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BMC Helix ITSM vs JIRA Service Management vs ServiceNow comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
5.4
BMC Helix ITSM offers technical reliability, financial benefits, and user satisfaction, though ROI clarity and cost savings proof vary.
Sentiment score
6.6
JIRA Service Management streamlines workflows, cuts costs, enhances productivity, and benefits virtual teams with its cloud-based platform.
Sentiment score
6.5
ServiceNow users experience varied ROI, with benefits in efficiency, process improvements, and scalability, despite high initial costs.
They have removed the costs associated with on-prem infrastructure, including data center costs, power costs, and physical server costs.
General Manager at sPerception IT
The return on investment is good when implementing for ourselves and for other clients.
Service Now Developer at Bangmetric services pvt ltd
Manually, there are huge numbers that come up because these integrated tools help organizations make the right decisions with all the information in one place, while manual methods lack visibility.
Associate Vice President at Wissen infotech
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.1
BMC Helix ITSM's customer service is skilled but inconsistent, needing improved communication, responsiveness, and accent comprehension.
Sentiment score
6.1
Atlassian's customer service is efficient but faces challenges with time zones and technical support accessibility, relying on local partners.
Sentiment score
7.0
ServiceNow's customer service is praised for responsiveness but faces criticism for inconsistency, with mixed reviews on support speed.
There are issues with misrouting and a preference for email rather than direct communication via phone calls.
Senior Application Developer BMC at Balfour Beatty
The support is exemplary and deserves a perfect rating.
Team Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Obtaining support for maintenance is the current challenge because they don't have a presence in the local market.
General Manager at sPerception IT
Whenever we have had issues, they have provided good support, and those issues have never recurred.
Vice President Delivery & Operations at Rezilyens
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.0
BMC Helix ITSM is scalable for enterprises, despite challenges, offering flexibility and positive feedback on handling large user bases.
Sentiment score
7.3
JIRA Service Management is scalable, flexible, and integrates well, supporting various organizations with excellent scalability ratings and licensing options.
Sentiment score
7.4
ServiceNow scales efficiently for diverse organizations, accommodating extensive users and operational needs, with cloud deployment enhancing flexibility.
The product's scalability is adequate for us, yet its complex customization sometimes restricts extensive adaptability.
Head of IT, Service & Operation Department at National ITMX Co., Ltd.
It supports introducing new features or levels efficiently across our global locations, helping everyone stay informed.
R&D Engineering - Program Manager at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees
There are no limitations or performance issues with ServiceNow; it is cloud-based, so it is highly scalable and performs well.
General Manager at sPerception IT
It is capable of vertical scaling with no issues.
Team Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
ServiceNow's scalability is very good as it can be deployed in each environment.
Consultant at National Australian Bank
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
BMC Helix ITSM is praised for stability, performs well with proper implementation, and has minor application-specific concerns.
Sentiment score
7.8
JIRA Service Management is highly stable and reliable, frequently updated, with most users rating its stability between 8-9/10.
Sentiment score
7.7
ServiceNow is praised for its stability, reliability, and scalability, with performance issues mostly due to user-side factors.
I find BMC Helix ITSM stable, and that is why we have been with the product for the past 15 years.
Associate Director at a media company with 10,001+ employees
Over the past five years, we have experienced no major issues or downtime during upgrades.
Senior Application Developer BMC at Balfour Beatty
There should be more governance for permissions and more options for customized access without frequently involving the admin.
R&D Engineering - Program Manager at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees
It is cloud-based, so it is highly scalable and performs well.
General Manager at sPerception IT
I haven't faced any issues with stability; I've rarely seen any downtime.
Solution Engineer - Digital Platform | Mobile at British American Tobacco
ServiceNow is stable enough.
Service Now Developer at Bangmetric services pvt ltd
 

Room For Improvement

BMC Helix ITSM needs usability, performance, integration improvements, and better support to enhance user experience and affordability.
JIRA Service Management struggles with integration, customization, interface usability, and lacks key features like advanced dashboards and asset management.
ServiceNow needs to improve pricing, user interface, reporting, customization, support, mobile app, third-party integration, and automation features.
BMC Helix ITSM is difficult for us to customize, and most customizations require vendor support, which leads to extra costs.
Head of IT, Service & Operation Department at National ITMX Co., Ltd.
We lack access to a sandbox for in-house development, which was very helpful for hands-on work with new features.
Senior Application Developer BMC at Balfour Beatty
JIRA's user interface needs training to understand and utilize.
R&D Engineering - Program Manager at a energy/utilities company with 501-1,000 employees
It remains one of the main barriers to using JIRA Service Management across our entire company.
GB, Development Practice - Technical Director at EJADA
We need to consider which AI tool would be most suitable for our project.
Database Administrator at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
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.
Manager of Security Engineering & Architecture at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees
My priority points for improvement are the UI glitches and modern AI technology integrations for faster incident management.
Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees
There is a need for bug or error tracking in ServiceNow.
Team Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Setup Cost

BMC Helix ITSM is costly but offers reliability and features that large enterprises find justifiable, with careful license management.
JIRA Service Management's pricing is competitive but can be costly with more users and add-ons, varying by market.
ServiceNow pricing is high and complex, but many justify it due to comprehensive features and negotiation flexibility.
The pricing of BMC Helix ITSM and its implementation costs are quite high, including subscription and maintenance costs per year.
Head of IT, Service & Operation Department at National ITMX Co., Ltd.
We used Jira's free version for some time.
Sr Test Lead at Emerson
ServiceNow's pricing can be justified if more functionality is required.
Service Now Developer at Bangmetric services pvt ltd
ServiceNow does come with a price.
Associate Vice President at Wissen infotech
ServiceNow is expensive for all regions.
Security Architect at وزارة الثقافة Ministry of Culture
 

Valuable Features

BMC Helix ITSM enhances service delivery and efficiency with flexible workflows, customizable dashboards, and strong integration support.
JIRA Service Management offers customizable dashboards, integration capabilities, and flexibility, enhancing project management and collaboration for varied needs.
ServiceNow offers adaptable, customizable cloud-based ITSM solutions with seamless integration, intuitive interface, and robust analytics enhancing productivity.
Resolution time has decreased significantly since implementing the self-service portal.
Senior Application Developer BMC at Balfour Beatty
These features are crucial as we complete the implementation and maintain data accuracy in the CMDB.
Head of IT, Service & Operation Department at National ITMX Co., Ltd.
JIRA itself is valuable for managing tickets, user stories, and pipeline.
GB, Development Practice - Technical Director at EJADA
For every task we are working on, the project manager can see the status once we update the stories mentioned.
Senior Software Engineer at Annalect
It is beneficial if someone is on vacation since others can follow up on the tickets.
IT Specialist at Allianz
ServiceNow provides a wide range of functionality, covering all the necessary modules, unlike Jira which is primarily for IT.
Service Now Developer at Bangmetric services pvt ltd
Automation capabilities are impressive, bolstered by a vast repository of out-of-the-box connectors and plugins that facilitate integration with various applications worldwide.
Security Architect at وزارة الثقافة Ministry of Culture
The features of ServiceNow that I find most valuable include its ability to easily access ticket details if you know the ticket number, monitor the timeline of when the ticket was created, and see the current status.
IT infra Admin at synu
 

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 JIRA Service Management is 7.3%, down from 10.7% 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
ProductMindshare (%)
ServiceNow15.8%
JIRA Service Management7.3%
BMC Helix ITSM5.7%
Other71.2%
IT Service Management (ITSM)
 

Featured Reviews

KN
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.
Sohaib Ahmad - PeerSpot reviewer
Vice President Service Delivery at quixel
Comprehensive workflows and data views have supported complex teams but still need cost improvements
JIRA Service Management is costly. The pricing structure needs improvement. When I add some plugins, I have to pay the cost for every user whether they are using it or not. For smaller companies, the detailed workflow editing and the kind of details that JIRA Service Management provides would be complex. For startups and smaller companies, JIRA Service Management would be complex. The cloud offering is easier because I don't have to manage the infrastructure. There are two templates of the project: company-managed and team-managed. Team-managed is a newer feature, which is good for startup-kind companies where they don't need control over data from multiple projects displaying in one dashboard. For startups, JIRA Service Management is somewhat complex with its schemes and everything. Capacity management should be improved in terms of additional features in the next release of JIRA Service Management.
MT
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.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Educational Organization
7%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business19
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise55
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business30
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise33
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business55
Midsize Enterprise35
Large Enterprise168
 

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...
What needs improvement with JIRA Service Management?
JIRA Service Management is costly. The pricing structure needs improvement. When I add some plugins, I have to pay th...
Which solution is better for developing non-ITSM applications: OutSystems or Service Now?
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.
 

Also Known As

Remedy ITSM, Remedy, Helix Remedy, BMC Helix IT Service Management
JIRA Service Desk, Atlassian Jira Service Management
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Brookfield, HealthSouth Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Mercator, SAP, Stanford University
mgm technology partners, Telestream, Build.com, Zend Technologies, OfficeDrop, PGS Software, American Diabetes Association, NEPTUNE Canada
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    
Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow, Atlassian, ManageEngine and others in IT Service Management (ITSM). Updated: March 2026.
885,444 professionals have used our research since 2012.