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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

"It provides attractive GUIs allowing professionally-styled applications without the need to know HTML, CSS, or JavaScript."
"The autonomous database is valuable and provides the main structure for code development."
"The most valuable feature is the ease of use."
"Intuitive with a user-friendly UI."
"Oracle is always adding very important updates"
"It has a well-designed architecture and is a simple 3rd party application."
"What I like best about Oracle Application Express (APEX) is that it doesn't require hard coding for reporting and building applications. It's a GUI-based application builder that even end-users with little development and language knowledge can develop applications on Oracle Application Express (APEX). The software is also very user-friendly, which I find valuable."
"I particularly enjoy the web builder capabilities, especially the Page Designer. It offers so many elements or components to choose from, which is a major plus for me."
"ServiceNow provides immense options for customization and scalability, allowing users to build and modify the platform according to their needs."
"The solution provides a single platform for multiple systems and software to operate from. We have found the solution to be stable The initial setup and deployment of the solution was very easy. The technical support team are very helpful, we contact them whenever we are unable to fix an issue."
"The CMDB is robust, with a strong data model and well-structured data."
"It is a very stable solution."
"It is an absolutely scalable solution."
"The main reason that people use ServiceNow is that performance is very good."
"The most valuable features are the ease of use, stability, and the ability to change or upgrade seamlessly."
"The ServiceNow Now Platform is powerful because it allows for seamless integration and sharing of common features. I can access various features from a single point, enhancing efficiency and usability. Its capability to integrate different user features while maintaining full integration is a significant strength of the platform."
 

Cons

"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 does not include a default or custom template like other products."
"I would like to see easier integration into active directory authentication. Also, maybe integration of JavaScript frameworks would resolve some issues."
"In terms of improvement, there should be a greater focus on AI and machine learning tools in Oracle APEX."
"The migration process is difficult in Oracle Application Express."
"The solution does not support the Linux platform."
"The solution's layout could be improved for report generation to allow more configuration."
"The user interface needs to be improved. It should be more user-friendly."
"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."
"The cost has room for improvement. It is currently expensive."
"It's not quick or cheap."
"What I didn't like in the ServiceNow Now Platform is testing, particularly with Visual Studio. It had a bad integration with Visual Studio because you can't compile and run it from there. You have to debug on your own and then find out where the error is through test scripts. The testing component in the ServiceNow Now Platform isn't that great. What I'd like to see in the next version of the ServiceNow Now Platform is an improvement in testing and writing scripts, and if there was a feature to just run it from the modules, then that would be great, instead of finding the error manually and checking where it is."
"The product's UI is ugly, making it an area where improvements are required."
"The pricing model is complex and needs to be both lowered and simplified."
"It is still difficult to build a set of services in ServiceNow. It can be done, but it is one of the more difficult things to do. If we're talking about scalability, we're talking about the ability to actually build that set of services a little easier."
"The analytics should be more readily available on the base product."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool is free with the Oracle Database license."
"Oracle Express comes with the Oracle license, it is a bundle."
"I would rate it around an eight in terms of price, with one being low and ten being high."
"The solution is moderately priced, where it is neither cheap nor expensive."
"The solution is free."
"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."
"There is a trial version available that can be used free of charge."
"The price of the product falls on the higher side of the spectrum."
"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."
"Price-wise, I would describe the product's cost to be more than the average, but it compensates for that with the functionalities that it provides."
"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."
"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 pricing of this solution is done annually and it is very expensive."
"The solution is expensive, and I rate it a ten for pricing."
"In my opinion, it is expensive. However, they do offer favorable licensing for charities, for example."
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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
15%
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.
866,483 professionals have used our research since 2012.