
Facilities maintenance managers know pressure all too well: They’re tasked with balancing dozens (or hundreds) of work orders to keep sites running smoothly. And outdated processes like scattered spreadsheets and paper work orders only increase pressure by making it easy to miss tasks and tough to plan preventive maintenance.
One way to relieve this stress is with a system that brings everything into one accessible place: including work orders, asset history, scheduling, and reporting.
Take the example of Villages Golf and Country Club, a sprawling community with thousands of homes and hundreds of assets to manage. After switching to MaintainX as their facilities maintenance management software, the team saw dramatic results, including a 30% reduction in reactive work and a 116% increase in preventive maintenance work.
That story highlights exactly what many facilities maintenance teams are seeking: a tool that simplifies workflows, giving them the clarity to work more proactively.
Here, we’ll compare some of the leading facilities-maintenance software platforms to help you find the right fit for your team.
What is facilities maintenance software
Facilities maintenance software, often called a CMMS (computerized maintenance management system), helps maintenance teams plan, track, and manage the work that keeps a facility running smoothly. Instead of juggling paper work orders, spreadsheets, emails, or relying on memory, a CMMS centralizes everything in one digital place so teams can stay organized and proactive.
For many facility managers, adopting facilities preventive maintenance software marks a shift from putting out fires to a more efficient approach. This is exactly what Villages Golf and Country Club experienced.
Their assistant general manager put it this way: “Since implementing MaintainX, the efficiency level is night and day. We've gone from completing work orders within a two-week period down to two or three days.”
That kind of transformation is why choosing the right platform matters.
What facilities maintenance leaders should look for in a CMMS
Before we take a look at each platform, here are the core capabilities that generally separate a good CMMS from a great CMMS. For facilities maintenance purposes, the best solutions should offer:
- Work-order management: Look for software that allows teams to easily create, assign, track and complete maintenance tasks.
- Preventive maintenance scheduling: Your team should have the ability to schedule recurring maintenance so you can stay ahead of breakdowns.
- Asset tracking and history: The software should keep a centralized record of every asset, its maintenance history, and any associated documentation.
- Mobile and accessible interface: Field technicians often work away from desks, so mobile-ready platforms help them make real-time updates and respond to requests quickly.
- Scalability and flexibility: Whether you’re managing a small facility or dozens of locations, your software should grow with your needs.
With these criteria in mind, here are several leading platforms, along with where they tend to deliver best (and where you’ll want to double-check if their strengths match your needs).
How we evaluated preventive maintenance software
For this list, we compared the features for each CMMS and EAM based on customer reviews from:
Why MaintainX is the best overall facilities maintenance software
For teams that want strong features without a complex interface, MaintainX stands out as the best overall facilities maintenance platform.
While some software makes teams choose between power and usability, MaintainX combines enterprise-grade functionality with an easy-to-use mobile experience designed for maintenance technicians (which ultimately leads to high adoption and faster ROI).
Facilities management users consistently praise MaintainX’s usability, mobile-first design, cross-platform flexibility, and responsive support.
How facilities maintenance software platforms compare
MaintainX
What users like
- Exceptionally easy to use and adopt: Users highlight MaintainX as intuitive to use, with many reviewers explicitly praising the “user-friendly interface” and calling it the “best user experience for asset management.”
- Strong mobile and frontline workflows: Users note they can handle inventory, asset tracking, work order and workflow allocation, communication, and reporting all in one place, directly from MaintainX’s mobile app.
- Fast time-to-value and responsive support: Reviews frequently mention that implementation and support teams are “top notch” and that any issues are quickly resolved by the team. In fact, it’s the only platform with a 100% customer satisfaction score on G2.
What to watch out for
- Regulated industry specialization: While capable, the software isn’t designed to handle the strictest regulatory environments out of the box.
- More advanced capabilities are in higher tiers: Certain advanced preventive maintenance capabilities like IoT sensor integration and advanced reporting come only on higher plans.
What customers think of MaintainX
“MaintainX works well across platforms. MaintainX technical support is excellent. The system allows us to customize how it works to fit best with our needs.” — Tiffany, Customer Care Coordinator
“Getting started with MaintainX was straightforward, thanks to outstanding implementation support that was both personalized and highly knowledgeable. The ongoing assistance from our Account Managers and Client Success Managers has been equally impressive. Throughout our experience, we've consistently felt backed by a dedicated team committed to helping us achieve our objectives” - Verified user in manufacturing, G2
“Superior user experience. Timely and comprehensive technical support. Friendly and knowledgeable account support personnel. Ease of transition from our former CMMS system.” Walter Y.
“MaintainX is very user-friendly, which was essential for us because some of our staff are not particularly tech-savvy. We needed software that was simple and intuitive, and MaintainX met that need. The implementation process was also excellent—the team made everything straightforward and accommodated our frequent schedule changes.” Alana H.
“MaintainX is helping us standardize and optimize our maintenance processes, giving us full visibility of tasks across the plant. It ensures that work orders are clearly assigned, tracked, and completed, reducing delays and helping us maintain operational efficiency.” Gustavo R., Systems Administrator
FMX
What users like
- Easy to use across departments: Users say FMX is easy to use and suited for basic facilities workflows.
- Strong work order management: Several users highlight strong core features like fast work request intake and visibility into open/closed work orders.
- Clear calendar interface: Users praise FMX’s calendar and scheduling tools for their simplicity.
What to watch out for
- Feature limitations: Some users say that FMX can feel limiting when advancing beyond simple workflows. “The scheduling is great, but the work order (tech/maint requests) features need much more development.” Chad R., Education Management
- Reporting and dashboards could be stronger: Users who need deep analytics, complex reporting, or custom dashboards may find FMX lacking. “Reporting features are not great, and the dashboards are difficult to customize.” -Donna B.
- Performance lags on mobile: Some reviews mention that while mobile access exists, functionality is limited or slow compared to desktop. “We have seen some issues with mobile version of FMX. Users have had issues with zooming. They also had issues with their phone turning off and losing progress on a work order that wasn't saved or completed yet.” Gabe S.
Limble
What users like
- Intuitive UI: Reviewers say the software’s user-friendly interface makes it easier to move from paper or legacy systems.
- Strong dashboards and reporting: Users praise dashboards and reports that enable smarter resource allocation.
- Multi-site functionality: Customers note that the software simplifies access to assets, work orders, and PMs across sites.
What to watch out for
- Work-management and scheduling limitations: Some users report that work-order statuses and limited scheduling tools can create blind spots. “Work orders does not have different status’, you cannot have different dates for when orders are planned, kitted, due etc., you cannot manage/schedule work in any smart way.” - Lucinda M, Plant Manager
- Dashboard configuration can get complicated: Reviewers note that dashboards require navigating through many customization options, making it harder to quickly build clear views of operations. “Because of the number of customizations, it can be tricky to develop the dashboards you want due to the number of options.” - Benjamin F., Equipment Reliability Engineer
- Mobile app weaknesses: Users consistently describe struggles with the mobile app experience. “Mobile app experience still seems a bit clunky, it is hard to manage especially being a super user when all site info is available.” - Verified G2 user in logistics and supply chain
IBM Maximo Application Suite
What users like
- Enterprise-grade EAM: Users frequently note Maximo’s strength when it comes to preventive maintenance and work order management, with deep analytics and IoT integration.
- Broad asset lifecycle coverage: Users appreciate the software’s ability to tie work history, costs, and asset health together across complex organizations.
- Regulatory compliance: Maximo is often selected for advanced compliance use cases in asset-intensive industries.
What to watch out for
- Complex implementation: Users frequently highlight complex setup and a steep learning curve, noting that implementations often take months. “The initial setup configuration and administration are highly complex, necessitating a dedicated skilled operator.” -Khushivant K.
- Requires specialist skills and admin overhead: Reviewers mention that customization can be resource-heavy and “requires technical knowledge or support from an experienced Maximo admin.” -Verified G2 user
- Frustrating user experience: Many users find navigating the app complicated, even for simple tasks and updates. “It often requires multiple clicks to complete basic tasks, and without proper training, navigating between modules can be overwhelming.” -Jeremiah A.
Hexagon HxGN EAM
What users like
- Asset and work-order capabilities: Reviewers appreciate that HxGN EAM gives them a unified view of assets and work orders.
- Good for regulated environments: Users in energy and utilities cite benefits in documenting maintenance for regulators and customers.
- Real-time tracking: Customers say the software’s tracking capabilities help with decision-making across sites.
What to watch out for
- Overwhelming interface and data volume: Many users find that the data organization complicates navigation and usability. “Some of our users are overwhelmed by the amount of data and organization of it. Often they are frustrated by the numbers of tabs and places where things need to be recorded.” -Robert M.
- Dated user experience: Reviewers express that the interface feels outdated, which makes tasks like gathering data more challenging. “Slightly outdated UI, and sometimes it is hard to get the data out of EAM. you have to rely on datalake, power BI, etc.” -Verified G2 user
- Organizational “fit” can feel forced: Some experience challenges customizing the setup to their needs. One verified G2 user says, “the organizational setup that is kind of forced upon you. organizations must conform to a certain degree to the software, and this can be a big change.”
Fiix
What users like
- Easy to implement compared to spreadsheets/legacy tools: Reviewers say Fiix simplified the transition from paper and Excel-based systems.
- Solid work-order and maintenance workflows: Many users describe the software’s work order creation workflows as easy to use.
- Helpful customer support: Customers praise the support team for their responsiveness.
What to watch out for
- Reporting may not meet the needs of large facilities portfolios: Customers have described cross-site performance dashboards and advanced lifecycle insights as insufficient for their needs. “We hit a ceiling. We cannot customize certain data analysis or add multiple BOMs – so workarounds were necessary.” - Jason B.
- UI friction in some areas: Some customers say certain aspects of the interface make processes (like logging downtime) inefficient. “The asset offline/online feature is quite cumbersome when using it to record downtime of machinery.” Gareth T., Engineering manager
- Mobile functionality is limited: Users have noted parts inventory and work order functionality limitations specific to mobile. “I can't look up parts in the mobile app as much as I can on the PC.” -Verified G2 user
eMaint
What users like
- Highly configurable for complex environments: Reviewers cite strong customization options for dashboards, reports, and workflows.
- Multi-site friendly: Users managing several locations say the software’s structured hierarchy is effective.
- Configurable for organizations willing to invest in setup: Many users describe eMaint as a strong customizable solution for those that invest time in training and configuration.
What to watch out for
- Complex to learn and implement: Customers report a lack of sufficient setup support, which can burden small departments. “Lots of data points were missed or imported properly, and some training was suboptimal.” -Keila M.
- Confusing interface: Some users cite problems navigating the app, which can hinder time to value. “Searching for assets can be a bit of a hassle. Our parts area of Emaint took almost a year to get fixed after issues occurred during implementation.” -Verified G2 Reviewer
- Navigation and customization complexity: The software’s complexity can be a barrier for teams. “The UI can be confusing at times, especially when dealing with multiple options or navigating work orders.” -Lamar W.
Brightly (Asset Essentials)
What users like
- Widely used in education and public sector: Brightly Asset Essentials is a common choice for school districts and municipalities, with reviewers praising its ability to centralize work orders from many locations.
- Easy work-request intake: Users describe many work order features as intuitive.
- Accessible for smaller teams: Especially for organizations migrating from spreadsheets or paper-based maintenance logs, the solution is easier to adopt and scale than custom in-house systems.
What to watch out for
- Lag and performance issues: Several customers, particularly those running larger operations, report performance issues and long load times with the mobile app. "The mobile aspect was not what we were looking for or needing to support the amount of staff and volume that we have." -Brandi S.
- Limited customization and missing features: Users note limited customization and missing features, which make it harder for technicians to adapt to workflows. “I would like to tailor the software to my specific needs, but there’s an inability to have a level of customization.” — Nathan, Engineering Manager, Automotive
- Confusing interface: Some reviewers describe the interface as clunky in a way that impacts day-to-day use. “We have had a difficult time communicating the value of this program to our mechanics. The user interface makes it somewhat daunting to learn.” -Verified G2 Reviewer
The right facilities maintenance software for your team
You know your facility’s priorities better than anyone. You may need stronger preventive maintenance to reduce unexpected outages, or maybe you’re prioritizing clearer visibility into asset conditions so you can plan replacements and justify spending.
As you evaluate your software options, look beyond features and consider how each platform supports the realities of maintenance management at your facility. Test a few systems, involve your technicians early, and choose the tool that your team will actually enjoy using.
How can a CMMS improve facilities maintenance efficiency?
A CMMS centralizes work orders, preventive maintenance (PM) schedules, asset histories, and inventory data. This helps teams complete work consistently and capture accurate information from every task.
Supervisors gain real-time visibility into workloads, downtime, and resource needs, while technicians get mobile access to procedures and documentation.
The result is fewer missed tasks, faster repairs, and better decision-making.
Can facilities management software integrate with existing systems?
Yes, modern facilities management software can integrate with systems commonly used by educational institutions. MaintainX provides customizable integrations that help data flow seamlessly between departments, improving decision-making and efficiency while eliminating silos and redundant information entry.
Can CMMS be used to manage preventive maintenance across multiple facilities?
Enterprise teams use CMMS to standardize SOPs, share asset data and preventive maintenance schedules, and roll up KPIs across sites. That single source of truth drives consistent execution and easier audits.



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