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BMC Helix ITSM vs ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus 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
6.9
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus boosts ROI with cost-effective solutions, improving asset management and efficiency for SMEs, while some await benefits.
Sentiment score
6.5
ServiceNow users experience varied ROI, with benefits in efficiency, process improvements, and scalability, despite high initial costs.
For example, previously incidents had to be resolved manually, requiring communication to respective teams via email, but now automatically generated tickets streamline this process while adhering to SLA times, ultimately saving resources.
Sr. Presales & Technical Lead at Elitbuzz Technologies Ltd
ManageEngine has been particularly beneficial for small and medium-sized businesses in terms of value for money since they receive similar service at a lower cost compared to ServiceNow.
Vice President Delivery & Operations at Rezilyens
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
7.2
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus support is praised for responsiveness but criticized for slow resolutions, needing faster, efficient service improvements.
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
Their response time could be quicker.
Information Security Specialist at Arab Open University
The ManageEngine technical support team deserves a rating of ten out of ten because we receive up-to-date support.
Software Engineer at Galaxy Office Automation Pvt. Ltd.
They respond to emails based on time zone considerations.
Principal Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
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
7.9
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus excels in scalability, supporting various organization sizes with simple expansion and high user growth management.
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 is trickier to expand across endpoints with Help Desk.
Information Security Specialist at Arab Open University
Scaling ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is easy, and I would rate its scalability as nine out of ten.
Vice President Delivery & Operations at Rezilyens
The tool is suitable for medium to large-scale operations and can be used effectively by mid-size companies.
Sr. Service Architect at NTT Security
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
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is highly rated for stability, despite minor bugs, with outages usually caused by external factors.
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
We have not experienced any significant issues.
Vice President Delivery & Operations at Rezilyens
We have not faced any stability issues or challenges with this tool.
IT Director at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus has shown stability with no downtime and no major issues identified thus far.
Sr. Presales & Technical Lead at Elitbuzz Technologies Ltd
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.
Users criticize ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus for its complex interface, limited customization, and inadequate integration, support, and pricing options.
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
It would be beneficial to have an option to assign approvals to a user group or a variable.
IT Director at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
There could be improvements in licensing flexibility, like the ability to use a single license for multiple users simultaneously.
Sr. Service Architect at NTT Security
They might consider creating a bundled ERP solution for all these tools where purchasing one license would enable access to all functionalities.
Principal Engineer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 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.
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus offers flexible, cost-effective pricing with various licensing options, providing enterprise features affordably compared to competitors.
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.
The cost of ManageEngine is more affordable, making it viable for small to medium-sized businesses.
Vice President Delivery & Operations at Rezilyens
The licensing is based on the number of technicians or analysts providing support as well as the number of IT assets, with no limitation on adding IT assets in ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus.
Sr. Presales & Technical Lead at Elitbuzz Technologies Ltd
It is not as expensive as ServiceNow, which has a very high cost.
Sr. Service Architect at NTT Security
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.
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus enhances efficiency and satisfaction with ITIL integration, automation, customization, reporting, and seamless application integration.
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.
The best features ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus offers for my team include automating manual tasks, which allows whatever tasks we previously did manually to be converted into automatic tasks.
Sr. Presales & Technical Lead at Elitbuzz Technologies Ltd
It provides a simpler and more intuitive interface for creating semi-automated use cases and managing problem solutions.
Vice President Delivery & Operations at Rezilyens
The automation capabilities are good, with the workflow being an integral part of it.
IT Director at a manufacturing company with 11-50 employees
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 ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is 3.8%, down from 7.3% 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%
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus3.8%
BMC Helix ITSM5.7%
Other74.7%
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.
Mostafiz Miah - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. Presales & Technical Lead at Elitbuzz Technologies Ltd
Automation has transformed daily request handling and now tracks every customer interaction
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus helps my team manage and resolve requests compared to previous methods as we previously managed things through paperwork and diaries. After deploying ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus, whenever any customer request comes, we provide the customer a product demo if they ask about the products. We then convert that request to a lead, which is converted to a demo, and then to the product POC, allowing us to follow up every stage of the requests. Everything can be tracked from ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus, whether at the closing stage or the initial stage. I use ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus daily in a unique way because previously everyone managed their own tracking system through their diary, but now everyone inputs data into this solution so that at the end of the day, we can get reports on how many leads we have taken care of and when they need to be taken care of. This information is visible from the ServiceDesk tool, and using the dashboard, we can easily identify it, providing an at-a-glance view. The best features ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus offers for my team include automating manual tasks, which allows whatever tasks we previously did manually to be converted into automatic tasks. Currently, they have also introduced Zia, a very helpful solution for us. Using Zia, we can search for anything, not only inside the tool but also outside, integrating it with ChatGPT and Teams, and it can integrate with other ManageEngine solutions as well as solutions such as Jira and ServiceNow. When we integrate our network monitoring solutions with ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus, it automatically raises an incident ticket and assigns it to the right team whenever any incident has occurred, which saves us time and reduces manual tasks. Previously, we had to communicate to the right people through mail or phone calls after an incident, but now the incidents are automatically converted and assigned to the relevant support groups along with the SLA. The integration with Teams allows us to raise tickets without logging into the portal, and we can see the ticket status and add comments through Teams, which is very helpful. Additionally, mail integration can automatically convert emails into tickets, adding further efficiency. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus has positively impacted our organization, particularly in customer satisfaction. Previously, customers managed service requests, incidents, changes, and problems manually, but after integration, most of these processes are automated. This includes change requests that now follow a workflow based on organizational needs and ITIL best practices, making tracking incidents and requests much easier for end customers through scheduled reports.
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%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Construction Company
6%
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 Business32
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise19
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 do you like most about ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus?
The platform's most beneficial features are incident management, change management, request management, and asset man...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus?
Regarding pricing, ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus offers three editions: Standard edition, Professional, and Enterpris...
What needs improvement with ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus?
Currently, ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is a mature solution, and I do not think major improvements are needed, as i...
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
No data available
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Brookfield, HealthSouth Corporation, Lockheed Martin Aeronautics, Mercator, SAP, Stanford University
Tranter IT Infrastructure Services Limited, Sterlite Technologies, averda, Radiology Associates
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.