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Oracle Application Express (APEX) vs ServiceNow Now Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Oracle Application Express ...
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
3rd
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
61
Ranking in other categories
Development Platforms (2nd)
ServiceNow Now Platform
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
14th
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
9th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
No-Code Development Platforms (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2025, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of Oracle Application Express (APEX) is 7.3%, down from 8.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow Now Platform is 1.9%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rapid Application Development Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Oracle Application Express (APEX)7.3%
ServiceNow Now Platform1.9%
Other90.8%
Rapid Application Development Software
 

Featured Reviews

Rodrigo-Mesquita - PeerSpot reviewer
Rapid application development empowers big projects in months
The ability to quickly develop applications without needing to code a lot is very valuable. It is very quick to create a page, and one can use AI to speed up software development. It is easy to learn. In my company, we could develop a very big application in a couple of months.
SiddharthZunjarrao - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables us to have significant improvements in operational efficiency
ServiceNow is highly scalable from a customization point of view, allowing for the building of portals, adding and configuring widgets, and designing workflows as preferred. The text-to-code feature is particularly useful for turning natural language instructions into recognizable code on the ServiceNow platform, aiding both implementation teams and customers. The case summarization feature is also great, as it summarizes user comments and agent notes into a resolution code without needing to review the entire activity history.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I like the fact that it is natively integrated into the Oracle database."
"Oracle APEX improved our organization by making it possible for us to implement agile project development."
"It has many ready modules that can be used and developed."
"With only a browser, it is very easy to develop in a web environment."
"The solution's most valuable aspect is its Graphics Form Design."
"In our experience with Apex, we find that minimizing reliance on HTML and JavaScript is preferable, especially considering our background as seasoned programmers adept in PL/SQL. Incorporating HTML and JavaScript can pose challenges due to potential compatibility issues when updates are made to JavaScript. We also make use of JAPER report integration for generating reports, a practice integral to our reporting procedures."
"This is a good application for quickly creating public applications."
"The product is fast."
"The solution is a seamless tool that can integrate with all applications."
"It is a scalable and a stable platform."
"The workflow feature really has a lot of value because you can create complex workflows in a simple, intuitive way with only a few clicks."
"It is an absolutely scalable solution."
"We work on it directly to send out tickets. It enables us to work seamlessly, we don't need to send them out manually. We can create a ticket and assign it in the system."
"The solution is very comprehensive."
"The solution is in Gartner's Magic Quadrant."
"The solution is fast enough for our workflow automations and has integration capability. It aligns with many use cases in our organization and for others we have planned."
 

Cons

"It can only be deployed on Oracle Database."
"Oracle is more of a database-oriented solution and is not very flexible in app development."
"I would like to see easier integration into active directory authentication. Also, maybe integration of JavaScript frameworks would resolve some issues."
"Oracle Application Express would be improved if you could use it on a mobile platform."
"The grid reports contain a lot of bugs."
"It has been reported that the technology is very hard to learn, and the service is expensive."
"Reporting needs to be accessed via third party tools."
"The product's stability has certain shortcomings, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The product's UI is ugly, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The basic reporting system is rather static."
"The Robotic Process Automation features are not mature enough. ServiceNow could work toward that because we can leverage RP only from this platform."
"The integration towards other ERP systems could be improved."
"The analytics should be more readily available on the base product."
"The Playbooks feature is useful for visualizing steps in a process, however, it lacks support for rollbacks in case of complex customer processes."
"It is still difficult to build a set of services in ServiceNow. It can be done, but it is one of the more difficult things to do. If we're talking about scalability, we're talking about the ability to actually build that set of services a little easier."
"The analytics should be more readily available on the base product."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Oracle Application Express (APEX) is free, so this is another magic of the solution. You just get charged for the database license, which I don't need."
"The tool is not expensive."
"Apex is not priced separately; instead, it is associated with the Oracle database. A free option for Oracle database and Apex can be downloaded and installed on this complimentary database version. This aligns with our current approach."
"To my understanding, my organization is using the free version of Oracle Application Express (APEX), but I'm unsure because I haven't checked the pricing or licensing cost for it."
"The solution is free if you are using on Oracle database."
"I do not think this would be an ideal option for a small sized company or a startup when considering the salary requirements for Oracle DBA'a and developers."
"Pricing is expensive, overall on an enterprise system but we consider that it gives corresponding value in the product."
"We have an Oracle basic product license, and then we can use Oracle APEX for free. We have many licenses for Oracle for approximately 20 processors."
"In my opinion, it is expensive. However, they do offer favorable licensing for charities, for example."
"Pricing is based on the number of users and user licenses, but the product is 20% to 30% more than the competition."
"The price of the product falls on the higher side of the spectrum."
"There are extra expenses for maintaining the product apart from the licenses."
"It is expensive only."
"I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, with ten being very expensive solution."
"I don't have much exposure to the costs attached to the solution. I rate the product's price a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is the lowest price, and ten is the highest price since it is a costly tool."
"It's expensive and if you need some analytical views of your activity, there is an additional cost."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business29
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise28
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business15
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise33
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Application Express (APEX)?
I consider Oracle Application Express (APEX) to be good value for the money because it has infinite quality for money since it's included in any Oracle database license. It's free once you have the...
What needs improvement with Oracle Application Express (APEX)?
One of the things that could be done to improve Oracle Application Express (APEX) is if Oracle decided to open it up to other databases. It needs to be an enterprise database; therefore, it needs t...
What do you like most about ServiceNow Now Platform?
The integration with other tools is pretty good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow Now Platform?
From what I have heard only from our sales team, ServiceNow Now Platform falls within the more expensive tier of a product, but I can't really judge it.
What needs improvement with ServiceNow Now Platform?
What could be improved in ServiceNow Now Platform is the availability of skill sets. For some reason, we don't get too many people who know this technology easily. Regarding their pricing, I would ...
 

Also Known As

Oracle APEX
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Hepart AG, pharmasol, SATLOG, Collège Bois-de-Boulogne
experian, beachbody, health partners
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle Application Express (APEX) vs. ServiceNow Now Platform and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
873,085 professionals have used our research since 2012.