ServiceNow vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk comparison

Why PeerSpot?

ServiceNow and SolarWinds are both solutions in the Help Desk Software category. ServiceNow is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.6, while SolarWinds is ranked #29. Additionally, 92% of ServiceNow users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 1, 2024

Service Now and SolarWinds Web Help Desk compete in the IT service management domain. ServiceNow has the upper hand with its robust platform suitable for large enterprises requiring extensive functionalities.

Features: ServiceNow provides advanced automation, customizable workflows, and a wide variety of integrations, supporting complex IT environments. SolarWinds Web Help Desk offers efficient ticket, asset, and change management, focusing on straightforward help desk features.

Room for Improvement: ServiceNow can be resource-intensive, with a steep learning curve for new users. Its costs can be prohibitive for small businesses. While customizable, setup might be overwhelming without technical expertise. SolarWinds would benefit from broader integration capabilities. Its reporting features could be enhanced for more insights. The user interface could be made more intuitive for better user adoption.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ServiceNow uses cloud-based deployment with high configurability, which can consume time and resources but includes dedicated support. SolarWinds Web Help Desk offers an easier, often on-premises setup, which is quick to implement, aligning with organizations favoring straightforward integration.

Pricing and ROI: ServiceNow involves higher initial costs but offers a scalable solution for large IT service management demands, potentially increasing long-term ROI for large firms. SolarWinds provides a budget-friendly pricing structure, ideal for smaller to medium-sized businesses, offering value for core help desk functionalities without heavy expenditure.

To learn more, read our detailed ServiceNow vs. SolarWinds Web Help Desk Report (Updated: November 2026).

Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow vs. SolarWinds Web Help Desk

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

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

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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GANESAN K

Senior Technical Engineer at Safezone Secure Solutions Private Limited

Has supported daily operational workflows and improved approval management across departments

We actually do the reselling. We created a self-service portal for the customers, and this particular function does impact reducing IT staff workload overall. From technical standpoints, comparing SolarWinds Web Help Desk with TeamViewer, we need ease of configuration and ease of allocating, creating new fields or creating new layouts for many specific use cases. An organization can have a number of use cases when it comes to a ticketing tool. It's not a security solution; it's more of a service solution where you will be configuring the needed categories and needed fields for each department. On a scale of 1-10, I rate SolarWinds Web Help Desk an 8.

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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

"I like the OCR feature, where we can capture information from PDFs."

"It helps to improve and optimize processes. It eliminates some of the manual tasks, so we can save costs."

"There have been a lot of challenges in terms of interfacing with the customer ERPs. So, we have been building tools and interfaces using bots to write back into these custom ERPs. Specifically, in the area where I work, this has been very helpful."

"The most valuable feature of our solution is the cognitive computing because that is coming onto stream a lot faster than you would think. What used to be in the middle of, "Can this be done or not?", is becoming, "It can be done." We are getting some incredible straight through processing rates with AR around healthcare and financial services."

"Co-pilot certainly makes the job easier if the client has a subscription. It allows me to analyze desktop flows and activities and create flows using natural language."

"Since it has capabilities to integrate with third-party applications easily, it makes the life of an automation engineer very easy."

"The ease of use is one of great assets for Automation Anywhere."

"We had some business users who created their first bot four weeks back, and they were thrilled; it was very easy for them because of the drag and drag, and they understood the process very well."

More Automation Anywhere pros

"From a service perspective, I think that being able to customize it is great."

"Compared to other ITSM platforms, ServiceNow is by far the most agile, robust, and scalable platform."

"We're getting a good cost-efficiency."

"In my experience, ServiceNow's most valuable feature is its flexibility. If you have a DevOps or development team, you can customize it to meet your specific needs. The tool's dashboard categorizes incidents, making managing it much easier."

"In my experience, the solution is very stable."

"As time has gone on and ServiceNow has evolved and matured, we are loving the ease of the product."

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

"The thing that I like most about it is the easy integration with the CMDB. I'm able to look at the CMDB for applications and develop my assessments and attestations based on the application and point them at that application owner. So, I can really automate the whole thing."

More ServiceNow pros

"The solution scales well; currently is working for 60 help desk technicians (IT and non-IT) for over 2,000 users."

"The most valuable feature of this solution is the assets management module."

"SolarWinds supports case and incident reporting. This includes logging incidents and tracking them efficiently. Additionally, it is compatible and approved by the ITIL foundation and standards, meeting world-class standards."

"SolarWinds is scalable as far as adding devices and servers."

"SolarWinds is a very good application that provides you with a detailed monitoring capability of your network and assets."

"It has a pretty good search function. If you do the advanced search, you can basically search for anything in any field. If I do a search on the request field and just put in some terms I'm searching for, I can usually find the ticket that I'm looking for."

"A person who is not in IT, but has some good ITSM knowledge will be able to configure it directly on SolarWinds, and Manage Engine."

"Once installed, it runs like a charm and doesn't ever crash."

More SolarWinds Web Help Desk pros

Cons

"I'd love to see the ability to build web or mobile applications that are integrated with Automation Anywhere bots, so that a user can work on a web interface directly. Then, it can be linked to the Automation Anywhere bots in the background. They just hit a button, and all the data or information will be used by the bot to do some process in the back end."

"Security needs improvement."

"I'd like to see the OCR feature be perfected. Today we get an accuracy ratio from OCR of around 40 percent to 50 percent only."

"We would like a better coding interface for developers. We would also like to have a user interface which reduces the time to learn the product so more people in the organization can use software, like Automation Anywhere, quickly automating processes."

"When I change the name of a variable in the Variable Manager, I would really like it to change in the code."

"As far as stability is concerned, there have been some challenges. Sometimes, we experience our computers freezing up for no apparent reason or the network being inaccessible."

"In the A2019 community edition, while running its taking time to run RPA bots and having few bugs related to IQ Bot server connectivity and other things."

"In terms of improvements for Automation Anywhere, I would prefer to see more options in packages and pricing, including a breakdown of different features and products, which would allow us to select certain products while potentially skipping others as needed."

More Automation Anywhere cons

"Creating service catalog forms could be made easier."

"They could improve license management, particularly when integrating different applications or toolsets."

"If you have advanced questions, technical support often doesn't know the answer."

"This solution needs to be improved for global use. Currently, it's very oriented to the processes and needs of the US customer base, like their compliance solution or GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance), and not so much for customers from other parts of the world. Some users may like the things that ServiceNow is improving, but those are very oriented to users based in the United States and Europe."

"In an upcoming release, there should be more administration tools."

"The user interface for accessing assistance sometimes disconnects."

"I find ServiceNow to be a little bit clunky. If I need to report an issue they have a number of different options. I can report an issue, I can ask a question, I can make a request and it has varying levels of importance or levels of attention required. I find that what's required to submit is not always clear."

"Also, some of the way that the patches would break the catalog and the catalog items would cause unnecessary changes to the layout in the UI."

More ServiceNow cons

"This solution needs to have mobile application support added."

"The interface feels clunky to me compared to some other systems that I've used. I used ManageEngine Service Desk prior to this at my previous job and that had stuff like categories that we use that I don't see in SolarWinds."

"The working part, the deployment part, and the configuration part was a little bit complex."

"This is a good solution, but the GUI is really old-fashion and needs to be updated."

"Dashboards need some amount of work to be done. Ease of customization is desired."

"However, it's a little outdated compared to newer products that include protection and detection."

"We would like to see automation included in the next release. We would like to eliminate the L1, and L2 support, by at least 80%. To do this, we need automation with AI (Artificial Intelligence) in combination with ML (Machine Learning)."

"The program seems buggy to me. Not infrequently, when I click to add a Note, the Notes section disappears instead of opening a box to add a Note."

More SolarWinds Web Help Desk cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Our company is investing a lot of money in Automation Anywhere. They have saved money wherever humans are working. They invest a lot of money in FTEs and other logistics, so the money saving is very pretty good with Automation Anywhere. While I don't know the exact figure, the tool is saving us millions of dollars as well as saving about 40,000 hours in the last year."

"Currently, it stands as one of the more expensive RPA tools available."

"Its price is competitive with all other products in the market."

"One of the things that will be good for the community will be to get the free version to download, which came out just a month ago called Community Edition. So, you can actually download it and try it for yourself."

"Roughly, as of today, it is around $250,000 annually."

"Cost-wise, it is fine. A lot of medium businesses prefer Automation Anywhere. The development cost is also lower."

"The cost is anywhere between $10,000 and $100,000."

"The setup cost depends on multiple factors, so you need to get details before choosing."

More Automation Anywhere pricing and cost advice

"I know that it's not too bad because people continue to use it and they are happy to renew up their contract."

"ServiceNow is a leader and its pricing is quite good, quite competitive... Sometimes some plugins are not priced reasonably but, generally, the platform itself, its modules, are priced reasonably."

"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."

"The pricing is reasonable and affordable, making it suitable for businesses ranging from small to large scale."

"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."

"This is a pretty expensive product, so the licensing could be better."

"There is an annual subscription to use this solution."

More ServiceNow pricing and cost advice

"They charge by the technician. It costs $117 per technician per year."

"When you compare with ManageEngine and ServiceNow, SolarWinds is reasonable."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Outsourcing Company

14%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

Outsourcing Company

Construction Company

Manufacturing Company

17%

Outsourcing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

Construction Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	162
Midsize Enterprise	86
Large Enterprise	565

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

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	5
Midsize Enterprise	1
Large Enterprise	3

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 ...

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What is the cost of implementation and maintenance of ServiceNow?

Nobody can give you a clean percentage without knowing your license tier, but here’s how I’d budget it, based on what...

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What needs improvement with SolarWinds Web Help Desk?

Areas of improvement can be enhanced regarding configuration. We had the deployment metrics and usability, ease of us...

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What is your primary use case for SolarWinds Web Help Desk?

For Zoho, we did OP Manager, Audit Security, AD Security and Asset Management, Patch Management. These things we are ...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering SolarWinds Web Help Desk?

We actually do the reselling. We created a self-service portal for the customers, and this particular function does i...

See all answers

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Automation Anywhere

October 2026

Download Automation Anywhere product report

Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow

October 2026

Download ServiceNow product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Web Help Desk

October 2026

Download SolarWinds Web Help 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 Web Help Desk offers a streamlined approach to technical ticketing and asset management, enhancing departmental operations with efficient asset-user linking and automated scheduling.

Offering an intuitive interface for multiple roles, SolarWinds Web Help Desk enhances ticket management through automated scheduling. Integrating ticketing with remote support provides smooth transitions, while LDAP integration streamlines user permissions. It supports diverse departments, including non-IT sectors, providing detailed case management, reporting, and approval workflows.

What are the standout features of SolarWinds Web Help Desk?

Intuitive User Levels: Customizable interfaces for different roles enhance user experience.
Efficient Ticket Management: Automated scheduling aids in managing tickets effectively.
Comprehensive Asset Management: Links assets to users, improving resource tracking.
Advanced Search: Facilitates easy ticket retrieval and management.
Scheduled Report Generation: Uses Power BI for regular, detailed reports.

What benefits or ROI should users consider?

Streamlined Operations: Automates routine tasks, saving time and resources.
Enhanced Reporting: Detailed reports support data-driven decision-making.
Remote Support Integration: Smooth integration improves support team efficiency.
User and Asset Linkage: Increases asset usage visibility and accountability.

In industries like HR, cybersecurity, and maintenance, SolarWinds Web Help Desk is deployed on-premises, serving as a robust case management tool that supports both IT and non-IT departments' specific needs. It helps maintain departmental efficiency by managing technical tickets and supporting patch management workflows.

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

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Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow vs. SolarWinds Web Help Desk

November 2026

Free Report: ServiceNow vs. SolarWinds Web Help Desk

Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow vs. SolarWinds Web Help Desk and other solutions. Updated: November 2026.

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