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Freshdesk 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
8.1
Freshdesk enhances time management, efficiency, and ROI, proving cost-effective and impactful despite manageable maintenance requirements.
Sentiment score
7.3
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus delivers cost-effective IT solutions, improving efficiency and asset management, especially for small and medium-sized businesses.
Sentiment score
7.0
ServiceNow enhances efficiency, project management, and resource management, offering quick ROI through automation and optimized system integrations.
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.
They have removed the costs associated with on-prem infrastructure, including data center costs, power costs, and physical server costs.
The return on investment is good when implementing for ourselves and for other clients.
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.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.3
Freshdesk support is responsive and helpful, but improvements are needed in technical issue handling and communication timeliness.
Sentiment score
7.1
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus support receives mixed feedback; while responsive for some, others criticize slow responses and inadequate coverage.
Sentiment score
7.0
ServiceNow's support is praised for knowledge and community resources but criticized for inconsistent response times and outsourced interactions.
We have not needed to contact technical support, as Freshdesk has met our needs efficiently.
I would rate them a nine on a scale of one to ten, as their service meets our expectations.
Their response time could be quicker.
The ManageEngine technical support team deserves a rating of ten out of ten because we receive up-to-date support.
The customer support for ManageEngine could be improved, especially for coverage during the Asia Pacific shift.
The support is exemplary and deserves a perfect rating.
Obtaining support for maintenance is the current challenge because they don't have a presence in the local market.
I have contacted them four to five times over the past two years, and they have been quite helpful.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Freshdesk is highly scalable, suitable for various team sizes, with some integration limitations noted by users.
Sentiment score
7.9
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus offers scalable solutions for medium to large organizations, though some face challenges with larger infrastructures.
Sentiment score
7.5
ServiceNow offers scalable, cloud-based solutions that support seamless growth and integration for enterprises, with strong user satisfaction.
Additional features like email, WhatsApp, and SMS ticketing, along with Slack integration, can be enabled as required.
In our environment, which is a fairly small company in one country, Freshdesk is easy to scale.
It is trickier to expand across endpoints with Help Desk.
Scaling ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is easy, and I would rate its scalability as nine out of ten.
The tool is suitable for medium to large-scale operations and can be used effectively by mid-size companies.
There are no limitations or performance issues with ServiceNow; it is cloud-based, so it is highly scalable and performs well.
It is capable of vertical scaling with no issues.
I rate the scalability of ServiceNow as an eight on a scale of one to ten.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Freshdesk is generally stable with high reliability, though minor issues and rare outages occasionally require technical support.
Sentiment score
7.7
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is stable and reliable, with minor issues usually resolved by updates or restarts, highly rated by users.
Sentiment score
7.7
ServiceNow offers stable, high-performance IT service management with minimal downtime; customization requires best practices to maintain optimal performance.
We have not experienced any significant issues.
We have not faced any stability issues or challenges with this tool.
It is cloud-based, so it is highly scalable and performs well.
I haven't faced any issues with stability; I've rarely seen any downtime.
ServiceNow is stable enough.
 

Room For Improvement

Freshdesk users seek interface enhancements, improved ticketing, integration, and support with better customization, documentation, and multi-language support.
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus struggles with integration, customization, and user interface, leading to poor user experience and performance issues.
ServiceNow requires enhanced UI, documentation, integration, performance, training, and mobile features to boost user satisfaction and accessibility.
Currently, some features like SMS or WhatsApp integration are only available to larger user groups, but even smaller teams should have access based on their specific needs.
The current integration is more complicated and doesn’t work as well.
More automation would be beneficial, as it could greatly improve our efficiency and reduce manual tasks.
It would be beneficial to have an option to assign approvals to a user group or a variable.
There could be improvements in licensing flexibility, like the ability to use a single license for multiple users simultaneously.
I recommend integrating it with CrowdStrike, so incidents can directly result in a ticket being created.
There is a need for bug or error tracking in ServiceNow.
Their customer support could make it a great solution, not just product support but also their relationship with partners and training initiatives in different regions.
From a functionality perspective, the features in ServiceNow are acceptable as, at the moment, the ITSM modules rank highly, being 13 plus Pink Elephant certified, which is a good aspect to have.
 

Setup Cost

Freshdesk offers competitive pricing per agent, favorably compared to alternatives, with optional integration costs and negotiable deals.
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus offers affordable, flexible licensing with free options, catering to small and medium enterprises, starting at $10/month.
ServiceNow is costly for small companies but flexible for enterprises, with complex pricing needing negotiation for discounts.
Our organization pays about 200,000 Indian rupees per year for the license.
The cost of ManageEngine is more affordable, making it viable for small to medium-sized businesses.
It is not as expensive as ServiceNow, which has a very high cost.
The costing for ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is very flexible and is considered low-priced.
ServiceNow's pricing can be justified if more functionality is required.
ServiceNow does come with a price.
ServiceNow is expensive for all regions.
 

Valuable Features

Freshdesk is favored for its customizable features, seamless integration, user-friendly interface, and efficient customer support management.
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus enhances IT service management with integration, customization, scalability, affordable pricing, and comprehensive support for various departments.
ServiceNow's customization and integration capabilities enhance operational efficiency and align IT operations with business needs effectively.
The auto-assignment feature is particularly valuable as it alleviates the administrative task of manually checking for available engineers to assign tickets.
These features are easy to use, and the filtering is really good, providing a good overview of active tickets and who's working on them.
Some of the best features of Freshdesk include automation, user-friendly interface, and comprehensive support options that enhance our workflow.
It provides a simpler and more intuitive interface for creating semi-automated use cases and managing problem solutions.
The automation capabilities are good, with the workflow being an integral part of it.
All necessary features for these activities are included, such as incident management, change management, and problem management.
ServiceNow provides a wide range of functionality, covering all the necessary modules, unlike Jira which is primarily for IT.
Automation capabilities are impressive, bolstered by a vast repository of out-of-the-box connectors and plugins that facilitate integration with various applications worldwide.
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.
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of Freshdesk is 3.4%, down from 4.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is 7.1%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow is 22.5%, down from 26.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Help Desk Software
 

Featured Reviews

SujayRao - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers insights into team performance, with ready-made reports and GenAI features that assist in creating reports
Freshdesk's major drawback is its limitation in integrating tools for App Store and Play Store reviews, and social channels like Twitter, which come with additional costs. Despite having third-party integration options, these features should be inherently available in the tool without additional expenses. Integration with social media and review platforms should be built-in.
Anil  Rao - PeerSpot reviewer
Improved problem-solving and has a user-friendly knowledge base
The primary benefit of ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is its ease of use. It provides a simpler and more intuitive interface for creating semi-automated use cases and managing problem solutions. This simplicity makes it particularly suitable for less technical staff to use effectively. Additionally, its ability to interpret issues and offer solutions based on its knowledge base makes problem-solving faster. The deployment and use of all policies and user cases are seamless.
Nikhil Gohil - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables effective incident management and seamless workflow automation with valuable mobile accessibility
I haven't thought deeply about improvements for ServiceNow or what might be missing right now. There are so many modules and features in ServiceNow that I haven't explored them all, so it's hard to say what might be missing or should be improved. I suggest making the cost more affordable for smaller companies.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
25%
Real Estate/Law Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
31%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Educational Organization
20%
Computer Software Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Freshdesk?
Freshdesk significantly improved our customer issue resolution process. We can now easily record and track all custom...
What needs improvement with Freshdesk?
More automation would be beneficial, as it could greatly improve our efficiency and reduce manual tasks.
What is your primary use case for Freshdesk?
My primary use cases with Freshdesk involve help desk software as well as additional functionalities tailored to our ...
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?
The costing for ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus ( /products/manageengine-servicedesk-plus-reviews ) is very flexible an...
What needs improvement with ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus?
The GUI can be improved. In terms of functionality, the change management part could be improved significantly due to...
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.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Honda, 3M, Hugo Boss, Petronas, Sony Pictures, The Atlantic, goodreads, Clear Channel Radio, Penn University of Pennsylvania, unicef, Kuoni, Movember
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 Help Desk Software. Updated: May 2025.
858,649 professionals have used our research since 2012.