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Appian vs ServiceNow Now Platform comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 5, 2025

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
6.9
Calculating ROI from Appian is challenging, but many report significant benefits, improved satisfaction, and increased adoption across organizations.
Sentiment score
6.8
ServiceNow Now Platform benefits larger companies with efficiency and AI, while smaller businesses struggle with cost justification.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
Appian's customer service is generally effective, with quick responses for critical issues but needs improved response times for complex problems.
Sentiment score
7.7
ServiceNow's technical support is highly rated for responsiveness and expertise, though basic support needs improvement according to some.
Their customer service is responsive, and the team is very prompt for support.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
Appian effectively scales for medium to large enterprises, managing various user sizes despite occasional hardware and integration challenges.
Sentiment score
7.9
ServiceNow Now Platform is highly scalable, supporting diverse businesses with robust customization, despite occasional vendor dependencies and API challenges.
Users can build and modify the platform according to their needs.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.9
Appian is stable with high uptime, but performance relies on best practices, especially under heavy data processing loads.
Sentiment score
8.3
ServiceNow Now Platform is stable and reliable, with high user ratings despite occasional upgrade and integration issues.
It depends on how it has been designed and how it has been configured.
 

Room For Improvement

Appian users seek improvements in UI customization, integration flexibility, efficiency, mobile features, pricing, and enhanced training materials.
ServiceNow needs improvements in licensing, usability, integration, AI capabilities, customization, pricing, and multilingual support to enhance its appeal.
If there is a very complex process that includes a lot of data transitioning and memory-centric processes, it consumes a lot of memory.
Historical data isn't as easily available as expected and it requires buying additional licenses for more features.
It lacks support for rollbacks in case of complex customer processes.
 

Setup Cost

Appian's pricing offers flexibility but is often seen as costly, yet competitive with IBM and Oracle for licensing options.
ServiceNow's licensing is costly but often justified by its features, making it suitable for large enterprises.
On the pricier side, both Appian and Pega are enterprise-level solutions, placing them on the slightly higher side.
ServiceNow Now Platform is an expensive product.
 

Valuable Features

Appian offers low-code development, intuitive modeling, seamless integration, and scalable deployment for streamlined business process automation.
ServiceNow Now Platform excels in IT service management with workflow automation, seamless integration, and robust analytics, enhancing organizational efficiency.
It is easy for me to define the process and create configurable workflows.
The most valuable features are the ease of use, stability, and the ability to change or upgrade seamlessly.
The text-to-code feature is particularly useful for turning natural language instructions into recognizable code on the ServiceNow platform, aiding both implementation teams and customers.
 

Categories and Ranking

Appian
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
5th
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
4th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
Business Process Management (BPM) (5th), Process Automation (4th), Process Mining (6th)
ServiceNow Now Platform
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
11th
Ranking in Low-Code Development Platforms
8th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
No-Code Development Platforms (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of Appian is 9.8%, up from 8.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow Now Platform is 1.7%, up from 1.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rapid Application Development Software
 

Featured Reviews

Srimanta Pandit - PeerSpot reviewer
Flexible, improves operational efficiency, and reduces the time taken to complete processes
The solution’s turnaround time for development is better compared to other tools. The solution enables fast development. The traceability of the processor is good. There is much more governance and regulations on the processers. The tool reduces the time of the processes by 30% to 40%. The solution’s low-code aspect has greatly impacted the development and deployment speed. One of the major reasons we are using the product is that we can reuse the modules. The developers can reuse all the modules. It enables us to make subsequent developments in less time. The prebuilt modules can be deployed within two to three weeks. The tool is very flexible. Compared to other platforms, the Appian product team was agile in quickly customizing things for us.
Fabio QUINTANILHA - PeerSpot reviewer
Allows for seamless integration and sharing of common features
The initial setup is straightforward. There are limited access. If you choose not to use scripts, you can still configure the majority of the settings on the platform. The technical aspect of implementing changes is governed by change management processes. Even simple features require careful consideration of communication, documentation, and governance. Despite the setup being relatively straightforward and typically taking one to two weeks to complete once the desired outcome is identified, the implementation phase can often extend for a month or two due to various factors. I rate the initial setup a nine out of ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy.
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838,640 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
30%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
10%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
19%
Government
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which do you prefer - Appian or Camunda Platform?
Appian is fast when building simple to medium solutions. This solution offers simple drag-and-drop functionality with easy plug-and-play options. The initial setup was seamless and very easy to imp...
Is Appian a suitable solution for beginners who have no additional preparation?
Appian is actually pretty big on educating its users, including with courses that reward you with certifications. There is a whole section on their company’s website where you can check out the edu...
Is it easy to set up Appian or did you have to resort to professional help?
We had some issues when we were setting up Appian. It was quite surprising, since this is a low-code tool which, in its essence, means it is meant for business users and inexperienced beginners. So...
What do you like most about ServiceNow Now Platform?
The integration with other tools is pretty good.
What needs improvement with ServiceNow Now Platform?
The analytics should be more readily available on the base product. Historical data isn't as easily available as expected and it requires buying additional licenses for more features.
 

Also Known As

Appian BPM, Appian AnyWhere, Appian Enterprise BPMS
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Hansard Global plc, Punch Taverns, Pirelli, Crawford & Company, EDP Renewables, Queensland Government Department of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning (, Bank of Tennessee
experian, beachbody, health partners
Find out what your peers are saying about Appian vs. ServiceNow Now Platform and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
838,640 professionals have used our research since 2012.