ServiceNow ITSM vs OTRS

ServiceNow ITSM9.4Visit OTRS8.4Visit

Higher score ServiceNow ITSM #1 in IT Service Management - Enterprise Software 9.4/10 Pricing on request ✓ 0 of 5 features Visit ServiceNow

vs

OTRS #8 in IT Service Management - Enterprise Software 8.4/10 Pricing on request ✓ 0 of 5 features Visit OTRS

• ServiceNow ITSM fits best

  Large enterprises needing mature incident operations

• OTRS fits best

  Organizations needing hybrid ticketing and ITSM workflows

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Side by side

Feature	ServiceNow ITSM 9.4/10 Visit ↗	OTRS 8.4/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.4	8.4
Ranking	#1 in IT Service Management - Enterprise Software	#8 in IT Service Management - Enterprise Software
Best for	Large enterprises needing mature incident operations	Organizations needing hybrid ticketing and ITSM workflows
Pricing model	Paid	Paid
Starting price	Not published	Not published
Free plan	—	—
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Mobile	Cloud, Self-hosted
Platforms	Web, iOS, Android	Web, Linux
Support	Docs	Email, Docs
Built for	Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features ServiceNow ITSM 0/5 · OTRS 0/5
Incident management	Not published	Not published
Change management	Not published	Not published
Problem management	Not published	Not published
Configuration management	Not published	Not published
SLA management	Not published	Not published
Specs
Deployment	Not published	Not published
Our review
Pros	Advanced adds major-incident workflows, on-call schedules, and escalation policies Supports stakeholder communications and post-incident reports Employees can request help through portal, chat, and mobile channels	Combines ticketing, documentation, knowledge, self-service, and a service catalog Offers process automation, workflow management, and a CMDB Supports cloud or self-hosted deployment on Linux
Cons	Pricing requires a custom quote through sales On-call management is in Advanced, not Foundation Foundation lacks major-incident management and on-call features	Incident and problem management must be activated because it is disabled by default Pricing requires contacting sales Integration options listed are limited to web services and Generic Interface
Our verdict	ServiceNow ITSM brings incident, service request, change, and problem workflows into a shared cloud platform for IT organizations. It is aimed at mid-market and enterprise teams that want employee self-service alongside operational… Read the review →	OTRS brings ticketing and documentation together with process automation, a configuration management database, service catalogs, knowledge management, and self-service tools. It is designed for internal and external service teams in… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• ServiceNow ITSM — where it wins

  • Advanced adds major-incident workflows, on-call schedules, and escalation policies
  • Supports stakeholder communications and post-incident reports
  • Employees can request help through portal, chat, and mobile channels

  Where it doesn't

  • Pricing requires a custom quote through sales
  • On-call management is in Advanced, not Foundation
  • Foundation lacks major-incident management and on-call features

• OTRS — where it wins

  • Combines ticketing, documentation, knowledge, self-service, and a service catalog
  • Offers process automation, workflow management, and a CMDB
  • Supports cloud or self-hosted deployment on Linux

  Where it doesn't

  • Incident and problem management must be activated because it is disabled by default
  • Pricing requires contacting sales
  • Integration options listed are limited to web services and Generic Interface

• ServiceNow ITSM9.4/10 · Pricing on request

  A broad ITSM suite whose Advanced tier adds major-incident and on-call operations.

  Visit ServiceNowFull verdict →
• OTRS8.4/10 · Pricing on request

  A configurable ITSM suite with hybrid deployment and a broad service-management toolkit.

  Visit OTRSFull verdict →