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Cybersecurity · head to head

IBM QRadar vs ServiceNow

IBM QRadar logo

IBM QRadar

Cybersecurity

Enterprise SIEM licensed by events per second, whose cloud business IBM sold to Palo Alto Networks in 2024.

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
ServiceNow logo

ServiceNow

Customer Support

The world works with ServiceNow

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: IBM QRadar iBM sold the QRadar SaaS business to Palo Alto Networks in 2024 and those customers are being moved to Cortex XSIAM, so anyone buying today is choosing an on-premises product whose vendor has publicly moved the cloud future to a competitor, and the support horizon becomes a contract negotiation rather than an assumption.; ServiceNow listed on G-Cloud 14 by reseller UP3 Services Ltd at £81.00 per licence per month for ServiceNow
  • They diverge on capability: IBM QRadar covers Offence model, ServiceNow covers ITSM.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which IBM QRadar and ServiceNow actually diverge.

Attributes where IBM QRadar and ServiceNow differ
AttributeIBM QRadarServiceNow
Pricing modelsubscriptionquote
PlatformsWeb, ApiWeb, Ios, Android
CategoryCybersecurityCustomer Support
Founded19112004

Identical on both: starting price (On request), free tier (No), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in IBM QRadar

  • Offence model
  • Network flow analysis
  • Device Support Modules
  • Ariel query language
  • Rules and building blocks
  • Deployment topology
  • App Exchange
  • Use Case Manager

Only in ServiceNow

  • ITSM
  • IT Operations
  • Customer workflows
  • Employee workflows
  • App development
  • AI/ML capabilities
  • Slack
  • Microsoft Teams

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

IBM QRadar

  • A regulated enterprise that must keep log data on premises or in a specific jurisdiction and cannot use a shared SaaS SIEMnot ServiceNow
  • A SOC that wants log correlation and network flow analysis in one platform rather than buying an NDR product separatelynot ServiceNow
  • An existing QRadar estate deciding whether to stay on premises or accept the migration path to a different vendor's platformnot ServiceNow
  • Compliance-driven log retention and reporting where the audit requirement is specific about collection, retention and reportingnot ServiceNow

ServiceNow

  • Enterprise IT managementnot IBM QRadar
  • Digital transformationnot IBM QRadar
  • Workflow automationnot IBM QRadar

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

IBM QRadar

  • IBM sold the QRadar SaaS business to Palo Alto Networks in 2024 and those customers are being moved to Cortex XSIAM, so anyone buying today is choosing an on-premises product whose vendor has publicly moved the cloud future to a competitor, and the support horizon becomes a contract negotiation rather than an assumption.
  • Licensing is by events per second and flows per minute, so every additional log source raises the cost directly and teams routinely exclude verbose sources such as DNS, proxy, endpoint and cloud audit logs to stay under the licence, which strips out exactly the data an investigation later needs.
  • It needs a dedicated operator: rule tuning, parser work and offence triage are continuous jobs, and an organisation that deploys QRadar without at least one named engineer accumulates thousands of unreviewed offences and a false sense of coverage.
  • A log source without a matching Device Support Module arrives unparsed, and writing a custom parser with regular expressions against an unfamiliar payload format is specialist work that can take days per source, which quietly determines which systems ever get monitored.
  • On-premises capacity is planned across consoles, processors, collectors and data nodes, so outgrowing the sizing means procuring and racking more appliances rather than changing a subscription tier, and growth becomes a purchasing cycle measured in months.

ServiceNow

  • Listed on G-Cloud 14 by reseller UP3 Services Ltd at £81.00 per licence per month for ServiceNow

Pricing, plan by plan

IBM QRadar

On request
  • QRadar SIEMFree
    • Event and flow processing
    • Offense management
    • Threat intelligence
  • QRadar CloudFree
    • Cloud-native deployment
    • Elastic scaling
    • Managed infrastructure
  • QRadar SuiteFree
    • SIEM + SOAR + XDR
    • Unified analyst experience
    • Federated search

ServiceNow

On request
  • IT Service Management$undefined/month
    • Incident management
    • Problem management
    • Change management
  • IT Operations Management$undefined/month
    • Discovery
    • Service mapping
    • Event management
  • Customer Service Management$undefined/month
    • Omnichannel engagement
    • Self-service
    • Case management

Which should you pick?

Choose IBM QRadar if

  • You need offence model.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want network flow analysis.
IBM QRadar review

Choose ServiceNow if

  • You need itsm.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want it operations.
ServiceNow review

Questions people ask

Is IBM QRadar or ServiceNow better?
Neither clearly leads. IBM QRadar starts at On request and ServiceNow at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, IBM QRadar or ServiceNow?
IBM QRadar starts at On request and ServiceNow at On request.
Does IBM QRadar or ServiceNow run on more platforms?
IBM QRadar runs on Web, Api. ServiceNow runs on Web, Ios, Android.
What is IBM QRadar best used for?
IBM QRadar is most often used for a regulated enterprise that must keep log data on premises or in a specific jurisdiction and cannot use a shared saas siem, a soc that wants log correlation and network flow analysis in one platform rather than buying an ndr product separately, an existing qradar estate deciding whether to stay on premises or accept the migration path to a different vendor's platform, compliance-driven log retention and reporting where the audit requirement is specific about collection, retention and reporting. Of those, a regulated enterprise that must keep log data on premises or in a specific jurisdiction and cannot use a shared saas siem and a soc that wants log correlation and network flow analysis in one platform rather than buying an ndr product separately are not what ServiceNow is typically brought in for.
What can IBM QRadar do that ServiceNow cannot?
IBM QRadar covers Offence model, Network flow analysis, Device Support Modules, Ariel query language. ServiceNow covers ITSM, IT Operations, Customer workflows, Employee workflows.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

IBM QRadar: Who owns QRadar now?

It is split. IBM sold the QRadar SaaS assets to Palo Alto Networks in a deal announced in May 2024 and closed that September, and those customers are being migrated to Cortex XSIAM. IBM retains and supports the on-premises product.

ServiceNow: Does ServiceNow offer a free trial?

ServiceNow provides product trials and demos for prospects. Organizations can request a demo to see the platform capabilities for IT service management, customer service management, and business workflows.

Source
IBM QRadar: Is QRadar being discontinued?

IBM has committed to continuing support for on-premises customers, including security updates, while offering migration assistance. The cloud product's future belongs to Palo Alto. If you are signing a multi-year term, get the support horizon written into the contract.

ServiceNow: How is ServiceNow priced?

ServiceNow uses subscription-based pricing with custom quotes based on the number of users and modules selected. Organizations must contact ServiceNow directly to receive pricing for their specific deployment needs.

Source
IBM QRadar: How is it licensed?

By events per second for logs and flows per minute for network data, with the software or appliance sized to that rate. Add-on modules in the suite are licensed separately.

ServiceNow: What implementation support does ServiceNow provide?

ServiceNow offers professional services, customer success management, and training programs to help organizations maximize value from the platform. Implementation support is available through direct services teams and certified implementation partners.

Source
IBM QRadar: What is an offence?

QRadar's term for a correlated case. Rules group related events and flows against a common indicator such as a host or user, so an analyst reviews one offence rather than the hundreds of events behind it.

IBM QRadar: Do I need a full-time engineer?

In practice yes for anything beyond a small deployment. Parser development, rule tuning and offence triage do not stop, and the most common failure mode is a well-installed QRadar that nobody has tuned since go-live.

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