Software · head to head
Jira Service Management vs ServiceNow
The short version
- Only Jira Service Management has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Jira Service Management the vendor's own pricing page as captured by the Internet Archive on 28 December 2021 named four tiers, Free, Standard, Premium, and Enterprise; the Free tier caps at 3 agents per site with one site, five major incidents per month, and unlimited alerts capped at 100 emails and 200 SMS per day, while Standard, Premium, and Enterprise each cap at 5,000 agents per site, with Enterprise adding unlimited sites and requiring a Confluence subscription for some features; per-figure dollar pricing was not shown on this capture, only per-agent pricing structure; ServiceNow listed on G-Cloud 14 by reseller UP3 Services Ltd at £81.00 per licence per month for ServiceNow
- They diverge on capability: Jira Service Management covers Incident management, ServiceNow covers ITSM.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Jira Service Management and ServiceNow actually diverge.
| Attribute | Jira Service Management | ServiceNow |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free | On request |
| Pricing model | subscription | quote |
| Free tier | Yes | No |
| Founded | 2002 | 2004 |
Identical on both: platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
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 Jira Service Management
- Incident management
- Change management
- Problem management
- Asset management
- Knowledge management
- SLAs
- Jira Software
- Confluence
Only in ServiceNow
- ITSM
- IT Operations
- Customer workflows
- Employee workflows
- App development
- AI/ML capabilities
- Microsoft Teams
- Salesforce
Both cover
- Slack
- SOC2
- ISO27001
- FedRAMP
- Web support
- Ios support
- Android support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Jira Service Management
- IT service managementnot ServiceNow
- Incident responsenot ServiceNow
- Change managementnot ServiceNow
- Asset trackingnot ServiceNow
ServiceNow
- Enterprise IT managementnot Jira Service Management
- Digital transformationnot Jira Service Management
- Workflow automationnot Jira Service Management
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Jira Service Management
- The vendor's own pricing page as captured by the Internet Archive on 28 December 2021 named four tiers, Free, Standard, Premium, and Enterprise; the Free tier caps at 3 agents per site with one site, five major incidents per month, and unlimited alerts capped at 100 emails and 200 SMS per day, while Standard, Premium, and Enterprise each cap at 5,000 agents per site, with Enterprise adding unlimited sites and requiring a Confluence subscription for some features; per-figure dollar pricing was not shown on this capture, only per-agent pricing structure
ServiceNow
- Listed on G-Cloud 14 by reseller UP3 Services Ltd at £81.00 per licence per month for ServiceNow
Pricing, plan by plan
Jira Service Management
Free- FreeFree
- 3 agents
- Ticket management
- Knowledge base
- Standard$20/month
- Unlimited customers
- 250 agents
- 20 GB storage
- Premium$45/month
- Advanced incident management
- Asset management
- Change management
- Enterprise$undefined/month
- Unlimited sites
- 24/7 support
- Data residency
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 Jira Service Management if
- You need incident management.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want change management.
Choose ServiceNow if
- You need itsm.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want it operations.
Questions people ask
- Is Jira Service Management or ServiceNow better?
- Neither clearly leads. Jira Service Management starts at Free and ServiceNow at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Jira Service Management or ServiceNow?
- Jira Service Management has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Jira Service Management and On request for ServiceNow.
- Does Jira Service Management or ServiceNow run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, Ios, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- Can I use Jira Service Management for free?
- Yes. Jira Service Management has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. ServiceNow starts at On request.
- What is Jira Service Management best used for?
- Jira Service Management is most often used for it service management, incident response, change management, asset tracking. Of those, it service management and incident response are not what ServiceNow is typically brought in for.
- What can Jira Service Management do that ServiceNow cannot?
- Jira Service Management covers Incident management, Change management, Problem management, Asset management. ServiceNow covers ITSM, IT Operations, Customer workflows, Employee workflows. Both handle Slack, SOC2, ISO27001, FedRAMP.