ServiceNow Discovery vs Tanium comparison

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ServiceNow Discovery

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 18, 2026

Tanium and ServiceNow Discovery are competitors in IT operations management. ServiceNow Discovery appears to have the upper hand due to its comprehensive features and broader integration capabilities that justify its price.

Features: Tanium provides rapid data collection, real-time endpoint management, and offers robust security and asset tracking. ServiceNow Discovery is known for its extensive integration, automation capabilities, and excels in comprehensive network data mapping and service-aware configuration management.

Room for Improvement: Tanium could improve in offering cloud-based options, simplifying its integration processes, and reducing initial setup complexity. ServiceNow Discovery can enhance its troubleshooting tools, expand its automation capabilities, and better support complex customizations for advanced users.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ServiceNow Discovery's cloud-based deployment simplifies setup but may require some learning. Its customer service is supportive and accessible. Tanium's on-premises deployment is more complex yet provides significant control once established, beneficial for security-focused environments.

Pricing and ROI: Tanium's higher initial setup cost brings substantial ROI through efficient IT asset management and threat protection. ServiceNow Discovery offers moderate setup costs with ROI through operational efficiency, reducing manual processes and enhancing integration capabilities.

To learn more, read our detailed ServiceNow Discovery vs. Tanium Report (Updated: January 2026).

ServiceNow Discovery vs. Tanium

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Review summaries and opinions

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

Categories and Ranking

ServiceNow Discovery

Ranking in Server Monitoring

4th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Asset Management (6th), Cloud Resource Discovery Services (1st)

Tanium

Ranking in Server Monitoring

3rd

Average Rating

7.8

Reviews Sentiment

6.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Vulnerability Management (24th), Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (20th), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (21st), Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) (5th)

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2026, in the Server Monitoring category, the mindshare of ServiceNow Discovery is 3.2%, down from 4.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tanium is 4.5%, down from 7.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Server Monitoring Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Tanium	4.5%
ServiceNow Discovery	3.2%
Other	92.3%

Server Monitoring

Featured Reviews

reviewer2759271

Manager, Solution/Service Delivery at a tech services company with 51-200 employees

Has supported enterprise needs well and addresses discovery across environments

Small companies will not be able to afford ServiceNow Discovery from the pricing perspective. Hence, they will not opt for ServiceNow Discovery as a solution, either as an ITSM solution or ITOM solution. It will not be affordable. I am specifically talking about the Middle East and Africa region. ServiceNow ITOM is particularly not very strong in terms of monitoring capabilities. They do not have any monitoring tool. They use event management from getting events from other tools. In that front, they had a roadmap for going for an open-source solution, but I have not seen that materialize. There is a lack of tools perspective for monitoring. Perhaps they do not have a plan because there are hundreds of tools available, and they prefer to focus on integration and event management.

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Vignesh K

Infra Vulnarability Manager at Rezilyens

Immediate results in patching promptly address vulnerabilities

When working with Tanium, there are some older devices that haven't been patched for a long time, and certain patches are not included in Tanium. I have to search outside to download patches, create bundles, and then perform the task. It would be easier if Tanium provided the patches directly. Some other brands provide the patch with a direct download link, which facilitates the process. Also, I feel that if there were more detailed documents and remediations readily available online for troubleshooting, especially more up-to-date information, it would be beneficial. Currently, some resources online are very out-of-date.

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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

"Discovery enables us to get an accurate inventory that's updated daily. It eliminates human error and the need for people to update configuration changes manually. We have not implemented them yet but plan to set up alerts on CIs that are being audited to see if there are any changes."

"I find that the Discovery and scripting features are the most useful."

"We can find servers or services we were unaware of and stumble on vulnerabilities from those devices."

"Stability-wise, I feel it is a good product."

"ServiceNow Discovery helps with operations, audits, and allows people to assess how a particular change in infrastructure impacts other components."

"The process involving the original setup of the solution is excellent."

"The service management and operations management modules are valuable."

"I like ServiceNow Discovery's overall structure and the way data comes in without creating a different dashboard or interface."

More ServiceNow Discovery pros

"Threat hunting is a very good feature on Tanium. We have just started using it and have not used it extensively."

"I find the inventory and compliance features of Tanium to be the most impressive."

"Tanium's most valuable features are patch management, inventory, and distribution software."

"The solution is scalable and helps to understand how infrastructure works. It helps to improve the health of the organization."

"The most valuable features of this solution are the consolidation of all historical data on device endpoints, security drivers, firmware, and Software version gaps."

"Tanium’s best features include support for any Windows, Linux, or Mac endpoint, regardless of where it is, and the ability to do IT operations and security operations."

"I like the tool's incident response and security patching."

"The product is granular and can build complex roles compared to other EDR vendors."

More Tanium pros

Cons

"The manual pattern-matching process is not only time-consuming but also presents challenges during system upgrades, demanding revisits to ensure compatibility."

"In future releases, I would like to see more AI-oriented enhancements in the solution. It would automate most of the things that we have to do manually write the scripts and go on the teleservice, what to do. So if we have something in place and if we can train the module, then AI would be a good thing."

"I would rate technical support for ServiceNow Discovery as four. This rating is because there are features on the tool that never worked and despite calling our support, there were no results."

"The product could improve some of the visualization and architecture setups."

"In a few instances, ServiceNow has failed to discover some basic things. Some other tools are better at network discovery than ServiceNow. I'm not talking about database servers or any other infrastructure—only networking. Cloud discovery could also be better."

"It is one of the most costly applications in terms of subscription costs."

"ServiceNow Discovery should be updated to provide its users with more out-of-the-box information and attributes to support the routers and switches from Cisco."

"The service mapping component is less developed than it is in other solutions, and is in need of improvement."

More ServiceNow Discovery cons

"When working with Tanium, there are some older devices that haven't been patched for a long time, and certain patches are not included in Tanium. I have to search outside to download patches, create bundles, and then perform the task."

"Tanium’s scalability could be improved."

"The solution can give a lot of false positives."

"When working with Tanium, there are some older devices that haven't been patched for a long time, and certain patches are not included in Tanium."

"The performance could improve in future releases. We have had performance issues in specialized web environments, but overall I think the problems are less than 2% of the computer systems being used."

"I would like to have more integrations and custom plugins to input. Integration is always a big deal in a lot of different environments."

"The solution needs to improve the reporting and tracking capabilities."

"The most painful thing is the interface. It's a bit unclear sometimes."

More Tanium cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing is determined based on the CIs."

"The price could be better. It's a bit on the pricey side."

"As per a general discussion I had with the stakeholders, I figured out that it is a costly tool. There is a need to make additional payments apart from the licensing fees for better support services from ServiceNow."

"It costs a lot. It is probably close to over a hundred thousand. It's an expensive platform, but you can't compare ServiceNow's Discovery functionality to other discovery tools. It's not an apples-to-apples comparison of ServiceNow to a configuration management tool to an asset management tool because it does those things, but it's not those things."

"There is a need to make payments every quarter of a year towards the licensing costs of the solution. ServiceNow Discovery is an expensive tool."

"It is not recommended for smaller companies because of the price."

"This solution is a paid option within the ServiceNow framework."

"There is a subscription for ServiceNow Discovery. It's expensive, but I think it's one of the best solutions on the market, so it's worth it."

More ServiceNow Discovery pricing and cost advice

"It is higher than some competitors in the market."

"Tanium is a more expensive solution in Latin America than some of the competitors, such as BigFix."

"The solution offers value for money."

"It's an expensive solution. It would be nice if the cost were lower."

"The solution is expensive but it's a good investment."

"The product's pricing differs from region to region depending on negotiations and the number of endpoints."

"There is an annual license required to use this solution."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

15%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	16
Midsize Enterprise	5
Large Enterprise	23

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	11

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about ServiceNow Discovery?

The solution can prioritize the discovery of IP ranges. The product automatically places all Discovery CIs into the correct class within the CMDB.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for ServiceNow Discovery?

The pricing information for ServiceNow Discovery was requested but not provided.

What needs improvement with ServiceNow Discovery?

A CMDB debugging tool to give indication about the errors that appear would be appreciated.

What needs improvement with Tanium?

While there is always room for improvement, I am pleased with Tanium.

What is your primary use case for Tanium?

The primary use case for Tanium ( /products/tanium-reviews ) is compliance, patching, and inventory as part of the core functions.

What advice do you have for others considering Tanium?

For smaller companies, Tanium is quite a big investment, and one needs to have a considerable setup to make it economically viable. I would recommend it to others with a similar use case. The solut...

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Compared 6% of the time

BigFix vs Tanium

Compared 4% of the time

NinjaOne vs Tanium

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Trellix Endpoint Security Platform vs Tanium

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Product Reports

ServiceNow Discovery

Download ServiceNow Discovery product report

Download Tanium product report

Also Known As

No data available

Tanium Inc Cloud, Tanium XEM

Overview

ServiceNow Discovery finds applications and devices on your network, and then updates the CMDB with the information it finds. Discovery is available as a separate subscription from the rest of the Now Platform.

ServiceNow

Tanium offers robust endpoint protection, patching, and inventory management, consolidating the functions of tools like BigFix with capabilities in incident response, network security, and cloud or on-premise deployments.

Known for real-time capabilities, Tanium provides detailed analytics, security features, and device management. Users benefit from quick implementation, real-time updates, and patching campaigns. Despite its strengths, integration and custom plugin expansion remain areas to improve, along with data visualization and network optimization. Reporting enhancements and user training could advance its usability, and some UI elements may require updates for clarity and security.

What are the essential features of Tanium?

Detailed Analytics: Provides actionable insights for better decision-making.
Security Capabilities: Offers strong defense measures against threats.
Real-Time Queries: Facilitates immediate information access.
Patch Management: Streamlines software updates across devices.
Device Management: Efficiently handles comprehensive inventory and monitoring tasks.

What benefits should users expect?

Ease of Use: Simplifies complex IT tasks.
Scalability: Adapts to growing IT infrastructure needs.
Integration Flexibility: Merges with existing systems effortlessly.
Real-Time Updates: Ensures current data availability for informed actions.

Tanium's deployment spans industries focusing on endpoint protection and compliance, ensuring reliable device and server management in settings where safety and quick adaptation are critical. Organizations use it for application deployment, compliance checks, and integrating it as an EDR solution, enhancing overall security and operational efficiencies.

Sample Customers

York, National Grid, DXC Technology, experian, BEACHBODY

JPMorgan Chase, eBay, Amazon, US Bank, MetLife, pwc, Cerner, Delphi, MGM Grand, New York Life

ServiceNow Discovery vs. Tanium