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Oracle Application Express (APEX) vs Pega Platform 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:
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of Oracle Application Express (APEX) is 8.1%, down from 9.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Pega Platform is 6.3%, down from 6.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow is 10.9%, up from 10.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rapid Application Development Software
 

Featured Reviews

Rodrigo-Mesquita - PeerSpot reviewer
Rapid application development empowers big projects in months
The ability to quickly develop applications without needing to code a lot is very valuable. It is very quick to create a page, and one can use AI to speed up software development. It is easy to learn. In my company, we could develop a very big application in a couple of months.
Mallik-Kesavaraju - PeerSpot reviewer
Significantly improves the overall cycle time, and offers robotic automation, and the BPM workflow
The extensive availability of ready-made gadgets in Pega BPM is a double-edged sword. While it offers convenience, it also leads to a steeper learning curve. Our developers and business analysts need to invest significant time and effort to fully understand and utilize the platform's capabilities. In essence, it's a complex product that demands a deep understanding to be used effectively. So, it cuts both ways. This complexity can be both an advantage and a disadvantage, depending on the user's expertise. So, the learning curve is pretty high! So, it's very good if you are a professional user, but you need to be a really good professional user to use this solution effectively.
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It has a well-designed architecture and is a simple 3rd party application."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"Oracle is always adding very important updates"
"We set up the HTTP server and installed the Apex Xamarin DB using the Mark Hill SQL packages for an older version. That's the extent of our configuration."
"The most valuable applications within the organization are primarily data forms and extended reports."
"One of the most valuable features is the ability to build very fast data-driven UIs."
"The ability to quickly develop applications without needing to code a lot is very valuable."
"What's most valuable in Oracle Application Express (APEX) is its secure coding functionality, and the solution also has good features."
"What I found most valuable in PegaRULES is that it allows you to quickly make changes to an existing application. It's pretty easy to do any modification in the tool, which you cannot do in legacy solutions. For example, it takes a lot of time to do it in Java or in .NET. I have worked with both legacy technologies in the past, so that I can tell the difference."
"The most valuable aspect of the solution is the various workflows."
"The most valuable features are case management and integration services."
"Offers a unique environment where its entire architecture is very unified"
"While Pega technical support is okay, it also depends on the issues you need help with and who your contact is with Pega."
"The product helps you to build faster."
"The solution offers excellent workflows."
"The most valuable feature of Pega BPM is step-by-step voice guidance that converts your problem statement into different diagrams and then implements the process."
"The analytics - we like to keep track of how much work everyone is doing."
"It uses a common base of data and allows different types of records to pull from that same base of data."
"Straightforward tool."
"This solution is a single-storage for our user community to submit help desk tickets."
"ServiceNow is an industry leader in multiple areas and provides an excellent ROI."
"​The workflow capability for easy setup is powerful."
"The most impactful feature in our day-to-day operations is the ticket status, which provides crucial visibility into the progress of each resource or incident."
"It has more extensive features as compared to the other competitors."
 

Cons

"An area for improvement in Oracle Application Express (APEX) is the slow reporting because pulling the report for two months, one year, three years, etc., is very slow. It takes more than thirty minutes to download the report. There's also room for improvement in integrating Oracle Application Express (APEX) with other vendors, such as open-source solutions through API integration. I believe Oracle is working on this feature, or the issue could be because my organization is using an older version of Oracle Application Express (APEX). The Oracle database also has to be improved because it's still lacking in some packages, triggers, and indexes."
"Oracle Application Express would be improved if you could use it on a mobile platform."
"The solution's layout could be improved for report generation to allow more configuration."
"Maybe there are other technologies that offer what APEX cannot."
"The solution does not support the Linux platform."
"Some of the application interfaces of Oracle Application Express are not very attractive and could be improved."
"The problem of sending emails arises when Oracle Application Express (APEX) is inside Oracle Cloud Infrastructure since it is a bit complicated or difficult to understand where to take care of the setup part to be able to just send out emails properly."
"We would like to see tighter integration with the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure."
"The workflow automation can be slow, so there is room for improvement there."
"An area for improvement in Pega BPM is security. It's secure, but it still has a lot of vulnerabilities. Pega BPM is robust, but it still needs some improvement performance-wise."
"It should have integration with non-relational databases. A lot of databases are non-relational, and as a company, we are planning to move to NoSQL or open-source databases. It would be good if we are able to install and use Pega on a NoSQL database. They can also try to tailor or organize the company a bit differently and go more towards the microservice concept. I would like Pega to develop machine learning and intelligent AI algorithms. They have a good foundation in terms of the model and the stuff that we are using for some customers, and it will be good to onboard as many machine learning algorithms as possible."
"One of the areas of this solution that could be improved would be to advance the low code features of the application itself. We would also like to use the same platform to build any application, even if it is not necessarily defined as a functionality needed by a BPM."
"There is a scarcity of resources who have worked with this solution before."
"It is not fully compatible with all versions of Internet Explorer, so sometimes, it does not work."
"The usability of the solution for developers is sometimes difficult to work with because instead of fixing the existing bugs in the previous version, there is always a rush to push out a new version leaving the bugs in the old versions unresolved."
"The previous versions had good training documents but the updated versions need to improve the documentation."
"For healthcare, which is a pretty audited environment, there are no concrete solutions for digital signatures, apart from our license with Adobe, so it requires orchestration."
"The customization that we are doing for the needs of our organization are difficult to do and could be improved."
"This solution needs to be improved for global use. Currently, it's very oriented to the processes and needs of the US customer base, like their compliance solution or GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance), and not so much for customers from other parts of the world. Some users may like the things that ServiceNow is improving, but those are very oriented to users based in the United States and Europe."
"When we are using the solution on mobile phones on their networks the performance is reduced with a delay of approximately 8 seconds. There is less delay using the desktop computers connected to the WiFi or to the network directly."
"Needs additional software titles and easier normalization."
"Integration capabilities can improve."
"Very expensive."
"Once a change request has been created once it's been approved and been submitted, there is no way to go in on that particular change request and submit an additional task."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution is moderately priced, where it is neither cheap nor expensive."
"It's a free solution with no additional costs."
"The product is completely free of cost."
"APEX itslelf is a free product, but you will need to license peripheral components."
"Apex is not priced separately; instead, it is associated with the Oracle database. A free option for Oracle database and Apex can be downloaded and installed on this complimentary database version. This aligns with our current approach."
"When buying the data license, APEX is included."
"The tool is free with the Oracle Database license."
"I do not think this would be an ideal option for a small sized company or a startup when considering the salary requirements for Oracle DBA'a and developers."
"It is cost-effective for medium enterprises. It is cheaper than ServiceNow."
"Its pricing is on the higher side, but they have come up with different plans and different small products that can be used by smaller organizations that don't have that much money to spend. They have different pricing packages depending on the number of users or depending upon the number of cases created in the production or live environment."
"The solution could be less expensive according to my customers. However, I think the price of the solution is fair."
"The licensing model from Pega BPM is too complex and is more expensive than other solutions, such as SAP. The overall price of the solution depends on the use case."
"The price of this solution, including installation and configuration, is comparable to competing vendors."
"The price of Pega BPM is in the middle range compared to other solutions."
"We do not have to purchase any licenses for the product."
"Pricing is good."
"I rate the solution's pricing a six out of ten. The pricing for ServiceNow is based on a SaaS platform with annual contracts. However, it may not offer much flexibility for adjusting usage in the short term."
"It's sold as a less expensive solution, but it has to be highly modified. That's where you get into the cost."
"I am from Brazil. For Latin American markets, ServiceNow is very expensive as compared to other vendors, such as VMware."
"ServiceNow's pricing is comparatively higher than Helix's."
"We know that ServiceNow is not cheap, it's more expensive than other solutions. But we are trying to increase our ability to handle tickets so that the cost per ticket is less."
"ServiceNow is an expensive solution."
"It is very expensive because it is a big organization. You have to pay for additional things."
"The license model is based on a number of fulfillers (active users who play some role within the ServiceNow functionality). Therefore, you can serve as many end-users as you want, without additional costs."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
28%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
28%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
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 is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Application Express (APEX)?
Oracle APEX is part of our on-premises solution included in our agreement with Oracle E Business Suite, though I don'...
What needs improvement with Oracle Application Express (APEX)?
Using AI to analyze data without needing much code would be better. Also, although the interface is easy to change, i...
Is Pega BPM easy to work with and can beginners utilize this software?
You do need some preparation to be able to use all functions of Pega BPM. However, all users of this platform are in ...
Have you encountered any issues while using Pega BPM and were you assisted by the company?
My company has been using this tool for years and the only issue we have had, if you can call it that, was while sett...
When you consider the features and benefits of Pega BPM, would you say this product is fairly priced?
Pega BPM can be considered overpriced for some; it all depends on the size of your company and the requirements of y...
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

Oracle APEX
Pega BPM, Pegasystems, SmartBPM, PegaRULES
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Hepart AG, pharmasol, SATLOG, Collège Bois-de-Boulogne
The State of Maine, ANZ, Coca-Cola, Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), ME, New South Wales, OptumRx, Texas Department of Transportation, UnitedHealthcare Medicare & Retirement
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 Microsoft, ServiceNow, OutSystems and others in Rapid Application Development Software. Updated: May 2025.
850,028 professionals have used our research since 2012.