RMM, multi-tenancy, remote tools, security baseline, whitelabel

Platform Coverage

Breeze

Windows, macOS, Linux with first-class support across all three

NetLock RMM

Windows, macOS, Linux supported with x64 and ARM64 agents

Compliance Automation

Breeze

CIS Controls built-in, 13 of 18 mapped and automated, 450+ benchmark checks

NetLock RMM

Security baseline enforcement; no framework-level compliance automation

Multi-Tenant / MSP Support

Breeze

Multi-tenant architecture purpose-built for MSPs

NetLock RMM

Multi-tenancy with granular role-based permissions

Deployment Options

Breeze

Self-hosted or managed cloud (beta live, US & EU)

NetLock RMM

Self-hosted (Docker, Kubernetes, air-gapped) or German/EU cloud

Community / Support

Breeze

Open GitHub, Discord community, transparent public roadmap

NetLock RMM

GitHub (326 stars), Discord community, active v2.6.x release cadence

AI-assisted migration from NetLock

Moving off NetLock? Bring your tenants and baselines with you.

Breeze's AI reads your NetLock tenant structure, role permissions, and security baselines and recreates them in Breeze's multi-tenant model, so moving to a fleet the workers run doesn't mean rebuilding months of setup by hand.

Key Advantages Over NetLock RMM

Where Breeze extends beyond NetLock's core RMM scope.

Workers, Not Just a Console

NetLock gives you a well-built console to run the fleet from. Breeze gives you the workers, and they work the fleet: investigating alerts, applying fixes, and documenting them inside a 4-tier risk engine you control. The console is still there; it is just no longer the only thing doing the work.

CIS Compliance Automation Out of the Box

NetLock offers security baseline enforcement, which is valuable but different from framework-level compliance. Breeze maps 13 of 18 CIS Controls with continuous assessment, 450+ benchmark checks across Windows, macOS, and Linux, and full audit logging. For compliance-sensitive engagements, that is a meaningful gap.

AI-Powered Investigation and Remediation

NetLock has no AI layer. Breeze ships the workers: they investigate alerts, suggest remediations, and execute fixes within risk-classified governance boundaries. The platform works without AI (it is an additive layer, not a dependency), but the workers multiply what a technician can do.

Full 64-Module Platform

NetLock focuses on core RMM, multi-tenancy, and security posture. Breeze covers the full commercial RMM scope: SNMP monitoring, network discovery, CVE correlation against software inventory, backup verification, hierarchical configuration policies, and reporting. When you need all of it in one platform, scope matters.

FAQ: Breeze vs NetLock RMM

Quick answers MSPs ask when evaluating Breeze as an alternative to NetLock RMM.

What happens if I grow past NetLock's 25-device Community Edition?

NetLock's Community Edition is capped at 25 devices, after which you must move to a paid commercial tier. Breeze Community has no device cap; you can self-host unlimited devices under AGPL-3.0 for free. Most MSPs hitting NetLock's cap can keep growing on Breeze at zero incremental cost.

How does Breeze compare to NetLock on compliance?

Breeze includes CIS Controls hardening with compliance scoring, remediation workflows, and scheduled scanning out of the box: 13 of 18 CIS Controls are mapped and automated. NetLock's Community Edition has limited compliance tooling.

Is Breeze open source like NetLock?

Yes. Breeze has an AGPL-3.0 core and separately licensed commercial ee/ extensions with the source code on GitHub. NetLock has an open-source Community Edition with a paid commercial path. Both projects publish their code; Breeze's differentiator is no device cap and a broader 64-module feature set.

Does Breeze support multi-tenant MSP workflows?

Yes. Breeze is purpose-built for MSPs with multi-tenant architecture, per-client isolation, partner self-registration, and per-user organization access controls. Branding and white-label are included.

Can I migrate from NetLock to Breeze?

Yes. Breeze includes AI-assisted migration tooling that reads your existing NetLock policies, scripts, and configurations and recreates equivalents in Breeze, minimizing the rebuild cost when leaving a capped or commercial tier.

Ready to put the workers on the fleet?

Keep self-hosting on AGPL-3.0 open source, and put the workers on the fleet: 64 modules, CIS compliance automation, and a 4-tier risk engine you control.