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ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs ServiceNow vs Spiceworks 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
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 delivers ROI through time savings, workflow automation, improved IT efficiency, and cost savings on infrastructure.
Sentiment score
7.8
Spiceworks provides high ROI as a free tool, benefiting efficiency, issue resolution, and stability despite setup time investment.
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
Thanks to ServiceNow's end-to-end automation, we save five to ten days of cycle time for each invoice.
Application Development Associate & Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
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
ServiceNow offers a great return on investment because it saves us a lot of time and increases the efficiency of team members to complete their tickets and work on the PRBs to solve the root cause.
Product Developer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Customer Service

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 support is praised for responsiveness and knowledge, yet experiences mixed reviews, prompting reliance on community resources and partners.
Sentiment score
7.4
Spiceworks offers excellent, free email-based support, with strong community assistance and some criticisms for lacking direct phone support.
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
Users can raise tickets for platform issues, workflow errors, integrations, or production incidents through ServiceNow's support portal.
Cloud Administrator at a retailer with 10,001+ 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
 

Scalability Issues

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 offers scalable, flexible solutions for diverse businesses, integrating easily but facing minor challenges with very large organizations.
Sentiment score
7.4
Spiceworks is scalable for small to large setups, though larger organizations may face challenges; newer versions improve scalability.
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.
Workload Automation at nab
 

Stability Issues

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 offers high reliability and uptime, with minor issues resolved quickly, ensuring stable performance even under high demand.
Sentiment score
6.6
Spiceworks is stable but may slow down or crash with large setups; proper configuration enhances performance and stability.
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 a reliable cloud platform with good uptime and workflow performance, supporting business-critical processes effectively when configured properly.
Cloud Administrator at a retailer with 10,001+ 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
 

Room For Improvement

Users criticize ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus for its complex interface, limited customization, and inadequate integration, support, and pricing options.
Users criticize ServiceNow for high costs, complex pricing, outdated interface, and inadequate automation, reporting, integration, and security features.
Spiceworks users desire enhanced monitoring, scalability, reporting, integration, and user-friendly features with faster performance and lower resource consumption.
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

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus offers flexible, cost-effective pricing with various licensing options, providing enterprise features affordably compared to competitors.
ServiceNow's pricing is high due to subscription licensing, but is justified for some by functionality and efficiency gains.
Spiceworks provides a customizable, free help desk solution with optional costs for premium features, suitable for small to medium businesses.
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 PPM product to a competitive product like Jira, which is an Atlassian product, they were offering better functionalities at one-tenth of the price.
Senior Business Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
 

Valuable Features

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus enhances efficiency and satisfaction with ITIL integration, automation, customization, reporting, and seamless application integration.
ServiceNow excels in customizability, integration, and workflow automation, enhancing ticket resolution, collaboration, and productivity across departments.
Spiceworks offers SMBs a free help desk, inventory management, user-friendly interface, and strong community support for IT needs.
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
Additionally, it is free software.
Account Manager Enterprise Sales at Navdeep Technologies Pvt.Ltd
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Help Desk Software category, the mindshare of ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is 3.5%, down from 7.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow is 11.2%, down from 22.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Spiceworks is 1.7%, down from 1.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Help Desk Software Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
ServiceNow11.2%
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus3.5%
Spiceworks1.7%
Other83.6%
Help Desk Software
 

Featured Reviews

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.
Hemanthreddy Vakiti - PeerSpot reviewer
Data engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Structured workflows have improved SLA compliance and now support prioritized incident handling
I think the licensing and pricing of ServiceNow is quite expensive compared to other tools. For large organizations, it is acceptable, but specifically for small and medium organizations to track incidents or change requests, ServiceNow is quite expensive. Sometimes performance can be slow when workflows and integrations are configured for complex tasks. For advanced customizations or advanced features which we rarely use, the documentation is not up to standard. The documentation needs to be improved for advanced customization features. However, the platform is stable overall and the features are quite good. The user experience and performance concerns I mentioned are areas I want to be improved. When many workflows and interactions are configured, performance is slow. For the features it is providing, it is quite expensive. If these performance features are improved, we can easily pay that price and get the return on investment.
Rohit Samel - PeerSpot reviewer
Account Manager Enterprise Sales at Navdeep Technologies Pvt.Ltd
Cloud storage with no hardware needed and great comprehensive reports
The software is cloud-based, so I do not need to store any data locally. It is a fully software-based solution, eliminating the need for investment in hardware. We have the capability to create reports as needed. It is good software to use, as there were no incidents where I needed to contact technical support. Additionally, it is free software.
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Comparison Review

it_user174738 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Developer at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
May 31, 2015
Nagios vs. Zabbix vs. PRTG vs. Spiceworks vs. Solarwinds Network Performance Monitor
I have researched a quite a few network monitoring tools which can be used for various monitoring purposes of not only the servers, but the intermediate routers as well. There are majorly three types of these softwares. Ones which are completely open-source, you can do almost anything you want…
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
7%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
Construction Company
12%
Computer Software Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
7%
University
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business32
Midsize Enterprise24
Large Enterprise20
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business56
Midsize Enterprise35
Large Enterprise179
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business24
Midsize Enterprise14
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

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...
What is your primary use case for ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus?
My main use case for ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is to record the day-to-day customer requests and incidents or any...
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow?
ServiceNow's pricing is fine. We have accounting for each headcount for ServiceNow, and the pricing is actually good.
What needs improvement with Spiceworks?
I am unable to provide suggestions for improvement at this moment, however, I can provide feedback later. Currently, ...
What is your primary use case for Spiceworks?
If our customers need backup support, we can work with them and provide it. Whatever solution the customer requires, ...
What advice do you have for others considering Spiceworks?
It performs its intended functions. We may use it, but perhaps not for ourselves, but for our customers, potentially ...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

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    
Broward Center for the Performing Arts, Symantec, Webroot, EMC, Pertino
Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow, Atlassian, Zendesk and others in Help Desk Software. Updated: April 2026.
894,998 professionals have used our research since 2012.