Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

ServiceNow Discovery vs Tanium comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Aug 6, 2024

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
2nd
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
IT Asset Management (3rd), Cloud Resource Discovery Services (1st)
Tanium
Ranking in Server Monitoring
5th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
18
Ranking in other categories
Vulnerability Management (21st), Endpoint Protection Platform (EPP) (31st), Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) (26th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Server Monitoring category, the mindshare of ServiceNow Discovery is 3.8%, down from 6.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tanium is 5.8%, down from 6.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Server Monitoring
 

Featured Reviews

Ayobanji Iluyomade - PeerSpot reviewer
Service helps organizations with network discovery and IT infrastructure management but troubleshooting challenges remain
ServiceNow Discovery was adopted by my organization. We use ServiceNow Discovery for discovery and ITSM The most beneficial features of ServiceNow Discovery for maintaining my IT infrastructure are the CMDB top and discovery of network switches. The areas of ServiceNow Discovery that have room…
NitinKushwaha - PeerSpot reviewer
Stable product with an ability to build complex roles
We use Tanium as an EDR solution for managing end-user devices and servers The product is granular and can build complex roles compared to other EDR vendors. Tanium's dashboard UI could be similar to CrowdStrike. We have been using Tanium for two and a half years. The product is stable. I rate…

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution finds public cloud infrastructures globally and updates the integration management database, service catalogs, and asset management details."
"It is a stable solution...The initial setup of the product is straightforward."
"They provide the ability to see into the Discovery tools I want. They offer the best tool view."
"The workflows are beneficial as they allow tasks to be assigned to respective teams without the need for coding."
"The service management and operations management modules are valuable."
"I believe one of the great functionalities or improvements in ServiceNow Discovery is its ability to gather information about any Configuration Items (CIs)."
"The solution can prioritize the discovery of IP ranges. The product automatically places all Discovery CIs into the correct class within the CMDB."
"ServiceNow Discovery is useful for discovering the servers, like the servers of Windows and Linux, from the client network."
"The security features are very valuable."
"Tanium has made the process of detecting threats more proactive with its detection. So, the process is easier and more efficient."
"I like the tool's incident response and security patching."
"When I push a quick update, it's done right away, and I can rescan immediately to confirm completion within minutes."
"I like the fact that you can create patching campaigns depending on the area of your network that you want to address first. I like the ability it has to make several campaigns that work in parallel."
"Tanium's most valuable features are patch management, inventory, and distribution software."
"The most valuable features of this solution are the consolidation of all historical data on device endpoints, security drivers, firmware, and Software version gaps."
"I find the inventory and compliance features of Tanium to be the most impressive."
 

Cons

"It is one of the most costly applications in terms of subscription costs."
"I believe there is room for improvement in ServiceNow Discovery, particularly in providing more detailed information about network usage and communication between ServiceNow and the infrastructure."
"Whenever you try to discover something with the solution, you get errors that are not descriptive enough."
"Technical support has not been helpful when we have come across problems."
"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."
"Discovery, while a bit pricey, integrates well with other tools and offers a centralized discovery solution. These aspects could be enhanced in the new release."
"The initial setup could be made easier. We hired professionals to implement it, and they trained our employees for ongoing processes."
"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."
"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."
"Any movement into a SaaS solution has challenges since the processes and data flows are not well defined. Hence, you need to build it at the same time."
"Tanium required local admin or root rights on Mac devices, which did not comply with our security policies. This made the solution less suitable for our restrictive environment."
"Tanium’s scalability could be improved."
"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."
"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."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."
"Setting up and licensing for ServiceNow can be expensive, especially for enterprise service management."
"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."
"You need a subscription to ServiceNow Discovery, so you can use its features. You can also use specific plugins with the tool, and some of the plugins are free. I don't have information on how much my company pays for the subscription to ServiceNow Discovery."
"The product pricing is fair and reasonable for the value it provides."
"The pricing is determined based on the CIs."
"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."
"The price could be better. It's a bit on the pricey side."
"The product's pricing differs from region to region depending on negotiations and the number of endpoints."
"It is higher than some competitors in the market."
"The solution is expensive but it's a good investment."
"It's an expensive solution. It would be nice if the cost were lower."
"There is an annual license required to use this solution."
"Tanium is a more expensive solution in Latin America than some of the competitors, such as BigFix."
"The solution offers value for money."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Server Monitoring solutions are best for your needs.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Healthcare Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Government
12%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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?
I think the price of ServiceNow Discovery is cheaper than BMC.
What needs improvement with ServiceNow Discovery?
The areas of ServiceNow Discovery that have room for improvement are getting custom reports on the relationship between CIs that are not on the same table.
What do you like most about Tanium?
Tanium’s linear-chain architecture is valuable.
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.
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

York, National Grid, DXC Technology, experian, BEACHBODY
JPMorgan Chase, eBay, Amazon, US Bank, MetLife, pwc, Cerner, Delphi, MGM Grand, New York Life
Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow Discovery vs. Tanium and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.