ServiceNow vs SolarWinds Service Desk comparison

Why PeerSpot?

ServiceNow and SolarWinds are both solutions in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category. ServiceNow is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.6, while SolarWinds is ranked #14 with an average rating of 9.0. Additionally, 92% of ServiceNow users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between ServiceNow and SolarWinds Service Desk based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two IT Service Management (ITSM) solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed ServiceNow vs. SolarWinds Service Desk Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow vs. SolarWinds Service Desk

September 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

Automation Anywhere

Featured Reviews

Venkat Sivaprakash

Management Consultant at Accenture

Has significantly improved document-driven workflows and reduced processing time across finance and HR functions

Automation Anywhere has evolved significantly and upgraded itself to provide agentic AI and AI-based automation solutions for document automation. The product has matured considerably over time. We can create workflows that can call an API. We can include prompts in particular workflows for ChatGPT-related functions, connecting to an LLM and RAG to perform tasks. For document automation, modern features are available to train documents, ensuring high accuracy and repeatability over time. The system is very easy to use. I recently completed a course in document automation, typically designed for people involved in coding and technical aspects. Though I understand coding comprehensively, I don't do actual coding. The course was very accessible. Currently, extensive coding isn't necessary due to the hybrid model incorporating GenAI aspects, low-code, no-code capabilities, APIs, and numerous pre-built objects in Automation Anywhere. The features include GenAI-driven prompting methods and workflow creation capabilities. In these workflows, we can create decision boxes and call APIs without coding. We simply pull objects, drop them, connect them, and add minimal coding when needed. The most crucial aspect isn't coding but rather sizing the automation and fleshing out the details. Automation Co-pilot takes notes and performs automated analysis. It can extract details from videos, summarize conversations, and provide detailed information. During calls, it identifies instructions and performs tasks such as preparing reports and reconciliation. Automation Anywhere can also connect with Microsoft Co-pilot. Through Co-pilot, real-time operations can be executed, allowing direct interaction between vendors and automation through this component.

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Hemanthreddy Vakiti

Junior 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.

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Vaibhav Patkar

CISO at Orient Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Improved service requests and network monitoring have increased efficiency but integration needs work

SolarWinds Service Desk is a recognized product across the world and a dependable product. Kaseya is somewhat dated, and SolarWinds Service Desk has better connectivity in terms of superior integration facilities compared to Kaseya. Additionally, SolarWinds Service Desk offers multiple options within the same tool, including ITSM as well as NOC and network monitoring capabilities. SolarWinds Service Desk has much greater acceptability in the market and a wide range of implementations and integrations with various tools and applications. Life becomes simpler when choosing a standard product, whereas Kaseya may not be as highly regarded in the market. SolarWinds Service Desk may have some flaws, but work is being done to address them. SolarWinds Service Desk is an affordable product. SolarWinds Service Desk is suitable for all customers ranging from small to enterprise. There are some small customers, and the primary usage is within the company itself, and then as customers require it, access can be provided to them.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Automation Anywhere is one of the leading RPA tool vendors and they have done splendid work on improving their tool."

"The best feature of AA is the scheduling and the triggering..."

"AA provides multiple features such as Windows actions, Database actions, Conditional Actions, Files/Folder Actions, Loop actions, Internet actions, and Clipboard actions. I have used mostly all of these features."

"This solution is easy to use and understand, even for a non-technical person."

"We have more than 50 bots in the company, the FTE and ROI are very good, and in the future we have many projects in pipeline that we are about to implement, so definitely there is a good ROI and FTE savings for us."

"Automation Anywhere offers valuable features, including command packages for PDF, Windows, XML, and Excel, as well as universal recording capabilities."

"I have been using Automation Anywhere for the past five years and it is one of the best tools to automate manual tasks."

"It has helped us a lot with our digitized work, and we have automated a lot of the bank's processes."

More Automation Anywhere pros

"The most valuable aspect of the solution is the possibility of the application development cap so that we can digitize workflows."

"ServiceNow is incredibly stable."

"The biggest feature is that it is cloud-based, so it's always updated, it's always current; we don't have to worry about patches or revisions because we're always working with the latest version and the features continue to improve."

"ServiceNow provides us with a platform that we can develop the tools that are necessary for just about any function on campus."

"The flow designer for application development is the most valuable. The newest version of flow designer allows us to develop applications quite fast. We can have custom and mobile applications. It has an interface for mobiles, and it also has a good reputation."

"There are a lot of features within ServiceNow. There are plenty of add-ons that go beyond the typical core helpdesk operations, such as HR facilities, BRM functionality, and various compliance and governance capabilities."

"I like ServiceNow's Workspace feature. With Jira, we had to edit a ticket by going into it. We couldn't perform edits from within the project plan. ServiceNow allows you to edit everything from one screen. It's like an Excel spreadsheet, but Jira requires you to drill down into the ticket. ServiceNow is more convenient if you are working on multiple projects and workflows."

"The workflow capability for easy setup is powerful."

More ServiceNow pros

"The solution is very stable."

"SolarWinds Service Desk is a recognized product across the world and a dependable product."

"What I appreciate the most about the product is that, as per the name given, it brings better visibility to the client in terms of their infrastructure, application, and performance."

Cons

"One area where I can see room for improvement is the training material that is available."

"We have been a little frustrated by the frequency of cache releases."

"The Insight feature could be improved. I don't think there's a lot of information about how to use Insight, so you have to try different scenarios to understand that feature better."

"We would like Automation Anywhere to have a way to run a capacity check on machines and show us what is available."

"I would like to have a command that allows me to add code, like C#. As a developer, this would be helpful."

"I'd like to see the stabilization of Co-Pilot and integration with multiple products... In the future, I will require integration with SAP Oracle, Atlassian, and Service Now. The contact center vertical is important..."

"We would like to have more ease of use for the operations team."

"When it comes to reading email, this solution is unstable and improvements need to be made."

More Automation Anywhere cons

"I do see there's definitely a learning curve involved."

"Vulnerability management could be improved. Also, integration with tools such as Microsoft Defender ATP needs improvement."

"The visuals are the one area where there is opportunity for improvement."

"While ServiceNow has many options, the number of options can sometimes be confusing regarding where to click or how things work, as it is based on configuration provided by the administrator."

"The discovery of assets could be improved; right now they only allow for one domain."

"The major area for improvement for our needs would be monitoring the metrics of the times to acknowledge and resolve issues and escalations."

"Once a change request has been created once it's been approved and been submitted, there is no way to go in on that particular change request and submit an additional task."

"Some of the issues that my team has run into are that something one day works completely fine, the next day it does not."

More ServiceNow cons

"The only additional features I would like to see in the future, to make it closer to perfection, are intelligent features that are currently being developed on the cloud platform and not on the on-premise model."

"The integration with other applications can use improvement because, for example, it was nearly impossible to integrate SolarWinds Service Desk with monday.com because we had to get an add-on from Zapier."

"The primary concern so far is the integration part because of the APIs; this is the main area of concern."

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The cost of Automation Anywhere is high in Turkey due to the weak economy."

"The price of Automation Anywhere is a little higher than some of the competition, such as UiPath. However, depending on the use case and other factors we are able to receive some discounts."

"The licensing cost of Automation Anywhere is better than UiPath and Blue Prism."

"I think the solution's pricing is reasonable."

"In terms of pricing, this is a good product."

"Automation Anywhere's pricing falls within the mid-range, but the long-term benefits outweigh the initial investment."

"Automation Anywhere is thought to be quite expensive, especially for smaller organizations."

"Subscription for Automation Anywhere (AA) is paid yearly."

More Automation Anywhere pricing and cost advice

"The cost is quite high."

"The licenses are expensive."

"Certainly, from a product-platform perspective, the price is not too bad."

"The mandatory minimum is US$ 20,000 for licensing."

"It is fairly expensive."

"Initially, the licensing model ServiceNow came up with was very good. But now, from a licensing perspective, they are changing their model day by day. It is becoming a bit expensive for customers."

"The pricing is on the high side, but if you look at the stability and option to work, it's kind of justified."

"The solution is expensive."

More ServiceNow pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Comms Service Provider

10%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Outsourcing Company

Government

No data available

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	161
Midsize Enterprise	82
Large Enterprise	560

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

No data available

Questions from the Community

How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

It depends on your use case. Is it simply to automate a couple of processes? Is it to augment a human team? AA is ver...

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How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

From my experience using AA tool, it depends on the applications that you want to automate, because there some applic...

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How good is Automation Anywhere for RPA processes?

It is a highly preferred RPA tool. You can check my Automation Anywhere Review to know more.

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 t...

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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 ...

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 r...

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What needs improvement with SolarWinds Service Desk?

The primary concern so far is the integration part because of the APIs; this is the main area of concern. Currently, ...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Service Desk?

SolarWinds Service Desk is used for ITSM and network monitoring purposes. The major use cases being utilized are from...

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What advice do you have for others considering SolarWinds Service Desk?

I think the pricing of SolarWinds Hybrid Cloud Observability is now comparative and suited to our business model, whi...

See all answers

Comparisons

UiPath Platform vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 11% of the time

Blue Prism vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 5% of the time

AutomationEdge vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 3% of the time

Appian vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 2% of the time

More Automation Anywhere Competitors

IBM Maximo Application Suite vs ServiceNow

Compared 7% of the time

BMC Helix ITSM vs ServiceNow

Compared 4% of the time

Zendesk vs ServiceNow

Compared 4% of the time

JIRA Service Management vs ServiceNow

Compared 3% of the time

Freshservice vs ServiceNow

Compared 3% of the time

More ServiceNow Competitors

Samanage vs SolarWinds Service Desk

Compared 22% of the time

JIRA Service Management vs SolarWinds Service Desk

Compared 20% of the time

Atera vs SolarWinds Service Desk

Compared 13% of the time

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs SolarWinds Service Desk

Compared 8% of the time

BMC Helix ITSM vs SolarWinds Service Desk

Compared 6% of the time

More SolarWinds Service Desk Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Automation Anywhere

September 2026

Download Automation Anywhere product report

Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow

August 2026

Download ServiceNow product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Service Desk

August 2026

Download SolarWinds Service Desk product report

Also Known As

Automation Anywhere, Testing Anywhere, Automation Anywhere Enterprise, Agentic Process Automation System (Now Certified for WorkSpaces)

No data available

Interactive Demo

Automation Anywhere

Demo not available

ServiceNow

Demo not available

SolarWinds

Overview

Automation Anywhere offers ease of use, robust system connectivity, and GenAI-driven document automation through a cloud-native platform, significantly enhancing productivity across multiple industries with advanced AI features.

Delivering a comprehensive suite of tools designed for easy integration and rapid deployment, Automation Anywhere drives efficiency by reducing costs and automating repetitive tasks. Its cloud-native platform supports broad industry adoption, including advanced AI features like process automation and Co-Pilot, streamlining complex workflows with minimal technical skills required. Users benefit from robust integration capabilities, which facilitate seamless interaction with multiple systems. However, there is room for improvement in areas such as user-friendliness for beginners, stability, flexible licensing, and enhanced OCR functionality. Organizations in sectors such as banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare gain from the improved operational efficiency and ROI Automation Anywhere offers.

What are the important features of Automation Anywhere?

Ease of Use: Simplifies automation tasks with a user-centric interface.
Robust Connectivity: Provides seamless integration with multiple systems.
GenAI-Driven Document Automation: Leverages AI to automate document management.
Process Automation & Co-Pilot: Enhances workflow automation with advanced AI.
Cloud-Native Platform: Enables rapid deployment and integration.

What benefits should be evaluated in reviews?

Time Savings: Automation drastically reduces manual processing time.
Cost Efficiency: Decreases overall operational costs by automating tasks.
Productivity Enhancement: Streamlines workflows with AI-driven tools.
Improved Integration: Enhances ability to work with multiple systems.
Scalability: Supports growth with a flexible cloud-native architecture.

In the insurance industry, Automation Anywhere is utilized for automating processes such as enrollment management and compliance checks. Its applications extend to supply chain management, financial transactions, and business performance monitoring across sectors like banking, finance, manufacturing, and healthcare, helping organizations to automate routine tasks, improve efficiency, and reduce costs.

Automation Anywhere

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

SolarWinds Service Desk provides IT service management capabilities designed to streamline service delivery and enhance the efficiency of IT operations, catering to a knowledgeable audience looking for effective IT solutions.

It offers comprehensive functionality for IT service management. Utilizing automation and advanced analytics, it improves workflow management and incident resolution times. With cloud-based architecture, it ensures easy access and scalability. Features enable effective tracking, reporting, and management, making it a sought-after choice for IT teams seeking efficient service management.

What are the most important features of SolarWinds Service Desk?

Incident Management: Streamlines the resolution process to manage incidents efficiently.
Service Catalog: Allows customization of service offerings to meet specific requirements.
Automation: Automates routine tasks to boost operational productivity.
Change Management: Facilitates controlled change processes with risk assessment capabilities.
Asset Management: Provides detailed tracking and management of IT assets.

What benefits and ROI can users expect from SolarWinds Service Desk?

Reduced Downtime: Minimizes service interruptions, improving operational continuity.
Cost Efficiency: Lowers operational costs through optimized workflows and automation.
Scalability: Grows with business needs, supporting evolving requirements.
Enhanced Productivity: Increases team efficiency with a streamlined service management framework.
Improved Satisfaction: Boosts end-user satisfaction with prompt service delivery and resolution.

In industries such as healthcare and education, SolarWinds Service Desk is implemented to improve compliance and service quality. IT departments benefit from its flexible workflows that adhere to specific sector regulations. Customizable features cater to specific requirements, ensuring effective service management across different sectors.

SolarWinds

Sample Customers

Google, Linkedin, Cisco, Juniper Networks, DellEMC, Comcast, Mastercard, Quest Diagnostics

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

Information Not Available

Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow vs. SolarWinds Service Desk

September 2026

Free Report: ServiceNow vs. SolarWinds Service Desk

Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow vs. SolarWinds Service Desk and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.

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