BMC Helix ITSM vs Cherwell Service Management vs ServiceNow comparison

Cherwell Service Management

Read 225 ServiceNow reviews

24,579 Views
8,848 Comparison Views

91% willing to recommend

BMC Helix ITSM

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between BMC Helix ITSM, Cherwell Service Management, and ServiceNow based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow, Atlassian, ManageEngine and others in IT Service Management (ITSM).

To learn more, read our detailed IT Service Management (ITSM) Report (Updated: March 2026).

IT Service Management (ITSM)

Download the complete report

Helped 885,444 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2026, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of BMC Helix ITSM is 5.7%, down from 11.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Cherwell Service Management is 1.7%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow is 15.8%, down from 24.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

IT Service Management (ITSM) Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
ServiceNow	15.8%
BMC Helix ITSM	5.7%
Cherwell Service Management	1.7%
Other	76.8%

IT Service Management (ITSM)

Featured Reviews

KuldeepNayak

Senior Application Developer BMC at Balfour Beatty

Self-service portal significantly reduces resolution time and transforms service process with advanced features

We initially had a lot of tickets generated via the service desk through calls and emails. Now, we have almost moved out of email creations by introducing the DWP features on the Studio pages, with about 90% of the tickets coming in via our self-service portal. Recent upgrades offer different types of views for particular business lines, which was missing earlier. The new landing pages have allowed us to add banners, images, and internal videos, encouraging most customers to use these DWP self-service features. Resolution time has decreased significantly since implementing the self-service portal. Additionally, the availability of knowledge articles, chatbots, and the new Helix GPT feature has improved service processes.

Read full review

Thobile Moeketsi

Senior Manager at Sasria SOC Ltd.

Having everything in one location has significantly improved our efficiency and reporting

We need to be on VPN in order to set up and access the solution, and that has created some challenges. Even though it uses our Windows login, we still have to be on VPN. The product should be able to log tickets directly from system to system. We haven't got there yet and I'm not sure it's possible but it would determine the product's capability to integrate with other systems.

Read full review

MichaelTang1

Manager of Security Engineering & Architecture at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Seamless data integration and advanced automation improve service delivery efficiency

I think that nothing needs to be improved with the product; you just need the user to commit and spend appropriate time to overcome that learning curve. Once that is done, the product itself is pretty wonderful. I've seen a very nicely built interface with ServiceNow, and I've also seen the ugliest version that feels outdated. ServiceNow does allow that team to exist. They should modernize their fonts and their layout, the UI friendliness. They did introduce AI, chatbots, and AI on the back end, so that's wonderful and extremely useful if you train it. If you don't train it, it's pretty useless. Assessing the impact of ServiceNow's automation on service delivery times is complicated. The engineers who operate on ServiceNow find it isn't straightforward because the data set is accessible by everybody. The problem is that understanding how to manage that data set requires an enormous amount of engineering skill set to run the product. I would not hand the key to the customer; I would highly recommend that ServiceNow take control of that. Instead of offering support for the software, they should offer administrative support for the software. They should provide professional service or some kind of support system that allows us to use their product at a faster pace. I'm sure they offer something, but it's often outrageously expensive, or they rely on another company to resell their product and offer professional service. It makes no sense in my opinion, and they should offer the team at the front to help customize the product to fit each company's needs, as every company has different demands and forms of submitting a request that need adjustment over time.

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

"Since 8.1 is compatible with the ADDM discovery tool, we automated discovery and mapping of assets (CIs) and their relationships migration to the CMDB."

"Reports have helped us to improve our IT processes, and the main benefit is providing the right information to our decision-makers."

"This product allows us to efficiently track all outstanding tickets, enabling the submitter to update the diaries, reopen tickets, expedite and reroute for faster processing."

"Initial, out-the-box setup was easy with no problems."

"BMC products have been built over the years to make them highly stable and scalable, inline with the ITIL best practice."

"BMC Smart IT is somewhat rigid, but they have a powerful backend that supports our complex need for extension versus customization. Between extension and customization, you can achieve complex business processes. That's one of the main advantages of BMC."

"In general, for incident management, it's okay."

"The most valuable feature for our customers using BMC Helix ITSM is change management."

More BMC Helix ITSM pros

"The dashboard and the reporting functionality are the solution's most valuable features."

"Clear processes with transparent responsibilities led to more efficiencies within the teams."

"We use the solution every day and quite extensively."

"The most valuable features are problem management and change management."

"Its integration features, orchestration features, and discovery tools are the most valuable. It is also pretty stable, and it can be as scalable as you want."

"The dashboard is very useful to get a quick overview of current tasks."

"The most valuable features are problem management and change management."

More Cherwell Service Management pros

"Other perks include the Visual Task Boards and the Virtual Agent."

"What I like the most is that it's a common service data model and the fact that everything is available on one platform."

"It has an excellent capability to integrate different access points."

"It enables us to meet SLAs, track issues across the environment, and report those issues."

"We used ServiceNow for change management, release management, and event management."

"It is a very promising product. They have a new release every six months. They're investing quite a lot, and you can do many creative things with the product. If you know how it works, you can have stricter rules in the product."

"Go for it."

"ServiceNow has a much bigger offering in the sense that you've got new changes, you've got your problem ticket findings, you've got tracking for CIs and the CMDB database, and sitting on the backend trying to provide all that data for those tickets throughout the company, making it a lot easier as a one-stop shop for being able to actually come in and help your users while also helping your full infrastructure and backend."

More ServiceNow pros

Cons

"Customer Service could use some improvement – while they are technically very good, some of the agents have poorer communication skills than others."

"Log in process is unnecessarily complicated."

"In the next release, I would like to see AI used for classification or categorization."

"The amount of software issues are still too big, even considering the complexity of the tool."

"There are some limitations or restrictions to using BMC Helix. For example, when we do some reporting, the reporting interface should be more user-friendly from my point of view."

"SmartIT could include PR. This would help us greatly in bridging the gap between Remedy's views and SmartIT."

"We used to use it and we don't want to use it anymore."

"BMC Helix ITSM is difficult for us to customize, and most customizations require vendor support, which leads to extra costs."

More BMC Helix ITSM cons

"The stability, specifically in the on-premises deployment model, could be improved."

"Access is only available if we're on VPN."

"The solution could be more user-friendly."

"Agile delivery should be supported."

"Areas for improvement would be the service catalog and customer catalog, which is not very user-friendly."

"Application service mapping, GRC, SecOps, and things like that need improvement."

"We need to be on VPN in order to set up and access the solution, and that has created some challenges."

"The support from the actual manufacturer is poor."

More Cherwell Service Management cons

"Over the two years that we've had ServiceNow up and running, we've had a couple of service interruptions."

"We've been through about four different vendors over the three and a half years. Some of that code has been problematic for us."

"Local solutions have lower costs."

"The initial setup was incredibly complex."

"For healthcare, which is a pretty audited environment, there are no concrete solutions for digital signatures, apart from our license with Adobe, so it requires orchestration."

"I find the way you need to attach things like screenshots and stuff is a bit gimmicky."

"The technical support SLA can be improved because sometimes they take a long time to answer our queries."

"You can make the tool do anything, which may not always be a good thing."

More ServiceNow cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Just make sure you really sit down and look at what you will be using per user, therefore you will not be surprised with a big bill. You do not want every user having every license, it really is not needed."

"It's a yearly subscription but there are a couple of customers who go for the monthly subscription."

"The solution's pricing should come down."

"I am not sure the exact price we pay for the solution but I know it is in the high seven-figure amount annually."

"It is too expensive for a small business."

"While purchasing, try to negotiate on per user licensing costs, associated maintenance, and purchase 20% more then what you think you should have. Bulk is always cheaper."

"If you are looking for some kind of professional services form the OEM then you would have to purchase that."

"If Customer and IT agents are happy, that is one of the greatest ROI. However, one of the major factors is Leadership, because at the end they have to justify the cost."

More BMC Helix ITSM pricing and cost advice

"For an ITIL user, the cost is probably about 50 bucks a month."

"The product cost is higher than that of other vendors."

"Some time ago it was expensive, but large companies have special contracts. It's enterprise prices, and we're talking about millions per year."

"The platform offers a free trial, by providing a free developer instance once you sign up."

"The price of this solution is expensive."

"In Tunisia, the companies find the licensing costs to be expensive."

"ServiceNow tends to be a little bit more expensive as compared to BMC Helix ITSM."

"The first impact for the customer is that it is expensive, but do not forget that it is a solution that includes infrastructure; a single cost, easy to justify."

"We know that ServiceNow is not cheap, it's more expensive than other solutions. But we are trying to increase our ability to handle tickets so that the cost per ticket is less."

More ServiceNow pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which IT Service Management (ITSM) solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

885,444 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Government

Construction Company

12%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Healthcare Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	19
Midsize Enterprise	14
Large Enterprise	55

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	55
Midsize Enterprise	35
Large Enterprise	168

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about BMC Helix ITSM?

If we consider major players like Ford or BMW, their core focus is manufacturing products like cars. To ensure smooth...

What needs improvement with BMC Helix ITSM?

Although BMC Helix ITSM is a strong enterprise platform, there are areas where it could be improved. One key area is ...

What is your primary use case for BMC Helix ITSM?

My main use case for BMC Helix ITSM is validating and automating core ITSM workflows, such as incident, change, and s...

Which solution is better for developing non-ITSM applications: OutSystems or Service Now?

Ask a question

Earn 20 points

The short answer is that OutSystems is far better for 2 main reasons. Firstly, with Service Now you are locked into t...

Would you choose ServiceNow over Microsoft PowerApps?

Hi Netanya, I will choose ServiceNow because ServiceNow is a very good tool compared to Microsoft PowerApp. Because ...

What do you like most about ServiceNow?

The solution has a user-friendly interface.

JIRA Service Management vs BMC Helix ITSM

Comparisons

Compared 12% of the time

Agiloft ITSM ITIL Service Desk Suite vs BMC Helix ITSM

Compared 5% of the time

Zendesk vs BMC Helix ITSM

Compared 4% of the time

Freshservice vs BMC Helix ITSM

Compared 3% of the time

Aisera AI Service Desk vs BMC Helix ITSM

Compared 3% of the time

More BMC Helix ITSM Competitors

Ivanti Neurons for ITSM vs Cherwell Service Management

Compared 7% of the time

Freshservice vs Cherwell Service Management

Compared 7% of the time

JIRA Service Management vs Cherwell Service Management

Compared 5% of the time

Hornbill Systems Supportworks vs Cherwell Service Management

Compared 5% of the time

IT Care Center vs Cherwell Service Management

Compared 4% of the time

More Cherwell Service Management Competitors

IBM Maximo vs ServiceNow

Compared 5% of the time

Zendesk vs ServiceNow

Compared 4% of the time

JIRA Service Management vs ServiceNow

Compared 4% of the time

Freshservice vs ServiceNow

Compared 3% of the time

TeamDynamix vs ServiceNow

Compared 3% of the time

More ServiceNow Competitors

Product Reports

BMC Helix ITSM

Download BMC Helix ITSM product report

IT Service Management (ITSM)

Download Cherwell Service Management product report

Download ServiceNow product report

Also Known As

Remedy ITSM, Remedy, Helix Remedy, BMC Helix IT Service Management

No data available

Overview

BMC Helix ITSM is a cutting-edge IT service management platform that leads the service management industry. It is built natively for mobile with an intuitive, beautiful, people-centric user experience that makes your whole organization more productive. This platform leverages artificial intelligence to automate and streamline various service management processes. In doing so, it will ultimately make your organization more efficient. This simple-to-use platform is capable of handling even your organization’s most advanced management requirements.

BMC Helix ITSM is a predictive platform that does not simply wait for problems to occur. The advanced analytics software aims to improve your organization’s efficiency by spotting weak areas and then proposing solutions. This platform can improve your resource deployment efficiency by as much as 45% .This is why it is trusted by corporations across a variety of industries.

Key Features

Some of BMC Helix ITSM’s key features include:

Solves service issues in a way that makes you more efficient. BMC Helix ITSM employs advanced analytic software that searches for areas where your organization can drive efficiencies to provide the best possible service.
Groups issues that recur in a way that streamlines both analysis and incident management. It uses artificial intelligence to identify and solve groups of incidents in real time. The AI automates these processes, which can prove both tedious and time-consuming.
Securely and seamlessly provides services across multi-cloud environments with “a single pane of glass” interface. This allows you to be highly flexible. You can configure your services in a number of different ways without having to worry that your multi-cloud environment won’t be able to support your service management.
The ability to view all of your management data in a way that provides you with clear insights into your system’s management. BMC Helix ITSM enables you to create custom reports and dashboards. This makes it possible for you to see any and all significant trends in your operations and services data.

Reviews from Real Users

BMC Helix ITSM’s software stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two of these are the robust activity tracking features and the lightweight nature of the solution.

A PeerSpot user who is a technical Program Manager and Site Lead at a computer software company notes the nature of Helix’s task tracking when they write, “The most valuable features I have found are the activity logs. Additionally, the other features where you are able to continuously address issues and are able to annotate notes inside to convey them to the customer. The customer can read the notes and are able to know where you are in the procedures and process of fixing the problem for them. It has a good interactive piece for dialogue with customers where you do not have to interact with them personally, but they can do it on their own just by going into that activity log. This is great for the customer to have the ability to find out how things are being progressively taken care of.”

Another PeerSpot user, who is a Practice Director of Global Infrastructure Services at a computer software company, notes, “Many other tools are similar. I've used these tools and find that they meet my requirements. Helix is more lightweight than these tools. It's a traditional tool that was developed more than 10 years ago. Ease of use is the operative word.”

BMC Helix

Cherwell Service Management is a powerful IT service management (ITSM) solution that provides IT organizations the flexibility needed for rapid configuration and customization, minimal overhead, and frictionless upgrades at a fraction of the cost and complexity associated with legacy ITSM solutions. Cherwell's codeless design architecture means you can add new functionality without modifying a single line of code, integrate easily with third party applications, and upgrade without fear of breaking what you've built.

Ivanti

ServiceNow is a cloud-based task-management platform that specializes in IT operations management (ITOM), IT services management (ITSM), and IT business management (ITBM). ServiceNow allows users to manage their teams, projects, and customer interactions using a variety of different plugins and apps with which it easily integrates.

ServiceNow offers prebuilt applications to support any process, as well as a framework and tools that allow you to build your own.

ServiceNow’s service management solutions include change, request, incident, problem, and cost management, as well as HR, IT, field service, and facilities management solutions. They also cover business management solutions such as vendor performance management, financial management, performance analytics and project portfolio suite, as well as governance, risk, and compliance.

“The Smarter Way to Workflow”

ServiceNow’s activities, processes, and tasks are overseen as part of a comprehensive managed workflow that supports such features as real-time collaboration, communication, and resource sharing. ServiceNow’s suite of products allow for operation using serverless computing, and include the categories of Business Apps, Customer Service, HR, IT, and Security.

ServiceNow can be used to support most workflows because of the wide range of tools it offers. These include on-suite ticketing tools, predictive modeling to manage workflows, and benchmarking for the tracking of progress. ServiceNow can assist with artificial intelligence and machine learning processes and can be used to organize the cases of a help/service desk as well as for instance management and problem management. It also smoothly integrates with many legacy systems.

ServiceNow offers service management software for industries including:

Cloud services
Education
Financial services
Government
Healthcare
Manufacturing
Telecommunications

Reviews from Real Users

PeerSpot users prefer ServiceNow to its competitors because of its scalability, stability, and ease of use. It helps everyone in the company to be on the same page by creating a single source of record across all departments. One user stated that “I’ve definitely used over 20 project management solutions, but they can't be compared with ServiceNow.” Another said that “ServiceNow is an industry leader in multiple areas and provides an excellent ROI.”

Sample Customers

Brookfield, HealthSouth Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Mercator, SAP, Stanford University

Ausenco, Highlights for Children, B/E Aerospace

AAA, AstraZeneca, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Broadcom, Christus Health, Epicor, Equinix, GE Capital, Intuit, KPMG, Loyola Marymount University, OshKosh, Quantas, RedHat, Royal Bank of Scotland, Swiss Re, U.S. Department of Energy, Safeway, Yale University, and Zillow

IT Service Management (ITSM)