Qualys Exposure Management vs ServiceNow CMDB comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Qualys and ServiceNow are both solutions in the Configuration Management Databases category. Qualys is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.5, while ServiceNow is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.5. Qualys holds a 9.9% mindshare in CMD, compared to ServiceNow’s 19.5% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Qualys users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of ServiceNow users who would recommend it.

Qualys Exposure Management

Read 102 Qualys Exposure Management reviews

23,837 Views
477 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

ServiceNow CMDB

Read 34 ServiceNow CMDB reviews

2,298 Views
2,298 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Qualys Exposure Management

ServiceNow CMDB

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 8, 2026

Qualys Exposure Management and ServiceNow CMDB are significant players in vulnerability management and configuration management databases, respectively. Qualys holds an edge with its advanced vulnerability management and broad scanning capabilities, while ServiceNow CMDB shines in integration and incident management.

Features: Qualys Exposure Management offers extensive risk prioritization and asset discovery capabilities that are essential for managing vulnerabilities in distributed workforces. It provides both scanner-based and agent-based scanning to ensure comprehensive coverage, alongside cloud security posture management for Azure and AWS. ServiceNow CMDB excels in integration with various modules, allowing for efficient configuration and incident management while maintaining an effective IT asset registry.

Room for Improvement: Qualys needs to enhance its reporting capabilities, streamline its user interface, and improve integration between modules. Issues with support response time and onboarding complexities remain areas of concern. ServiceNow CMDB could benefit from a simplified user interface, better integration capabilities, and more competitive pricing to counter its high implementation costs and complexity.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Qualys offers versatile deployment models suitable for various organizational needs, including public, hybrid, and private clouds, but faces challenges in customer support effectiveness. ServiceNow CMDB provides robust deployment options for cloud and on-premises environments but receives mixed reviews for its customer service quality and response times.

Pricing and ROI: Qualys is recognized for its competitive pricing and rich features, offering a substantial return on investment through improved security risk management. Despite its relatively high cost, its comprehensive features justify the pricing. In contrast, ServiceNow CMDB is perceived as expensive for smaller organizations due to its complex licensing model, though larger enterprises acknowledge its extensive capabilities as adding significant value despite higher costs.

To learn more, read our detailed Qualys Exposure Management vs. ServiceNow CMDB Report (Updated: November 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Qualys Exposure Management vs. ServiceNow CMDB

November 2026

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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

Qualys Exposure Management

Ranking in Configuration Management Databases

4th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

102

Ranking in other categories

IT Asset Management (5th), Vulnerability Management (2nd), Container Security (11th), Risk-Based Vulnerability Management (1st)

ServiceNow CMDB

Ranking in Configuration Management Databases

2nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2026, in the Configuration Management Databases category, the mindshare of Qualys Exposure Management is 9.9%, up from 4.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow CMDB is 19.5%, down from 28.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Configuration Management Databases Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
ServiceNow CMDB	19.5%
Qualys Exposure Management	9.9%
Other	70.6%

Configuration Management Databases

Featured Reviews

Ajay Paul

System Engineer at a outsourcing company with 10,001+ employees

Vulnerability management has prioritized high‑risk patching and simplified bulk system reporting

The primary issue is with the reporting functionality. Even though we fix vulnerabilities, the reports do not reflect the changes immediately. Sometimes we need to manually run a script to scan the systems before Qualys Enterprise TruRisk Management will update the scan results. The main issue is the reporting delay, and sometimes the Qualys Enterprise TruRisk Management agent will not scan the system, which means we do not receive accurate reports in a timely manner. Additionally, there are many metrics for calculating vulnerabilities, such as the Qualys ID, severity scores, CVSS scores, and other metrics. The abundance of information can be confusing. These two aspects are the most significant negatives I have experienced with this tool.

Read full review

reviewer2782440

ServiceNow Consultant at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Automation features and integrated service mapping have streamlined incident and change management processes

There is probably room for improvement in ServiceNow CMDB. I'm so immersed in projects and solving direct customer issues that I don't think too much about potential improvements. Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date ServiceNow CMDB can be challenging due to incoming data from various sources, but ServiceNow has been developing small AI components to help with data discrepancies and deduplication recently. They have also improved integrations with other tools, providing many out-of-the-box integrations to different monitoring tools and CMDBs, which previously required coding experience for custom integrations. They are moving towards a more low-code or no-code approach, which is part of their goal as a company.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution, overall, is very useful for our organization; it is very easy to use and there are lots of options, and we can usually easily go through it and all of the things we want to configure, and we can configure everything to our specifications very easily."

"The way we can maintain a current actual registry of all the IP assets within it is very good."

"Qualys VM's most valuable feature is automatic detection."

"The product's patch management is excellent for keeping our critical servers and third-party applications updated efficiently."

"The most valuable feature is the connection of threat intelligence information with identified vulnerabilities, which means you can prioritize vulnerabilities according to actual attacks."

"Technical support is great and we've never really had a problem."

"What I like best about this product is that it does what it is supposed to do, which is vulnerability scanning."

"After implementing Qualys Exposure Management, our critical vulnerabilities' mean time to resolve (MTTR) decreased from around 20 days to five to seven days, resulting in a 65-70% improvement."

More Qualys Exposure Management pros

"As I work based on the IT governance framework, what I like best about ServiceNow CMDB is ITSM, so incident/service request management. I also like that it can be useful for project portfolio management."

"We can use ServiceNow CMDB to create more tables that can provide granular information."

"The product's most valuable feature is its ability to extract the details of organizational hardware and provide the latest setup updates."

"It has improved our organization by bringing about quite a bit of automation so that we don't have to manually take inventory, and we can also quickly filter a query along different avenues to find out how many models we have in place."

"The product's initial setup phase was simple."

"The solution has a single database, architecture, and data model."

"CMDB provides a centralized repository for your assets and support representatives throughout the organization."

"The most valuable feature of ServiceNow is the user interface because you can customize or configure it directly from the user interface by using the mouse."

More ServiceNow CMDB pros

Cons

"The IoT scan is not great."

"Qualys could be improved in its overall performance compared to other vulnerability management or scanning tools."

"The user interface (UI) is quite complicated."

"Qualys should improve their customer experience. They need to improve the tech support experience and the turnaround time."

"I have used the support from Qualys Container Security and they could improve their knowledge."

"Web application security model needs some work."

"Qualys VM's scanner doesn't pick up every vulnerability, so we have to use multiple scanners to cover that gap."

"When you want to cover yourself for scalability, you will be charged for the number you place on the scan itself."

More Qualys Exposure Management cons

"Definitely, the price needs to be lower because there are clients that I work with who cannot afford ServiceNow. I have to end up proposing alternate solutions to fit their budget."

"If you select any CI, the associated applications with that CI should also be made available for users since, currently, the tool lacks such a feature."

"The tool is not user-friendly. It has a lot of features and you can get lost in it."

"There are areas that could be improved, but that's a longer discussion."

"It depends on the implementation, but the out-of-the-box product tends to be fixed on the support people. From a linear standpoint, I would like to see a certain number of fields on a table and a related list to describe the support personnel."

"The discovery process and service mapping could be improved."

"There is some customization we need from the customer side."

"When running large queries within the system, it does have a tendency to bog down the system."

More ServiceNow CMDB cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"They have recently changed the pricing model, which is now better than it was before."

"In Nigerian Naira, we spend about roughly four to five million to use this solution and this is expensive compared to solutions like Nessus."

"Qualys Virtual Scanner Appliance isn't expensive right now. But the price for their product bundles could be better."

"It is more expensive than other products on the market."

"The tool's pricing is expensive and I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten."

"There are no additional fees in addition to the standard licensing fees."

"Usually every implementation is different and the quote is in function of number of assets."

"It is different for every company, but for us, it's every three years."

More Qualys Exposure Management pricing and cost advice

"It is always fluctuating. It seems to change every six months. Every time they come out with a new iteration, it changes. It is pretty complicated, and they should improve it."

"I would like it to be cheaper. If you've got a large environment, it can get quite expensive quite quickly. You still get a return on investment, but everybody has a tight budget. In terms of licensing, everything is pretty much known upfront. Being SaaS-based, there are no real additional gotchas that we came across."

"The market sees ServiceNow as the Ferrari in terms of pricing. It's at the very top, and its cost is very, very high."

"In comparison to the cost of other solutions, you get value for your money with ServiceNow CMDB. It could definitely be cheaper though."

"The product is pricey."

"It is really expensive. I don't know actually how much it costs, but in 2016, when a client decided to move from an old solution to ServiceNow and had to choose a supplier for ServiceNow, I had heard that it could cost $10 per hour, which is really expensive. I am not aware of any additional fees to the standard licensing fees. There is no standard ServiceNow solution. When a company wants to acquire ServiceNow, they already know which module they will choose. In a basic package, you would have Service Catalog, Incident Management, and Change Management. These modules are usually required in an IT company."

"The product price falls on the higher side of the spectrum."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Outsourcing Company

Comms Service Provider

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

16%

Outsourcing Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	21
Midsize Enterprise	12
Large Enterprise	75

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	23

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys VMDR?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing shows that we can consider both time and money saved.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Qualys VMDR?

I haven't explored Qualys VMDR's vulnerability lifecycle automation yet. One of my analysts mentioned that queries lack grouping operators in Qualys VMDR. From my experience, I would appreciate imp...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering Qualys VMDR?

I have some understanding about PeerSpot, and I have visited the website. PeerSpot is similar to TrustRadius. It takes reviews from customers or end users who are using the tools and technologies i...

See all answers

What needs improvement with ServiceNow CMDB?

I believe that related to the solutions in the Now Assist platform, we can put more autonomy on that. Some reconciliation can be automated. AI Assist is the current improvement now. I don't have an...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for ServiceNow CMDB?

I primarily work with ITSM, HR, SPM, AI, Now Assist, CMDB, and CSDM modules, covering almost all of these areas. I use the integration with ServiceNow CMDB with all the processes that we have imple...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering ServiceNow CMDB?

I help customers evaluate their CMDB health. We use the CMDB health to make that analysis, to see the relationships, what is missing with the processes they have, and any mis-ownership issues. So, ...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Qualys Exposure Management

October 2026

Download Qualys Exposure Management product report

Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow CMDB

October 2026

Download ServiceNow CMDB product report

Also Known As

Qualys VM, QualysGuard VM, Qualys Asset Inventory, Qualys Container Security

No data available

Overview

Qualys VMDR is a comprehensive cybersecurity tool offering vulnerability management, patch management, and continuous monitoring with real-time asset discovery. It delivers scalable, cloud-based solutions that enhance security operations without additional infrastructure.

Qualys VMDR provides a robust platform for enterprise security, integrating vulnerability management, compliance, and asset inventory for full visibility across cloud and on-premises environments. It features a comprehensive dashboard with threat intelligence-driven prioritization and remediation capabilities. Users benefit from accurate assessments via agent-based scanning and appreciate the intuitive, customizable scanning and reporting interface. However, there's room for improvement in false positive reduction, UI simplification, and integration capabilities, along with enhancements in asset management for large-scale deployments and the vulnerability database. Enhancing technical support speed, patch management, compliance standards, and inter-module navigation would further enrich user experience.

What are the key features of Qualys VMDR?

Vulnerability Management: Identifies and manages security vulnerabilities across environments.
Patch Management: Ensures systems are updated with the latest patches.
Continuous Monitoring: Offers real-time insights into security posture.
Asset Discovery: Provides up-to-date asset inventory and visibility.
Threat Intelligence: Enhances prioritization and remediation processes.
Customizable Dashboard: Facilitates easier scanning and reporting through an intuitive interface.

What benefits can users expect when evaluating Qualys VMDR?

Scalability: Cloud-based deployment offers easy, cost-effective expansion.
Accurate Assessment: Agent-based scanning keeps security data current.
Enhanced Security Operations: Comprehensive features streamline vulnerability management.
Advanced Reporting: Facilitates detailed insights for better security decision-making.

Qualys VMDR is widely used in industries needing stringent security and compliance measures, offering comprehensive vulnerability and compliance management. It is deployed to secure web applications, servers, and crucial assets, supporting a wide range of sectors by ensuring policy adherence and vulnerability tracking through its powerful cloud platform.

Qualys

ServiceNow CMDB offers a user-friendly interface with customizable features, seamless integration, reliable performance, detailed discovery tools, and robust data governance. It is essential for effective asset management and IT service optimization.

ServiceNow CMDB serves as a central management facility for configuration items supporting processes like incident, change, and asset management. It provides scalable tracking of IT hardware assets, integrates discovery, and manages relationships among configuration items to enhance infrastructure and service visualization. With strong data governance, automation capabilities, and integration with business modules, it supports cloud and on-premises environments effectively.

What are the most important features of ServiceNow CMDB?

User-Friendly Interface: Customizable and easy-to-navigate, allowing for efficient management.
Seamless Integration: Interfaces with Microsoft Active Directory and business tools effortlessly.
Automation Capabilities: Automates processes to enhance operational efficiency.
Reliability: Offers consistent performance and detailed discovery tools.
Data Governance: Strong regulatory compliance and data management.

What key benefits or ROI should users expect?

Asset Tracking: Centralized asset management with scalable solutions.
IT Service Management: Enhanced project and service portfolio management.
Centralization: Consolidates configuration data for improved decision-making.
Scalability: Adapts to growing business needs and large data sets.

ServiceNow CMDB is implemented across multiple industries to manage complex IT infrastructures. In finance, it supports asset tracking and compliance. Healthcare uses it for critical configuration management and reliable discovery. Tech companies benefit from its integration capabilities and process automation to maintain competitive edge.

ServiceNow

Sample Customers

Agrokor Group, American Specialty Health, American State Bank, Arval, Life:), Axway, Bank of the West, Blueport Commerce, BSkyB, Brinks, CaixaBank, Cartagena, Catholic Health System, CEC Bank, Cegedim, CIGNA, Clickability, Colby-Sawyer College, Commercial Bank of Dubai, University of Utah, eBay Inc., ING Singapore, National Theatre, OTP Bank, Sodexo, WebEx

Wayfair, Siemens, Allianz, Experian, Vitas Healthcare

Buyer's Guide

Qualys Exposure Management vs. ServiceNow CMDB

November 2026

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