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Is HelpWire Finally Ready for an IT Help Desk? 3 New Features That Matter

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Updated on: July 23, 2026
Time to read: 4 minutes

HelpWire added three things this year that specifically target IT help desks: multiple active sessions, Linux unattended access, and operator permissions. Let’s compare these HelpWire features in its top-tier plan against the closest comparable licenses from competitors: TeamViewer and AnyDesk.

How HelpWire’s new IT help desk features compare to competitors

  Multiple simultaneous sessions Linux unattended access Operator permissions
HelpWire (Business) Each operator seat can run its own session. 10 operator seats are available. Added this year. Ubuntu, CentOS, Fedora. Full access on X11. Wayland sessions can be reconnected to but not unlocked from the login screen. Operators are assignable to specific client groups. This way, Owners can control visibility and access to clients.
TeamViewer (Corporate) 3 connection channels included, supporting up to 30 licensed users and up to 15 sessions per channel. Only 3 people can connect concurrently unless you purchase additional channels. Established for years across supported Linux distributions. Custom user roles (up to 100) are supported, with function-level permissions spanning ticketing, billing, device policies, and more.
AnyDesk (Advanced) Starts with 2 concurrent connections by default but scalable via add-on connections (up to 50 on this tier, unlimited on Ultimate). Established for years, though native Wayland support is limited. AnyDesk generally recommends X11 for unattended access. The Advanced tier ships a few default roles assignable but not editable. To create fully custom roles and permission sets, the Ultimate plan is necessary.

Is there anything left to evaluate about HelpWire for IT teams, help desks, and MSPs?

If you ruled HelpWire out because it couldn’t run parallel sessions, couldn’t touch your Linux boxes unattended, or gave every technician the same blanket access – those specific objections no longer hold. In exchange for the less granular operator permission model than AnyDesk and TeamViewer, you get a lighter setup, without the complex math regarding connection channels or add-on purchases.

How IT teams use HelpWire’s new features

Support several clients in parallel

Think of one IT technician supporting tens of clients. They are running a batch software rollout in the background, then a “My VPN won’t connect” call comes in. That used to mean ending one session to start the other. Now, multiple remote sessions stay live, and switching between them is no different from switching browser tabs.

It’s a small mechanical change, but it’s the one that decides whether one person can realistically cover multiple tasks alone.

Separate clients, departments, and contractors

Before, every operator on a HelpWire account could see every client folder. Fine for a solo operator. But not fine the moment you add a second technician, a contractor, or need to enforce department boundaries. For example, a retail-floor support tech shouldn’t have visibility into back-office finance devices.

Now, operator permissions let an account Owner assign each operator to specific client groups. You can do this in a few clicks in HelpWire Web Portal, and once set, that operator’s dashboard only shows what they’ve been assigned, while everything else is simply not there.

Keep a mixed-OS fleet under one login

Previously, if your IT help desk supported a mix of Windows, macOS, and Linux devices, the lack of unattended Linux access was a dealbreaker for HelpWire. That’s addressed now: unattended sessions are currently available on Ubuntu 18.04-24.04, CentOS 8/9, and Fedora 41. So you can apply patches to a Linux server at 2 am without a site visit. Or reconnect to a remote employee’s Ubuntu machine that they left running when they logged off for the day.

On X11 sessions, unattended access is complete, including getting past the login screen if the machine has logged out. On Wayland, HelpWire can reconnect to an already-active session but can’t get past the login screen. That’s a Wayland limitation, not HelpWire’s. If your Linux fleet auto-logs in or stays signed in, this is a non-issue. Otherwise, machines that reach the login screen on Wayland won’t be accessible until someone signs in locally. 

If you want to track what’s coming next, HelpWire keeps a public roadmap. The full feature set and plan breakdown are both worth a look before deciding.