Top 11 ServiceNow alternatives & competitors IT teams rely on in 2026

ServiceNow is a powerhouse in IT Service Management (ITSM), but it’s not always the perfect fit for every organization. ServiceNow has expanded its offerings, but it’s still mainly used by IT teams for ITSM and comes with key features like a ticketing system, self-service portal, and workflow automation.

Users say ServiceNow’s pricing is expensive, there is a steep learning curve, and customer support has declined, which is why many are looking for alternatives.

To help you find an alternative, we have reviewed the top ServiceNow alternatives below.

1. Atera

Atera vs. ServiceNow: Key differences

1. Key features: Atera and ServiceNow are both used by enterprises for IT management, but their key features differ.  

Atera is an all-in-one IT management tool used to monitor and manage endpoints, automate tasks like patching and updates, handle tickets, generate customized reports, and remotely troubleshoot issues.

ServiceNow focuses on the ITSM aspect of IT management, with features like incident management, problem management, and change management.

2. Agentic AI: One of Atera’s key features is its AI agents, which can completely transform how you manage your IT environments. We’ve even won G2 recognition as the best AIOps tool, demonstrating our AI agents’ effectiveness for organizations.

Atera’s Robin is designed to handle IT requests and routine tasks autonomously.  Assisting end-users, creating step-by-step instructions, and resolving technical issues are a few of the tasks Autopilot can do, all without any technician involvement.

If an issue is too complex for Autopilot, Atera’s AI Copilot is there to assist technicians, helping to generate scripts, respond to tickets, troubleshoot issues, and more.

The benefits of our AI agents are immediate; you can expect to eliminate 40% of your IT workload and slash the first response times to zero. 

3. Integrations: Atera offers key integrations for enterprises, which allow you to conveniently manage security, backups, network monitoring, and more.

4. User interface: From the ground up, Atera was built with ease of use in mind. Users can be up and running within a few minutes thanks to our easy onboarding and intuitive admin dashboard.

Atera’s admin dashboard

Comparatively, ServiceNow users say the platform has a steep learning curve, and pages take a long time to load (even with fast connections).

5. Pricing structure: At Atera, we’re big advocates of transparent pricing. While enterprises can request a custom quotation, our IT department pricing plans range from $149 to $219 per month. Atera’s RMM pricing is pay-per-technician, meaning you can manage unlimited endpoints.

Atera customer reviews 

Atera’s G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (830+ reviews)

What Atera users are saying on G2:

• “Atera helps us stay connected to our data workflow by giving us the tools to monitor and manage critical data pipelines, especially on our servers that run sensitive queries,” a G2 user says.

• “The best endpoint management platform. Atera offers a wide range of tools that we rely on, especially when dealing with security issues remotely,” a G2 user says.

Atera’s Capterra Rating: 4.6 out of 5 stars (440+ reviews)

What Atera users are saying on Capterra:

• “Atera connects well with other services for extra security and backups. The pricing is easy and relies on the number of technicians,” a Capterra user says.

• “Atera is a very user-friendly suite compared to its competitors. It makes training new staff really easy because it’s so easy to navigate,” a Capterra user says.

Atera pricing plans

Atera pricing plans for IT departments:

• Professional: $149 per month, per technician
• Expert: $189 per month, per technician
• Master: $219 per month, per technician
• Enterprise: Custom quotation; contact sales to get pricing

Atera pricing plans for MSPs:

• Pro: $129 per month, per technician
• Growth: $179 per month, per technician
• Power: $209 per month, per technician
• Superpower (Enterprise): Custom quotation; contact sales to get pricing

2. Freshservice

Freshservice is an ITSM solution mainly known as a ticketing system for IT departments. It helps with automatically routing and responding to incidents, setting SLA policies, and creating knowledge base articles for future reference. The available automation feature helps automate tasks like employee offboarding and multi-department approvals.

While ServiceNow is hard to learn, Freshservice has an intuitive interface with simpler ticket management features. Freshservice’s sheer focus on ITSM means that it needs to be integrated with third-party tools for capabilities like RMM software.

G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 stars (1,250+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars (600+ reviews)

Freshservice Pricing:

• Starter: $19/month/agent
• Growth: $49/month/agent
• Pro: $95/month/agent
• Enterprise: Based on a custom quotation

3. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus

One of ManageEngine’s products, ServiceDesk Plus, offers key ITSM capabilities, like incident management, SLA management, self-service portals, and customizable reports. With the enterprise plan, you get access to more features, like project management, change management, and release workflow builders.

ServiceDesk Plus can be integrated with other ManageEngine products for more IT management functionality, although this comes at an extra cost.

G2 rating: 4.2 out of 5.0 (230+ reviews)

Capterra rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 (220+ reviews)

ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus Pricing:

• Standard: Starts from $13 per month, per technician
• Professional: Starts from $27 per month, per technician
• Enterprise: Starts from $67 per month, per technician

4. Jira Service Management

Jira Service Management lets you set up alerts, manage incidents, and resolve them by displaying knowledge-base articles for customers. You can set up basic automation workflows for investigating incidents, which reduces the need for repetitive tasks.

Jira Service Management can be a suitable ServiceNow competitor for basic end-user support, although it lacks more advanced features like RMM, patch management, and remote access.

G2 rating: 4.2 out of 5.0 (780+ reviews)

Capterra rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 (700+ reviews)

Jira Service Management pricing:

• Free: Free for up to 3 agents
• Standard: $23.80 per month, per agent
• Premium: $53.30 per month, per agent
• Enterprise: Pricing based on custom quotation. Visit their website to learn more.

5. Pulseway

Pulseway is an IT management solution with RMM, PSA, patch management, remote access, and IT automation features. It offers similar capabilities to Atera, although it falls short on standout offerings, like what Atera offers with its Autonomous IT.

Pulseway’s RMM pricing is pay-per-endpoint, which can be a drawback if you need to manage dozens of devices or are trying to grow your business or team.

G2 Rating: 4.6 out of 5.0 (110+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 (305+ reviews)

Pulseway Pricing:

• Pulseway has a pricing calculator on its website that you can use to calculate how much the pricing is for your situation

6. Datto Autotask PSA

Datto Autotask PSA is a PSA software for MSPs. It offers the key features you’d expect in a PSA tool, including a ticketing system, SLA management, contracts and billing, and automation workflows. Datto recently added an AI assistant, which helps to summarize and respond to tickets.

Autotask PSA integrates with Datto RMM for RMM, patch management, and remote access capabilities, although this comes at an extra cost.

G2 rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars (400+ reviews)

Capterra rating: 4.3 out of 5 stars (140+ reviews)

Datto Autotask PSA pricing:

• To get the pricing, you need to fill out a form on Datto’s website. Their team will be in touch with you.

7. SysAid

SysAid is mainly used by MSPs to manage end-user support requests. It categorizes, prioritizes, and assigns tickets automatically, generates AI responses, and allows you to create knowledge-base articles, so customers can help themselves. SysAid is a relatively simple tool for managing your IT assets.

The platform has integrations with Microsoft Intune, Zapier, Jira, and more.

G2 rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars (700+ reviews)

Capterra rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars (490+ reviews)

SysAid Pricing:

• Based on a custom quotation. To get the pricing, submit your email on SysAid’s website.

8. Zendesk

Zendesk is mostly used by small businesses for simple customer support. The platform helps users manage high support demand through AI-powered agents who automatically reply to customer inquiries. Users can also create chatbots and help center articles for future reference.

While Zendesk can be useful for basic IT support, it’s not a suitable choice for IT teams that require an all-in-one solution for managing all aspects of IT.

G2 Rating: 4.3 out of 5.0 stars (6,200+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 stars (4,060+ reviews)

Zendesk Pricing:

• Suite Team: $55/month/agent (billed annually).
• Suite Growth: $89/month/agent (billed annually).
• Suite Professional: $115/month/agent (billed annually).
• Suite Enterprise: Talk to sales for a customized quote.

9. BMC Helix

BMS Helix is used by organizations for a suite of service management tasks, like proactive monitoring, incident management, and problem resolution. Its key features include workflow automation, incident and problem management, change management, asset management, and customizable reports and analytics.

Service desk leaders use it to investigate incidents and identify root causes, track resolution progress, and improve collaboration.

G2 Rating: 3.7 out of 5.0 stars (280+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.1 out of 5.0 stars (110+ reviews)

BMC Helix Pricing:

• To get the pricing, you need to request a form on BMC’s website.

10. Zoho Desk

Similar to Zendesk and Freshservice, Zoho Desk is mainly used for basic omnichannel support as a ServiceNow competitor. It helps with that through capabilities for email, ticketing, live chat, phone, and social media support. You can also generate knowledge base articles, so users can assist themselves.

Zoho Desk integrates with other Zoho products, like Zoho Assist and CRM. 

G2 Rating: 4.4 out of 5.0 stars (6,600+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.5 out of 5.0 stars (2,200+ reviews)

Zoho Desk Pricing:

• Express: $9/agent/month
• Standard: $20/agent/month 
• Professional: $23/agent/month
• Enterprise: $40/agent/month

11. HaloITSM

HaloITSM’s four key capabilities are incident management, SLA management, self-service portal, and IT automation. You can automatically group related tickets, generate summaries, and prioritize tasks based on their severity.

It integrates with Office 365, Active Directory, Lansweeper, and more.

G2 Rating: 4.8 out of 5.0 (15+ reviews)

Capterra Rating: 4.7 out of 5.0 (40+ reviews)

HaloITSM Pricing:

• Custom quotation. To get the pricing, you need to schedule a demo with the HaloITSM sales team.

Why look for a ServiceNow alternative?

While many people love ServiceNow’s offerings and pricing, it’s not a great fit for everyone. 

Users on G2, Reddit, and Gartner say the product has a steep learning curve, the pricing is expensive (and not transparent), and the customer support has declined. These are the main reasons teams look for a ServiceNow alternative.

This is what users said:

1. ServiceNow has a steep learning curve

Every IT professional knows that ServiceNow is highly customizable, but in their case, it comes with a steep learning curve.

Related to the steep learning curve, this is what one G2 user said:

One G2 user listed some of the issues, which lengthen the learning curve, such as no saved preferences, too many clicks for actions, and repetitive phrasing:

Like the above user said, another factor that makes the learning curve even longer is that the pages load slowly. Another G2 user commented on the slow page loads:

As you select a ServiceNow alternative, make sure it’s easy to use and that the page load speeds are quick, even if you’re dealing with a lot of data or have hundreds of end-users. 

2. Pricing plans are steep and not transparent

ServiceNow’s pricing isn’t publicly listed, and you need to contact their sales team to get it.

In our opinion (and ServiceNow customers), the lack of transparency in ServiceNow’s pricing makes it difficult to compare it to competitors.

Like the below Reddit user said, many factors affect ServiceNow’s pricing:

Not only is the pricing not publicly available, but it’s also very expensive. One user on G2 said, “We needed to remove a few of the roles because of the high cost.”

Another ServiceNow user said that the add-ons increase the price quickly and “can hit your wallet pretty hard.”

If you want the same customizability as with ServiceNow, it can be pretty hard to compete on the pricing. So, the question is: how much do the features improve your effectiveness and cost savings?

For example, Agentic AI in IT management can be a real cost saver when looking for a ServiceNow alternative.

3. Customer support has declined

Many users agree that ServiceNow’s support has declined over the years.

In a Reddit thread, one user said ServiceNow took 10 days to provide a first response, and even after 20 days, there was no resolution.

Another user mentioned getting a response in about three business days, but even that, in our opinion, is too slow:

According to users, the reason for the slow support is that ServiceNow has grown too fast without expanding the support side, which is problematic.

A reliable customer support service should be a key feature of any ITSM software, and many customers say ServiceNow fails to deliver on this front specifically. Again, this is a notable drawback, since many ServiceNow competitors offer 24/7 customer support.

What are ServiceNow’s strengths?

We’ve shared ServiceNow’s limitations, but what are its strengths? 

We again looked into review platforms, like G2 and Capterra, and this is what customers appreciated:

1. ITSM features

Although ServiceNow has expanded to other areas like HR and CRM over the years, ITSM is still at the core of its product. It includes key ITSM features, like incident and problem management, which users appreciate.

One Capterra user said, “It’s a pretty reliable ticket and issue tracking system and can be very useful in managing all communication.”

2. Good integrations with third-party tools

ServiceNow has extensive third-party integrations (e.g., with Microsoft SCCM and Jira), which users appreciate. 

One Capterra user commented on them, saying, “The third-party integrations are simple and a minute job.”

ServiceNow pros and cons: Takeaways

Below, we have summarized the two previous sections into the pros and cons of ServiceNow.

The pros, according to customer reviews:

• The ITSM features, such as incident and change management, are useful
• The available integrations with third-party tools are extensive

The cons, according to customer reviews:

• The product has a steep learning curve, and page loading times are long
• The pricing lacks transparency and is expensive, especially if you add add-ons
• The quality of customer support has declined