Kayako vs ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus vs ServiceNow comparison

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Kayako Logo
99 views|75 comparisons
100% willing to recommend
ManageEngine Logo
7,219 views|3,741 comparisons
89% willing to recommend
ServiceNow Logo
19,138 views|11,633 comparisons
91% willing to recommend
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Kayako, ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus, and ServiceNow based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow, Atlassian, BMC and others in Help Desk Software.
To learn more, read our detailed Help Desk Software Report (Updated: April 2024).
767,995 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
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 feature of Kayako is its flexibility. We can do anything we want with it, which is nice."

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"It's very easy to customize the tool to your business needs.""The software deployment we find quite valuable - being able to deploy software to multiple endpoints without having to worry about getting in touch with the end users.""The GUI is very good.""It was easy to implement. I didn't have a hard time. It was very quick, around 10 to 20 minutes.""It's stable.""I have been impressed by how easy it is to operate and how easy the structure is to manage service tickets. If they request an incident problem train, it's a very strong model. Another strong feature in the tool is the CMDB.""Easy to setup with a user-friendly interface that works well on cloud. It has a lot of important features: workflow builder, configuration management database, and recorded solutions.""The product scales up effortlessly and you can easily add users."

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"I think ServiceNow is highly stable. These kinds of tools are used in a big company, and I haven't seen any issues in terms of the core platform.""It uses a common base of data and allows different types of records to pull from that same base of data.""Change management is most valuable.""If you stick to the out-of-the-box solution, it's an easy setup.""I like the ease of use.""Everything about the schema, including the design of ServiceNow, is great.""ServiceNow offers a range of ITSM, IT incident management, and PRCPs.""For change management, I find the CAB workbench very useful. I haven't seen any other solution that has a CAB workbench or advanced automated solutions for a change advisory board. ServiceNow also has the Workflow Engine which works very well and is very intuitive."

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Cons
"Some of the reporting in Kayako could be improved. It only has two levels of classification and if there were additional levels added for reporting purposes it would be awesome for our environment."

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"I would like to see a clearer distinction between ManageEngine Cloud, ServiceDesk Plus, and ManageEngine Enterprise. That way, choosing the best one is better informed. Initially, I struggled to understand the difference, but I figured it out later.""Compared to other ITSM tools, ServiceDesk will have to step up their knowledge base tools. If they could make it open enough to be integrated with other applications or other systems it would be very useful.""Offers very limited customizations.""I expected more features than it has. The flexibility is missing. I also was expecting a different level of configuration and segregation.""ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus moves changes to the production directly. We need a local touch in support.""ServiceDesk's reporting module could use an update. It looks outdated, and the interface could be more intuitive.""I think asset management took a hit recently.""The product needs to allow for implementation for other departments besides the IT help desk."

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"Integration capabilities can improve.""Making a mobile version would be helpful.""Local solutions have lower costs.""Their GUI could be updated.""The product’s standard user experience is not the best.""The customer service of the product right now isn't very good. It's an aspect they really need to improve.""I have enjoyed all the features. There is not any feature that I have missed or didn't have.""Licensing costs are very high."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Kayako is a highly affordable solution."
  • More Kayako Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The prices are attractive. Customer can use a subscription if they do not have enough budget."
  • "The cost of licensing is approximately ten dollars per suite, per month. When scaling up, there are a lot of other expenses such as infrastructure, the telecommunication companies, etc."
  • "For our 500 assets that are using the professional version of the solution, we pay somewhere between $4,000 and $5,000 per year."
  • "The only issue for us is the pricing, which is quite high in comparison with the competition."
  • "Its price is very lucrative. It would be great if the price can come down, but overall, its price is great. It is half or maybe one-third of the price of other market leaders."
  • "For 90 service agents and our need for a cloud solution with incident management and service request management, it annually costs around 12,000. If you need additional development or deployment support from the vendor, there might be an additional cost."
  • "We use the cloud model, which is subscription-based, and each year, the subscription fees seem to go up, making it a more expensive solution."
  • "It is cheaper than the competitors."
  • More ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "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."
  • "It has a higher cost compared to local/regional solutions."
  • "We know that ServiceNow is not cheap, it's more expensive than other solutions. But we are trying to increase our ability to handle tickets so that the cost per ticket is less."
  • "It's sold as a less expensive solution, but it has to be highly modified. That's where you get into the cost."
  • "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."
  • "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."
  • "Isn't pricing always too much? We really do chafe at the ITIL licensing. ITOM is also pretty expensive."
  • "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."
  • More ServiceNow Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
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    Top Answer:The platform's most beneficial features are incident management, change management, request management, and asset… more »
    Top Answer:The product's asset management tool needs improvement. It operates on an agentless system, relying on the patch… more »
    Top Answer:The short answer is that OutSystems is far better for 2 main reasons. Firstly, with Service Now you are locked into that… more »
    Top Answer:Hi Netanya I will choose ServiceNow because ServiceNow is a very good tool compared to Microsoft PowerApp.  Because… more »
    Top Answer:It is user-friendly and simple to use.
    Ranking
    44th
    out of 59 in Help Desk Software
    Views
    99
    Comparisons
    75
    Reviews
    0
    Average Words per Review
    0
    Rating
    N/A
    4th
    out of 59 in Help Desk Software
    Views
    7,219
    Comparisons
    3,741
    Reviews
    19
    Average Words per Review
    465
    Rating
    7.7
    1st
    out of 59 in Help Desk Software
    Views
    19,138
    Comparisons
    11,633
    Reviews
    23
    Average Words per Review
    452
    Rating
    8.5
    Comparisons
    Learn More
    Kayako
    Video Not Available
    Overview

    Kayako is a powerful customer service and support platform that gives your team the tools they need to communicate with customers across live chat, email, facebook and twitter.

    Our approach brings every interaction your customer has with your business into Kayako and presents your agents with a comprehensive customer journey. This gives your team the context they need to immediately respond and support customers in a way that’s quick, accurate and personal.

    Kayako is used by over 130,000 customer support pros in businesses of all sizes around the world, including Peugeot, NASA, Fedex, and GE.


    ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus (MSP) is a comprehensive help desk tool that has built-in asset and project management. MSP can be deployed in the cloud or on premises. The solution enables its users to track configuration changes, map relationships, and view graphical displays of data for more informed decision making. 

    The two main focus points of MSP are IT request tracking and asset management. MSP’s integrated centralized management console enables technicians and system administrators to efficiently resolve complex issues and keep track of their organization’s needs and ensure constant availability.

    With MSP's automation of multiple service desk processes, you can easily save time by automating repetitive and simple tasks such as task assignment, notifications, and categorizations. The automation of multiple processes helps reduce errors and lower costs while ensuring a fast turnaround of ticket handling processes.

    ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus Features and Benefits

    MSP has a wide variety of features to help you optimize your help desk management:

    • Dynamically update workflows: Create visual change workflows on a drag-and-drop canvas and customize these workflows on demand according to your organization’s needs.
    • Implement your workflow’s actions: Define actions such as notifications, switches, and automatic updates and approvals throughout the lifecycle of your workflow.
    • Flexible role administration: Provide custom viewing, editing, and approval access levels to various stakeholders and users.
    • Perform seamless integrations: Integrate with popular third-party products and access them from your IT help desk console.
    • Rapid troubleshooting: Improve your customer service by communicating with users by launching remote sessions directly from their tickets to quickly resolve their issues.

    • Control end-user workstations: Trigger software installation and removal on remote  workstations from within the management console.
    • Automatic anomaly notification: Resolve issues before they affect your enterprise. Automatically receive notification when a performance anomaly is detected in your servers or applications.
    • Auto-assign tickets: The technician auto-assign tool, which can be set up using a load balancing algorithm, eliminates the need to assign tickets to technicians manually. This helps ensure that tickets are distributed to technicians fairly and on time.
    • Automatic notifications and reports: Set up a notification system to guarantee that the necessary notifications reach stakeholders on time, and that customers are kept updated regarding the status of their tickets. In addition, schedule reports to be sent to users periodically. 
    • Implement your custom code: Program flexible automation enhancements with your own custom scripts and run them directly from the main dashboard.
    • Customize templates: Create custom and user-friendly templates using the solution’s simple drag-and-drop canvas. 

    Reviews from Real Users

    MSP stands out among its competitors for a number of reasons. Two major ones are its comprehensive workflow management toolset and the flexibility it offers its users.

    Mykola S., head of global IT delivery at Acino Pharma AG, writes, “CMDB as a baseline, incident management, service request management, and license management are valuable features. It offers really interesting features for complete use in an enterprise. You have one platform, and you could set up different service functions for HR, engineering, or another team in the same platform.

    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
    Toshiba Canada, Disney, Avast, Namecheap, Texas Tech University
    Tranter IT Infrastructure Services Limited, Sterlite Technologies, averda, Radiology Associates
    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    
    Top Industries
    No Data Available
    REVIEWERS
    Healthcare Company10%
    Reseller10%
    Government8%
    Computer Software Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization54%
    Computer Software Company9%
    Financial Services Firm5%
    Comms Service Provider3%
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm15%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    Healthcare Company8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization22%
    Computer Software Company11%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Government7%
    Company Size
    No Data Available
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business42%
    Midsize Enterprise32%
    Large Enterprise27%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business15%
    Midsize Enterprise60%
    Large Enterprise25%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business20%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise65%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business15%
    Midsize Enterprise30%
    Large Enterprise56%
    Buyer's Guide
    Help Desk Software
    April 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about ServiceNow, Atlassian, BMC and others in Help Desk Software. Updated: April 2024.
    767,995 professionals have used our research since 2012.