7 ServiceNow Alternatives and Competitors

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Is ServiceNow the best fit for every business?

While it’s a powerful tool for IT service management (ITSM) and IT asset management (ITAM), many organizations are realizing its limitations when it comes to managing their increasingly dynamic SaaS environments.

With companies adopting more SaaS tools, there’s a growing belief that ServiceNow can handle SaaS management effectively.

However, SaaS is dynamic and requires a platform with advanced capabilities, such as intricate integrations, real-time monitoring, and automation tailored to SaaS-specific needs. This gap has driven organizations to explore ServiceNow alternatives that offer a blend of SaaS management, ITSM, and ITAM—delivering the adaptability and efficiency modern businesses demand.

In this article, we’ll explore the top 7 ServiceNow alternatives and highlight how they address businesses’ evolving requirements for IT and SaaS management.

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TL;DR

• ServiceNow is a popular cloud-based platform for automating workflows and IT service management. However, it has drawbacks, such as complex setup and high costs for smaller businesses.
  

• Organizations often seek alternatives due to budget constraints, scalability issues, and the need for specialized features.
  

• Top alternatives to ServiceNow include CloudEagle, BMC Helix, Freshdesk, Jira Service Management, SolarWinds Service Desk, Zendesk, and InvGate, each offering unique features for IT management.
  

• CloudEagle stands out for its comprehensive SaaS management, helping businesses optimize software spending and streamline operations.
  

• When choosing an alternative, consider your specific needs, budget, and team size, and utilize free trials or demos to test different tools.‍

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What is ServiceNow?

ServiceNow is a leading IT service management platform that empowers organizations to streamline their IT service management (ITSM), automate workflows, and improve operational efficiency.

It’s designed to bring all your processes onto a single platform, enabling better team collaboration, reducing redundancies, and enhancing productivity.

At its core, ServiceNow specializes in ITSM but extends its capabilities to multiple domains, including human resources, customer service, and operations management.

Key features of ServiceNow:

1. IT Service Management (ITSM): Handles incidents, service requests, and problem management to ensure IT services run smoothly.

2. IT Operations Management (ITOM): Keeps IT infrastructure like servers and applications optimized, ensuring minimal downtime.

3. Automation engine: Allows businesses to automate repetitive tasks, improving efficiency and freeing up resources for strategic projects.

4. Strategic portfolio management (SPM): Helps organizations plan, prioritize, and manage projects to optimize resource allocation.

5. HR Service Delivery: Simplifies processes like onboarding and offboarding, improving the employee experience.

6. Governance, risk, and compliance (GRC): Manages risk, ensures regulatory compliance, and provides a centralized view of policies and controls.
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Why People Look for ServiceNow Alternatives‍

ServiceNow is a leader is IT service management, but it doesn’t always meet every organization’s needs. For many, the platform’s complexity, cost, and usability spark a search for alternatives.

Here’s why:

• Complex setup: ServiceNow capabilities come at a price: a steep learning curve. Large enterprises often find the platform challenging to optimize fully, while smaller teams struggle to manage their demands without dedicated resources.
  

• Unpredictable licensing costs: The platform’s licensing model is a frequent pain point. Its complexity can lead to unpredictable costs, making it difficult for teams to plan budgets effectively or justify the investment.
  

• Not ideal for small to mid-sized teams: ServiceNow’s enterprise focus often overwhelms smaller teams. Alternatives may provide similar features with less operational and financial overload.
  

• Customization challenges: The platform’s flexibility is a double-edged sword. While you can configure it to meet most needs, the process often requires expertise, time, and resources, which not every organization has readily available.
  

• Adequate but not outstanding: Users often describe ServiceNow a “good enough” but lacking in standout features.  While it can handle a wide range of tasks, it rarely delivers the “wow” factor or an exceptionally smooth user experience.
  

Note: Some of these statements were solicited from G2 and Gartner.

"ServiceNow ITSM is your standard, run-of-the-mill ticketing system platform that is expandable enough to do whatever you want it to, but doesn't do anything particularly well. Your experience with ServiceNow will probably culminate with you saying "good enough" because that's what the product is. Good enough. There's not many things that are going to cause you grief with ServiceNow, and if there's something you want there's almost definitely a module for it, but it will constantly leave you with a feeling of "could this be done better."

Source: Gartner

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How to Choose the Best ServiceNow Alternative

Finding the right ServiceNow competitor isn’t about picking the most popular option—it’s about finding the best fit for your organization.

Here’s how you can make an informed choice:

1. Match the solution to your business size and growth plans

A platform that works well for a Fortune 500 company may overwhelm a smaller business. Evaluate your organization’s current size and where you plan to be in the next few years. Scalability matters. Look for an IT asset management solution that can grow with your team, whether you’re a startup or an established enterprise.

Pro Tip: If your team doesn’t have in-house developers, prioritize intuitive tools that require minimal customization.

2. Identify the features you can’t live without

Do you need advanced IT asset management? Automation workflows? Or tools for managing SaaS applications? List your non-negotiables upfront. A focused feature set is often more valuable than a tool with endless options you won’t use.

Example: If managing IT assets is your priority, choose an alternative with smart asset management capabilities. If automation is your pain point, look for platforms with easy-to-build workflows.

3. Balance cost with integration simplicity

Budget constraints are a reality, but don’t let price be the only factor. Look for an alternative that offers value for the cost, factoring in licensing fees and implementation effort. Integration with your existing tools—like Slack, HRIS, or CRM—should be seamless to avoid disruptions.

Pro tip: Ask for a demo or free trial to see how the platform works with your existing setup.

4. Prioritize user experience and support

A tool is only as good as its experience. Select a platform with an intuitive interface and responsive customer support. Sometimes, even a great product can have a steep learning curve, leading to low adoption rates.

By carefully considering these factors, you can zero in on a ServiceNow competitor that replaces ServiceNow and enhances your operations.

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Top 7 ServiceNow Alternatives and Competitors

Below are the main alternatives and competitors ServiceNow:

1. CloudEagle

CloudEagle is a comprehensive IT asset management tool and SaaS procurement platform ideal for businesses of all sizes. It stands out as a top ServiceNow alternative because it offers an all-in-one platform that caters to businesses of all sizes.

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As stated, ServiceNow’s primary targets are large enterprises. However, CloudEagle is suitable for startups, medium-sized companies, and established enterprises. This versatility makes it an attractive option if you're looking for a more flexible and scalable solution.

CloudEagle’s focus is to help you discover, optimize, govern, and renew SaaS in one platform. Workflows help automate complicated, repetitive tasks, and SaaS buying services are available to assist in negotiation.

Since it caters to businesses of all sizes, you won't outgrow the platform as your company expands. The platform has many features that work together to streamline your software management processes and save you time and money.

Key Features

Application discovery: CloudEagle gives you a clear view of all your SaaS applications in one place. With over 500 integrations, including browser extensions, SSO, HRIS, and finance tools, it provides detailed insights into license usage, spending, and vendor data.

The platform's real-time tracking provides up-to-date information about your SaaS stack. It continuously monitors application usage, allowing you to identify underutilized licenses and optimize your spending.

A shadow IT detection feature also helps identify unsanctioned apps accessed through SSO. It alerts you to potential security risks and lets you control your SaaS stack.

CloudEagle provides granular usage analytics and spend visibility across all departments. This enables you to make informed decisions about your SaaS investments.

License management: You can easily monitor and control software licenses across your organization. This feature helps prevent overspending on unused licenses and ensures compliance with licensing agreements.

CloudEagle's license reclamation workflows help automate identifying and reclaiming underutilized licenses, saving you time and money. Instead of manually tracking usage and deprovisioning users, CloudEagle does the heavy lifting for you.

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You can easily set up auto-deprovisioning rules based on usage thresholds, and the system will automatically flag low-usage applications. You'll quickly spot opportunities to reclaim and reassign licenses to active users.

Asset management: Monitor all your SaaS assets, from software license contracts to renewal agreements. This comprehensive oversight helps you make informed decisions about resource allocation and upgrades.

Listen to this podcast featuring a Finance Director’s strategies for optimizing SaaS spend for deeper insights on managing software assets efficiently.

Contract management: CloudEagle helps you stay on top of all your contracts, whether SaaS or vendor contracts, to ensure you never miss an important deadline.

It centralizes all your contracts, eliminating the chaos of scattered documents in emails and shared folders.

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The standout feature is its AI-powered metadata extraction, which automatically pulls vital information from your contracts. This means you don't have to spend hours manually inputting data.

With easy-to-use filters, you can quickly find the contracts you need during negotiations or audits. CloudEagle transforms contract management from a tedious task into a streamlined, efficient process.

Spend management: Get a grip on your software expenses with detailed insights into your SaaS spending. This feature helps you identify areas where you can cut costs without sacrificing productivity.

CloudEagle helps optimize costs through contract management, optimizing low-usage apps, eliminating duplicate apps, managing licenses, etc.

The platform also sends timely reminders for upcoming renewals, ensuring you never miss an opportunity to renegotiate or cancel unnecessary subscriptions.

The case of Armory is a good example. As a CloudEagle client, they wanted to save money on high-spend vendors and rightsize their licenses.

Using CloudEagle's usage data and benchmarking insights, they renegotiated with vendors like Salesforce and New Relic, securing significant cost reductions.

The platform's renewal calendar triggered workflows 90 days in advance, giving Armory ample time to prepare for each negotiation.

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So, with CloudEagle, you'll reduce costs, eliminate redundant subscriptions, and ensure you're getting the best value from your software agreements.

Renewal management: CloudEagle's renewal management feature keeps you ahead of contract auto-renewals. It sends reminders 30, 60, and 90 days in advance, giving you time to analyze usage, verify contracts, and plan negotiations.

If no action is taken, the system escalates it to various stakeholders until action is taken. It allows you to set auto-triggers and renewal opt-out dates so you can always stay ahead of renewals. You can manage renewals directly through Slack notifications.

Slack integration: CloudEagle's Slack integration helps streamline your SaaS management directly within your team's communication hub.

You can handle procurement, app access requests, and renewals without leaving Slack. Users raise requests, stakeholders receive notifications, and approvals happen instantly.

You can create private Slack channels for each request or renewal, fostering collaboration and quick decision-making.

Procurement workflows: Procurement workflows help streamline your purchasing process. You can create custom no-code workflows for various needs, from purchase requests to contract signatures.

The platform integrates with Slack for quick approvals and offers customizable request forms. Best of all, it keeps all stakeholders informed automatically, eliminating endless follow-up emails and ensuring transparency throughout the procurement process.

Here's Eric Silver, AVP, Head of Procurement at RingCentral shares his success story of how CloudEagle helped them acheive 3x ROI.

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Pros

• Plans for startups and enterprises: Unlike ServiceNow, which mainly caters to large organizations, CloudEagle offers plans suitable for businesses of all sizes. This means you can start with CloudEagle as a small company and stick with it as you grow.

• Ease of use: CloudEagle's user-friendly interface simplifies SaaS management. Thanks to its intuitive dashboard, automated workflows, and easy-to-use features, you'll navigate the platform effortlessly. Straightforward learning curve.

• Extensive SaaS application catalog: CloudEagle has a vast SaaS applications catalog. This database makes it easier for you to discover, compare, and manage software options for your business needs.

Pricing

• SaaS management: $2,500/month
• SaaS governance: $2,000/month
• SaaS procurement: $2,500/month

Rating

G2: 4.7/5

2. BMC Helix

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BMC Helix offers a suite of IT service management platforms that support cognitive automation and multi-cloud management. This ServiceNow competitor shines since it provides smart, efficient, and cost-effective solutions for businesses of all sizes.

With BMC Helix, you'll experience streamlined IT operations through cognitive automation, which means the system learns and improves over time.

Key Features

• IT Asset management: Keep track of all your IT assets effortlessly.

• IT service management (ITSM): Streamline your IT processes for better efficiency.

• SLA management: Easily monitor and meet your service level agreements.

Pros

• It has a cognitive automation feature to help transform user experience.
• There is centralized management across multi-cloud environments.
• Collaboration tools to help resolve issues quickly.

Cons:

• Complex implementation processes that require navigating multiple configurations across the platform.
• Limited direct engagement with the vendor during the sales process, relying heavily on partners.
• Integration with other capabilities like Discovery and Service Modeling is not seamless.

Pricing

Tailored pricing.

Rating

G2: 3.7/5

3. Freshdesk

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Freshdesk is a user-friendly ServiceNow competitor that offers cloud-based customer support software that streamlines your help desk operations.

This platform empowers you with the tools you need to handle customer queries more efficiently through smart automation.

With Freshdesk, you'll enjoy a simpler interface than ServiceNow while still getting great features.

The mobile app allows you to manage support on the go, and robust security measures keep your data safe.

Key Features

• SLA management: Easily track and meet your service level agreements.

• Onboarding and offboarding: Smoothly manage employee transitions.

• AI chatbots: Automate responses to common queries.

Pros

• User-friendly interface simplifies help desk operations and ticket management.
• Affordable pricing plans make it accessible for small to medium-sized businesses.
• Has a mobile app that ensures support teams can work on the go.

Cons:

• Lacks advanced features, and many integrations are third-party with additional costs.
• Support struggles with complex issues, leading to slower resolutions.
• It may not scale for larger organizations due to limited functionality for enterprise needs.

Pricing

• Free - $0
• Growth - $15
• Pro - $49
• Enterprise - $79

Rating

G2: 4.4/5

4. Jira Service Management

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Jira Service Management offers comprehensive tools to handle different IT processes. This platform excels in managing incidents, requests, changes, problems, releases, and knowledge all in one place.

With Jira, you'll enjoy better visibility of your IT assets and smoother change processes. Moreover, you can quickly update inventory statuses, making it easier to track assets.

Key Features

• Asset management: Track and manage all your IT assets efficiently.

• Change management: Handle onboarding, offboarding, provisioning, and de-provisioning seamlessly.

• Configuration management: Keep your IT configurations organized and up-to-date.

• SLA metrics management: Monitor and meet your service level agreements quickly.

Pros:

• It keeps track of all of your inventory.
• It is easy to update the status of items in inventory.

Cons:

• High customizability leads to a complicated and inconsistent user interface.
• Frequent downtime and poorly documented APIs make troubleshooting challenging.
• Costly SSO integration, limiting accessibility for budget-conscious organizations.

Pricing

• Free - $0
• Standard - $17.65
• Premium - $44.27
• Enterprise - Tailored

Rating

G2: 4.2/5

5. SolarWinds Service Desk

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SolarWinds Service Desk is another cloud-based platform that leverages AI to boost your IT service management.

This platform helps you resolve issues faster and increase productivity right from the start. It's built on ITIL principles to give you a complete toolkit for managing incidents, problems, releases, and changes.

Key Features

• Risk compliance: Stay on top of regulatory requirements easily.

• IT Asset management: Track and manage all your IT assets efficiently.

• Service level management: Monitor and meet your service commitments.

Pros

• The platform integrates well with existing tools, and will help ease work.
• Tracking asset warranty is simple.

Cons:

• Legacy modules receive less development attention, leaving gaps in functionality.
• Buggy at times, has error codes that are often poorly documented.
• Features previously included are now behind a paywall, adding extra costs.

Pricing

Tailored pricing.

Rating

G2: 4.4/5

6. Zendesk

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Zendesk offers a comprehensive customer service solution that grows with your business, making it a great ServiceNow alternative.

This all-in-one platform provides everything you need to manage customer interactions effectively.

With Zendesk, you'll be able to streamline your customer service operations better. The email integration allows you to manage queries directly from your inbox.

It also has omnichannel support to ensure your customers receive consistent help, whether they reach out via chat, phone, or social media.

Key Features

• Ticketing system: Organize and track customer issues efficiently.

• Self-service knowledge base: It is built to find answers on its own.

• Analytics and dashboards: Gain insights to improve your service quality.

Pros

• Offers omnichannel support for consistent customer interaction.
• Comprehensive reporting and analytics enhance decision-making capabilities.
• Wide range of integrations with external tools for seamless operations.

Cons:

• Requires significant time and skill to master full functionality, impacting usability.
• Performance issues when handling large ticket volumes, reducing efficiency.
• Configuring rules and triggers is clunky, creating confusion and manual effort.

Pricing

• Team - $55
• Growth - $89
• Professional - $115
• Enterprise - Tailored

Rating

G2: 4.3/5

7. InvGate

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InvGate is a modern ServiceNow competitor, tailored for IT support teams of all sizes. This platform’s focus is on streamlining business processes and ensuring compliance with industry standards.

With InvGate, you'll enhance the capabilities of your IT support while ensuring compliance. The platform helps you manage risks, improve operations, and optimize resource usage, boosting your IT department's efficiency.

Key Features

• Asset monitoring: Keep track of all your IT assets effortlessly.

• ITIL: Align your IT services with best practices.

• CMDB: Manage your configuration items effectively.

• SLAs: Meet and exceed service level agreements.

Pros

• Better risk management.
• Improve governance and operations.
• Monitor IT security compliance.
• Optimize license usage: Avoid overspending on software licenses.

Cons

• The initial implementation process is chaotic, requiring time for user adoption.
• Lacks flexibility in workflow customization, which can lead to unintended actions.
• Missing features like internal chat and sound alarms, which are common in other tools.

Pricing

• Starter - $17
• Pro - $40
• Enterprise - Tailored.

Rating

G2: 4.7/5

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Find the Perfect Fit for Your Needs with CloudEagle

‍Every business has unique needs, and choosing the right ServiceNow alternative can redefine how you manage IT, SaaS, and procurement. From streamlining workflows to controlling costs, the tools covered here offer a range of solutions. Whether you’re a small startup or a growing enterprise, aligning your choice with your goals is key.

CloudEagle.ai is a standout option, offering unparalleled SaaS management and cost optimization tools that empower businesses of all sizes. Its user-friendly design and comprehensive features bridge gaps that other platforms leave open.

Explore the platform today to simplify your IT processes and maximize value across your organization.

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Frequently Asked Questions

1. Who is the biggest competitor of ServiceNow?

BMC Helix is often considered ServiceNow's biggest competitor, offering intelligent IT service management and automation tools. Other alternatives, such as Freshdesk and Zendesk, also help organizations looking for simplified workflows and IT operations.  

1. What is similar to ServiceNow?

Platforms like BMC Helix, Freshdesk, and Jira Service Management share similarities with ServiceNow in areas like ITSM and automation. However, if you’re managing SaaS tools or looking to streamline software spending, options like CloudEagle.ai offer more specialized focus. Want to know which one fits your needs? Read this guide on the best IT asset management software.

1. Which ServiceNow alternative is right for you?

The best ServiceNow alternative depends on your organization's size, goals, and needs. For ITSM, tools like Jira Service Management or BMC Helix suit you. If SaaS management or cost optimization is a priority, explore platforms like CloudEagle.ai, look up your needs, and then make an informed decision.

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