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

Oracle Application Express (APEX) vs ServiceNow comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 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

Oracle Application Express ...
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
60
Ranking in other categories
Development Platforms (2nd), Low-Code Development Platforms (2nd)
ServiceNow
Ranking in Rapid Application Development Software
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
223
Ranking in other categories
Help Desk Software (1st), IT Asset Management (1st), IT Service Management (ITSM) (1st), No-Code Development Platforms (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Rapid Application Development Software category, the mindshare of Oracle Application Express (APEX) is 7.6%, down from 9.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow is 10.3%, down from 10.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Rapid Application Development Software
 

Featured Reviews

Rodrigo-Mesquita - PeerSpot reviewer
Rapid application development empowers big projects in months
The ability to quickly develop applications without needing to code a lot is very valuable. It is very quick to create a page, and one can use AI to speed up software development. It is easy to learn. In my company, we could develop a very big application in a couple of months.
Nikhil Gohil - PeerSpot reviewer
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.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Oracle is always adding very important updates"
"You can customize the solution to create a console where only business users can access and download files if they want to extract the data."
"The valuable features are charts, reports, and search engines."
"The most valuable feature of Oracle APEX is its comprehensive set of features for creating user-friendly and visually appealing applications."
"The solution's most valuable aspect is its Graphics Form Design."
"A user interface is relatively simple to create."
"This product will speed up development time with helpful production aids."
"With only a browser, it is very easy to develop in a web environment."
"ServiceNow is a cloud solution. That fact was very important for us, that it is not an on-prem solution, as it reduces our internal cost of support."
"It's actually easy to understand."
"Straightforward tool."
"Will give us better control over asset management and technical debt once we can centralize all contract information."
"The thing that I like most about it is the easy integration with the CMDB. I'm able to look at the CMDB for applications and develop my assessments and attestations based on the application and point them at that application owner. So, I can really automate the whole thing."
"I like that it's always up and running."
"I recommend ServiceNow due to its stability and good security."
"I like the incident module, which is useful for tracking your incidents and other things. It is a reliable solution."
 

Cons

"We would like to see tighter integration with the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure."
"It would be highly beneficial if APEX were an all-in-one platform capable of handling all aspects of application development."
"The format is not recognized by Microsoft Word products."
"It would be beneficial to include WebSockets so that you can see real-time updates."
"You also need an APEX specialist for deployment because not many people use it."
"Currently, APEX doesn't have a building workflow engine. I think that's the most important improvement that could be made at this point."
"Apex has effectively incorporated new market trends into its features. The platform's user-friendly nature is notable, guiding developers through the development process. While advanced customization of the user interface with HTML and CSS is possible, the out-of-the-box options often suffice, providing 80-90% of the required functionality. The IDE is commendable, yet an enhancement in the Page Designer to allow a real-time preview of layout changes would be beneficial. Currently, running the page is necessary to visualize layout adjustments, but an immediate preview during the design phase would be a valuable improvement."
"The solution has some stability problems that need to be resolved."
"An area for improvement would be the accessibility of downloaded and compressed files."
"Creating service catalog forms could be made easier."
"if I consider from the IT operations management side, ServiceNow is pretty premature on some things, especially the discovery, while the other tools like Micro Focus and BMC Remedy, those that have been in the market for quite some time. ServiceNow is evolving itself in the discovery piece of the future."
"There should be fewer clicks and faster integrations between solutions."
"ServiceNow's mobile app should be seamless and it is not right now."
"It's not very secure, it's web-based, and I prefer Remedy. Both the security and the web interface could be improved."
"We find it good in general. Obviously, there are areas of improvement for every capability. As they evolve more, if they keep on adding more intelligence into the capabilities, it will improve. The improvement areas are more integration across the landscape and more intelligence for the overall capability of the solution."
"The contract module is quite rudimentary and doesn't support contract line items."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We have an Oracle basic product license, and then we can use Oracle APEX for free. We have many licenses for Oracle for approximately 20 processors."
"It is expensive in comparison to other products."
"The pricing is very good and less expensive than Mendix or OutSystems."
"Apex is not priced separately; instead, it is associated with the Oracle database. A free option for Oracle database and Apex can be downloaded and installed on this complimentary database version. This aligns with our current approach."
"APEX itslelf is a free product, but you will need to license peripheral components."
"It's a free solution with no additional costs."
"Oracle Express comes with the Oracle license, it is a bundle."
"Oracle Application Express (APEX) is free, so this is another magic of the solution. You just get charged for the database license, which I don't need."
"The first impact for the customer is that it is expensive, but do not forget that it is a solution that includes infrastructure; a single cost, easy to justify."
"ServiceNow pricing is an art, not a science. The deal depends on how commercially savvy you are, which does make it something that is quite difficult to get right. It is most definitely an opportunity area for ServiceNow to improve and have more visibility around pricing of the different products within the platform."
"The CapEx version is great."
"The price is okay for us. It's reasonable."
"They could be more competitive with their licensing."
"Getting the solution up and running is expensive."
"The product cost is higher than that of other vendors."
"Initially, the licensing model ServiceNow came up with was very good. But now, from a licensing perspective, they are changing their model day by day. It is becoming a bit expensive for customers."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Rapid Application Development Software solutions are best for your needs.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Government
12%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle Application Express (APEX)?
I consider Oracle Application Express (APEX) to be good value for the money because it has infinite quality for money since it's included in any Oracle database license. It's free once you have the...
What needs improvement with Oracle Application Express (APEX)?
One of the things that could be done to improve Oracle Application Express (APEX) is if Oracle decided to open it up to other databases. It needs to be an enterprise database; therefore, it needs t...
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...
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 ...
What do you like most about ServiceNow?
The solution has a user-friendly interface.
 

Also Known As

Oracle APEX
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Hepart AG, pharmasol, SATLOG, Collège Bois-de-Boulogne
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    
Find out what your peers are saying about Oracle Application Express (APEX) vs. ServiceNow and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.
865,295 professionals have used our research since 2012.