Choosing your development experience

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated June 16, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Choosing your development experience

    This guide explains how ServiceNow customers can select and switch between different development environments within Creator Studio to match their skill level and development needs. It highlights the advantages of using the experience switcher to centralize development activities and reduce tool fragmentation across no-code, low-code, and pro-code approaches.

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    Development Environments

    • Creator Studio (No-code): Designed for beginners and users needing quick app creation, this environment offers an intuitive, guided interface for building basic applications without coding.
    • ServiceNow Studio (Platform developer): Provides a balanced environment for managing metadata and integrated builders with a navigable interface, suitable for developers wanting more advanced customization.
    • ServiceNow IDE (Pro-code): A professional development environment based on VS Code, enabling advanced developers to perform detailed metadata editing and complex app development.

    Practical Usage and Access

    • The experience switcher is accessible directly within Creator Studio, allowing users to seamlessly move between environments without navigating away.
    • Users can open apps directly in ServiceNow Studio from the Creator Studio home page or navigation panel for enhanced editing capabilities.
    • Apps created or bookmarked in Creator Studio are accessible in ServiceNow Studio, but apps made in ServiceNow Studio are not available in Creator Studio.
    • Access to each environment via the experience switcher depends on assigned roles: admins and delegated developers can use all environments, while Creator Studio users typically have limited access to maintain a simplified interface.
    • To view the experience switcher, users must have Creator Studio access plus access to at least one other environment (ServiceNow Studio or ServiceNow IDE).

    Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    By leveraging the experience switcher, customers can efficiently transition between no-code, low-code, and pro-code development based on project complexity and team expertise. This flexibility supports scalable app development workflows, streamlines tool usage, and ensures appropriate access controls aligned with user roles.

    If you want to develop apps in a more robust environment than Creator Studio, which was designed for no-code developers, you can select a different experience directly from within Creator Studio.

    A development environment for every level

    Use the experience switcher to select from any of the following development environments directly within Creator Studio, without navigating to the All menu.

    Important:
    No matter what your role is (including admin and delegated developer roles), if you have one of the Creator Studio roles, you won't be able to access ServiceNow Studio or ServiceNow IDE.
    Figure 1. Experience switcher in Creator Studio
    Selecting a different development experience from the switcher
    Table 1. Development experiences
    Development experience Level Description
    Creator Studio No-code Enables quick creation of basic applications through an intuitive, guided environment, ideal for beginners or those needing fast results.
    ServiceNow Studio Platform developer Offers a balance of simplicity and power, facilitating the development and management of metadata and integrated builders within a navigable interface.
    ServiceNow IDE Pro-code Provides advanced developers with a professional coding environment, using VS Code for direct metadata editing, suited for intricate and detailed application development.

    Being able to easily switch between development experiences eliminates the fragmentation of development tools, reducing confusion and centralizing development activities across all skill levels.

    For example, you can build a basic request app in Creator Studio, and then switch to ServiceNow Studio to add more robust functionality.

    For details on switching experiences, see Change your development experience.

    Open an app directly in ServiceNow Studio

    If you have access to ServiceNow Studio, you can open an app there by selecting the more actions icon on the home page (More options enable you to take action on an app) and choosing to Open in ServiceNow Studio.

    Figure 2. Open in ServiceNow Studio link
    Select more options to get the Open in SNS link

    You can also select the more actions icon () in the navigation panel and then select Open in ServiceNow Studio.

    Sharing apps between development experiences

    All apps that are made and bookmarked in Creator Studio are bookmarked and available to work on in ServiceNow Studio. However, apps that are made in ServiceNow Studio are not available to work on in Creator Studio.

    Who can access the studios in the experience switcher

    The experience switcher can provide access to Creator Studio, ServiceNow Studio, ServiceNow IDE. However, whether you can see and select all of those depends on your role or access level. For more information, see Administering access to the experience switcher.

    Note:
    In addition to Creator Studio, you must have access to at least one other product (ServiceNow Studio or ServiceNow IDE) to see the experience switcher.
    The following describes default role access to the experience switcher:
    • Admins and delegated developers can use the experience switcher because they may need access to any product where they've been delegated to administer or develop an app.
    • Creator Studio users and Creator Studio restricted users don't generally have access to the experience switcher because administrators limit them to a more curated experience.