Retool vs ServiceNow comparison

Retool and ServiceNow are both solutions in the Rapid Application Development Software category. Retool is ranked #19 with an average rating of 7.8, while ServiceNow is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.5. Retool holds a 1.4% mindshare in RADS, compared to ServiceNow’s 4.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Retool users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 92% of ServiceNow users who would recommend it.

Retool

Read 12 Retool reviews

2,228 Views
1,381 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

ServiceNow

Read 231 ServiceNow reviews

35,529 Views
7,106 Comparison Views

92% willing to recommend

Retool

ServiceNow

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

ServiceNow and Retool are two enterprise software platforms competing primarily in IT and business process automation. ServiceNow holds an advantage due to its strong support for IT service management, while Retool excels in customization and rapid development, making it ideal for quickly building internal tools.

Features: ServiceNow offers robust IT workflows, change management, and incident resolution, catering to large enterprises with complex needs. Retool is known for its flexibility, rapid development capabilities, and seamless integration of custom applications, which create a developer-centric environment.

Room for Improvement: ServiceNow could benefit from streamlining deployment times and simplifying its extensive suite to make it more approachable for smaller teams. Retool might improve by expanding integration options and enhancing support for enterprise-scale deployments. Both platforms can enhance their user-friendly interfaces to increase engagement and adoption.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ServiceNow's deployment process is comprehensive and offers excellent support aligned with mature IT practices, but it can be time-consuming. Retool provides a straightforward deployment model that is attractive to teams emphasizing speed and simplicity, with a user-friendly approach and responsive support services.

Pricing and ROI: ServiceNow has higher upfront costs tailored for large enterprises, justifying potential long-term ROI through streamlined IT operations. Retool offers a cost-effective initial setup, providing attractive ROI for teams focusing on the rapid development of tools. ServiceNow targets organizations with established IT budgets, while Retool appeals to those seeking agility and cost-effectiveness in application development.

To learn more, read our detailed Retool vs. ServiceNow Report (Updated: June 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Retool vs. ServiceNow

June 2026

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Helped 902,988 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score

6.5

Retool saves time and money, reducing developer dependency, while offering efficient, cost-effective solutions with a minimal monthly expense.

Sentiment score

6.3

ServiceNow boosts ROI through efficiency, automation, and workflow improvements, often delivering financial benefits within months.

We had fewer front-end resources, and while developing with Retool, we did not need many front-end team members, which saved on salaries.

Kozykorpesh Tolep

software engineer at a non-tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees

I think we can see time saved to start the proof of concept and maybe money saved because I was able to develop the mobile app alone without needing additional resources.

Yannick LE GAL

IT consultant for healthcare sector at Freelancer

We have seen a return on investment because we are building these internal dashboards 30 to 50% faster, so we are saving approximately 30 to 50% of an employee's time.

reviewer2846073

Product Manager at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Retool report

Thanks to ServiceNow's end-to-end automation, we save five to ten days of cycle time for each invoice.

reviewer2810895

Application Development Associate & Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

They have removed the costs associated with on-prem infrastructure, including data center costs, power costs, and physical server costs.

Shafqat Paracha

General Manager at sPerception IT

You should invest in ServiceNow only if you're looking at a long-term strategy and your requirements are very, very clear.

Varun Rai

Senior Business Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the ServiceNow report

Customer Service

Sentiment score

5.5

Retool's customer service is mixed, with varying satisfaction levels, reliance on external resources, and praise for prompt assistance.

Sentiment score

7.0

ServiceNow offers quick, effective customer service with knowledgeable support, though complex tasks may need third-party assistance.

The customer support is amazing; overall, AWS customer support is very professional and fast.

Kozykorpesh Tolep

software engineer at a non-tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees

It is very easy to learn and integrate within our database and infrastructure because we are already on Amazon Web Services, and our entire tech stack is on Amazon Web Services.

reviewer2846073

Product Manager at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees

Technical support team is available, but I haven't needed to contact them.

Anees Shoukat

Full Stack PHP/Python AWS Developer at Binary Port

For more quotes and insights, download the Retool report

Users can raise tickets for platform issues, workflow errors, integrations, or production incidents through ServiceNow's support portal.

reviewer2832981

Cloud Administrator at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

The support is exemplary and deserves a perfect rating.

Somnath Kand

Team Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Obtaining support for maintenance is the current challenge because they don't have a presence in the local market.

Shafqat Paracha

General Manager at sPerception IT

For more quotes and insights, download the ServiceNow report

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score

6.7

Retool efficiently scales, supporting many users with large datasets, offering customization and security, although complexity may rise with features.

Sentiment score

7.4

ServiceNow offers user-friendly scalability, effective integration, and flexibility, ideal for large operations but slightly challenging for small businesses.

It's scalable and doesn't experience any slowdown when handling increasing data volumes.

Anees Shoukat

Full Stack PHP/Python AWS Developer at Binary Port

Retool is more suited for startups, but it can get messy at scale.

Kozykorpesh Tolep

software engineer at a non-tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Retool report

There are no limitations or performance issues with ServiceNow; it is cloud-based, so it is highly scalable and performs well.

Shafqat Paracha

General Manager at sPerception IT

It is capable of vertical scaling with no issues.

Somnath Kand

Team Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

ServiceNow's scalability is very good as it can be deployed in each environment.

Abhishek Kumar Singh

Workload Automation at nab

For more quotes and insights, download the ServiceNow report

Stability Issues

Sentiment score

8.4

Retool is highly rated for dependability, with users experiencing minimal issues, praising its stability and reliable performance.

Sentiment score

7.7

ServiceNow is praised for its dependable performance, excellent uptime, and effective support, despite occasional minor issues.

Retool is stable in my experience.

Yannick LE GAL

IT consultant for healthcare sector at Freelancer

For more quotes and insights, download the Retool report

It is a reliable cloud platform with good uptime and workflow performance, supporting business-critical processes effectively when configured properly.

reviewer2832981

Cloud Administrator at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

It is cloud-based, so it is highly scalable and performs well.

Shafqat Paracha

General Manager at sPerception IT

I haven't faced any issues with stability; I've rarely seen any downtime.

Nikhil Gohil

Solution Engineer - Digital Platform | Mobile at British American Tobacco

For more quotes and insights, download the ServiceNow report

Room For Improvement

Retool's front-end and usability limitations frustrate users, highlighting needs for enhanced customization, integration, and non-technical user support.

ServiceNow faces challenges with pricing, user interface complexity, customization, licensing, support, notifications, and mobile accessibility for smaller organizations.

Retool needs more customization options, as it should not be limited to a few customization features; it should be broader, with more features available for users to utilize.

Kozykorpesh Tolep

software engineer at a non-tech company with 1,001-5,000 employees

AI tools, features, and machine learning capabilities should be added as they would be helpful in the future.

Anees Shoukat

Full Stack PHP/Python AWS Developer at Binary Port

There should be better documentation or support for non-technical users, providing a platform to learn and implement Retool effectively.

reviewer2775993

Construction Data Analyst at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Retool report

It makes no sense in my opinion, and they should offer the team at the front to help customize the product to fit each company's needs, as every company has different demands and forms of submitting a request that need adjustment over time.

MichaelTang1

Manager of Security Engineering & Architecture at a outsourcing company with 5,001-10,000 employees

My priority points for improvement are the UI glitches and modern AI technology integrations for faster incident management.

Akhil Viswam

Senior Consultant at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

There is a need for bug or error tracking in ServiceNow.

Somnath Kand

Team Lead at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the ServiceNow report

Setup Cost

Retool's pricing is affordable for small setups but can be expensive for larger deployments compared to industry leaders.

ServiceNow's pricing is high but justified by enterprise features, with complex licensing requiring negotiation, yet offering scalability.

The pricing, setup cost, and licensing experience were good as the free plan was enough for us.

Yannick LE GAL

IT consultant for healthcare sector at Freelancer

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Retool is that it is straightforward but somewhat pricey compared to other industry leaders such as Sentry and others.

reviewer2846073

Product Manager at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees

For more quotes and insights, download the Retool report

ServiceNow's pricing can be justified if more functionality is required.

Abhinay Sharma

Service Now Developer at Bangmetric services pvt ltd

ServiceNow does come with a price.

Kalyan Kothali

Associate Vice President at Wissen infotech

ServiceNow PPM product to a competitive product like Jira, which is an Atlassian product, they were offering better functionalities at one-tenth of the price.

Varun Rai

Senior Business Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

For more quotes and insights, download the ServiceNow report

Valuable Features

Retool streamlines development with a user-friendly interface, enabling rapid MVP creation and enhancing productivity with extensive customization features.

ServiceNow excels in customization, integration, and accessibility, enhancing efficiency with intuitive interfaces and robust management and automation features.

Retool positively impacts our organization by saving costs compared to using other data repositories, and teams prefer Retool for daily tasks that perform customizations to showcase web pages or link their data backend, making it more efficient and cost-effective than other software available in the market.

reviewer2775993

Construction Data Analyst at a tech services company with 10,001+ employees

Compared to other solutions, the time is 30 to 50% shorter when we are building an internal tool using Retool.

reviewer2846073

Product Manager at a tech vendor with 11-50 employees

Retool provides built-in features with all processing happening within the platform, which is a significant advantage.

Anees Shoukat

Full Stack PHP/Python AWS Developer at Binary Port

For more quotes and insights, download the Retool report

ServiceNow provides a wide range of functionality, covering all the necessary modules, unlike Jira which is primarily for IT.

Abhinay Sharma

Service Now Developer at Bangmetric services pvt ltd

Automation capabilities are impressive, bolstered by a vast repository of out-of-the-box connectors and plugins that facilitate integration with various applications worldwide.

Faraz_Abbasi

Security Architect at وزارة الثقافة Ministry of Culture

The features of ServiceNow that I find most valuable include its ability to easily access ticket details if you know the ticket number, monitor the timeline of when the ticket was created, and see the current status.

Sampath Kumar K

IT infra Admin at synu

For more quotes and insights, download the ServiceNow report

Categories and Ranking

Retool

Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software

19th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

AI Software Development (21st)

ServiceNow

Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software

2nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

231

Ranking in other categories

Help Desk Software (1st), IT Asset Management (1st), IT Service Management (ITSM) (1st), No-Code Development Platforms (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2026, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of Retool is 1.4%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow is 4.5%, down from 10.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Rapid Application Development Software Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
ServiceNow	4.5%
Retool	1.4%
Other	94.1%

Rapid Application Development Software

Featured Reviews

Yannick LE GAL

IT consultant for healthcare sector at Freelancer

Has provided a quick way to build mobile apps and could improve usability for non-technical users

The best features Retool offers include the ability to quickly create a mobile app and use this mobile app in a native mobile app for Android. I found the process of creating and deploying those mobile apps for Android with Retool to be smooth as the documentation is very good, and I found answers and examples to create a mobile app. I can access a debug mode in the mobile app which was really convenient to make tests and find what can be improved, where I have a problem, and how to correct it. Retool positively impacted my organization as the proof of concept we built gave us a way to convince power users and key users before developing the real software. It was a way to maintain the launch date of the project, which helped speed up the project timeline and save resources.

Read full review

Hemanthreddy Vakiti

Data engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Structured workflows have improved SLA compliance and now support prioritized incident handling

I think the licensing and pricing of ServiceNow is quite expensive compared to other tools. For large organizations, it is acceptable, but specifically for small and medium organizations to track incidents or change requests, ServiceNow is quite expensive. Sometimes performance can be slow when workflows and integrations are configured for complex tasks. For advanced customizations or advanced features which we rarely use, the documentation is not up to standard. The documentation needs to be improved for advanced customization features. However, the platform is stable overall and the features are quite good. The user experience and performance concerns I mentioned are areas I want to be improved. When many workflows and interactions are configured, performance is slow. For the features it is providing, it is quite expensive. If these performance features are improved, we can easily pay that price and get the return on investment.

Read full review

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Construction Company

21%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	7
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	4

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	57
Midsize Enterprise	35
Large Enterprise	179

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Retool?

My experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Retool is that it is straightforward but somewhat pricey compared to other industry leaders such as Sentry and others. I feel it is an eigh...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Retool?

I do not have specifics on how Retool can be improved because we are using it for internal tool building only. Regarding needed improvements, perhaps Retool can focus on not building customer-facin...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Retool?

We started using Retool last September, so it has been more than nine months now. Our main use case for Retool is an internal operations dashboard built in Retool for our AI agents. Whenever we shi...

See all answers

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 that platform for good. The business model is to lock in and then keep pumping th...

See all answers

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 ServiceNow has a very strong module (Performance Analysis) reporting which will ...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow?

ServiceNow operates on a subscription-based pricing model with custom pricing based on modules, users, and business requirements. Pricing varies depending on modules such as ITSM and ITOM, and lice...

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Compared 9% of the time

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Compared 8% of the time

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IBM Maximo vs ServiceNow

Compared 6% of the time

BMC Helix ITSM vs ServiceNow

Compared 5% of the time

Zendesk vs ServiceNow

Compared 4% of the time

JIRA Service Management vs ServiceNow

Compared 4% of the time

Freshservice vs ServiceNow

Compared 3% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Retool

June 2026

Download Retool product report

Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow

June 2026

Download ServiceNow product report

Overview

Retool enables rapid construction of internal tools with minimal coding, streamlining workflows across HR, customer support, and compliance. Praised for its drag-and-drop interface, extensive component library, and SQL support, it boosts organizational efficiency by automating tasks and enhancing data management.

Retool

ServiceNow offers customizability and cloud-based integration that sustains operational efficiency. Enabling change and incident management, it accelerates workflow automation and project management without downtime issues, serving deployment needs for IT service and productivity enhancements.

ServiceNow stands out with its adaptable workflows and cloud-native infrastructure, boosting IT service, project, and asset management. Known for its robust incident and change management, the platform addresses business needs through its user-centric design and extensive integration options. By facilitating seamless IT operations and automation, ServiceNow empowers businesses to enhance productivity and efficiency. Regular updates ensure users benefit from the latest features without service interruptions, although pricing and licensing complexities demand attention. Users seek improved reporting tools and a more intuitive design while expressing interest in refined mobile functionality and better documentation.

What are the key features of ServiceNow?

Customizability: Enables tailored workflows to align with business processes.
Cloud-Based Integration: Allows seamless updates and operational sustainability.
Incident and Change Management: Supports efficient handling of IT-related issues.
Automation Capabilities: Automates repetitive tasks, enhancing productivity.
User-Friendly Design: Simplifies navigation and improves user interaction.
Comprehensive Reporting: Provides detailed insights for better decision-making.

What benefits and ROI should users anticipate from ServiceNow?

Improved Efficiency: Streamlines processes and reduces manual efforts.
Enhanced Productivity: Automates tasks, enabling focus on strategic initiatives.
Seamless Operations: Integrates across departments for unified management.
Effective IT Management: Smooth incident, change, and problem resolution.
Cost and Time Savings: Reduces operational costs through efficient workflow management.

ServiceNow finds implementation across industries like IT, HR, asset management, and help desks, addressing ticketing and configuration needs. Businesses use its dashboard for tracking performance metrics, enhancing decision-making in departments like HR service delivery. Its adaptability also makes it suitable for industries requiring robust operational management and process automation, driving efficiency and growth.

ServiceNow

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

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

Buyer's Guide

Retool vs. ServiceNow

June 2026

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