Teams look past ServiceNow ITSM when they want a published per-agent price, a faster rollout, or a tool sized for an IT team of tens rather than hundreds. Most go to Freshservice or Jira Service Management for a published price, and to Halo ITSM or TOPdesk for all-in-one service management.
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What each alternative does differently
1. Freshservice
Modern, fast-to-deploy ITSM built on the Freshworks platform · United States
The most direct published-price answer: four tiers from $19 to $99 per agent per month billed annually, with an Enterprise tier on quote. Change, problem and release management start at Pro. A 14-day trial lets a team test before talking to anyone, and day passes cover occasional agents.
Switch from ServiceNow ITSM if you want published per-agent tiers and a trial before any sales call.
Pricing: Starter at $19/agent/month, Growth at $49/agent/month adding the service catalog and SLA management, Pro at $99/agent/month adding problem, change, release and major incident management, and a custom-quoted Enterprise tier with Freddy AI Agent included; Freddy AI Copilot is a $29/agent/month add-on below that. All billed annually with a 14-day free trial. (free trial)
Full review: #1 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Freshservice →
2. Jira Service Management
ITSM built on the Jira platform, tightly linked to engineering workflows · Australia
Sits in Atlassian's Service Collection, with a free tier to start and Assets available from Standard. Strongest where IT work connects to engineering tickets in Jira. Covers HR, facilities and customer service teams too, but reads as a work-management product more than a classic ITIL suite.
Switch from ServiceNow ITSM if your IT and engineering teams already share Jira and you want a free tier to start.
Pricing: A permanent Free plan for up to 3 agents, Standard at $20/agent/month adding asset and configuration management and Rovo AI, Premium at $51.42/agent/month adding change management with AI risk assessment, advanced incident and problem management and 24/7 support, and a quote-only annual Enterprise tier; Atlassian now sells it within its Service Collection, with a 14-day trial of paid plans. (free plan)
Full review: #5 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Jira Service Management →
3. Halo ITSM
All-inclusive ITSM pricing with no feature-gated tiers · United Kingdom
One price for every agent with no editions: modules such as CMDB, incident and knowledge management are all in, and end users are free. Offered as cloud or on-premises, with named or concurrent licenses and a 30-day trial. Fewer large-enterprise references than ServiceNow.
Switch from ServiceNow ITSM if you want every module at one per-agent price and the option to host it yourself.
Pricing: A single per-agent price starting around £66/agent/month billed annually, with every module, including change, asset and CMDB, included at that one price rather than split across tiers; end users and portal access are always free. (free trial)
Full review: #2 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Halo ITSM →
4. TOPdesk
Dutch ITSM specialist covering IT, facilities and HR service desks · Netherlands
Three published tiers from 51 pounds per agent per month, with unlimited assets, tickets and end users. Essential covers incident and asset management; change, problem and contract management start at Engaged. Aimed at service teams across IT, facilities and HR, with local language support included.
Switch from ServiceNow ITSM if you run IT, facilities and HR service desks and want published tiers.
Pricing: Essential at £51, Engaged at £72 and Excellent at £101 per agent per month; Essential covers incident and asset management, the self-service portal and knowledge base, while change, problem, and contract and SLA management start on Engaged. Average per-agent cost decreases as more agents are added, and there is no free plan or self-serve trial. (none)
Full review: #3 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit TOPdesk →
5. ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus
Budget-friendly ITSM with a real free edition, from the Zoho stable · India
Priced per technician on annual plans, with a free Standard edition for up to five technicians. Professional adds asset management and Enterprise adds change management and projects. Offered as cloud or on-premises, with a 30-day trial. Fits mid-size teams that want ServiceNow-style modules on a budget.
Switch from ServiceNow ITSM if you want a free or low-cost start with the option to run it on-premises.
Pricing: A free Standard edition for up to 5 technicians covering the IT service desk only, then Standard, Professional (adds IT asset management) and Enterprise (adds problem, change and release management, CMDB and projects) editions; Professional and Enterprise are priced on technicians plus managed IT assets. Available as cloud or on-premises, with AI features on every edition and a 30-day free trial. (free plan)
Full review: #7 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus →
6. Zendesk ITSM
Zendesk's support-desk platform extended for internal IT service management · United States
A customer-service platform whose Suite plans carry ITSM through employee service modules. Suite Team is listed per agent per month, annually, with a 14-day trial. A natural step if the support team already uses Zendesk, though its ITIL depth is lighter than a dedicated suite.
Switch from ServiceNow ITSM if your customer support team already runs Zendesk and wants one platform for IT requests.
Pricing: IT service management runs on Zendesk Suite plans priced per agent per month, billed annually, with native hardware asset management (500 assets included) from the Suite Growth plan up and a Copilot AI add-on; a 14-day free trial is available, with no permanent free plan. (free trial)
Full review: #6 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Zendesk ITSM →
7. SysAid
AI-driven ITSM with an emphasis on automated resolution · Israel
A single Professional plan at $89 per agent per month with unlimited AI use, which it says carries no usage caps. Includes request, incident, change and problem management and 250 assets. Enterprise starts at 20 agents. Narrower than ServiceNow in scope, with a flatter price structure.
Switch from ServiceNow ITSM if you want AI included without usage caps and a single published plan.
Pricing: Professional at $89/agent/month with unlimited AI usage included, and a custom-quoted Enterprise tier starting at 20 agents adding sandbox environments and tailored AI agents; a free trial is available with no permanent free plan. (free trial)
Full review: #8 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit SysAid →
8. SolarWinds Service Desk
Cloud ITSM integrated with SolarWinds network monitoring · United States
Three annual per-technician tiers from $39 to $124, with unlimited requesters. Essentials already includes change management, and Premier adds a visual CMDB and sandbox. A 30-day trial gives Premier access. Cloud-delivered, and a fit for teams that also use SolarWinds monitoring.
Switch from ServiceNow ITSM if you want change management at the entry price and unlimited requesters.
Pricing: Essentials at $39 per technician per month with change management, CMDB and SLAs, Advanced at $99 adding network discovery, contract management and the virtual agent, and Premier at $124 adding visual CMDB dependency mapping, AI incident features and a sandbox; all billed annually with unlimited end users and a 30-day free trial. (free trial)
Full review: #9 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit SolarWinds Service Desk →
9. Ivanti Neurons for ITSM
Enterprise ITSM integrated with Ivanti's unified endpoint management · United States
Offers cloud, on-premises and hybrid deployment, which ServiceNow's product page does not describe in the same way. It lists no-code workflow design, virtual agents and AI-written knowledge articles. Pricing goes through the vendor, so it does not solve the quote problem.
Switch from ServiceNow ITSM if you need on-premises or hybrid hosting for your service desk.
Pricing: Quote-only annual licensing, typically sold alongside or bundled with Ivanti's unified endpoint management and security products; pricing scales with agent count and module selection through Ivanti's sales channel. (none)
Full review: #10 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Ivanti Neurons for ITSM →
10. BMC Helix ITSM
Enterprise ITSM platform with decades of ITIL process depth · United States
The long-standing enterprise rival, now presented under the BMC Helix name at helixops.ai. Covers incident, problem, change, release, CMDB and asset lifecycle management with AI agents. Pricing is by request. Expect a large-enterprise implementation, similar in weight to ServiceNow.
Switch from ServiceNow ITSM if you run a large ITIL estate and want a comparable enterprise suite from another vendor.
Pricing: Quote-only annual contracts, licensed by user and module, typically deployed alongside BMC's broader Helix platform for discovery, AIOps and automation; enterprise-scale implementations commonly involve a systems integrator. (none)
Full review: #11 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit BMC Helix ITSM →
11. Atera
ITSM with built-in RMM, priced per technician rather than per device · Israel
Combines ticketing with remote monitoring and management in one subscription, priced per technician with unlimited endpoints: Professional is listed at 149 euros per month, billed annually. A fit for managed service providers and lean IT teams, not for cross-department enterprise service management.
Switch from ServiceNow ITSM if you are an MSP or small IT team that needs ticketing and remote device management together.
Pricing: Flat-rate plans priced per technician per month regardless of the number of managed devices, covering ticketing, remote monitoring and management (RMM) and patch management in the same subscription; a free trial is available. (free trial)
Full review: #12 of 12 in our ranking ·
Visit Atera →
