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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
14th
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
9th
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 October 2025, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of Oracle Application Express (APEX) is 7.5%, down from 8.8% 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

"One standout feature of Oracle APEX is its seamless integration with backend procedures, allowing for quick updates without changing the front-end interface."
"You can customize the solution to create a console where only business users can access and download files if they want to extract the data."
"Quick development and the connection with the database are the most valuable and useful features. It is also very stable, scalable, and easy to set up. Its support is also good."
"One of the most valuable features is that we can develop everything locally and deploy it for different kinds of operators in different locations, so we can do our job in one piece. The benefit of that is that others can use these applications. They connect to the internet to do these kinds of applications based on the permissions for those users."
"Oracle Application Express is easy to use, people don't have to be developers to use it."
"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."
"You don't have to know a lot of PL because it's built on PL/SQL. You don't need developers. You only need to design a good application that resolves a problem, or many problems, for companies and you're ready to go."
"This product will speed up development time with helpful production aids."
"ServiceNow can document and produce a historical working tool that deals with projects themselves. The user interface is another strong suit."
"It is a stable solution...It is a scalable solution."
"The most valuable features are the ease of use, stability, and the ability to change or upgrade seamlessly."
"The incident management has been the most useful feature for us."
"The solution is a seamless tool that can integrate with all applications."
"The integration with other tools is pretty good."
"This is a development platform that provides us with a strong database and a low code environment."
"The tool is generally easy to use, making it a very user-friendly product."
 

Cons

"The product's stability has certain shortcomings, making it an area where improvements are required."
"Reporting needs to be accessed via third party tools."
"The format is not recognized by Microsoft Word products."
"Oracle Application Express would be improved if you could use it on a mobile platform."
"Visual Builder and APEX should meld in one product."
"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"."
"It should have the functionality to develop mobile applications. It would also be good if they can improve development in videos and other formats."
"Another issue I used to encounter was with the debugging functions. I believe this is an area where Oracle APEX could improve significantly in terms of displaying error messages or error pages. It is very difficult to detect bugs or which bugs you are having when it comes to errors or which errors you have."
"The pricing model is complex and needs to be both lowered and simplified."
"The product's UI is ugly, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The licensing for this solution, with respect to the user, needs to be improved."
"When it comes to integration, it can be complex compared to other tools I'm currently using."
"They should reduce the solution's cost and make it more affordable for buyers."
"The initial setup requires a lot of customization based on the individual company's processes."
"ServiceNow Now Platform's automation process needs improvement."
"The programming language is currently limited to JavaScript. So I would like to see more programming languages available, especially since they have come up with the machine-learning features. Some more languages would be an additional improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is very good and less expensive than Mendix or OutSystems."
"The solution is moderately priced, where it is neither cheap nor expensive."
"I believe APEX comes bundled with the database, including autonomous database and other related database products, so the pricing is quite reasonable."
"When you have a licensed database in an Oracle environment, APEX is free."
"It's a free solution with no additional costs."
"The pricing is mid-range so is neither expensive nor cheap."
"We have an Oracle basic product license, and then we can use Oracle APEX for free. We have many licenses for Oracle for approximately 20 processors."
"The solution is free if you are using on Oracle database."
"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."
"I would rate the pricing an eight out of ten, with ten being very expensive solution."
"The solution is expensive, and I rate it a ten for pricing."
"People seem to be buying the tool a lot. I think its licensing is okay."
"The price of the product falls on the higher side of the spectrum."
"The solution is expensive."
"It's expensive and if you need some analytical views of your activity, there is an additional cost."
"The pricing of this solution is done annually and it is very expensive."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
12%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Financial Services Firm
15%
Government
10%
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: September 2025.
869,883 professionals have used our research since 2012.