Appian vs ServiceNow Orchestration comparison

Appian and ServiceNow are both solutions in the Process Automation category. Appian is ranked #8 with an average rating of 7.9, while ServiceNow is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.2. Appian holds a 6.2% mindshare in PA, compared to ServiceNow’s 4.4% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Appian users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of ServiceNow users who would recommend it.

Appian

Read 63 Appian reviews

4,037 Views
559 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

ServiceNow Orchestration

Read 16 ServiceNow Orchestration reviews

2,094 Views
615 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Appian

ServiceNow Orchestration

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 2025

Appian and ServiceNow Orchestration are both strong competitors in the field of enterprise IT solutions. Appian seems to have an advantage in terms of rapid application development and lower costs, while ServiceNow excels with its extensive integration options.

Features: Appian offers low-code capabilities for rapid development, robust process modeling, and rich data management. It includes built-in functionalities for user and task management and SAIL for UI creation. ServiceNow Orchestration provides automation in IT processes, extensive out-of-the-box integration options, and helps automate complex workflows.

Room for Improvement: Appian requires more interface customization, better mobile features, and enhanced team collaboration and integration. Improvements are also needed in its architecture and reporting. ServiceNow Orchestration needs to be more cost-effective and flexible, offer better integration with non-partner tools, and have faster update cycles. It faces challenges with third-party integrations and specific task automation.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Both platforms support public and hybrid cloud deployments, with Appian also offering on-premises setups. Appian receives praise for its responsive customer service, although it faces some challenges due to rapid growth. ServiceNow Orchestration is recognized for its cloud deployment flexibility, but its customer service can vary depending on partnership levels.

Pricing and ROI: Appian provides flexible pricing models and is generally perceived as more cost-effective, often delivering quick ROI due to its low-code advantages. ServiceNow Orchestration is noted to be expensive, with pricing complexities that make cost evaluation challenging. Both solutions report positive ROI, with Appian highlighted for efficient digital transformation.

To learn more, read our detailed Appian vs. ServiceNow Orchestration Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Appian vs. ServiceNow Orchestration

June 2025

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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

Appian

Ranking in Process Automation

8th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Business Process Management (BPM) (12th), Rapid Application Development Software (8th), Low-Code Development Platforms (5th), Process Mining (8th)

ServiceNow Orchestration

Ranking in Process Automation

10th

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Process Automation category, the mindshare of Appian is 6.2%, down from 10.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow Orchestration is 4.4%, up from 4.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Process Automation

Featured Reviews

Nitin-Agarwal

Delivery Manager (Intelligent Business Automation) - Pega at Persistent Systems

Seamless integration enhances workflows while memory optimization can improve complex processes

I am working with all of these products: Pega, Appian, and OutSystems. I use Appian as a process orchestrator for workflow and rule-based routing, and it is preferred when I am developing an enterprise-wide application. The application is mobile-friendly, allowing me to use it across any device…

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ShaheenKapery

Solutions Architect at Altron

Easy to integrate, stable solution and incredibly good customer service

It is a long setup. It was customized to our company's requirements. Bearing in mind that there is not just an IT team. You've got an IT team consisting of end-users, consulting, and user support sides. Install support, ServiceNow support, application support, and so on. What ServiceNow does is it's really good at getting the tickets to the right person. That's the power of it. There's no issue with it. But you need to set that up in advance. You need to know the structure and who is responsible for each task. The initial setup does take a long time, and the organization might face some issues. But once you've got that resolved, it's amazing.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The technical support is excellent."

"With low-code, we don't need a lot of coding, and then from the plumbing perspective, there is a complete CI/CD pipeline that exists within Appian that can be leveraged for open deployment."

"It reduces development time in half making us more efficient."

"Appian is a very low code platform. It's very easy to learn and use."

"The most productive aspect of Appian lies in its ability to develop interfaces, particularly user interfaces. Creating user interfaces is highly productive, when these interfaces are integrated with the original database. In such cases, using record types proves to be a very efficient method of handling data. The synergy between interfaces and record types enhances productivity."

"Good workflow engines that bridge the gaps of processes."

"It's heavy on business processing in terms of logic, process workflows, and primarily on the process design modeler. Appian is really great at that. In terms of the full stack set from a low-code platform perspective, it's definitely an eye opener since it can be deployed via mobile app and on the web as well."

"SAIL (Self-Assembling Interface Layer), a scripting language provided by Appian. It is the equivalent of JS and CSS. It allows creation of complex UIs which are also responsive. With SAIL, we have a single language for both the UI logic and its appearance. UI components can be built as reusable components and used in multiple UI interfaces."

More Appian pros

"This is a user-friendly solution where scripts can be made with ease. There are also many integration options, including Microsoft products, which gives the product a competitive edge."

"The data visualization is good."

"The interface of the solution is very user friendly and it is easily accessible via a simple URL. This makes it easier to complete the UI based tasks but using other features require expertise in languages like Java. But along with that, there are limitation in terms of network connectivity testing and administrator faces regular challenges in conducting connectivity tests due to these limitations."

"The product has a flexible interface for development."

"Employee onboarding, de-boarding, and other service-provision features make the process easier and it saves us a lot of time."

"There are a lot of ready to use orchestration custom packs."

"The iTerm suite is also crucial for visibility and optimization."

"It's probably the best product out there."

More ServiceNow Orchestration pros

Cons

"There is no UI customization possible."

"My only request is that they decrease the license costs."

"One of the areas that Appian is working on is to improve its UI capabilities and give more flexibility to the UI."

"The solution could improve by being more responsive when dealing with large quantities of data. Additionally, they can make the decision or rules engine better. It cannot handle too many rules or too many decisions at once."

"The reporting is not as good as in similar products. They could also improve the dashboards."

"We have clients that want to use Office 365, Microsoft Analytics, and Power Apps. Appian just isn't the same as using something specifically designed to cater to the Microsoft Suite."

"Appian could be improved by making it a strict, no-code platform with free-built process packs."

"Offline capabilities and responsive capabilities could be better. The mobility features of Appian platform are still evolving."

More Appian cons

"The flow rate for releases and updates is very, very slow and does not meet customers' objectives for scalability."

"I would like a user experience module to be added."

"From my space, the only thing that I can say is the spinning up with Google Cloud Services."

"Frequent upgrades may negatively impact the performance of instances. Therefore, for now, I don't recommend any additional upgrades."

"The automatic remediation needs enhancement, particularly integrating ServiceNow with tools like SolarWinds and Logic Monitor. It is functional, but it needs improvement."

"We cannot perform GUI automation using the tool."

"Efficiency of some features could be improved."

"ServiceNow Orchestration needs to improve multiple aspects in which their event monitoring system is one. The solution lacks event monitoring systems which makes them non-competitive. They need to include improvements in a similar manner that they did in Sweden."

More ServiceNow Orchestration cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Product pricing compared to some of the earlier vendors, like IBM, CA, and Oracle, is quite well-priced. Although, we do feel that as we increase the number of users and the workload increases, we will have to spend more."

"It is expensive, but powerful. I would recommend comparing against cheaper licensing products and open source."

"The license is a bit expensive and the pricing model is sometimes confusing for new users or business users. It is difficult for them to know what volume of usage they will have to be able to purchase the best-suited license at the beginning."

"If you're doing an enterprise-wide digital transformation, Appian is worthwhile, but not for just one or two use cases because the license costs are higher."

"You can't really test the software properly without actually buying the license first."

"The price of the solution is reasonable and is paid annually. The price of the solution depends on how many users use the solution. It can range from $50,000 to $200,000. For example, for 20,000 users the price can be approximately $200,000."

"The price of this solution is a little high here in Mongolia."

"The cost depends on the number of users, although I recommend taking an unlimited license."

More Appian pricing and cost advice

"It is not very expensive."

"Pricing is custom to every customer."

"In terms of price, this solution is at the higher end of what you'll find."

"The cost of the solution is based on the number of plugins, conductors and integrations used and is charged annually. The licensing cause has been increasing gradually which makes it difficult to access. Initially offer free features but over the time the charges rise which make it an expensive solution with limited features. Along with that, the integration issues persist and require additional middle where and internet connectivity for effective usage."

"This is an expensive product, but it is the best in the market considering the features and lack of competitors."

"The solution is costly and orchestrations are very expensive."

"ServiceNow doesn't give a clear cost indication. They have different contracts with different organizations and it's all about negotiation, so you don't know how they are doing at the cost level."

"It is quite expensive because we've had some customers come back and say it's quite pricey because in order for them to go ahead with Orchestration, they must have already been paying for Discovery, service mapping, and a few other things."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

20%

Educational Organization

15%

Computer Software Company

10%

Government

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Insurance Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Which do you prefer - Appian or Camunda Platform?

Appian is fast when building simple to medium solutions. This solution offers simple drag-and-drop functionality with easy plug-and-play options. The initial setup was seamless and very easy to imp...

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Is Appian a suitable solution for beginners who have no additional preparation?

Appian is actually pretty big on educating its users, including with courses that reward you with certifications. There is a whole section on their company’s website where you can check out the edu...

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Is it easy to set up Appian or did you have to resort to professional help?

We had some issues when we were setting up Appian. It was quite surprising, since this is a low-code tool which, in its essence, means it is meant for business users and inexperienced beginners. So...

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What do you like most about ServiceNow Orchestration?

The interface of the solution is very user friendly and it is easily accessible via a simple URL. This makes it easier to complete the UI based tasks but using other features require expertise in l...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow Orchestration?

The cost of ServiceNow Orchestration is considered medium; it is expensive but powerful. I would rate the pricing experience as a six out of ten.

See all answers

What needs improvement with ServiceNow Orchestration?

The third-party integrations are challenging when the tools are not from ServiceNow ( /products/servicenow-reviews ) partners. This presents issues when integrating solutions from other vendors.

See all answers

Comparisons

OutSystems vs Appian

Compared 11% of the time

ServiceNow vs Appian

Compared 11% of the time

Salesforce Platform vs Appian

Compared 10% of the time

Camunda vs Appian

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Power Apps vs Appian

Compared 7% of the time

More Appian Competitors

Camunda vs ServiceNow Orchestration

Compared 50% of the time

Control-M vs ServiceNow Orchestration

Compared 16% of the time

IBM BPM vs ServiceNow Orchestration

Compared 7% of the time

Temporal vs ServiceNow Orchestration

Compared 7% of the time

Microsoft System Center Orchestrator vs ServiceNow Orchestration

Compared 4% of the time

More ServiceNow Orchestration Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Appian

April 2025

Download Appian product report

Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow Orchestration

May 2025

Download ServiceNow Orchestration product report

Also Known As

Appian BPM, Appian AnyWhere, Appian Enterprise BPMS

No data available

Overview

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:

Complete automation: Through complete automation, companies are able to coordinate and manage employees, existing systems, bots, data, and artificial intelligence (AI) in a single workflow. The solution offers a way to centrally manage all third-party automation vendors as well.
Low-code applications: Appian offers the ability to build applications faster with visual development and low-code tools. All applications are ready-made to be suitable for mobile.
Low-code data: Appian lets companies source data from multiple types of sources, eliminating the need for data migration. Through no-code and low-code solutions and industry-standard connectors, the platform also eliminates the need for data silos.
Enterprise ready: The platform offers options for companies to scale their businesses to an enterprise level without complications.

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:

Robotic process automation (RPA): Users of Appian can assign software bots to perform rules-based tasks that need to be repeated over a set course of time. This can improve efficiency and performance within an organization while saving human resources.
Intelligent document processing: The tool offers a feature for quick and accurate extraction and structuring of data. This can reduce time and costs for organizations because it eliminates the need for outsourcing such services.
AI: Appian utilizes artificial intelligence to enhance applications, workflows, and automation. AI is also used to address complex processes and unique situations.
Business rules: Organizations can automate and simplify work processes while adhering to their operating procedures.
Application development: Appian provides a low-code development feature that allows users to deploy applications over ten times faster than through conventional approaches. This feature not only allows for quick application building, but also applications that run on multiple types of platforms, seamless data integration, and business scalability.
Integrations and data: Appian allows for data integration from a wide array of sources without the need for migration. This contributes to easy access to data across systems, real-time data insights, improved user experience, and accelerated development.

Appian Benefits

The benefits of using Appian include:

The solution ensures seamless organization growth, as it supports various UX patterns, common data schemes, and upgrades, used to facilitate application development on a bigger scale.
Appian can increase process speed and deliver applications considerably faster compared to conventional development.
The platform is easy to use and suitable for complete beginners to build applications and workflows.
Appian offers a variety of design tools that facilitate development and deployment.
Appian offers detailed real-time data insight which allows organizations to access relevant information about their processes as they are developing.
The solution offers clients the ability to move data between the cloud, on-premise, and hybrid configurations.
The platform is easy to optimize, which allows businesses to utilize it according to their personal needs.
Appian offers connectivity across web, mobile, email, voice, and chat, providing a multi-channel experience for companies and their clients.

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.

Appian

ServiceNow is the fastest-growing enterprise cloud software company in the world above $1 billion (2018 revenue was $2.6 billion, up 36% year over year). We deliver digital workflows that create great experiences and unlock productivity to approximately 5,400 enterprise customers worldwide, including almost 75% of the Fortune 500.

ServiceNow

Sample Customers

Hansard Global plc, Punch Taverns, Pirelli, Crawford & Company, EDP Renewables, Queensland Government Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning (, Bank of Tennessee

experian, BEACHBODY, HealthPartners, Banosoft

Buyer's Guide

Appian vs. ServiceNow Orchestration

June 2025

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