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Oracle Application Express (APEX) vs ServiceNow Now Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 18, 2024

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

Oracle Application Express ...
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
3rd
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
2nd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
Development Platforms (2nd)
ServiceNow Now Platform
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
13th
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
8th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
48
Ranking in other categories
No-Code Development Platforms (4th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2025, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of Oracle Application Express (APEX) is 7.5%, down from 9.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow Now Platform is 1.9%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rapid Application Development Software Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Oracle Application Express (APEX)7.5%
ServiceNow Now Platform1.9%
Other90.6%
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.
SiddharthZunjarrao - PeerSpot reviewer
Enables us to have significant improvements in operational efficiency
ServiceNow is highly scalable from a customization point of view, allowing for the building of portals, adding and configuring widgets, and designing workflows as preferred. The text-to-code feature is particularly useful for turning natural language instructions into recognizable code on the ServiceNow platform, aiding both implementation teams and customers. The case summarization feature is also great, as it summarizes user comments and agent notes into a resolution code without needing to review the entire activity history.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"With only a browser, it is very easy to develop in a web environment."
"Intuitive with a user-friendly UI."
"I like the fact that it is natively integrated into the Oracle database."
"The product is fast."
"Oracle APEX is very easy to use and comes with a lot of ready-made components that speed up the process of creating reports and dashboards."
"It provides attractive GUIs allowing professionally-styled applications without the need to know HTML, CSS, or JavaScript."
"Oracle APEX is very easy to use and comes with a lot of ready-made components that speed up the process of creating reports and dashboards."
"Stability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."
"The most valuable features are the ease of use, stability, and the ability to change or upgrade seamlessly."
"The integration with other tools is pretty good."
"It is a very stable solution."
"The level of automation within the platform is great."
"ServiceNow is highly scalable from a customization point of view, allowing for the building of portals, adding and configuring widgets, and designing workflows as preferred."
"The integration feature has simplified our multi-tool ecosystem. The inbuilt integrations significantly improve our solution delivery timelines. Also, standardized adapters and integration adapters reduce failure rates due to compatibility. This boosts productivity and eases maintenance."
"The simplicity is great."
"The main reason that people use ServiceNow is that performance is very good."
 

Cons

"Maybe there are other technologies that offer what APEX cannot."
"The solution does not include a default or custom template like other products."
"Being able to only design with HTML and CSS can be limiting as to what can be accomplished."
"Visual Builder and APEX should meld in one product."
"In terms of improvement, there should be a greater focus on AI and machine learning tools in Oracle APEX."
"The solution could provide more AI functionalities or AI assistance."
"Oracle should implement vertical and horizontal data segmentation in APEX's security framework, so Dev teams don't need to do any heavy lifting in the APEX screens. This is a common issue in enterprise apps. It would be nice to seamlessly integrate Git repositories into the development process since the current solution can result in overlapping work or an eventual overwrite. The provided example apps are great, but they could benefit from some added documentation in the "explanation screens"."
"The solution has some stability problems that need to be resolved."
"The user experience could be improved. The current design of forms lacks intuitiveness, as there seems to be only one form available for all types of operations."
"The product's UI is ugly, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The solution’s AI and NLP features could be improved."
"There's always room for improvement, but I think the biggest challenge with ServiceNow is the licensing model. It's not very clear and changes frequently."
"ServiceNow Now Platform's adoption seems to be a main challenge for our clients."
"The analytics should be more readily available on the base product."
"The solution is very expensive."
"There are a few areas of concern when it comes to the product's support team where improvements are required."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's a free solution with no additional costs."
"When you have a licensed database in an Oracle environment, APEX is free."
"I would rate it around an eight in terms of price, with one being low and ten being high."
"Oracle Express comes with the Oracle license, it is a bundle."
"The solution is free if you are using on Oracle database."
"Pricing is expensive, overall on an enterprise system but we consider that it gives corresponding value in the product."
"The tool is free with the Oracle Database license."
"The pricing is mid-range so is neither expensive nor cheap."
"Pricing is based on the number of users and user licenses, but the product is 20% to 30% more than the competition."
"Most of the features are included in the licensing cost. However, if we need extra plugins that are not available at the ServiceNow Hub or store, then we have to pay extra for those."
"ServiceNow is not open source, so there is a license you must pay. As for how much it costs, what I have observed is that it often depends on your subscriptions."
"From what I heard, the license for the ServiceNow Now Platform is paid monthly, and on a scale of one to five, I'm rating it a three in terms of pricing, so it's on the cheaper side. I don't know of any additional costs associated with the ServiceNow Now Platform, apart from the standard licensing fees."
"The product is very expensive."
"It is expensive only."
"I don't have much exposure to the costs attached to the solution. I rate the product's price a six on a scale of one to ten, where one is the lowest price, and ten is the highest price since it is a costly tool."
"The price of the product falls on the higher side of the spectrum."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Government
9%
Computer Software Company
7%
Manufacturing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business28
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise28
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business14
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise34
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Application Express (APEX)?
I consider Oracle Application Express (APEX) to be good value for the money because it has infinite quality for money since it's included in any Oracle database license. It's free once you have the...
What needs improvement with Oracle Application Express (APEX)?
One of the things that could be done to improve Oracle Application Express (APEX) is if Oracle decided to open it up to other databases. It needs to be an enterprise database; therefore, it needs t...
What do you like most about ServiceNow Now Platform?
The integration with other tools is pretty good.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow Now Platform?
From what I have heard only from our sales team, ServiceNow Now Platform falls within the more expensive tier of a product, but I can't really judge it.
What needs improvement with ServiceNow Now Platform?
What could be improved in ServiceNow Now Platform is the availability of skill sets. For some reason, we don't get too many people who know this technology easily. Regarding their pricing, I would ...
 

Also Known As

Oracle APEX
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Hepart AG, pharmasol, SATLOG, Collège Bois-de-Boulogne
experian, beachbody, health partners
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle Application Express (APEX) vs. ServiceNow Now Platform and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
867,370 professionals have used our research since 2012.