

Appian and ServiceNow Now Platform both compete in the low-code platform category, focusing on workflow automation and process management. Appian has an edge in rapid development with its low-code capabilities while ServiceNow is favored for its comprehensive service management and integration features.
Features: Appian offers rapid low-code development, robust process design, and built-in tools for business process management, making it ideal for both process- and case-based applications. ServiceNow excels in handling complex IT operations and provides a broad set of features beyond simple process automation, including advanced integration across various IT services.
Room for Improvement: Appian needs to enhance its flexibility and integration capabilities, particularly its UI customization and DevOps tool integration. For ServiceNow, high pricing and inflexibility for smaller clients are areas of concern, along with a demand for more low-code features and better pricing models.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Appian supports a variety of deployment options, including public, private, hybrid cloud, and on-premises, with generally positive customer service feedback despite being stretched. ServiceNow provides strong support for public and hybrid cloud environments, though complex and expensive licensing can be challenging for smaller organizations.
Pricing and ROI: Appian presents a flexible licensing model advantageous for global clients, offering a cost-effective solution compared to some competitors, though still potentially pricey for small installations. It accelerates ROI through rapid deployment. ServiceNow, while high-cost, offers extensive functionalities that balance its substantial cost over time, contributing to a positive ROI.
They see return on investment in terms of cost savings, time savings, more efficient processes, and more efficient employees.
Appian is very efficient, allowing us to build a lot of applications within a financial year, making it cost-effective.
The technical support for Appian rates as 10 out of 10 because they have a great support team.
Their customer service is responsive, and the team is very prompt for support.
The technical support is generally good.
They have enough knowledge to say the right things.
On a scale of one to 10, Appian rates as a nine for scalability.
Initially, without much coding, I can easily handle five thousand records.
Appian is scalable, but it depends on how you build your applications.
Users can build and modify the platform according to their needs.
It is easily scalable and very powerful in this direction.
It depends on how it has been designed and how it has been configured.
The stability of Appian would rate as nine, as it's a stable environment.
I haven't had any situations where it would be unavailable for our calls, so I don't have complaints there.
It has room to improve for use cases where the users are public facing, where anonymous users could come to a site and run a business workflow or interact with some data.
I would like to see more enhancement in the user interface to allow more freedom in designing the sites and pages.
If there is a very complex process that includes a lot of data transitioning and memory-centric processes, it consumes a lot of memory.
Historical data isn't as easily available as expected and it requires buying additional licenses for more features.
It lacks support for rollbacks in case of complex customer processes.
The user interface could be modernized and made more attractive for users.
On the pricier side, both Appian and Pega are enterprise-level solutions, placing them on the slightly higher side.
The pricing of Appian is based on the number of users and generally ranges from 70 to 100 USD per user per month.
The price of Appian, on a competitive landscape, is a little bit on the higher side for companies, rating maybe a 6.5.
ServiceNow Now Platform is an expensive product.
ServiceNow Now Platform falls within the more expensive tier of a product.
The zero-code integration feature is remarkable, allowing for ease of data transfer and workflow enhancement.
Appian also utilizes AI for business users, providing a feature called process each view, enabling business users to create their own dashboards, reports, and gain insights from their data and processes using artificial intelligence.
I can create tables, perform database-related activities, and create multiple tables.
It is extremely powerful and very much customizable, which allows for quick building of solutions around it.
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 most valuable features are the ease of use, stability, and the ability to change or upgrade seamlessly.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Appian | 7.8% |
| ServiceNow Now Platform | 1.9% |
| Other | 90.3% |


| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 20 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 9 |
| Large Enterprise | 41 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 15 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 3 |
| Large Enterprise | 33 |
Appian is a unified low-code platform and solution used by businesses to build enterprise applications and workflows. This product adapts to the needs of clients and the technologies they are already using to combine their data in a single workflow and maximize resources. The platform has four main components through which it transforms the work process for companies of various sizes. They are:
Appian is utilized across a diverse set of industries, including automotive and manufacturing, energy and utilities, education, financial services, telecom and media, transportation, retail, insurance, healthcare, and life sciences. The most frequent use cases of Appian are customer journey, governance, risk and compliance, operational efficiency, supply chain, distributed order management, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) management.
Appian Features
Appian has various features that allow users to create solutions for their businesses. These features can be separated into a few groups according to function, including automation, low-code application development, and integrations and data. Some of the most frequently used features of Appian include:
Appian Benefits
The benefits of using Appian include:
Reviews from Real Users
A practice leader - digital process automation at a computer software company values Appian highly because the product is easy to develop, low-code, and has a good user interface.
Alan G., an advisory board member at Codecon VR, Appian offers a clear application life cycle, easy to learn documentation, and comes with a fundamentals course.
ServiceNow Now Platform enhances IT service management with request cataloging, incident handling, and knowledge management. Its low-code environment, integration capability, and flexible workflow automation offer a smooth user experience and scalable solutions for enterprises.
ServiceNow Now Platform is designed for seamless integration across IT service management, including incident, problem, and change management. Known for stable performance and a user-friendly interface, it supports flexible workflow automation, efficient report generation, and comprehensive data management. The platform's scalability and low-code customization create opportunities for innovative process automation, enriching user experience. While its licensing and pricing models could be more user-friendly, enhancements in mobile capabilities, AI integration, and modern UI are on demand. Additional improvements in ERP integration and technical support are also needed. The platform serves multiple sectors with configurations for enhanced process automation and service orchestration.
Which features stand out?In diverse industries, ServiceNow Now Platform supports a variety of functions such as IT service management, customer support, workflow automation, and service delivery. Organizations employ it for HR processes, analytics, asset management, and compliance. Its strong integration capabilities allow it to be paired with existing tools, offering flexible configurations and end-user support on a global scale, making it suitable for companies across sectors.
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