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BMC Helix CMDB vs ServiceNow CMDB comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

BMC Helix CMDB
Ranking in Configuration Management Databases
5th
Average Rating
9.2
Number of Reviews
6
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
ServiceNow CMDB
Ranking in Configuration Management Databases
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
33
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Configuration Management Databases category, the mindshare of BMC Helix CMDB is 11.3%, up from 9.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow CMDB is 27.3%, down from 39.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Configuration Management Databases Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
ServiceNow CMDB27.3%
BMC Helix CMDB11.3%
Other61.4%
Configuration Management Databases
 

Featured Reviews

Yousef Bayari - PeerSpot reviewer
ITSM Consultant at Smart IT Service
Serves as a repository for storing configuration items, encompassing both physical and logical entities
The main feature is the relational model database, where you define relationships between CIs. Being able to establish CI relationships and building a service model is a key aspect of CMDB. Additionally, the traditional features of asset management, such as tracking assets through attributes, location, and ownership (both organizational and individual), are also part of it. On top of these, the CI model, which handles relationships and service models, is pivotal.
reviewer2782440 - PeerSpot reviewer
ServiceNow Consultant at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Automation features and integrated service mapping have streamlined incident and change management processes
There is probably room for improvement in ServiceNow CMDB. I'm so immersed in projects and solving direct customer issues that I don't think too much about potential improvements. Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date ServiceNow CMDB can be challenging due to incoming data from various sources, but ServiceNow has been developing small AI components to help with data discrepancies and deduplication recently. They have also improved integrations with other tools, providing many out-of-the-box integrations to different monitoring tools and CMDBs, which previously required coding experience for custom integrations. They are moving towards a more low-code or no-code approach, which is part of their goal as a company.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable features of BMC Atrium CMDB are its ease to build new classes. For example, let's say there are types of CIs or efforts that do not exist in BMC Atrium CMDB. You can create your own and their relationship to existing classes."
"The main feature is the relational model database, where you define relationships between CIs. Being able to establish CI relationships and building a service model is a key aspect of CMDB."
"It allows me to easily manage my data: Cleanse, load, and report on it."
"Over the years, we have progressed to have close to a real-time up-to-date view into the assets in our environment."
"This solution makes it easy for us to access data, and seamlessly integrates with all ITSM as well as the monitoring parts."
"This solution has improved our tracking."
"Atrium Integrator​ allows me to manage my data, with regular updates, etc. and integrate with multiple systems."
"The rules functionality makes it easier to classify data for different groups."
"ServiceNow excels in integration and is considered the best tool in the market for this purpose."
"It has helped in tracking hardware and software and reducing overall costs."
"ServiceNow CMDB is fully integrated and complete. ServiceNow has modules for everything an IT service company needs, and it's flexible."
"ServiceNow CMDB works great for large and small businesses."
"The different tables are available in ServiceNow CMDB are quite good. We don't need to create many custom tables."
"The solution has a single database, architecture, and data model."
"One of the most valuable aspects of ServiceNow CMDB is its user-friendly interface and high degree of customization at the user level."
"As I work based on the IT governance framework, what I like best about ServiceNow CMDB is ITSM, so incident/service request management. I also like that it can be useful for project portfolio management."
 

Cons

"BMC Atrium CMDB could improve if they had a cloud version and made the interface better."
"I am just waiting for the new release with the new enhanced UI."
"There could be a provision in the back end to ensure unique collections and avoid duplicate services."
"Looking for a more streamlined interface; one that matches the other parts of the BMC Remedy product line."
"Recently, improvements have been more focused on the interface side."
"We would like the service modelling functionality of this solution to be improved."
"ServiceNow CMDB may face performance issues if we try to make the solution too large by adding more CIs."
"There are some gaps in the technologies that can be solved. Operational technology isn't quite 100% there yet, but I hear it is on the roadmap. I would also like it to be cheaper."
"I'm still learning about CMDB's capabilities, so I haven't seen anything that I want added yet."
"You need to perform additional planning because their recommendation is not to add columns to the core tables."
"I don't think it's a failure of Service Now or something that they don't offer, but I haven't seen any training modules."
"The reporting function could be more advanced and has room for improvement."
"There's room for improvement in terms of integration."
"If you have multiple tools that are going to ingest data into the CMDB, you need to be careful of what rules we write to ensure that they fall in place."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"CMDB is more expensive than one of its competitors."
"The product price falls on the higher side of the spectrum."
"The market sees ServiceNow as the Ferrari in terms of pricing. It's at the very top, and its cost is very, very high."
"It is always fluctuating. It seems to change every six months. Every time they come out with a new iteration, it changes. It is pretty complicated, and they should improve it."
"In comparison to the cost of other solutions, you get value for your money with ServiceNow CMDB. It could definitely be cheaper though."
"The product is pricey."
"It is really expensive. I don't know actually how much it costs, but in 2016, when a client decided to move from an old solution to ServiceNow and had to choose a supplier for ServiceNow, I had heard that it could cost $10 per hour, which is really expensive. I am not aware of any additional fees to the standard licensing fees. There is no standard ServiceNow solution. When a company wants to acquire ServiceNow, they already know which module they will choose. In a basic package, you would have Service Catalog, Incident Management, and Change Management. These modules are usually required in an IT company."
"I would like it to be cheaper. If you've got a large environment, it can get quite expensive quite quickly. You still get a return on investment, but everybody has a tight budget. In terms of licensing, everything is pretty much known upfront. Being SaaS-based, there are no real additional gotchas that we came across."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise5
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise20
 

Questions from the Community

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What needs improvement with ServiceNow CMDB?
I would like to improve ServiceNow CMDB through better implementation and parameterization. ServiceNow has capabilities, and I wonder if they have included some AI capability to detect data that ar...
What is your primary use case for ServiceNow CMDB?
I mostly deal with ServiceNow CMDB, orchestration, and also project management with ServiceNow. I also provide support for operations in Jira.
What advice do you have for others considering ServiceNow CMDB?
I am a consultant, not a reseller. I used to work for a company, but now I am a consultant. There is project management, ServiceNow CMDB, and orchestration features. Today, we have integrated it wi...
 

Also Known As

Atrium CMDB
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Brookfield
Wayfair, Siemens, Allianz, Experian, Vitas Healthcare
Find out what your peers are saying about BMC Helix CMDB vs. ServiceNow CMDB and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.