Customer Support · head to head
ServiceNow vs Freshservice
The short version
- Each has a real cost: ServiceNow listed on G-Cloud 14 by reseller UP3 Services Ltd at £81.00 per licence per month for ServiceNow; Freshservice change, problem and release management require the Pro plan at $99 per agent per month, so core ITIL processes sit two tiers up
- They diverge on capability: ServiceNow covers ITSM, Freshservice covers Incident management.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which ServiceNow and Freshservice actually diverge.
| Attribute | ServiceNow | Freshservice |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | On request | $19/month |
| Pricing model | quote | subscription |
| Founded | 2004 | 2010 |
Identical on both: free tier (No), platforms (Web, Ios, Android), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Customer Support).
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 ServiceNow
- ITSM
- IT Operations
- Customer workflows
- Employee workflows
- App development
- AI/ML capabilities
- Salesforce
- SAP
Only in Freshservice
- Incident management
- Asset management
- Change management
- Knowledge base
- Automation
- Reporting
- G Suite
- GDPR
Both cover
- Slack
- Microsoft Teams
- AWS
- Azure
- SOC2
- ISO27001
- HIPAA
- Web support
- Ios support
- Android support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
ServiceNow
- Enterprise IT managementnot Freshservice
- Digital transformationnot Freshservice
- Workflow automationnot Freshservice
Freshservice
- IT service management and internal help desk ticketingnot ServiceNow
- Asset management and change control for IT teamsnot ServiceNow
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
ServiceNow
- Listed on G-Cloud 14 by reseller UP3 Services Ltd at £81.00 per licence per month for ServiceNow
Freshservice
- Change, problem and release management require the Pro plan at $99 per agent per month, so core ITIL processes sit two tiers up
- Every plan includes only 100 ITAM asset units, with more sold separately regardless of tier
- Orchestration transactions are metered monthly, from 1,000 on Starter to 20,000 on Enterprise, with extra packs at $250 per 1,000
- The Freddy AI copilot is a $29 per agent per month add on on top of Pro or Enterprise
- Sandbox and audit logs are Enterprise only, which carries no published price
Pricing, plan by plan
ServiceNow
On request- IT Service Management$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
Freshservice
$19/month- Starter$19/month
- Incident management
- Knowledge base
- Self-service portal
- Growth$49/month
- Asset management
- Approval workflows
- SLA management
- Pro$95/month
- Problem management
- Change management
- Release management
- Enterprise$119/month
- Freddy AI
- Audit logs
- Custom SSL
Which should you pick?
Choose ServiceNow if
- You need itsm.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want it operations.
Choose Freshservice if
- You need incident management.
- You work on Web, Ios, Android.
- You also want asset management.
Questions people ask
- Is ServiceNow or Freshservice better?
- Neither clearly leads. ServiceNow starts at On request and Freshservice at $19/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, ServiceNow or Freshservice?
- ServiceNow starts at On request and Freshservice at $19/month.
- Does ServiceNow or Freshservice run on more platforms?
- Both run on Web, Ios, Android, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
- What is ServiceNow best used for?
- ServiceNow is most often used for enterprise it management, digital transformation, workflow automation. Of those, enterprise it management and digital transformation are not what Freshservice is typically brought in for.
- What can ServiceNow do that Freshservice cannot?
- ServiceNow covers ITSM, IT Operations, Customer workflows, Employee workflows. Freshservice covers Incident management, Asset management, Change management, Knowledge base. Both handle Slack, Microsoft Teams, AWS, Azure.