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Appian vs. Pega Platform vs. ServiceNow IT Service Management

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Appian

    Score7.9 out of 10
    N/AAppian is a low-code development and business process management platform. It features drag-and-drop design for app building, automated work processes, unified data management, and cloud-based deployment.

    $0

    Pega Platform

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/APega Platform is a combined business process management and robotic process automation (RPA) platform with advanced workforce analytics from Pegasystems.

    $0.45

    one-time fee per case**

    ServiceNow IT Service Management

    Score8.4 out of 10
    N/ABuilt on the ServiceNow Now Platform, the IT Service Management bundle provides an agent workspace with knowledge management, and modules supporting issue tracking and problem resolution, change, release and configuration management.N/A
    Pricing
    AppianPega PlatformServiceNow IT Service Management
    Editions & Modules
    Appian Community Edition
    $0
    Application - Input-Only
    $2
    per month per user
    Application - Infrequent
    $9
    per month per user
    Application - Standard
    $75
    per month per user
    Platform
    Custom Quote Priced per user with unlimited apps.
    minimum 100 users, no maximum
    Unlimited
    Custom Quote Priced per development with unlimited apps.
    unlimited
    Low-code Factory Edition
    $0.45
    one-time fee per case**
    Standard Edition
    $0.80
    one-time fee per case**
    Enterprise Edition
    Custom Quote
    ITSM Standard
    Custom Quote
    ITSM Pro
    Custom Quote
    ITSM Enterprise
    Custom Quote
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    AppianPega PlatformServiceNow IT Service Management
    Free Trial
    YesYesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesNoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details—**350,000 cases / year minimum. Additional cases available in blocks of 150,000.ITSM Pro and ITSM Enterprise also are available with optional "Plus" add-ons. These include AI Agents, an AI Agent Studio, and other features that augment the capabilities of the platform using AI Virtual Agents to automate tasks.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    AppianPega PlatformServiceNow IT Service Management
    Considered Multiple Products
    Appian
    Chose Appian
    Pega Platform is a flat tool.
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    All 3 platforms we looked at met our requirements. The Pega Platform was rejected due to lack of ecosystem partners and consultant availability as well as price. The IBM platform was a very strong offering but a little less open on integration to non-IBM databases and …
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    Appian compares favorably with other vendors in the space. It is strongest with business workflow automation and to create custom business applications. The tool base for coding is extremely straightforward and allows for faster coding and deployment. Handles very complex …
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    We using this from long time. We're quite familiar with them. it's easy to use and understand. and it's documentation is quite helpful.
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    ease of use; inter-operability and scalability; great support and customer service
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    Appian provided a better IDE for implementation, strategy to upgrade to newer versions, Appian had a simplified model to integrate with APIs and handle their responses as well as providing more robust BMP and RPA capabilities.
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    Appian has enormously transformed and keeps on updating the product every quarter to meet the latest needs of the world with new innovations & technologies being integrated within the platform. What gives more pleasure than a product that keeps on continuous[ly] improv[ing]?
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    The biggest pros of Salesforce are:
    - the ability to create sandboxes
    - refresh data from prod to sandbox
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    Perceived as easier to operate and significantly lower cost to implement when originally implemented. I do believe Pega has become more competitive in this regard.
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    We found a better cultural fit with Appian and after the experience working with them, we know we made the right choice.
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    Against programming languages like .NET and Java, Appian is faster to design and develop applications, but it lacks the flexibility in UI and advanced debugging tools. Against Pega, Appian is easier to use and less expensive.
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    Appian is lighter and easier to get started with.
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    I was not involved in the initial analysis but I know Appian came close with Pegasystems in the intelligent business process management suite.
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    The main advantage of Appian is the cost structure that is more suitable for starting a test-project to see how develop in Appian and most of all how Appian is accepted inside the company. In few weeks you can show the first results and start the journey on digitalization.
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    Limited experience with this product but did find it was harder and took longer to produce a usable product
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    Not sure what this is, actually. But this is the name of the module we're doing.
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    We have reviewed Appian against other BPM application/suite such as Pega, Empirica, and so forth. In the end, we found low code with the Appian product to be the most robust and scalable with good performance. Like all evaluation criteria that they have to be balance with cost, …
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    Pega licensing cost was high and the learning curve was much higher.
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    Appian is leaner and provides a quicker deployment. Pega has "off-the-shelf" solutions and is more invested in AI and robotics.
    Incentivized
    Chose Appian
    [We selected Appiam BPM due to] Cost of ownership and license fee.
    Incentivized
    Pegasystems
    Chose Pega Platform
    Appian works well but not as robust as Pega and doesn’t scale as well (at least in our experience).
    Incentivized
    Chose Pega Platform
    IBM BPM and Appian BPM platform.
    Incentivized
    Chose Pega Platform
    Good Support from Pega Technical Team, Continuous Improvement of the Platform and faster innovation and inclusion of new features
    Incentivized
    Chose Pega Platform
    We used Salesforce.com and Orcle CRM. Later, after creating a couple of mock applications, we found Pega was best suited to our customer business process.
    Incentivized
    Chose Pega Platform
    Pega offers a business-friendly toolkit for defining applications. Unlike traditional BPM tools, there is much fewer complications, the technical syntax to handle in modeling processes and hardly any hard-coded programming. A well-trained business user can be trusted to create …
    Incentivized
    Chose Pega Platform
    It is a complete suite with a clear set of learning courses, which enables faster customer engagement.
    Incentivized
    Chose Pega Platform

    There are lots of BPM products in market like IBM BPM, Lombardi, Appian case 360 but PEGA stands out in terms of multiple capabilities:

    • Support for multiple protocol
    • Federated case management
    Incentivized
    ServiceNow
    Chose ServiceNow IT Service Management
    This software was used previously. the software was not easy to configure like servicenow and the visual dashboards and the ui experience was less appealing compared to ServiceNow. ServiceNow offers a lot pf features which can be used across the industry. Gives better …
    Incentivized
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    95%
    Would buy again
    38 Answers
    90%
    Would buy again
    9 Answers
    94%
    Would buy again
    45 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    32 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    8 Answers
    97%
    Delivers good value for the price
    38 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    37 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    10 Answers
    96%
    Happy with the feature set
    46 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    25 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    5 Answers
    96%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    25 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    91%
    Implementation went as expected
    30 Answers
    78%
    Implementation went as expected
    7 Answers
    88%
    Implementation went as expected
    28 Answers
    Features
    AppianPega PlatformServiceNow IT Service Management
    Reporting & Analytics
    Comparison of Reporting & Analytics features of Appian and Pega Platform and ServiceNow IT Service Management
    Feature
    Appian
    8.1
    9 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Pega Platform
    5.3
    63 Ratings
    37% below category average
    ServiceNow IT Service Management
    -
    Ratings
    Dashboards8.29 Ratings4.062 Ratings00 Ratings
    Standard reports8.59 Ratings6.062 Ratings00 Ratings
    Custom reports7.69 Ratings6.061 Ratings00 Ratings
    Process Engine
    Comparison of Process Engine features of Appian and Pega Platform and ServiceNow IT Service Management
    Feature
    Appian
    7.4
    9 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Pega Platform
    8.0
    66 Ratings
    4% below category average
    ServiceNow IT Service Management
    -
    Ratings
    Process designer7.99 Ratings9.065 Ratings00 Ratings
    Process simulation6.49 Ratings7.957 Ratings00 Ratings
    Business rules engine6.49 Ratings10.065 Ratings00 Ratings
    SOA support8.29 Ratings7.151 Ratings00 Ratings
    Process player7.39 Ratings7.048 Ratings00 Ratings
    Form builder7.69 Ratings9.059 Ratings00 Ratings
    Model execution8.59 Ratings8.956 Ratings00 Ratings
    Support for modeling languages00 Ratings5.46 Ratings00 Ratings
    Collaboration
    Comparison of Collaboration features of Appian and Pega Platform and ServiceNow IT Service Management
    Feature
    Appian
    -
    Ratings
    Pega Platform
    9.0
    50 Ratings
    8% above category average
    ServiceNow IT Service Management
    -
    Ratings
    Social collaboration tools00 Ratings9.050 Ratings00 Ratings
    Content Management Capabilties
    Comparison of Content Management Capabilties features of Appian and Pega Platform and ServiceNow IT Service Management
    Feature
    Appian
    -
    Ratings
    Pega Platform
    4.4
    9 Ratings
    59% below category average
    ServiceNow IT Service Management
    -
    Ratings
    Content management00 Ratings4.49 Ratings00 Ratings
    Incident and problem management
    Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Appian and Pega Platform and ServiceNow IT Service Management
    Feature
    Appian
    -
    Ratings
    Pega Platform
    -
    Ratings
    ServiceNow IT Service Management
    8.4
    85 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Organize and prioritize service tickets00 Ratings00 Ratings9.184 Ratings
    Expert directory00 Ratings00 Ratings8.167 Ratings
    Service restoration00 Ratings00 Ratings8.170 Ratings
    Self-service tools00 Ratings00 Ratings8.282 Ratings
    Subscription-based notifications00 Ratings00 Ratings8.279 Ratings
    ITSM collaboration and documentation00 Ratings00 Ratings8.674 Ratings
    ITSM reports and dashboards00 Ratings00 Ratings8.779 Ratings
    ITSM asset management
    Comparison of ITSM asset management features of Appian and Pega Platform and ServiceNow IT Service Management
    Feature
    Appian
    -
    Ratings
    Pega Platform
    -
    Ratings
    ServiceNow IT Service Management
    8.5
    77 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Configuration mangement00 Ratings00 Ratings8.576 Ratings
    Asset management dashboard00 Ratings00 Ratings8.375 Ratings
    Policy and contract enforcement00 Ratings00 Ratings8.666 Ratings
    Change management
    Comparison of Change management features of Appian and Pega Platform and ServiceNow IT Service Management
    Feature
    Appian
    -
    Ratings
    Pega Platform
    -
    Ratings
    ServiceNow IT Service Management
    8.4
    78 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Change requests repository00 Ratings00 Ratings8.678 Ratings
    Change calendar00 Ratings00 Ratings8.472 Ratings
    Service-level management00 Ratings00 Ratings8.474 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    AppianPega PlatformServiceNow IT Service Management
    Small Businesses
    Bizagi
    Score8.3 out of 10
    Process Street
    Score8.2 out of 10
    Agiloft Service Desk (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation
    Score9 out of 10
    TIBCO® BPM Enterprise
    Score8 out of 10
    ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
    Score9.2 out of 10
    Enterprises
    IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation
    Score9 out of 10
    IBM Business Automation Workflow
    Score10 out of 10
    Ivanti ITSM
    Score6.3 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    AppianPega PlatformServiceNow IT Service Management
    Likelihood to Recommend
    9.4
    (139 ratings)
    7.9
    (74 ratings)
    8.3
    (96 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.5
    (19 ratings)
    10.0
    (7 ratings)
    10.0
    (14 ratings)
    Usability
    8.7
    (95 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.1
    (29 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.4
    (118 ratings)
    10.0
    (7 ratings)
    10.0
    (23 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    6.0
    (2 ratings)
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    1.0
    (5 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    AppianPega PlatformServiceNow IT Service Management
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Appian
    Appian works great for automating manual processes and integrating multiple systems through its toolset. It gives great flexibility for establishing rules for approvals, routings, escalations, and the like. Because of the low code toolset, it's very easy to deploy and make changes as needed as processes evolve and as the organization learns to utilize the system better. Minimal maintenance is required to support the applications build on the platform. Some of the automated testing integration with tools like Jenkins is limited so that may be an issue for some.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pegasystems
    Pega Platform has introduced the low code feature, using app studio seasonal and professional developer can develop application easily and quickly. The initial application can be build by Business analyst and product owner who has less knowledge of Pega Platform, further application can be enhanced/extended by professional developer. We can develop end to end application and promote to higher environment. Easily we can perform parallel development using branch.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ServiceNow
    We found that ServiceNow's ITSM product is overall a great product to use in all areas of IT. Whether it be Security, Infrastructure, or Networking, nothing is too complicated to bring into ServiceNow for processing. Being able to use flows to automate task creation and auto assign has helped to fill process gaps that existed with our previous product.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Appian
    • Allows at a glance workflow documentation which assists in the need we have for information readiation.
    • Drag and drop interface for workflow development greatly speeds our apps time to market.
    • Using the advanced features of Appian, we are able to create working sites in a fraction of the time it would take to do so using "traditional" development.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pegasystems
    • Quick development time. Much of the Pega "rules" are easy to configure and implement.
    • Visually friendly and modern. Much of the UI/UX elements in the system are continuously supported and updated, giving a nice feel to the apps.
    • Many of the configurations and rules Pega gives to the developers can also be delegated to business users. The organization and structure of the client's business can easily be adapted in the Pega platform.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ServiceNow
    • Integration
    • Good search capabilities. Applications are created within CMDB and we can search for the app to see the changes, incidents and problems created
    • Reporting. Great store of MIS reports and will let you to create custom reports
    • Visual Task Boards - use it as Kanban boards
    Read full review
    Cons
    Appian
    • Search issues when type ahead and database search are used in the same field.
    • Buttons implementation where user is require[d] to click on the button description - if clicks on the button outside that text - button will not work.
    • Problems with using certain off-the-shelf performance tools like WebLoad or Neoload. That is because of different dynamic variables being used internally in Appian - which these tools are unable to correlate. We are still investigating using other tools like Jmeter to overcome dynamic correlation problem for performance testing.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pegasystems
    • Need more learning materials. For Beginners who have previous programming experience with another language takes more time to learn.
    • If the developer is met with an issue in pega platform , they have to rely on Pega supporting team to fix it.
    • Customization is available but is not encouraged. Pega does not support faults that occur in customized solutions.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ServiceNow
    • Finding requests that I opened and have since been completed by the assigned group/individual is very difficult to accomplish unless I've written down the request numbers somewhere.
    • Requests that I opened and are subsequently closed, often continue to appear in the list of "My Open Requests" giving the appearance that they were not completed when in fact they were.
    • It may exist, but if it does I haven't found it yet, which makes it less than intuitive, but I would like to see the ability to recall a request in ServiceNow.
    • I believe our firewall rule change request for is a custom form, but it has a serious drawback. If I submit such a request and need to make a correction to it before it is approved, there isn't anyway for me to do so. The request has to first be rejected with the creation of a sub-task in order to edit it before it is resubmitted for approval.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Appian
    We recently renewed our license with Appian. We are convinced that its flexibility, relative ease of use, the support they provide, there mobile advancements and their general willingness and desire to see us succeed all contributed to our reason to renew our agreement with Appian
    Read full review
    Pegasystems
    Pegasystems has continued to demonstrate a strong partnership with our organization and investment in their product that aligns with our overall vision and need. Pegasystems has engaged us at every level, with the assistance of minor defects to the overall roadmap planning and alignment of our goals
    Read full review
    ServiceNow
    Excellent rating for exceptional service provided for efficiency and efficient output given by it. It helped both client as well business to coordinate better for the requirements they work. It help to generate reports for real time progress on task. It helps to keep active watch on progress made by all parties
    Read full review
    Usability
    Appian
    Appian is a low code environment, because of this, a very good visual interface is required. Appian is providing a feature-rich dashboard [that] we can use for building the dashboards and other interfaces. Appian also provides patches and releases to enhance these features. A developer can start off development just by going through a basic course from the Appian learning community.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pegasystems
    Pega Platform is enhancing its product and launching new features day by day which help to achieve customers needs. If I talk about the earlier version of Pega Platform (i.e. pega v5 and 6.3) there were many numbers of limitations in Pega Platform and if we need to do some customization then needed to write custom java and jave scripts to achieve the functionally. Now I can say Pega Platform is running with market trends and demand. Pega Platform is giving all the options which support the current technologies like decisioning capabilities, real time processing, mashup, process fabrics etc..
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ServiceNow
    The basic actions of creating, updating and tracking requests is easy to udnerstand and use. Only a short onboarding training is needed to train the users of how to use it properly. However, the UI/UX experience can feel bloated with the many options it offers when you start to customize the tool to your company needs. It is also not the best looking user interface compared to more modern web applications.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Appian
    No answers on this topic
    Pegasystems
    No answers on this topic
    ServiceNow
    We have never had any issues with ServiceNow's availability that I am aware of in the two years I have been using it.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Appian
    No answers on this topic
    Pegasystems
    No answers on this topic
    ServiceNow
    For a massive system, page loads are reasonably quick, including searches.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Appian
    Appian is one of the leading low code business automation platforms that support RPA, decision rules, case management, workflow automation, and machine learning all in a single bundle. But it is also harder to implement and replace the traditional business process.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pegasystems
    It’s very slow sometimes, but that may be our servers. Also the Knowledge Library needs some work - again, not sure if it’s our setup or what- but I’m unable to search the body of an article for content, so I have to be very intentional with tagging, but it’s not ideal.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ServiceNow
    I would give it this rating because we have had no major issues with the support for ServiceNow after we implemented it at our organization. They seem to respond promptly and efficiently if we ever do need to open a support case with them about an issue we are having.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Appian
    As analyst I participated in a developer boot camp. At times it was hard to keep up but most of the time it made sense. Trainer took the time to explain and slowed pace down to answer questions etc.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pegasystems
    No answers on this topic
    ServiceNow
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Appian
    Very boring; hard to get through quickly, but rather effective in demonstrating the use of the platform.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pegasystems
    The online training is an excellent one, but still it is missing hands on development.
    Read full review
    ServiceNow
    To type in what should be a text box, you have to click an empty cell, a tiny text box pop up opens with a check box and an X. You the. Type in the text box and have to click the check mark. If you have a bunch of fields to fill out, doing this is very annoying. Absolutely know thought went in to this. I'm sure somebody in marketing thought it was a good idea. It wasn't.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Appian
    It was really seamless. SaaS in the true definition of the word. We logged on and started using the product. Very easy.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pegasystems
    Implementation is totally depend up on the requirement
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ServiceNow
    While implementation the focus always should be on customizing features which are out of box to minimize the debts following the main features like Incidents, Requests, Change & Problem Statement. It should be strictly ensured to maintain right data quality, eliminating any duplicates or wrong workflows and incorrect reportings. Strong security and goverance to be implemented.
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Appian
    Appian has enormously transformed and keeps on updating the product every quarter to meet the latest needs of the world with new innovations & technologies being integrated within the platform. What gives more pleasure than a product that keeps on continuous[ly] improv[ing]?
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pegasystems
    We did evaluate multiple products offerings with Pega Platform capabilities and observed that Pega PRPC rules engine and case management capabilities are better over so many BPM Tools. We also conducted a detailed study with developers to identify the best products out of Suite of BPM products. It's observed that Rules engines integration is very streamlined with forms in Pega whereas other tools multiple have powerful data model capabilities but lacks the ease of creating business rules.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ServiceNow
    Having used other ticketing/asset tools in the past with other companies. This time, we opted for ServiceNow, primarily because of the company's scale. Once you start hiring a lot of employees, you need a robust tool with some maturity. We wanted to split the IT team into back-office and front-office teams. We needed proper permissions and auto-escalation. Also, approval flows for certain requests (mostly hardware and file access requests). All of this is part of the standard ServiceNow package. Some of the cheaper alternatives we felt were more suited for very small businesses or teams.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Appian
    No answers on this topic
    Pegasystems
    No answers on this topic
    ServiceNow
    ServiceNow works as an enterprise solution.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    Appian
    • I believe it has negatively impacted our release dates. There may have been a misunderstanding as to the learning curve, even though it is "low code."
    • The look and feel of the applications created using Appian have uniformity and it's easier to have "reuse" between applications.
    • There is less developer control when it comes to features. I think this mainly has to do with the amount of plugins available. I would think there should be many more available plugins. But again, our use case is probably different than most others.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pegasystems
    • For one of the applications we worked on, we were able to reduce the processing time on a case from 2 days to 20 minutes by utilizing Pega
    • We were able to resolve the issue of the routing of cases to users based on a specific algorithm by use of Pega
    • Pega case management feature was extensively used in one of the application to establish a parent-child relationship which was very helpful for all the business users
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ServiceNow
    • Personally as an end-user, I feel like my issues have been resolved more quickly/don't tend to get as lost when using previous tools.
    • Having a centralized place where all questions are asked and all issues are resolved means I don't have to spend time searching for the appropriate team. I can just create a ticket and it's channeled to the appropriate team for me.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    Appian Screenshots

    Screenshot of Low-Code DevelopmentScreenshot of Business Process Management SuiteScreenshot of Dynamic Case ManagementScreenshot of Mobile App DevelopmentScreenshot of Appian RPA with Blue Prism

    ServiceNow IT Service Management Screenshots

    Product screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshotProduct screenshot