License & Deployment Mix: 17 tools – 4 OSS, 11 SaaS. (OSS and SaaS counts can overlap when an open-source tool also offers a vendor-hosted edition.)
What Is a CMDB?
A Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is a centralized repository that stores information about all significant entities in an IT environment – called configuration items (CIs). It tracks hardware, software, services, networks, documents, and the relationships between them.
Unlike a simple asset inventory, a CMDB captures dependencies and service topology: which servers run which applications, which applications compose which business services, and how failures in one component cascade to others.
Core Concepts
- Configuration Item (CI) – any component that needs to be managed to deliver an IT service: servers, switches, applications, databases, virtual machines, cloud instances, licenses, documentation
- CI Relationships – directed links between CIs that express dependency, composition, or association (e.g., “Application X runs on Server Y”, “Service A depends on Database B”)
- Service Mapping – the process of discovering and visualizing the complete dependency chain from business service down to infrastructure components
- Service Topology – the resulting graph of CIs and relationships that represents a business service
- Auto-Discovery – automated scanning that detects CIs and their relationships without manual data entry (agentless, agent-based, or API-driven)
- Change Impact Analysis – using the relationship graph to predict which services will be affected by a proposed change to a CI
- Reconciliation – merging data from multiple discovery sources to produce a single accurate view of each CI (deduplication, normalization)
- Federated CMDB – integrating data from multiple authoritative sources rather than copying everything into one database
- ITIL Alignment – CMDB is a core process in ITIL Service Transition (Configuration Management); ITIL 4 calls it “Configuration Management” practice
Key Capabilities to Evaluate
When selecting a CMDB or service mapping tool, evaluate:
- CI model flexibility – ability to define custom CI types, attributes, and relationship types without code changes
- Auto-discovery – breadth and depth of agentless and agent-based discovery (network, server, cloud, application, container)
- Service mapping – automated dependency mapping vs. manual topology creation
- Visualization – interactive service topology diagrams, impact trees, dependency maps
- Change impact analysis – ability to simulate changes and identify affected services before implementation
- Integration – connectors to ITSM, monitoring, cloud providers, network management, and asset management tools
- Data quality – reconciliation, deduplication, staleness detection, CI lifecycle management
- API – REST API for CI CRUD, relationship management, and bulk import/export
- RBAC – role-based access control for CI data by team, location, or service
- SSO / OIDC – important for managed environments using centralized identity
The information on these pages was researched by a combination of human review and large language models. To suggest an addition or correction, please contact us. Prepared by Rhodium Systems Inc., author of the ResorsIT platform — a unified IT operations management platform for IT teams and MSPs that integrates a curated suite of open-source, commercial, and SaaS applications into a single system with shared identity, single sign-on, access control, and a common audit trail. Use this catalogue only as a starting point for your own research, and review any tool carefully against your own requirements before relying on it. Catalogue data version 2026.197.
Comparison
Feature Matrix – Open Source
| Feature | iTop | Ralph | NetBox | CMDBuild |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CI modeling | Excellent | Basic | Network | Excellent |
| Auto-discovery | No* | Limited | No | No |
| Service mapping | Manual | No | No | Manual |
| Impact analysis | Yes | No | No | Basic |
| ITSM built-in | Yes | No | No | Workflow |
| REST API | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| GraphQL API | No | No | Yes | No |
| Multi-tenancy | Yes | No | Yes | Yes |
| ITIL alignment | Strong | None | None | Moderate |
* = Combodo commercial extensions add discovery
Feature Matrix – Commercial / Enterprise
| Feature | Device42 | Lansweeper | Nlyte | Virima |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CI modeling | Good | Basic | Physical | Good |
| Auto-discovery | Excellent | Excellent | SNMP | Good |
| Service mapping | ADM | No | Physical | ViVID |
| Impact analysis | Yes | No | What-if | Yes |
| ITSM built-in | No | No | Work orders | Yes |
| REST API | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-tenancy | Limited | Limited | No | Limited |
| Feature | ServiceNow | BMC Helix | Cherwell | Freshservice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CI modeling | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Basic |
| Auto-discovery | Excellent | Excellent | Moderate | Probe* |
| Service mapping | Best | Strong | Limited | Basic* |
| Impact analysis | Best | Strong | Yes | Basic |
| ITSM built-in | Full | Full | Full | Full |
| REST API | Excellent | Excellent | Good | Good |
| Multi-tenancy | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
* = Freshservice discovery and mapping improving with Device42 acquisition
Feature Matrix – Specialized
| Feature | Ardoq | LeanIX | Cloudaware |
|---|---|---|---|
| CI modeling | EA-focused | EA-focused | Cloud |
| Auto-discovery | No | SaaS only | Cloud API |
| Service mapping | App-level | App-level | Cloud topo |
| Impact analysis | Scenario | Scenario | Drift |
| ITSM built-in | No | No | No |
| REST API | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Focus area | EA/Portfolio | EA/Portfolio | Multi-cloud |
Deployment Comparison
| Tool | Type | On-Prem | SaaS | Docker |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iTop | Open source | Yes | Yes* | Yes |
| Ralph | Open source | Yes | No | Yes |
| NetBox | Open source | Yes | Yes* | Yes |
| CMDBuild | Open source | Yes | No | Yes |
| Device42 | Commercial | VA | Yes | No |
| Lansweeper | Commercial | Yes | Yes | No |
| Nlyte | Commercial | Yes | Yes | No |
| Virima | Commercial | Yes* | Yes | No |
| ServiceNow | Enterprise | No | Yes | No |
| BMC Helix | Enterprise | Yes | Yes | No |
| Cherwell | Enterprise | Yes | Yes | No |
| Freshservice | Commercial | No | Yes | No |
| Ardoq | Specialized | No | Yes | No |
| LeanIX | Specialized | No | Yes | No |
| Cloudaware | Specialized | No | Yes | No |
* = vendor-hosted SaaS or commercial cloud edition; VA = virtual appliance
Licensing Comparison
| Tool | License | Cost Model |
|---|---|---|
| iTop | AGPL-3.0 | Free + commercial ext |
| Ralph | Apache-2.0 | Free |
| NetBox | Apache-2.0 | Free + NetBox Cloud |
| CMDBuild | AGPL-3.0 | Free + READY2USE |
| Device42 | Proprietary | Subscription |
| Lansweeper | Proprietary | ~$1/asset/mo |
| Nlyte | Proprietary | Enterprise pricing |
| Virima | Proprietary | Mid-market pricing |
| ServiceNow | Proprietary | $50–150+/user/mo |
| BMC Helix | Proprietary | Enterprise pricing |
| Cherwell | Proprietary | Enterprise pricing |
| Freshservice | Proprietary | $29–115/agent/mo |
| Ardoq | Proprietary | Enterprise pricing |
| LeanIX | Proprietary | Enterprise pricing |
| Cloudaware | Proprietary | Per-resource pricing |
SSO / OIDC Comparison
OIDC is the preferred SSO protocol.
| Tool | OIDC | SAML | LDAP | SCIM | Authentik Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iTop | No | Ext* | Yes | No | LDAP outpost |
| Ralph | No | No | Yes | No | LDAP outpost |
| NetBox | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | OIDC preferred |
| CMDBuild | No | No | Yes | No | LDAP outpost |
| Device42 | ? | Yes | Yes | No | SAML provider |
| Lansweeper | Yes | Yes | AD | No | OIDC (cloud) |
| Nlyte | ? | Yes | AD | No | SAML provider |
| Virima | ? | Yes | AD | No | SAML provider |
| ServiceNow | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | OIDC or SAML |
| BMC Helix | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | OIDC or SAML |
| Cherwell | Yes | Yes | AD | No | OIDC or SAML |
| Freshservice | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | OIDC + SCIM |
| Ardoq | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | OIDC + SCIM |
| LeanIX | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | OIDC + SCIM |
| Cloudaware | Yes | Yes | No | No | OIDC (Salesforce) |
* = SAML via Combodo commercial extension ? = not publicly documented
Best SSO support: ServiceNow, Freshservice, Ardoq, and LeanIX offer OIDC + SAML + SCIM. NetBox is the best open-source option with native OIDC support.
Auto-Discovery Comparison
| Tool | Agentless | Agent | Cloud | ADM | Network |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iTop | No* | No | No | No | No |
| Ralph | Basic | No | OpenStack | No | Basic |
| NetBox | No | No | No | No | No |
| CMDBuild | No | No | No | No | No |
| Device42 | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Lansweeper | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Nlyte | SNMP | No | No | No | No |
| Virima | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| ServiceNow | Yes | MID | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| BMC Helix | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Cherwell | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Freshservice | Probe | No | Yes | D42* | Yes |
| Ardoq | No | No | No | No | No |
| LeanIX | No | No | SaaS | No | No |
| Cloudaware | No | No | Yes | No | No |
* = via commercial extensions or acquisitions ADM = Application Dependency Mapping MID = MID Server (on-premise relay)
Best discovery: ServiceNow and BMC Helix have the most comprehensive discovery suites. Device42 and Virima offer the best mid-market discovery with application dependency mapping.
Tools
17 tools.
Ardoq
Ardoq is an enterprise architecture and service mapping platform that provides a data-driven approach to understanding organizational IT landscapes.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: OIDC, SAML
BMC Helix CMDB
BMC Helix CMDB (formerly BMC Atrium CMDB) is a long-standing enterprise configuration management database that has been a primary competitor to ServiceNow in the enterprise ITSM and CMDB market for decades.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: OIDC, SAML
Cherwell (Ivanti)
Cherwell Service Management was a popular mid-to-enterprise ITSM and CMDB platform known for its codeless configuration approach and flexible data model.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: OIDC, SAML
Cloudaware
Cloudaware is a cloud-native CMDB platform built on the Salesforce platform, designed specifically for organizations with multi-cloud and hybrid cloud environments.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: OIDC, SAML
CMDBuild
CMDBuild is an open-source CMDB platform developed by Tecnoteca, an Italian IT company. It provides a highly configurable data model for managing configuration items, with a strong emphasis on workflow automation and process integration.
License: AGPL-3.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: docker, native · SSO: none
Device42
Device42 is a mid-market CMDB and IT asset management platform known for its strong auto-discovery capabilities and hybrid infrastructure mapping.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: appliance · SSO: none
Freshservice CMDB
Freshservice is a cloud-native IT service management platform from Freshworks that includes CMDB capabilities in its Pro and Enterprise tiers.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: OIDC, SAML
iTop
iTop (IT Operational Portal) is the leading open-source CMDB and ITSM platform. Built from the ground up around ITIL best practices, iTop provides a fully customizable data model for configuration items, relationships, and service managemen…
License: AGPL-3.0-only (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas, docker, native · SSO: SAML
Jira Service Management Assets
Jira Service Management Assets (formerly Insight) is the CMDB and IT asset management module built into Atlassian’s Jira Service Management (JSM).
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: none
Lansweeper
Lansweeper is an IT asset discovery and inventory platform that has evolved into a comprehensive technology asset intelligence solution.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: OIDC, SAML
LeanIX
LeanIX is an enterprise architecture management (EAM) and IT portfolio management platform that helps organizations understand and optimize their application landscapes.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: OIDC, SAML
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus CMDB
ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus is one of the most widely deployed ITSM and CMDB platforms in the mid-market segment.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: native · SSO: none
NetBox
NetBox is the leading open-source platform for network infrastructure modeling. Originally created at DigitalOcean to document their data center networks, NetBox has grown into a comprehensive DCIM (Data Center Infrastructure Management) an…
License: Apache-2.0 (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: docker · SSO: OIDC, SAML
Nlyte
Nlyte is a data center infrastructure management (DCIM) platform with CMDB capabilities focused on physical infrastructure – power, cooling, space, and connectivity in data center environments.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: SAML
Ralph
Ralph is an open-source asset management, DCIM, and CMDB tool originally developed by Allegro (a Polish e-commerce company) to manage their own data center infrastructure.
License: Apache-2.0 (OSS) · Kind: web · Deploy: docker · SSO: none
ServiceNow CMDB
ServiceNow CMDB is the dominant enterprise configuration management database, embedded in the ServiceNow Now Platform alongside ITSM, ITOM, ITAM, SecOps, and hundreds of other modules.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: OIDC, SAML
Virima
Virima is a mid-market CMDB and IT service management platform that combines auto-discovery, service mapping, and ITSM in a single cloud-native solution.
License: Proprietary (proprietary) · Kind: web · Deploy: saas · SSO: SAML
