ShellYard
ShellYard vs IT Glue

Documentation isn't where the work happens.
The workspace is.

IT Glue is structured MSP documentation under the Kaseya umbrella. ShellYard adds connections, a vault with per-client KMS, the network toolkit, and Magellan AI — in a native desktop app. Importer for migration.

Download free for macOS, Windows, Linux

Free forever · Per-Space KMS on Team+ · Cryptographic erasure on offboarding

ShellYard · Spaces
Acme Corp
Shared Space
CMK-acme-2c8f
Globex
Shared Space
CMK-globex-91a4
Initech
Shared Space
CMK-initech-7d12
Stark Labs
Shared Space
CMK-stark-4eb9

Each client's secrets wrapped under their own customer-managed KMS key (Team+).

Quick decision

You probably already know which side you're on.

Stay on IT Glue if

  • — You're deep in the Kaseya stack (VSA, BMS) and the integrations earn their keep.
  • — Documentation is the only need; technicians use other tools for connections and diagnostics.
  • — Autotask, ConnectWise, or Datto integrations are non-negotiable for your PSA workflow.
  • — A polished web portal with deep Asset templates is the contract you sell.

Switch (or supplement) with ShellYard if

  • — You want connections, docs, vault, and AI in one workspace — not five browser tabs.
  • — Per-client cryptographic isolation matters and a shared multi-tenant database doesn't cut it.
  • — Kaseya pricing escalation is biting and "talk to sales" tier changes aren't sitting right.
  • — Your techs are on Mac or Linux and a desktop-grade app is part of the job satisfaction.

Feature-by-feature

IT Glue is a deep documentation and asset platform. ShellYard is built for the moment a runbook becomes work — SSH into the box, check the database, hit the API, all in the same window the runbook lives in.

ShellYard advantage IT Glue advantage Parity
Feature IT Glue ShellYard
Documentation and runbooks ✓ (Team)
IPAM (subnets, hosts) ✓ (Team)
Per-client isolation ✓ Organizations ✓ Spaces
Document version history 90 days (Team), unlimited (Enterprise)
Public document share links ✓ (Team)
Credential vault ✓ local AES-256-GCM + KMS-wrapped cloud (Pro+)
Audit log ✓ all tiers; CSV export (Team+); per-Space filter (Enterprise)
Integrated SSH / RDP / VNC / Telnet / serial / SSM — web only ✓ all tiers
Network toolkit (MTR, packet capture, TLS inspector, SNMP, DNS, 40+)
Multi-engine DB inspector ✓ Postgres, MySQL, SQL Server, Redis, Mongo, SQLite
HTTP REST + GraphQL + Realtime client ✓ (Pro+)
AI assistant (BYO key) Cooper Copilot (vendor-hosted) ✓ Magellan — Anthropic, OpenAI, Gemini, Ollama
Per-Space customer-managed KMS key ✓ (Team and Enterprise)
Cryptographic erasure on client offboarding ✓ (Team and Enterprise)
Native desktop app — web only ✓ macOS, Windows, Linux
Transparent flat pricing Quote-only; tiered + escalating ✓ Free / $24 / $49 / $99
Flexible Asset types + custom fields ✓ long tail of asset templates — Documents + IPAM only
PSA / RMM integrations (ConnectWise, Autotask, Datto, VSA, BMS)
Mobile app ✓ iOS / Android — desktop only

Reflects publicly documented IT Glue capability at time of comparison.

Where IT Glue still wins

The honest list.

  • Pure-documentation depth. Flexible Asset types, custom fields, and relationship mapping go deeper than Documents + IPAM.
  • Tight Kaseya stack integration. VSA, BMS, and Datto live in the same family tree.
  • Mobile app. iOS + Android. ShellYard is desktop-only and not pretending otherwise.
  • Established enterprise sales motion. Procurement people know how to buy it.
  • Some industry-specific PSA integrations. If your billing-and-ticketing PSA has an IT Glue connector that's load-bearing for your service contract, that's a real tether.

Migration path

Four steps. Run parallel until the team trusts it.

  1. 1

    Install ShellYard.

    Free forever for the personal toolkit. macOS, Windows, Linux. Signed and notarized. No credit card to evaluate.

  2. 2

    Spin up a Space per client.

    On Team, each Shared Space is RBAC-gated, audit-scoped, and wrapped under its own customer-managed KMS key in our AWS account.

  3. 3

    Use the import path documented at /docs/getting-started/imports/.

    Bring documentation and IPAM in per client. Layer in connections and credentials as each Space is verified.

  4. 4

    Run parallel during transition; cut over when the team is confident.

    Most MSPs migrate client-by-client over a few weeks. When a Space is signed off, the matching IT Glue organization can be retired on its own schedule.

Before you migrate

The questions every MSP owner asks first.

Does ShellYard integrate with Kaseya VSA or BMS?
No direct integration. ShellYard is independent of the Kaseya stack. Data movement between the two is cut-and-paste or API-driven export/import. If tight VSA + BMS coupling is non-negotiable for your workflow, stay on IT Glue; if it isn't, that independence is part of the appeal.
Is per-client cryptographic isolation really separate?
Yes, on Team and Enterprise. Each Shared Space gets its own customer-managed KMS key (CMK) inside our AWS account. Every credential, document, environment variable, and synced resource for that client is wrapped under that key. When you offboard the client, we call kms:ScheduleKeyDeletion on the Space's CMK — after the AWS pending window expires, the underlying ciphertext is unrecoverable by anyone, including us.
How does pricing compare to IT Glue?
IT Glue is quote-only under Kaseya — published starting points are around $29/user/month and the curve has been steep for renewing customers since the acquisition. ShellYard is flat and public: Free, Pro $24/seat/mo, Team $49/seat/mo, Enterprise $99/seat/mo. No "talk to sales" gate on the tiers MSPs actually use.
Is there a mobile app?
No. ShellYard is a native desktop app for macOS, Windows, and Linux. If your techs need full mobile field access to documentation, IT Glue's mobile app is a real point in its favour — we recommend supplementing rather than replacing in that case.
What does the audit log cover?
Every credential access, document edit, command run, HTTP request, DB query, Magellan call, and Space mutation lands in the per-Space audit log with actor, action, target, timestamp, IP, and user-agent. CSV export is available on Team; Enterprise adds per-Space filtering so you can hand a client their own activity report without leaking other clients' rows.
Can I import my IT Glue vault?
Documents and IPAM import directly at Team+. Vault import is a manual export step today — see the current import paths at /docs/getting-started/imports/. Most MSPs run parallel for a few weeks and cut over per client when each Space is verified.

Open a Space for your next client engagement.

Spin up a Shared Space, import the IT Glue documentation, wire the SSH connections and the vault, and hand the client a clean audit log when the engagement ends. Cryptographic erasure on offboarding — we couldn't read it back if we tried.

Download free for macOS, Windows, Linux

Free forever · Per-Space KMS on Team+ · Cryptographic erasure on offboarding