Salesforce Platform vs ServiceNow comparison

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Salesforce Platform

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Salesforce Platform and ServiceNow based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Rapid Application Development Software solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Salesforce Platform vs. ServiceNow Report (Updated: October 2024).

Salesforce Platform vs. ServiceNow

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Helped 815,854 peers since 2012

Categories and Ranking

Salesforce Platform

Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software

8th

Ranking in No-Code Development Platforms

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

PaaS Clouds (7th), Mobile Development Platforms (3rd), Low-Code Development Platforms (6th)

ServiceNow

Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software

4th

Ranking in No-Code Development Platforms

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Number of Reviews

214

Ranking in other categories

Help Desk Software (1st), IT Asset Management (1st), IT Service Management (ITSM) (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of November 2024, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of Salesforce Platform is 5.6%, down from 6.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow is 11.4%, up from 9.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Rapid Application Development Software

Featured Reviews

ChrisTook

NA Inside Sales Hub Manager at AMCS Group

Jun 21, 2022

Reliable with good reporting and custom dashboards

I don't have any huge love for it. I don't have any huge love for most of the tech solutions I use. Working in software sales could be better. The tasks, the reminders, and keeping myself on point, for example, in that sense, the forecasting could all be better. It could be maybe a bit more user-intuitive. I've been using the Lightning version for the last couple of years. There were a couple of features that were lost from Salesforce Classic to Lightning, though I recognize some of the improvements. Better UI and UX would be great. They should offer more help built into the platform itself. It would be really useful if, for example, in the reporting tab, I could have a little wizard or something which says, "Hey, this is your first time visiting the reports tab. Here are details and Youtube videos," et cetera.

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Fabio QUINTANILHA

IT4IT Manager at L'Oreal

Jan 29, 2024

A stable and scalable solution that has excellent features and is useful for collecting data and building KPIs

I use the solution to collect data to build KPIs. We promote and foster the usage of workflows in the company We use the data to compare and review situations, propose improvements, and promote action items. SPM and ITSM features are the most helpful. The product’s standard user experience is…

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution is used to track our customers."

"I love the report building that is available."

"The technical support services are good."

"The queue management of the solution is its most valuable aspect."

"Salesforce is cloud-based, so there's no installation involved. You simply log in using the provided organization login. There's no need for installation."

"The product is pretty responsive."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is its overall ability to manage everything, including the sales pipeline and quick creation of sales reports."

"Salesforce's strongest feature is reporting especially. It's also a lot more usable than other platforms I've worked with. It has a great user experience, with the ability to filter and access information in real-time."

More Salesforce Platform pros

"It's great for keeping everyone informed in the company - not just IT. Everyone becomes aware of change requests and incidents so the entire company is on the same page."

"We can keep track of incidences. There is a bucket where we keep all our information, and it enables communication between stakeholders. It helps us collaborate with each other."

"Identifies better ways to license software or eliminate unused software to save money."

"It's a straightforward and effective approach that minimizes the need for extensive explanations."

"The solution is stable, scalable and easy to use."

"We have found the service easy to use, although, we have ended up customising a lot of parameters."

"The Idea Portal and the PPM platform are most valuable. Their out-of-the-box dashboards and reporting are fantastic. I use them almost on a weekly basis. I have developed a couple of PMO dashboards for reporting. It is user-friendly. Everything is done through a navigation bar, and it makes things a lot easier that way."

"You can scale the solution."

More ServiceNow pros

Cons

"The product's pricing model could be improved, as some features are only available in paid modules, which can be costly."

"Although the platform is already set up for you, there's a lot of customization that needs to be done, especially for any new component we start using. For whatever solution we wanted, we had to think for ourselves and design it all on our own. And, unfortunately, there were some components that were not really mature in the beginning, like Tableau for example."

"Salesforce Platform could improve by having better integration with Microsoft Azure. For development, we use Microsoft Azure and there was proper integration between the two solutions. We had issues with the customer and they were logged into the Salesforce Platform. We did not have any good way of integrating those issues into the R&D. The R&D mainly uses Microsoft Azure."

"It is quite expensive. It has gotten to that point where it is a lot more pricey. It has kind of got its own proprietary language for development. It is probably never going to change, but if it had a more market language for development, it would be easier to find developers. They come at a premium cost, so it is expensive."

"There's a learning curve. It was a bit hard to understand the logical way of working with it, just at the beginning."

"Salesforce is a pretty cumbersome product. It's a product that you need to spend quite a bit of time customizing to your unique business model. Unless you have somebody in house that knows it really well, you're better off spending money with a consultant to get what you need."

"What could be improved in the Salesforce Platform is the price. The platform is too expensive. The implementation time for the platform is also longer than expected, so that's another area for improvement."

"I would like Salesforce to recommend related opportunities within the organization that have been taken to closure, so we can fast track new opportunities based on past experiences."

More Salesforce Platform cons

"Integration capabilities can improve."

"Their user interface is old-fashioned and outdated, and it can be more friendly for the eye. They can improve the user experience."

"The asset management application could be improved. They have a lot of the infrastructure built, but it does not come with already made compatibility with some of the most popular vendors, such as Cisco and Microsoft. You have to fix it yourself."

"The capital expenditure neeed to get the tool up and running is extensive."

"The interface requires an upgrade."

"It would be nice if we could, with some specific access rights, move histories from one squad to another, as they generate dependencies or duplicate or flag them."

"Once a change request has been created once it's been approved and been submitted, there is no way to go in on that particular change request and submit an additional task."

"It's too complicated and there are too many options."

More ServiceNow cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Salesforce does a user capacity analysis on a regular basis. For example, if you're not using certain areas, you may lose access. If you don't go in and quote and edit quotes, all of a sudden you may lose your rights to quote."

"It is a fair price for what it's offering, in comparison with other solutions that are available on the market."

"It is quite expensive. Its developers come at a premium cost, which makes it expensive."

"The solution is a bit expensive."

"Salesforce charges double the rates, or almost three times, compared to its competitors. Our company does incur additional charges for maintenance and support."

"The licensing is per user per month, which we took out a contract on a long time back. It's really an okay price for what solutions are available and for how many features and what kind of functionality you get."

"The product's additional features can be expensive."

"Costly, but it is the top product in SaaS/PaaS. Pricing is more for large to enterprise level companies."

More Salesforce Platform pricing and cost advice

"The platform offers a free trial, by providing a free developer instance once you sign up."

"The solution is expensive."

"The price of the solution is comparable to industry standards. For the features that we received, it is reasonable."

"While the option exists to pay for a monthly license, we are dealing with large enterprises and these typically involve multi-year licenses of ten or five years, at a minimum."

"The pricing is on the high side, but if you look at the stability and option to work, it's kind of justified."

"It is very expensive because it is a big organization. You have to pay for additional things."

"It is an expensive platform."

"I am from Brazil. For Latin American markets, ServiceNow is very expensive as compared to other vendors, such as VMware."

More ServiceNow pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Rapid Application Development Software solutions are best for your needs.

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815,854 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Government

10%

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

25%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

How would you choose between Microsoft PowerApps and Salesforce Platform?

I think it depends on your use case. If your organization uses Microsoft Enterprise products, PowerApps will work better in your environment. Similarly, if you have a Salesforce integration in pla...

How does Salesforce Platform compare with Azure?

Microsoft’s Windows Azure platform is not easy or intuitive to deploy. The difficulty will be impacted by the type of application that you are trying to use the platform to build. Organizations tha...

Do you build applications using low-code or pro-code builders on Salesforce Platform?

At my organization, we have only used Salesforce Platform's low-code builder. The reason for this is not because we do not like the pro-code option, but because we do not see the need of using it, ...

Which solution is better for developing non-ITSM applications: OutSystems or Service Now?

The short answer is that OutSystems is far better for 2 main reasons. Firstly, with Service Now you are locked into that platform for good. The business model is to lock in and then keep pumping th...

Would you choose ServiceNow over Microsoft PowerApps?

Hi Netanya, I will choose ServiceNow because ServiceNow is a very good tool compared to Microsoft PowerApp. Because ServiceNow has a very strong module (Performance Analysis) reporting which will ...

What do you like most about ServiceNow?

The solution has a user-friendly interface.

Microsoft Power Apps vs Salesforce Platform

Comparisons

Compared 16% of the time

Appian vs Salesforce Platform

Compared 14% of the time

Oracle Application Express (APEX) vs Salesforce Platform

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Azure vs Salesforce Platform

Compared 11% of the time

SAP Cloud Platform vs Salesforce Platform

Compared 4% of the time

More Salesforce Platform Competitors

BMC Helix ITSM vs ServiceNow

Compared 9% of the time

Microsoft Power Apps vs ServiceNow

Compared 9% of the time

Pega Platform vs ServiceNow

Compared 8% of the time

IBM Maximo vs ServiceNow

Compared 5% of the time

Appian vs ServiceNow

Compared 5% of the time

More ServiceNow Competitors

Product Reports

Salesforce Platform

Download Salesforce Platform product report

Download ServiceNow product report

Also Known As

Salesforce1, Force.com, Salesforce App Cloud

No data available

Learn More

Salesforce

Overview

Salesforce Platform is a tool that provides application building with open application programming interfaces (APIs), integration tools, back-end services, starter templates, and developer environments. With a low-code interface, users are able to build applications and benefit from automated processes. The product helps customers to increase work productivity and save on IT costs through efficient, easy-to-understand, methods for creating applications.

Salesforce Platform allows companies to build and operate intelligent applications at scale and share them with employees and customers in real time. The tool secures companies' data while connecting and synchronizing it simultaneously across their Customer 360 accounts. The main components of the product are:

Application development: With low code, companies can build applications faster and automate their businesses.
Automation: The product can connect with Salesforce Genie, allowing employees to create seamless processes.
Security: The Shield component allows companies to secure their data and build applications.
Hyperforce: Companies have the option to scale globally and serve customers locally, providing secure, private, and agile solutions.
Einstein Intelligence: Organizations can utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to create personalized experiences for customers, potentially increasing companies’ growth.
Sandboxes: Salesforce Platform offers developers secure development environments where they can test, build, and deploy changes before rolling out final products.

Salesforce Platform Features

Also referred to as a “drag and drop app builder," this solution offers various features for customers to create intelligent applications and build personalized services for clients, partners, and employees within the apps.

Mobile feature: The mobile feature of Salesforce Platform allows users to build applications for mobile as well as turn already-made apps into mobile apps instantly.
AI: Through AI, users are able to personalize their applications, utilizing the smart assistant of the platform (called Einstein). The creation of customized services for clients can drive engagement and scale customer experience.
Vision feature: The Vision feature also utilizes Einstein Platform, where users can take advantage of Einstein Prediction Builder, Bots, Vision, and Language to create AI-powered applications.
Data protection: Salesforce Platform offers a data protection feature called Salesforce Shield. With it, companies can monitor app and data use, automate security policies, run compliance audits, and encrypt sensitive data.
Privacy and identity feature: Salesforce Customer Identity is a feature for privacy that offers user access through a single login. The feature provides a seamless user experience while maintaining a high level of security.
Community feature: The community feature of the product offers a digital experience platform where companies can create secure portals, applications, and websites.
Builder feature: The application building feature of Salesforce Platform offers various ways for users to create apps, including through low-code builders and pro-code tools.

Salesforce Platform Benefits

The benefits of using Salesforce Platform include:

Compared to manual coding products, Salesforce Platform is simpler for beginner users who want to develop a product.
The tool requires a low amount of coding, making it a quick and agile way to develop applications.
The adaptable design of the platform offers multi-layered security which maintains data accessible to users while protecting it from outside sources.
The product can be incorporated with various platforms and coding languages for application development.
The platform can be used to create applications compatible with large database systems like MySQL and Oracle.
Salesforce Platform allows collaboration between users, as it offers simultaneous access to various users at the same time.
Salesforce Platform is compatible with desktop databases such as Microsoft Access.

Reviews from Real Users

A vice president at a healthcare company values Salesforce Platform because it is flexible and user-friendly with helpful pre-built schemas.

Peter G., a senior technical consultant at a tech services company, rates Salesforce Platform highly because it is intuitive, quite easy to learn, and stores all kinds of relevant sales information.

ServiceNow is a cloud-based task-management platform that specializes in IT operations management (ITOM), IT services management (ITSM), and IT business management (ITBM). ServiceNow allows users to manage their teams, projects, and customer interactions using a variety of different plugins and apps with which it easily integrates.

ServiceNow offers prebuilt applications to support any process, as well as a framework and tools that allow you to build your own.

ServiceNow’s service management solutions include change, request, incident, problem, and cost management, as well as HR, IT, field service, and facilities management solutions. They also cover business management solutions such as vendor performance management, financial management, performance analytics and project portfolio suite, as well as governance, risk, and compliance.

“The Smarter Way to Workflow”

ServiceNow’s activities, processes, and tasks are overseen as part of a comprehensive managed workflow that supports such features as real-time collaboration, communication, and resource sharing. ServiceNow’s suite of products allow for operation using serverless computing, and include the categories of Business Apps, Customer Service, HR, IT, and Security.

ServiceNow can be used to support most workflows because of the wide range of tools it offers. These include on-suite ticketing tools, predictive modeling to manage workflows, and benchmarking for the tracking of progress. ServiceNow can assist with artificial intelligence and machine learning processes and can be used to organize the cases of a help/service desk as well as for instance management and problem management. It also smoothly integrates with many legacy systems.

ServiceNow offers service management software for industries including:

Cloud services
Education
Financial services
Government
Healthcare
Manufacturing
Telecommunications

Reviews from Real Users

PeerSpot users prefer ServiceNow to its competitors because of its scalability, stability, and ease of use. It helps everyone in the company to be on the same page by creating a single source of record across all departments. One user stated that “I’ve definitely used over 20 project management solutions, but they can't be compared with ServiceNow.” Another said that “ServiceNow is an industry leader in multiple areas and provides an excellent ROI.”

Sample Customers

ADP

AAA, AstraZeneca, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Broadcom, Christus Health, Epicor, Equinix, GE Capital, Intuit, KPMG, Loyola Marymount University, OshKosh, Quantas, RedHat, Royal Bank of Scotland, Swiss Re, U.S. Department of Energy, Safeway, Yale University, and Zillow

Salesforce Platform vs. ServiceNow