Skip to content

Enterprise IT service management (ITSM) and workflow automation platform — the backbone of IT operations for large organizations managing incidents, changes, and service requests.

Best for: Large enterprises (2,000+ employees) needing a comprehensive ITSM platform with ITIL compliance, CMDB, and workflow automation — especially organizations standardizing IT operations across multiple departments and geographies

  • Custom pricing
4.2/5 ratingEditorial score 76/100servicenow.com

Entry plan

Custom pricing

Visit ServiceNow

Opens the official website in a new tab.

Editorial score76/100

The editorial note

What to know about ServiceNow

ServiceNow is the enterprise platform for digital workflows, IT service management (ITSM), and business process automation. Used by over 7,700 enterprise customers including 85% of the Fortune 500, it centralizes IT operations, HR service delivery, customer service management, and security operations on a single platform. ServiceNow's Now Platform automates manual approval workflows, routes incidents, manages change requests, and provides a unified service catalog — replacing fragmented ticketing systems across the enterprise.

Is it right for you?

Who ServiceNow suits

Choose it if

  • Large enterprises (2,000+ employees) needing a comprehensive ITSM platform with ITIL compliance, CMDB, and workflow automation — especially organizations standardizing IT operations across multiple departments and geographies

Look elsewhere if

  • Small and mid-market companies needing IT ticketing — Jira Service Management, Freshdesk, or Zendesk provide enterprise-quality service management at a fraction of ServiceNow's cost and implementation complexity

What you get

Key features

  • IT Service Management (ITSM)
  • IT Operations Management (ITOM)
  • HR Service Delivery
  • Customer Service Management
  • Security Operations
  • App Engine low-code builder
  • Integration Hub
  • Now Intelligence AI

Works with

Integrations8

Microsoft TeamsSlackSalesforceSAPOracleWorkdayAzure DevOps200+ integrations

What it costs

Pricing

ServiceNow pricing plans
PlanPriceWhat it includes
EnterpriseCustom pricingBilled monthlyIT Service Management, ITSM, HR, Customer Service, IT Operations — contact for pricing

Prices are recorded from the vendor's public pricing page and can change. Check before you buy.

The trade-off

Pros and cons

Pros

  • Enterprise-grade ITSM platform trusted by 85% of the Fortune 500 for mission-critical operations
  • No-code/low-code workflow builder enables business users to build automated processes without developers
  • Integration Hub connects to 200+ enterprise systems for end-to-end workflow automation
  • AI capabilities (Now Intelligence) automate ticket routing, incident classification, and response drafting
  • Strong compliance and security certifications for regulated industries including SOC 2, HIPAA, FedRAMP

Cons

  • Extremely expensive — implementation plus licensing typically costs millions for enterprise deployments
  • Requires dedicated ServiceNow administrators and developers for configuration and maintenance
  • Long implementation timelines — full deployment can take 6-18 months for enterprise rollouts
  • Overwhelming for organizations that need simple ticketing — Jira Service Management is more appropriate

Quick read

At a glance

Category
Business & Productivity
Pricing model
Subscription
Entry plan
Custom pricing
Free plan
Not listed
Free trial
Not listed
Website
servicenow.com

The verdict

Our take on ServiceNow

ServiceNow is the enterprise standard for ITSM, and its platform expansion into HR and Customer Service creates genuine consolidation opportunities for large organizations. The cost and complexity only make sense for organizations with 2,000+ employees and dedicated IT service management teams. For mid-market IT teams, Jira Service Management provides 80% of the ITSM functionality at a fraction of the cost. Freshservice is an increasingly capable alternative for organizations that want modern ITSM without ServiceNow's price tag.

Editorial review

From the journal

Editorial review of ServiceNow

ServiceNow is the enterprise standard for ITSM, and its platform expansion into HR and Customer Service creates genuine consolidation opportunities for large organizations. The cost and complexity only make sense for organizations with 2,000+ employees and dedicated IT service management teams. For mid-market IT teams, Jira Service Management provides 80% of the ITSM functionality at a fraction of the cost. Freshservice is an increasingly capable alternative for organizations that want modern ITSM without ServiceNow's price tag.

Keep exploring

More from Business & Productivity

View category
Things 3 logo

Things 3

Business & Productivity

Award-winning task manager for Apple users

Best for: Apple users who want the most polished, beautifully designed task…

4.8/5 ratingRead review
Notion logo

Notion

Business & Productivity

Notion is an all-in-one workspace that combines notes, databases, wikis, tasks and calendars in a single app — flexible…

Best for: Teams that want documents, wikis and light databases in one place.

  • Free plan
4.7/5 ratingRead review
Microsoft 365 logo

Microsoft 365

Business & Productivity

Microsoft's productivity suite with Office and cloud services.

Best for: Enterprise organisations who need the most powerful desktop Office…

  • Free trial
4.6/5 ratingRead review