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 #30. Additionally, 92% of ServiceNow users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 85% of SolarWinds users who would recommend it.

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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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: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow vs. SolarWinds Web Help 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

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

"Automation Anywhere can have a significant impact on any company's operation, as it can automate a wide variety of tasks that are mundane, time-consuming, and the least productive."

"If you are looking for a fast solution using minimal resources not requiring an advanced programming skill set this is your product."

"I like web automation and SAP application automation."

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

"I like all of the features, especially the MetaBot, REST API, and SAP DLL."

"Automation Anywhere has had a huge impact in my organization, especially in saving time and compliance-related process automation by reducing errors drastically and ensuring quick processing of requests with proper logs available for the audit team."

"Unattended use is its most valuable feature."

"The universal recorder along with the Excel basic and advanced packages has been highly valuable."

More Automation Anywhere pros

"One of the nice things about ServiceNow is that, if you have your process, you can design the ticket and the form according to your process."

"Other solutions are integrated with different applications and tools, but ServiceNow is quite centralized, fully managed, and you can find everything in one place."

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

"Being able to have the required information for project management is valuable. I've got multiple people accessing it, and I'm tracking tasks with percentages done. It allows me to have detailed notes and provides the ability to attach documents. I have used a lot of project management solutions, and there were gaps in terms of what was available. ServiceNow has got all the features and functionalities. It is a solid solution. It is also easy to get into and use. It is certainly highly scalable."

"Go ahead and get it. You'll have a cleaner insight into your organization, and how it's really working."

"ServiceNow is one of the best tools in the industry for production support people, for incident and production ticket management."

"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."

"The development aspects within it are valuable, including incident, change, and problem, and it has given us one pane of glass to look at a lot of stuff, which has opened a lot of eyes to our IT department."

More ServiceNow pros

"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."

"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."

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

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

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

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

"The biggest advantage for SolarWinds Web Help Desk is the user interface; we were able to configure a different UI for administrators, employees, and HODs based on their hierarchy level."

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

More SolarWinds Web Help Desk pros

Cons

"In Automation Anywhere, the logging process is manual."

"The schedule queue needs improvement. When one task fails, everything else gets stuck, requiring manual intervention to clear the problematic schedule and trigger the other tasks."

"They need to improve the OCR engine which is not up to the market."

"I am not technically inclined, and it involves many steps for a process to function properly. It requires a lot of work initially to design and develop a process. I find it somewhat challenging. If you take time to understand it, it's not too difficult, but it seems complicated at the beginning if you're not a technical person."

"I believe Automation Anywhere can be improved by leading in the direction of seamless integration with the LLM models that are readily available today in the market."

"Automation Anywhere will sometimes announce releases or updates in their roadmap, and we wait for them, but they do not happen on time or at all."

"It needs stability improvements. Sometimes, it becomes unstable."

"There are many bots available on the Bot Store. However, my developer told me that he was unhappy with the quality of the bots available."

More Automation Anywhere cons

"It has a higher cost compared to local/regional solutions."

"The solution should offer better security when it comes to storing data."

"I think the biggest thing that I've seen is when we've moved to the knowledge-based version three, which happened relatively recently, there were a lot of new improvements that came with that, but there were a lot of things that actually seemed like a little bit of a step back."

"We are not supposed to access outside our network."

"I think the licensing and pricing of ServiceNow is quite expensive compared to other tools."

"Its setup is tough. It takes a lot of knowledge and a lot of experience."

"A global search should be present OOB which can locate anything in the system like any piece of code or any sys id or any record so that we don't have to goto to each module for searching it."

"We do a lot of relatively advanced stuff for the size that we are, but ServiceNow itself is so big and to some extent, there is a significant amount of complexity that you have, a big learning curve I would say, in order to really get on board."

More ServiceNow cons

"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."

"It would be good if there were training and tutorial videos on the Web Help Desk."

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

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

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

"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."

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

More SolarWinds Web Help Desk cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I am using that Automation Anywhere Master Certification for version 11. Recently, this has been updated in Automation Anywhere University. Until this month, it's free to use. There are no charges. That's why I would like to complete it this month."

"It saves me around $100,000 a year."

"We have purchased licenses, but are trying to obtain more bot programmer licenses."

"In the Indian market, I feel that for mid-size companies, such as ourselves, that having multiple bots costs a lot. If Automation Anywhere wants to expand in the Indian market, they will need to look at their pricing."

"Automation Anywhere is reasonably priced because it can sustain us for a long period."

"It is cost-efficient in terms of licensing. I found their support good when I was working for the airline client. However, I hear from my managers here that the support price for Tier 3 or premium is a little higher. That is why we are not going for Automation Anywhere. Its price was okay for our client, but for us, it seems expensive."

"On a scale of one to ten with ten being the most expensive, I rate the price of Automation Anywhere an eight out of ten."

"This is a value for the money product."

More Automation Anywhere pricing and cost advice

"It's sold as a less expensive solution, but it has to be highly modified. That's where you get into the cost."

"$230 per user."

"ServiceNow tends to be a little bit more expensive as compared to BMC Helix ITSM."

"The licenses are expensive."

"The product cost is higher than that of other vendors."

"They could be more competitive with their licensing."

"For the modules we use, we found it competitive. I can't think of any costs in addition to the licensing fees."

"The solution is priced for medium to enterprises sized businesses. However, it is expensive compared to competitors."

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

15%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Comms Service Provider

12%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Outsourcing Company

Government

Outsourcing Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Construction Company

Performing Arts

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	161
Midsize Enterprise	86
Large Enterprise	563

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...

See all answers

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 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...

See all answers

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...

See all answers

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

Comparisons

UiPath Platform vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 10% of the time

Blue Prism vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 6% of the time

Microsoft Power Automate vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 4% of the time

AutomationEdge vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 3% of the time

Appian vs Automation Anywhere

Compared 2% of the time

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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 3% of the time

JIRA Service Management vs ServiceNow

Compared 3% of the time

Freshservice vs ServiceNow

Compared 3% of the time

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ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk

Compared 12% of the time

Zendesk vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk

Compared 7% of the time

BMC Helix ITSM vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk

Compared 6% of the time

Freshservice vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk

Compared 6% of the time

Spiceworks vs SolarWinds Web Help Desk

Compared 5% of the time

More SolarWinds Web Help Desk Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Automation Anywhere

October 2026

Download Automation Anywhere product report

Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow

September 2026

Download ServiceNow product report

Buyer's Guide

SolarWinds Web Help Desk

September 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

September 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: September 2026.

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