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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Helped 882,813 peers since 2012

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

6.6

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

Abhinay Sharma

Service Now Developer at Bangmetric services pvt ltd

Cloud discovery has improved asset visibility and reporting but still needs smarter automation

The impact of ServiceNow Discovery on my organization's strategic planning depends on various factors. Some customers have their own discovery tools which they do not want to switch from, even if we explain why ServiceNow might be better, because they have been using them for a long time. Some customers are dynamic, so we need to have some kind of proposition that comes with ServiceNow. Sometimes, we need to talk with ServiceNow people themselves to give them a bundle offer in which we can have Discovery and ITSM at a much more affordable price than the competitors, so that is our main goal. Currently, I would say there might be a possibility if we can use some AI discovery features that could be helpful for our organization. If we can get discovery jobs running based on AI schedules, that would be beneficial. I believe in the coming future that I want to see myself working more with ServiceNow in this capacity.

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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

"We can scale the solution."

"It has been stable since deployment."

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

"The most valuable asset is relationship building because the solution discovers and builds auto relationships in a way that makes cleanup very easy."

"One highly valuable aspect is the use of service accounts, which automates the process of identifying underlying nodes and associated assets."

"The most valuable feature of ServiceNow Discovery is its performance."

"Most fields on our forms are auto-filled, reducing manual maintenance for our infrastructure team. Post Discovery implementation there is hardly any maintenance."

"The best thing about Discovery is maintaining all the CIs in one place. I can sort the data, export it to Excel for manipulation, and build reports like how many computers or servers we have and their capacity."

More ServiceNow Discovery pros

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

"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."

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

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

"I'm not so familiar with the tool but I like the interaction of the console to the picture. Patching is the primary model I have been focusing on for the last couple of weeks. So I have created a proof of concept environment and have been checking the available features."

"Tanium's most valuable feature is its instant discovery aspect."

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

"When I push a quick update, it's done right away, and I can rescan immediately to confirm completion within minutes."

More Tanium pros

Cons

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

"What needs improvement in ServiceNow Discovery is the reporting UI because I didn't find it as friendly compared to other tools. Other tools have better reporting UI than what's currently in ServiceNow Discovery. What I'd like to see in the next release of ServiceNow Discovery is more user-friendly out-of-the-box reporting that would be helpful for non-technical users. Some users such as managers would want to just do a few clicks to access the reports and shouldn't be required to do search queries, but right now, reporting in the tool isn't very user-friendly."

"Its integration with legacy apps is one area for improvement. ServiceNow Discovery offers out-of-the-box reports, and though that's okay, allowing easier report customization would improve the solution."

"The solution needs to improve the cost of the solution. There are a few different solutions and they do act the same and have the same types of capabilities, however, the cost is quite high."

"The current limitation requires having mid servers or discovery servers in each data center for proper discovery, hindering the ability to discover assets across continents such as Asia Pacific and Europe."

"I am not seeing significant ROI beyond breaking even on what I spend."

"Improvements are required with the scripts used to collect the information from servers."

"When you switch versions, for example, when you go from Paris to Quebec they will introduce many new things and occasionally things break when they do that."

More ServiceNow Discovery cons

"We had some issues with the solution's OS upgrade."

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

"Tanium’s scalability could be improved."

"The main issues are the network connection because different customers have issues with their networks. It's difficult implementing this type of solution because the network is the main feature in the architecture for these types of solutions. Tanium could improve by creating some network optimization."

"It is not really additional functions, or the features that are needed, rather the complexity would be reduced based on the number of modules required to put together a comprehensive operational security and risk compliance model."

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

"Most of the time, agent-relative issues have to be more equipped with self-healing features. At times, the agent is there, but for some reason, it doesn't report a status. It gives certain problems that are obviously agent-based."

"They could improve the UI."

More Tanium cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is an expensive product with a price that depends on the models that you wish to purchase."

"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."

"The product pricing is fair and reasonable for the value it provides."

"It's on a yearly basis. We renew our contract for three years at a time."

"ServiceNow Discovery's licensing is not a very small investment, but it definitely pays off."

"ServiceNow Discovery has very broad pricing, so it becomes costly. It would be better if it had a pay-as-you-use licensing model because the total cost of ownership is quite high."

"ServiceNow Discovery is expensive, but the company has a monopoly and we need to use the solution. We use it because we do not have a choice."

"ROI (Return on Investment) is good. ServiceNow don't disclose the price publicly. They'll assess your organization's needs and then come up with a price."

More ServiceNow Discovery pricing and cost advice

"The solution offers value for money."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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	17
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 8% of the time

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Compared 6% of the time

BigFix vs Tanium

Compared 4% of the time

NinjaOne vs Tanium

Compared 4% of the time

Trellix Endpoint Security Platform vs Tanium

Compared 3% of the time

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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