Hornbill Systems Supportworks vs ServiceNow comparison

Hornbill Systems Supportworks

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 3, 2024

ServiceNow and Hornbill Systems Supportworks compete in the IT service management solutions category. ServiceNow often holds an advantage with extensive customization and integration capabilities, while Hornbill Systems Supportworks is preferred for intuitive design and straightforward deployment.

Features: ServiceNow features comprehensive workflow automation, extensive integration capabilities, and a wide range of modules covering ITIL processes. It appeals to large enterprises with its broad feature set. Hornbill Systems Supportworks focuses on ease of configuration, intuitive processes, and collaborative team dynamics, offering a more streamlined experience for smaller to mid-sized businesses.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: ServiceNow provides a rich ecosystem but requires a more involved setup and technical expertise. Hornbill Systems Supportworks emphasizes a simplified, rapid deployment model supported by customer-friendly service, valued for quick implementation needs.

Pricing and ROI: ServiceNow involves higher initial setup costs and ongoing investment, tailored for businesses prioritizing expansive service management capabilities. Hornbill Systems Supportworks offers attractive pricing suitable for tighter budgets, facilitating quicker ROI for small to mid-sized organizations focused on essential functionalities.

To learn more, read our detailed Hornbill Systems Supportworks vs. ServiceNow Report (Updated: September 2025).

Hornbill Systems Supportworks vs. ServiceNow

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Helped 868,787 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

Hornbill Systems Supportworks

Ranking in Help Desk Software

40th

Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)

40th

Average Rating

7.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

ServiceNow

Ranking in Help Desk Software

1st

Ranking in IT Service Management (ITSM)

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

223

Ranking in other categories

IT Asset Management (1st), Rapid Application Development Software (2nd), No-Code Development Platforms (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2025, in the IT Service Management (ITSM) category, the mindshare of Hornbill Systems Supportworks is 0.6%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow is 21.0%, down from 26.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

IT Service Management (ITSM) Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
ServiceNow	21.0%
Hornbill Systems Supportworks	0.6%
Other	78.4%

IT Service Management (ITSM)

Featured Reviews

it_user1262703

Service Desk Team Leader at a healthcare company with 5,001-10,000 employees

Excels in call logging and call flows but is limited in terms of scalability

I'd advise others to map their processes out before starting with the solution. Hornbill has recently generated a new version of its product and it meets some of the requirements that we would have been looking for. It's a bit more scalable, a bit more responsive to a customer-focused model for support, and they've improved a lot of things like process flow and self-service. In terms of rating the solution, it's difficult to grade. It really depends on the size of the organization that's trying to use it as that tool. One of the reasons why we're looking to shift is because we've grown quite a bit over the years that we've had it, which makes it difficult for it to meet our demands. However, for an organization the size of what we were when we started our journey with it, I'd rate it ten out of ten. Where we are now, with our company size and needs, I'd rate it six out of ten.

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Nikhil Gohil

Solution Engineer - Digital Platform | Mobile at British American Tobacco

Enables effective incident management and seamless workflow automation with valuable mobile accessibility

I haven't thought deeply about improvements for ServiceNow or what might be missing right now. There are so many modules and features in ServiceNow that I haven't explored them all, so it's hard to say what might be missing or should be improved. I suggest making the cost more affordable for smaller companies.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution's business process flow is quite strong. Its reporting is quite good. The standard, basic ITSM functionality like call logging and call flow, for example, are areas the solution really excels in."

"It's great for keeping everyone informed in the company - not just IT. Everyone becomes aware of change requests and incidents so the entire company is on the same page."

"The impact of ServiceNow's self-service portal on IT staff dependency levels has shown a dramatic improvement."

"ServiceNow is easy to use and has a user-friendly interface."

"You can have it installed and up and running within hours if you know what you're doing. Time to market would be one of the main things to consider."

"I have found many features that are important and that are easier when compared to Remedy; for example, the Scripted REST APIs and the Flow Designer... The Client scripts are simpler when you compare with Remedy."

"It is robust and very user-friendly."

"The solution's initial setup process is easy."

"I like that in ServiceNow creating workflows is simpler than that in HP Service Manager. Also, I really like the customization feature. It allows us to customize the service portal and permits us to do a lot of customization per business needs."

More ServiceNow pros

Cons

"It's worked well for us for a significant period of time. However, we are kind-of outgrowing it at the moment. We're struggling a bit with making it meet our requirements."

"It's too complicated and there are too many options."

"I do not like the user interface."

"Their user interface is old-fashioned and outdated, and it can be more friendly for the eye. They can improve the user experience."

"The setup was time-consuming and required a lot of internal resources."

"Complexities in the organization made the initial deployment complex."

"There are Virtual Task Boards in the tool in the latest releases. There are many of them in the Scaled Agile Framework. There is some room there for improvement. It's really quite promising but, at the same time, it could be improved and I believe it will be improved soon."

"The user interface for accessing assistance sometimes disconnects."

"The reporting, which also includes dashboards, needs to be improved, and there should also be the ability to turn on and off portions of Project Management. Currently, as soon as you install the new version, you've got to go back there and make all the tweaks. There should be just a configuration file that goes to the new version. The Project Management module does not leverage the knowledge base the way it should, and there is no built-in ability to get to the articles. Resource management should be easier. It would be amazing if they can make resource management a little bit more graphical. There are other solutions that I've seen where resource management was a more visual experience."

More ServiceNow cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Our organization pays about $40,000 annually. There are ongoing consultancy costs and if we want to change anything, we're charged a day rate. Other than that, there are no other extra costs involved in working with the solution."

"Certainly, from a product-platform perspective, the price is not too bad."

"ServiceNow tends to be a little bit more expensive as compared to BMC Helix ITSM."

"For the modules we use, we found it competitive. I can't think of any costs in addition to the licensing fees."

"The pricing is on the high side, but if you look at the stability and option to work, it's kind of justified."

"ServiceNow is a leader and its pricing is quite good, quite competitive... Sometimes some plugins are not priced reasonably but, generally, the platform itself, its modules, are priced reasonably."

"The mandatory minimum is US$ 20,000 for licensing."

"The price of this solution is expensive."

"ServiceNow is an expensive solution."

More ServiceNow pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which IT Service Management (ITSM) solutions are best for your needs.

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

No data available

Computer Software Company

12%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	54
Midsize Enterprise	36
Large Enterprise	163

Questions from the Community

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Which solution is better for developing non-ITSM applications: OutSystems or Service Now?

The short answer is that OutSystems is far better for 2 main reasons. Firstly, with Service Now you are locked into that platform for good. The business model is to lock in and then keep pumping th...

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Would you choose ServiceNow over Microsoft PowerApps?

Hi Netanya, I will choose ServiceNow because ServiceNow is a very good tool compared to Microsoft PowerApp. Because ServiceNow has a very strong module (Performance Analysis) reporting which will ...

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What do you like most about ServiceNow?

The solution has a user-friendly interface.

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Comparisons

No data available

BMC Helix ITSM vs ServiceNow

Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

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Compared 5% of the time

IBM Maximo vs ServiceNow

Compared 5% of the time

Microsoft Power Apps vs ServiceNow

Compared 4% of the time

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Product Reports

IT Service Management (ITSM)

Download Hornbill Systems Supportworks product report

Download ServiceNow product report

Also Known As

Supportworks

No data available

Overview

Supportworks brings you the ideal combination of business process automation, functionality and flexibility. It's a comprehensive ITIL-compatible application that satisfies most requirements out of the box. Fully integrated processes and support templates mean you can rapidly adopt key components of the service lifecycle. If you don't need all the disciplines immediately, just switch them off until you're ready. Supportworks has the flexibility to support any service desk requirement: HR and FM applications are available. which means you can run all your service desks on a single platform, eliminating duplicated effort, reducing hardware and software costs, and simplifying support.

Hornbill Systems

ServiceNow is a cloud-based task-management platform that specializes in IT operations management (ITOM), IT services management (ITSM), and IT business management (ITBM). ServiceNow allows users to manage their teams, projects, and customer interactions using a variety of different plugins and apps with which it easily integrates.

ServiceNow offers prebuilt applications to support any process, as well as a framework and tools that allow you to build your own.

ServiceNow’s service management solutions include change, request, incident, problem, and cost management, as well as HR, IT, field service, and facilities management solutions. They also cover business management solutions such as vendor performance management, financial management, performance analytics and project portfolio suite, as well as governance, risk, and compliance.

“The Smarter Way to Workflow”

ServiceNow’s activities, processes, and tasks are overseen as part of a comprehensive managed workflow that supports such features as real-time collaboration, communication, and resource sharing. ServiceNow’s suite of products allow for operation using serverless computing, and include the categories of Business Apps, Customer Service, HR, IT, and Security.

ServiceNow can be used to support most workflows because of the wide range of tools it offers. These include on-suite ticketing tools, predictive modeling to manage workflows, and benchmarking for the tracking of progress. ServiceNow can assist with artificial intelligence and machine learning processes and can be used to organize the cases of a help/service desk as well as for instance management and problem management. It also smoothly integrates with many legacy systems.

ServiceNow offers service management software for industries including:

Cloud services
Education
Financial services
Government
Healthcare
Manufacturing
Telecommunications

Reviews from Real Users

PeerSpot users prefer ServiceNow to its competitors because of its scalability, stability, and ease of use. It helps everyone in the company to be on the same page by creating a single source of record across all departments. One user stated that “I’ve definitely used over 20 project management solutions, but they can't be compared with ServiceNow.” Another said that “ServiceNow is an industry leader in multiple areas and provides an excellent ROI.”

Sample Customers

Aylesbury Vale District Council

AAA, AstraZeneca, Becton, Dickinson and Company, Broadcom, Christus Health, Epicor, Equinix, GE Capital, Intuit, KPMG, Loyola Marymount University, OshKosh, Quantas, RedHat, Royal Bank of Scotland, Swiss Re, U.S. Department of Energy, Safeway, Yale University, and Zillow

Hornbill Systems Supportworks vs. ServiceNow