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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
8.2
Freshdesk offers efficient customer service and time management, providing significant financial benefits and excellent return on investment.
Sentiment score
7.3
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus offers cost-effectiveness, asset tracking benefits, reduced costs, but mixed outcomes in financial tracking among organizations.
Sentiment score
6.9
ServiceNow enhances efficiency, reduces costs, and improves ROI with automation and streamlined processes, providing long-term organizational value.
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.
The return on investment is good when implementing for ourselves and for other clients.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.2
Freshdesk's efficient support resolves issues quickly, though setup challenges and process delays occasionally occur; technical capabilities are highly rated.
Sentiment score
7.1
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus support is rated mixed, noting delays and improvement areas, but praised for responsiveness and thoroughness.
Sentiment score
7.0
ServiceNow's customer service is generally praised, but technical support experiences vary and rely on community resources.
We have not needed to contact technical support, as Freshdesk has met our needs efficiently.
Their response time could be quicker.
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.
I have contacted them four to five times over the past two years, and they have been quite helpful.
Most of the support comes from partners, and customers heavily rely on them.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.8
Freshdesk is highly scalable, handling increased users and ticket volumes efficiently while facilitating easy growth for organizations.
Sentiment score
7.9
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is scalable and efficient, though performance may vary with large-scale on-premises deployments and integrations.
Sentiment score
7.4
ServiceNow is highly scalable, integrates well with systems, and offers flexibility, making it ideal for diverse organizations.
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.
It is capable of vertical scaling with no issues.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Freshdesk is praised for its reliability with minimal downtime, efficient service recovery, despite occasional support concerns and related service issues.
Sentiment score
7.7
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is stable and reliable, with minimal issues, and receives high satisfaction ratings from users.
Sentiment score
7.7
ServiceNow is highly stable with minimal disruptions, often due to external factors, offering reliable SaaS performance and support.
We have not experienced any significant issues.
We have not faced any stability issues or challenges with this tool.
ServiceNow is stable enough.
ServiceNow is already a stable tool.
 

Room For Improvement

Freshdesk requires enhancements in interface, customization, support, integration, and pricing, with opportunities in translation and asset management.
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus needs improved customization, automation, integration, support services, and enhanced performance and reporting analytics.
ServiceNow users seek improvements in interface, navigation, pricing, documentation, mobile functionality, support, updates, and third-party integrations.
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.
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.
There are sometimes challenges with the portal being a bit confusing for new users.
 

Setup Cost

Freshdesk's pricing is flexible and affordable compared to Zendesk, with customization options and potential additional costs.
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus offers cost-effective, flexible licensing, appealing to budget-conscious enterprises, compared to competitors like ServiceNow.
ServiceNow's pricing is higher than competitors, suited for large enterprises but challenging for smaller companies due to cost complexity.
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 is expensive for all regions.
 

Valuable Features

Freshdesk enhances customer service efficiency with features like automation, scalable APIs, and seamless integration, supporting team collaboration and performance tracking.
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus enhances IT productivity with user-friendly features, seamless integration, and extensive customization for efficient management.
ServiceNow excels in customization, integration, and user-friendliness, offering versatile workflows, ITIL processes, and strong community support.
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.
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 most valuable features of ServiceNow for me are its ticketing and reporting capabilities.
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 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 7.3%, down from 7.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow is 23.4%, down from 26.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Help Desk Software
 

Featured Reviews

Alexey Timchenko - PeerSpot reviewer
Incredibly user-friendly, flexible, and affordable
Automation and ticket routing rules in Freshdesk save us daily by streamlining routine tasks. We use reports to identify issues, allocate resources, and continuously improve our processes. It is a vital part of our daily operations, helping us stay proactive and efficient in handling various types of tickets. The reporting and analytics tools in Freshdesk are effective for measuring customer service performance. While our current subscription level has some limitations in terms of reporting, the next level provides more options. Budget constraints currently prevent us from upgrading, but the available reporting features still meet our basic needs. I highly recommend Freshdesk, especially for companies in their early stages. It is user-friendly, easy to configure, and great for those with a moderate volume of customer requests. The cost is reasonable, making it a quick and efficient solution to implement. Overall, I would rate Freshdesk as an eight out of ten.
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.
Somnath Kand - PeerSpot reviewer
Custom integration and reporting lead to efficient ticket management
There is a need for bug or error tracking in ServiceNow. Although there are child incidents or tickets, tracking primary issues or bugs within enhancements is not present. The reporting features in the new portal could be more user-friendly. While it provides options to minimize chart and image sizes, actual implementation doesn't always reflect these changes.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
25%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Real Estate/Law Firm
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
55%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
6%
Government
3%
Educational Organization
26%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

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?
I would like a better integration towards Azure DevOps. The current integration is more complicated and doesn’t work ...
What is your primary use case for Freshdesk?
I mainly use Freshdesk as a support system for our customers.
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: April 2025.
850,349 professionals have used our research since 2012.