About ServiceNow License

[KrushnakumaT]

What are the most effective strategies and best practices organizations can implement within their ServiceNow instance to optimize license usage and reduce overall licensing costs, without compromising platform performance or user experience?
Thanks in Advanced!

[Sarthak Kashyap]

Hi @KrushnakumaT ,

I found some links exactly same issue as yours

https://www.servicenow.com/community/sysadmin-forum/need-ideas-on-how-to-reduce-licensing-fees-for-a...

https://www.servicenow.com/community/sam-forum/optimize-servicenow-licensing/m-p/2595717

https://www.servicenow.com/community/servicenow-ai-platform-forum/servicenow-licenses-fundamentals/m...

Please mark my answer correct and helpful if this works for you

Thanks and Regards,
Sarthak

[kaushal_snow]

@KrushnakumaT ,

To optimise license usage and reduce costs without hurting platform performance or user experience, start by analyzing actual user behaviour....pull reports showing who logs in, what modules they use and when they haven’t been active for 90 to 180 days, then reclaim licences for those inactive or under utilised users.......

Next, align licence tiers to real use cases by ensuring full fulfiller licences go only to heavy hands on users, lighter user or requester/approver licences go to occasional users, and no licence is assigned unless needed........ Implement ongoing governance by embedding quarterly or bi annual reviews of licence allocation, role assignments..... Also propose contract flexibility with your vendor by negotiating true down clauses (letting you reduce licence counts when usage declines) and avoid auto renewing at the same volume year after year..............

If you found my response helpful, please mark it as ‘Accept as Solution’ and ‘Helpful’. This helps other community members find the right answer more easily and supports the community.

[prerna_sh]

Hi @KrushnakumaT 

Please go through this:
https://www.servicenow.com/community/in-other-news/understanding-servicenow-licensing-model/ba-p/331...

It's "Recommendations & Best-practices, and License Management and Optimization" Section.
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If my response solves your query, please marked helpful by selecting accept as Solution and Helpful. Let me know if anything else is required.
Thanks,
Prerna

[Dr Atul G- LNG]

Hi @KrushnakumaT 

• This is mainly a process problem — you need to identify where licenses are being used and whether they’re fully consumed.

• Create reports on user logins, approvals, and relevant business-stage stakeholders to locate gaps and unused or under-used licenses.

• Evaluate the reports to find optimization opportunities (consolidation, reclaiming unused licenses, etc.).

• Standardize the process first (who approves, who gets a license, lifecycle rules), then consider consolidation and automation to optimize license usage.

• This isn’t a one-day fix — it requires deep analysis and a phased approach before implementing changes.