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Freshservice vs OpenText Service Management (SMAX) comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 21, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

Freshservice
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
5th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
35
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (7th), Project Management Software (9th), Cloud Management (15th), IT Asset Management (6th)
OpenText Service Management...
Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)
12th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
7
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of Freshservice is 4.6%, up from 4.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of OpenText Service Management (SMAX) is 2.4%, up from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
IT Service Management (ITSM) Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Freshservice4.6%
OpenText Service Management (SMAX)2.4%
Other93.0%
IT Service Management (ITSM)
 

Featured Reviews

Trilochana Gouda - PeerSpot reviewer
Smooth incident management and easy to use while needing better escalation management
We are using Freshservice for the IT ticketing system for business users We use the ticketing system primarily, which is very easy to use for all users. Freshservice is helpful, especially in incident management. Incident management is very helpful, and the system is straightforward, making it…
Evgeniy Kolotilov - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers a range of tools for sales and configuration that can be used in banks and telecom companies
The deployment takes three months. In this process, customers need to allocate resources like networks, data storage, and images. They then need to decide which business functions they intend to use in production and perform some basic configurations. Custom documentation is prepared and provided for user renewals and administration. I would rate the experience of the initial setup a nine out of ten.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature of Freshservice is you can assign downloaded tickets and the reports are useful."
"Freshservice's best feature is its user-friendliness."
"It allows for customization and offers a broad feature set."
"The most valuable feature is the sandbox, which allows me to test new configurations, automations, and workflows before taking them live on the production system."
"Its ease of use is fantastic. It is just above and beyond, especially when you compare it to something like Cherwell, Salesforce, or anything like that. It is on its own level. It is so easy to administer. The way everything is organized and the way it builds its own documentation is very good."
"Ability to scan barcodes and a great search feature."
"It allowed the development team to concentrate on the client’s requirements instead."
"The workflow and the change management process are valuable."
"It offers a range of tools for sales and configuration. It's like a business process improvement platform, suitable for various lines of business operations."
"The tool is very easy to use."
"The product provides an interface for the end users to make requests."
"The customization features are quite good, and we have a very good local vendor helping us in this regard."
"This is a cordless application that can be used throughout any organization."
"The most valuable features of Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX) are that it is user-friendly, easy to configure, and adaptable."
"OpenText Service Management Automation X provides valuable features such as topic analytics for incident and problem management. It also includes natural language processing for analyzing technical descriptions. Additionally, it features a virtual chatbot capable of processing natural language to interact effectively with end users. This service enhances customer support and is not subject to the limitations often found in offerings from other vendors."
 

Cons

"The most significant area for improvement is consistency across the different modules, as they are inconsistent. It makes me think the modules have different development teams with no consistent approach. From an end-user perspective, I can do certain operations in one module, such as instant management, but not in problem management, for example, and I don't see why that should be the case. It would be good to see more consistency in the development process."
"The chat portal is not that great."
"We'd like better integration with other products."
"There is a need for improvement in terms of automatic escalation to the next level if an issue is not resolved. It should optimize and allow customization. Additionally, asset management needs improvement."
"I experienced some delay in response time for non-function critical queries."
"The analytics could be better."
"The ability to customize the user interface is a bit lacking, and the reporting is a bit lacking because they're very stringent upon what you can pull reporting-wise within Freshservice. They have a lot of built-in reports that are very nice, but when it comes to customizing these, they just provide you with certain data. When you try to build your own report wizard, you aren't able to go and select some of the data that is shown in some of the reports that come with Freshservice. This is something that we have brought up with our account representative, and we have suggested these as feature updates in the future. We're still waiting on them to go and implement something like that."
"Freshservice automation capabilities are improving the way we respond to a few customers. There is a bit of delay when we must respond to the customer."
"The product's connectivity with third-party products is an area of concern where improvements are required."
"The solution lacks sufficient documentation."
"The tool has negatively impacted our productivity."
"The reporting functionality is not the best as it is not easy to use."
"The contract management feature can be improved."
"The initial setup of Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX) is complicated, but once it is set up the configuration is straightforward to adapt to the users' or customers' needs."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Its price is great. Its pricing is supposedly a lot less than ServiceNow and other alternatives."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The solution may be around 20,000 euros a year."
"The cost at the current timing is very reasonable but as the product gains popularity, I anticipate it might become expensive. Fortunately my customers have been offered a generous discount making it more affordable for me and satisfying both my needs and customers requirement."
"We're basically paying about $100 USD per agent per month."
"It was a middle tier. It wasn't an expensive one. It was a tier model usage. Licensing costs varied between admin users and regular users."
"Our licensing fee for Freshservice is $2,500 a year."
"There are some additional costs but not that many. For example, we have unlimited assets, which is something for which we pay extra. We also paid for additional orchestration. I would rate it a three out of five in terms of pricing. They are right in the middle."
"The cost of the license for SMAX varies depending on the configuration, including the number of seats for users and the customer's specific requirements. It's not a fixed cost and can vary."
"The solution is somewhat cheaper than the competitors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
University
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Educational Organization
7%
Computer Software Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business20
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise12
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise3
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Freshservice?
The solution has been very helpful engineering insights into the client's environment. We have been able to manage calls and incidence very efficiently which provides us with a clear understanding...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Freshservice?
The solution offers flat licensing and appears to be cost-effective.
What needs improvement with Freshservice?
There is a need for improvement in terms of automatic escalation to the next level if an issue is not resolved. It should optimize and allow customization. Additionally, asset management needs impr...
What is your primary use case for Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?
We are using the application as a customer. We are utilizing OpenText Service Management (SMAX) mainly for ITSM processes and some BPM activities. It is mainly used for tracking performance and cre...
What advice do you have for others considering Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)?
I would rate OpenText Service Management (SMAX) an eight out of ten. Please hide my name and company name as I have not received approval from my corporate communications team to speak on behalf of...
 

Also Known As

Flint
OpenText Service Manager, Micro Focus Service Management Automation X (SMAX)
 

Interactive Demo

Demo not available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Sinclair Broadcast Group, Western Carriers, Judson University, Golf Canada, Travix, Proxama, Paymentez, Ready Auto Transport
Zurich Airport, Envirosuite, Norsk Helsenett, Achmea, University of Milan, World Vision, Petroleum Development Oman, Court of Justice of the Federal District and Territories (TJDFT).
Find out what your peers are saying about Freshservice vs. OpenText Service Management (SMAX) and other solutions. Updated: September 2025.
869,566 professionals have used our research since 2012.