What's the difference between an application and a plugin?

[George23]

• An application is a standalone piece of code, such as an accounting program, that implements a collection of features.
• A plugin is not standalone. It provides feature enhancements to installed applications.

Here's a video about the differences: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0yexJnQsfM

[Uncle Rob]

Yet tons of applications are activated by looking at the plugins list.  
"How do I install <X> thing" is still an often too difficult task.
SPM is a great example of this.

[Harish Bainsla]

Plugins are software components that add functionality to installed applications on ServiceNow instances.

https://www.servicenow.com/community/now-platform-forum/what-is-the-difference-between-plugin-and-ap...

[Amit Gujarathi]

HI @George23 ,
I trust you are doing great.

In the context of ServiceNow, both applications and plugins play a vital role, but they serve different purposes:

1. Application:

   • An application in ServiceNow refers to a set of modules, tables, and other components that collectively provide a specific functionality or service.
   • It is designed to manage a particular process or business need within the ServiceNow platform.
   • Examples include the Incident Management application, Change Management application, etc.
   • Applications can be custom-built using ServiceNow Studio or can be out-of-the-box applications provided by ServiceNow.

2. Plugin:

   • A plugin, on the other hand, is an extension or add-on to the ServiceNow platform.
   • It is not a standalone entity but enhances or adds specific features to existing applications.
   • Plugins can be activated or deactivated, allowing administrators to choose which features they want to enable.
   • Examples include the LDAP Integration plugin, Orchestration plugin, etc.