Device42 vs ServiceNow CMDB comparison

Why PeerSpot?

Device42 and ServiceNow are both solutions in the Configuration Management Databases category. Device42 is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.2, while ServiceNow is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.5. Device42 holds a 23.9% mindshare in CMD, compared to ServiceNow’s 19.5% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Device42 users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of ServiceNow users who would recommend it.

Device42

Read 34 Device42 reviews

6,521 Views
1,239 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

ServiceNow CMDB

Read 34 ServiceNow CMDB reviews

2,245 Views
2,245 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Device42

ServiceNow CMDB

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Device42 and ServiceNow CMDB based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Configuration Management Databases solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Device42 vs. ServiceNow CMDB Report (Updated: September 2026).

Buyer's Guide

Device42 vs. ServiceNow CMDB

September 2026

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Helped 917,403 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

Device42

Ranking in Configuration Management Databases

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

IT Asset Management (6th), IP Address Management (IPAM) Tools (3rd), Data Center Infrastructure Management (1st)

ServiceNow CMDB

Ranking in Configuration Management Databases

2nd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.0

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Configuration Management Databases category, the mindshare of Device42 is 23.9%, up from 23.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of ServiceNow CMDB is 19.5%, down from 29.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Configuration Management Databases Mindshare Distribution
Product	Mindshare (%)
Device42	23.9%
ServiceNow CMDB	19.5%
Other	56.6%

Configuration Management Databases

Featured Reviews

Manmohan Rao

Associate Vice President at Hitachi Systems India Private Limited

Granular discovery has ensured confident workload migration and optimized cloud move group planning

Device42 offers the best features for workload assessment, particularly useful for cloud-to-cloud workload or on-premise data center workload, especially when planning for workload migration to the public cloud. For application and infrastructure discovery, Device42 has enabled me to know the number of machines running in the on-premise environment and has managed to capture complete utilization metrics or trends of their utilization. This has benefited me in right-sizing systems for my public cloud total cost of ownership (TCO) planning, providing me granularity to right-size these systems while planning a migration to the public cloud. Device42 has positively impacted my organization by providing granularity toward application discovery compared to other assessment tools, which is a differentiator since none of the other tools provide such granularity, leading to better decision-making for my migration to the public cloud. Device42 has improved my migration projects by providing granularity around system dependencies that gave me confidence knowing which systems communicate with each other parked in a particular move group. My move group planning became so robust that I am not leaving any system behind in the on-premise data center from my planning, which saves a lot of time and effort, leading to cost optimization—a value addition.

Read full review

reviewer2782440

ServiceNow Consultant at a consultancy with 11-50 employees

Automation features and integrated service mapping have streamlined incident and change management processes

There is probably room for improvement in ServiceNow CMDB. I'm so immersed in projects and solving direct customer issues that I don't think too much about potential improvements. Maintaining an accurate and up-to-date ServiceNow CMDB can be challenging due to incoming data from various sources, but ServiceNow has been developing small AI components to help with data discrepancies and deduplication recently. They have also improved integrations with other tools, providing many out-of-the-box integrations to different monitoring tools and CMDBs, which previously required coding experience for custom integrations. They are moving towards a more low-code or no-code approach, which is part of their goal as a company.

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

"Device42 saves a significant amount of time, with onboarding and discovery being reduced significantly, specifically around understanding how to build out a client's circuits and network topology."

"The asset inventory is great because previously we had devices all over the place. We have been able to do multiscans to find devices that we didn't know about, which was great."

"The continuous asset discovery is good because it means not having to manually input all the small data, such as IP addresses, leases, etc. It helps and saves us a lot of time."

"The most helpful feature in Device42 was the import feature, where you can seamlessly import your information into the configuration database manager."

"Device42 has positively impacted our organization by helping us become one of the best companies for asset management and inventory for the enterprise businesses we work with."

"A big plus for Device42 was the auto-discovery. With it, we have updated devices, updated systems, and up-to-date systems."

"The import/export for bulk operations is a valuable and good feature."

"It has generally been a really solid and useful tool."

More Device42 pros

"It's not too difficult to configure with regard to the UI. My experience working with ServiceNow CMDB has been a very comfortable one."

"In ServiceNow CMDB, the most valuable features are the integration with external tools to gather and store asset data."

"It has improved our organization by bringing about quite a bit of automation so that we don't have to manually take inventory, and we can also quickly filter a query along different avenues to find out how many models we have in place."

"The CMDB for us is fed by our discovery tools, and it lets us be able to track the changes that we make to any incidents or escalation points that we have associated with a CI."

"I like ServiceNow CMDB's discovery tools."

"The most valuable feature of ServiceNow is the user interface because you can customize or configure it directly from the user interface by using the mouse."

"The ServiceNow OOB toolsuite functionality allows you to manage the whole asset life cycle, which is really powerful."

"ServiceNow CMDB is just something that you could track everything on."

More ServiceNow CMDB pros

Cons

"My biggest problem with the product is the upgrades. First, we have to do them manually and second, not this last time but the time before that, we actually had to build a new VM to deploy the solution again. We had to back it up and then restore it to the new version. That was inconvenient."

"The only thing which I have noticed so far that is not good is that we had an issue with some reporting from the tool, reporting we had to export. We couldn't do it in the way we wanted to, so we tried to reach out to their support but it took pretty long until we understood how we can manage the reports. We still haven't received a complete explanation of what we need to do and how to do it."

"The product must provide AI features."

"I would like to see API management as an additional feature in the tool's future versions. It will give more API security."

"For the iPhone, the device diagram cannot be downloaded. You have to go to each device and download the device diagram for that device. E.g., suppose there are a 1000 or 2000 servers. You cannot go to each server or device to download a device diagram for each device. There should be a one-click solution for downloading all device diagrams."

"However, the documentation has not been updated in a while, so it needs updates."

"Price-wise, from what I understand from my leadership, Device42 has some cost and it is a bit high compared to other discovery tools such as BMC Discovery or BMC Helix."

"Device42 is a main part of our processes. We need reliability, not only in terms of the data but with the solution itself."

More Device42 cons

"If you select any CI, the associated applications with that CI should also be made available for users since, currently, the tool lacks such a feature."

"There are areas that could be improved, but that's a longer discussion. It all depends on what you are looking to do with it and then it becomes an issue of how do you configure the CMDB accordingly."

"Because I'm an SME, the most important thing is the technical help that I can get, so better, more useful technical support would be good."

"I'm still learning about CMDB's capabilities, so I haven't seen anything that I want added yet."

"In general, the pain points are related to ServiceNow. There is a lack of development. ServiceNow is not a true configuration management tool."

"The initial setup can be very bad if the roadmap is not set up properly. You need a specialist to help you set up the roadmap."

"Now with Moveworks, which is a new solution for ServiceNow, the UI integration with that makes it difficult to put more improvements on that and see other future enhancements."

"It depends on the implementation, but the out-of-the-box product tends to be fixed on the support people. From a linear standpoint, I would like to see a certain number of fields on a table and a related list to describe the support personnel."

More ServiceNow CMDB cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We pay $100,000 per year."

"I am not involved in its pricing, but I have seen their plans during a discussion with the customer. For 500 servers, they were asking 50,000 USD. The cost of BMC Discovery was less than half. For the same thing, they were charging only 10,000 USD. Its pricing needs to be improved. As compared to other discovery tools, such as BMC Discovery and ServiceNow Discovery, its price is a little bit higher."

"On a yearly basis, our licensing is $10,000. However, our license is now nearly full with devices. We need the next bigger license with 5,000 devices, which will cost us $19,000. We pay for a set of licenses, a maximum number of devices, and a maximum number of IP addresses. We have the smallest amount of features, which is enough for us at this time."

"The product cost is low. It is quite cheap."

"The problem with using other vendor, like BMC, is the pricing. The price is so horrible and nobody wants to pay this money."

"Our licensing costs are on a yearly basis."

"It's in the top-three most expensive solutions in terms of cost, but it has all the features that are needed."

"Functionality-wise, Device42 is on par with industry standards, but price-wise, the solution is expensive. I'm rating the pricing for the solution as eight out of ten."

"I would like it to be cheaper. If you've got a large environment, it can get quite expensive quite quickly. You still get a return on investment, but everybody has a tight budget. In terms of licensing, everything is pretty much known upfront. Being SaaS-based, there are no real additional gotchas that we came across."

"In comparison to the cost of other solutions, you get value for your money with ServiceNow CMDB. It could definitely be cheaper though."

"It is really expensive. I don't know actually how much it costs, but in 2016, when a client decided to move from an old solution to ServiceNow and had to choose a supplier for ServiceNow, I had heard that it could cost $10 per hour, which is really expensive. I am not aware of any additional fees to the standard licensing fees. There is no standard ServiceNow solution. When a company wants to acquire ServiceNow, they already know which module they will choose. In a basic package, you would have Service Catalog, Incident Management, and Change Management. These modules are usually required in an IT company."

"The product is pricey."

"The product price falls on the higher side of the spectrum."

"The market sees ServiceNow as the Ferrari in terms of pricing. It's at the very top, and its cost is very, very high."

"It is always fluctuating. It seems to change every six months. Every time they come out with a new iteration, it changes. It is pretty complicated, and they should improve it."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Healthcare Company

Outsourcing Company

Financial Services Firm

16%

Outsourcing Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	20

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	3
Large Enterprise	23

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Device42?

The pricing, setup cost, and licensing for Device42 are relatively cost-effective and affordable. I do not know if a small organization would be able to afford it, but I presume it would also be co...

See all answers

What needs improvement with Device42?

I think Device42 can be improved by adding more features around the CMDB aspect and lifecycle management. I do not think many people use it for that functionality, but if they were to expand the su...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Device42?

My main use case for Device42 is that we use it as a CMDB and affinity map to check out network topology or determine when we need to decom something in a life cycle. We use it for many different p...

See all answers

What needs improvement with ServiceNow CMDB?

I believe that related to the solutions in the Now Assist platform, we can put more autonomy on that. Some reconciliation can be automated. AI Assist is the current improvement now. I don't have an...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for ServiceNow CMDB?

I primarily work with ITSM, HR, SPM, AI, Now Assist, CMDB, and CSDM modules, covering almost all of these areas. I use the integration with ServiceNow CMDB with all the processes that we have imple...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering ServiceNow CMDB?

I help customers evaluate their CMDB health. We use the CMDB health to make that analysis, to see the relationships, what is missing with the processes they have, and any mis-ownership issues. So, ...

See all answers

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Compared 4% of the time

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Compared 22% of the time

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Compared 14% of the time

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Compared 7% of the time

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Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Device42

October 2026

Download Device42 product report

Buyer's Guide

ServiceNow CMDB

September 2026

Download ServiceNow CMDB product report

Overview

Device42 empowers enterprises with automatic IT asset discovery, application dependency mapping, and agentless discovery, streamlining asset management, improving decision-making, and supporting migration initiatives.

Device42 automates network discovery and provides comprehensive IT data management, making it indispensable for asset and infrastructure management. The platform’s integration capabilities, such as with ServiceNow, allow seamless management of physical and virtual environments. Its application dependency mapping is a critical feature for efficient cloud migration, while advanced search and dashboards enhance operational tasks. Device42's ease of deployment coupled with integration into cloud services offers robust operational insights and simplifies onboarding.

What are Device42's key features?

Automatic IT Asset Discovery: Enables detailed information collection on hardware and software.
Application Dependency Mapping: Facilitates tracking of application dependencies for effective cloud migration.
Agentless Discovery: Assists in uncovering assets without the need for specialized agents.
Network Topology Visualization: Assists in visual representation of network connections.
Cloud Integration: Simplifies the integration with cloud services for enhanced insights.

What benefits should be evaluated in Device42?

Improved Decision-Making: Optimizes resource utilization and boosts strategic initiatives.
Seamless Integration: Enhances connectivity with platforms like ServiceNow.
Efficiency in Auditing: Eases compliance and auditing processes.
Simplified Onboarding: Streamlines initial setups and deployment.
Enhanced Operational Insights: Supports better management through comprehensive data visualization.

Device42 is widely used across sectors for IT asset and infrastructure management, where automation in inventory and documentation aids compliance and resource optimization. It excels in industries requiring integration with existing systems and comprehensive network solutions. Application dependency mapping bolsters cloud migration efficiency in enterprise environments.

Device42

ServiceNow CMDB offers a user-friendly interface with customizable features, seamless integration, reliable performance, detailed discovery tools, and robust data governance. It is essential for effective asset management and IT service optimization.

ServiceNow CMDB serves as a central management facility for configuration items supporting processes like incident, change, and asset management. It provides scalable tracking of IT hardware assets, integrates discovery, and manages relationships among configuration items to enhance infrastructure and service visualization. With strong data governance, automation capabilities, and integration with business modules, it supports cloud and on-premises environments effectively.

What are the most important features of ServiceNow CMDB?

User-Friendly Interface: Customizable and easy-to-navigate, allowing for efficient management.
Seamless Integration: Interfaces with Microsoft Active Directory and business tools effortlessly.
Automation Capabilities: Automates processes to enhance operational efficiency.
Reliability: Offers consistent performance and detailed discovery tools.
Data Governance: Strong regulatory compliance and data management.

What key benefits or ROI should users expect?

Asset Tracking: Centralized asset management with scalable solutions.
IT Service Management: Enhanced project and service portfolio management.
Centralization: Consolidates configuration data for improved decision-making.
Scalability: Adapts to growing business needs and large data sets.

ServiceNow CMDB is implemented across multiple industries to manage complex IT infrastructures. In finance, it supports asset tracking and compliance. Healthcare uses it for critical configuration management and reliable discovery. Tech companies benefit from its integration capabilities and process automation to maintain competitive edge.

ServiceNow

Sample Customers

Computershare, Concur, Doosan, Fitch Ratings Inc., Fujitsu, HomeAway, Jasper Wireless, Mercedes-Benz, Square, Twitch, UCSB, Zayo Group Inc.

Wayfair, Siemens, Allianz, Experian, Vitas Healthcare

Buyer's Guide

Device42 vs. ServiceNow CMDB

September 2026

Free Report: Device42 vs. ServiceNow CMDB

Find out what your peers are saying about Device42 vs. ServiceNow CMDB and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.

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