Top 6 Change Management Tools

Published by Ronan McQuillan, Feb 11, 2025

Managing changes to projects, systems, or processes is one of the most fundamental challenges that businesses face.

Change is both inevitable and necessary. For example, if we want to streamline processes, adopt new solutions, or add features to internal tools.

However, this also comes along with associated risks, costs, and other potential downsides. So, we need to take a structured approach to maximize the success of our change initiatives.

Today, we’re taking a look at the top change management tools to help us achieve this.

Specifically, we’ll be covering:

By the end, you’ll be fully equipped to make the right decision for your needs.

Let’s start with the basics.

What is change management?

Change management actually means a few different things in different contexts. One aspect to this is what’s known as organizational change management, which deals with the human side of change.

The other side of this is change control. This covers all aspects of how we identify, plan, govern, roll out, and review change initiatives.

This often takes the form of a request and approval workflow.

So, one type of user proposes a change, and another determines whether or not to accept and implement it.

Or, we could specifically set out to identify changes to improve existing systems.

Change management is also concerned with the rules that underpin this. For instance, what kind of approval steps are required for specific kinds of initiatives or who is responsible for assessing these.

Take a look at our guide titled What is Change Management to learn more.

What to look for in a change management tool

There are a couple of key considerations here. From a functional point of view, the most important thing is that any solution gives us the flexibility to map our own change management workflows.

For instance, implementing appropriate request schemas, defining our user roles and permissions, handling data exposure, and automating key decisions, as well as providing a clear paper trail of our change initiatives.

Beyond this, handling change can also mean dealing with relatively sensitive data - especially if this relates to our IT infrastructure, internal processes, our relationships with external parties.

So, we may want to prioritize additional security measures, such as self-hosting, SCIM, or SSO.

Lastly, the cost of any solution is, of course, also a huge concern. As such, we’ll want to consider the pricing model of any potential solutions to ensure that they’re appropriate for the scale and scope of our usage.

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Top 6 change management tools

Now that we have a better grasp of what change management solutions are and what they achieve, we can begin to check out some of our specific options.

We’ve chosen a range of platforms, each taking a slightly different approach to helping teams successfully implement change initiatives.

Here’s a summary of the platforms we’ve chosen.

Budibase

Jira

Wrike

BMC Helix

Process Street

FreshService

Platform Type
Low-Code
ITSM
Workflow ManagementITSMWorkflow ManagementITSM
Pricing ModelPer-user/creator +
Creator-only		Per-agentPer UserCustomUsagePer-agent
CloudYesYesYesYesYesYes
Self-HostingYesYesNoYesNoNo
SSOFreePaid planPaid planPaid planPaid planPaid plan
Open-SourceYesNoNoNoNoNo
Query external DBsYesYesYesYesYesNo
APIYesYesYesYesYesYes

Let’s take a look at each one in turn.

1. Budibase

Budibase is the open-source, low-code platform that turns data into action. It’s the clear choice for IT teams that need to build secure internal tools at pace.

Features

Budibase offers unrivaled support for external data, with dedicated connectors for all kinds of RDBMSs, NoSQL tools, APIs, and spreadsheets alongside our internal database. Our app-builder acts as a proxy, querying external data without storing it.

So, you can simply connect your data, define user roles and access rules, and autogenerate UIs. In the Design section, we offer a range of intuitive design tools to help you ship professional tools in a fraction of the time.

Budibase is also the perfect solution for automating change control workflows. Our automation editor offers a huge range of built-in triggers and actions, as well as branching and looping logic. Quickly automate even advanced approval logic, with minimal custom code.

Use cases

Budibase is fully optimized for handling mission-critical internal workflows. With our unique visual RBAC editor and intuitive data management tools, it’s never been easier to provide users with the exact data access and exposure they need to carry out their roles.

With autogenerated forms, conditional design tools, and automated logic, it’s also the perfect solution for handling all kinds of requests and approval processes.

Security-first teams choose Budibase for free SSO, optional self-hosting, air-gapped deployments, and much more.

Start building with our free change control template

Pricing

Budibase offers highly scalable pricing to suit teams of all sizes. You can build as many applications as you want for free, for up to five users in the cloud - or twenty users if you self-host.

Premium licenses start at $5 per month for end-users and $50 for app creators, with custom branding, reusable code snippets, Budibase AI, and more.

For enterprise users, we offer creator-only pricing, with unlimited end-users, along with air-gapped deployments, custom AI configs, and more.

Check out our pricing page to learn more.

2. Jira Service Management

Jira Service Management is one of the most popular, widespread ITSM platforms on the market today. It also has some of the most impressive off-the-shelf change management capabilities.

Take a look at our round-up of the top Jira Service Management alternatives .

JSM Change Management Tools

Pros

JSM offers a highly integrated, advanced solution for handling change management within its IT service desk platform. It also ships with several off-the-shelf versions of change workflows under its ITSM templates.

These are highly aligned with common IT best practices, including distinguishing between standard, normal, and emergency changes. JSM also supports powerful automations for categorizing incoming change requests.

Integrations are another strong point, particularly around Atlassian’s wider suite of tools. So, we can easily connect to the likes of BitBucket, Confluence, or the rest of the Jira platform within our workflows.

Cons

As we’ll see in a second, the real downside of JSM is that it’s a comparatively expensive option. On top of this, some users report that initial set-up and configuration can be somewhat counterintuitive.

On top of this, the fact that it’s highly optimized for the wider Atlassian ecosystem will be of little use to teams that aren’t using these tools.

Like many of the platforms in this roundup, it’s also highly focused on IT change request workflows, so you might want to look elsewhere for alternative use cases, like project change management.

Pricing

While the wider Jira Service Management platform offers a range of pricing tiers, change management is a restricted feature. To access this, we’ll need a Premium license, with representative pricing of $47.82 per agent per month.

However, you might be able to achieve suitable - albeit more basic solutions on the lower price tiers. Even so, this definitely represents better value for money if you’re looking for a wider ITSM solution rather than stand-alone change management.

Some usage limitations also apply. For instance, we’ll need an Enterprise license for unlimited automation runs.

3. Wrike

While primarily a project management platform, Wrike offers several workflow automation and request management tools that also make it a popular choice for handling change - especially around less technical use cases.

Wrike Change Management

Pros

Wrike offers a fully visual, no-code interface for automating internal workflows. It also has dedicated tools for handling approval requests, especially around documents and other media, making it a great choice for non-technical teams.

This fits into its wider project management capabilities, including Gantt charts and dashboards, giving users a streamlined experience for assessing the current state of all open change initiatives.

It’s also strong on native integrations, with a range of connection options for common SaaS tools.

Cons

The big downside of Wrike is that it’s primarily aimed at day-to-day business lines, with no dedicated functionality for change management as an ITIL practice. As such, it might not be suitable for some teams.

Similarly, while it’s a strong option for general workflow automation, including approvals, it doesn’t offer a specific change management platform within this.

Compared to some of the more technical platforms in this round-up, you might also find that Wrike lacks some of the customization and configurability features.

Pricing

Wrike offers a free version of their wider project management platform, but to handle workflows, we’ll need one of their paid licenses. Fixed tiers range from $10-24.80 per month. There are also two distinct enterprise tiers.

Notably, a license is required for all end users, whereas some change management tools only charge for certain colleagues, like service agents or app builders.

Automation limits also apply across the pricing tiers, so for certain use cases, costs could quickly escalate.

4. BMC Helix

Next, we have BMC Helix, an ITSM platform that’s firmly aimed at the enterprise end of the market.

BMC Helix

Pros

Like Jira Serice Management, Helix is a broader ITSM platform that offers dedicated tools for handling change within your wider IT service portfolio. It’s a particularly good option for ITIL-aligned teams, with a specific focus on analyzing risks and impacts of changes.

It’s also highly suited to more advanced automation solutions. In particular, it’s a strong offering for leveraging machine learning, including for predictive analysis. It also includes a suite of release management and data automation tools alongside change management.

BMC is also highly suited to teams with more complex compliance requirements. For instance, it has native capabilities around maintaining adherence to GDPR or other IT governance policies.

Cons

The key downside here is that many smaller teams might find Helix to be overkill. So, more straightforward alternatives might be a better solution in these cases.

Similarly, of the platforms we’ve seen so far, it’s the biggest undertaking to implement Helix. This requires extensive financial and technical resources to roll out, which many teams may not have.

Helix is also firmly an ITSM, ESM, and Ops platform, so you’ll want to consider alternative change management tools for other uses.

Pricing

Pricing for BMC Helix isn’t publicly available. Instead, licenses are based on custom quotes, taking in factors such as user volumes and specific requirements.

It’s worth noting that you’ll also need to factor in costs associated with implementation.

This is likely to be a viable option for enterprise teams that need change management within a wider suite of ITSM tools.

5. Process Street

Popular among technical and non-technical teams alike, Process Street bills itself as a no-code process platform for building efficient internal tasks.

Process Street

Pros

The main upside of Process Street is the ease with which non-technical solutions can create automation solutions. This makes it a great fit for use cases such as HR, finance, or other business lines.

More specifically to building change management workflows, it offers a streamlined flow-chart interface for configuring action steps, along with conditional logic, user roles, and more.

Process Street also offers integrations with a huge range of external SaaS platforms, as well as some impressive built-in AI capabilities, making it a great choice for building powerful workflows with ease.

Cons

As a no-code solution, Process Street sacrifices some of the power and flexibility that we see from more technically-focused solutions. So, for IT teams with more advanced use cases, it might fall short.

While it does offer usable templates for IT change management, it’s also not fully aligned with IT best practices, such as ITIL, in the same way that other platforms we’ve seen are.

Process Street offers native capabilities for reporting and analysis, but they also recommend that, for more advanced data manipulation, it’s better to connect to an external business intelligence platform.

Pricing

Process Street’s pricing model is a little bit different from the other change management tools we’ve seen so far. There’s a usable free tier with up to five members and ten guests. A member has full admin access, while a guest has more limited access.

Paid plans start at $1,500 per month. This introduces features like custom branding and BI integrations, as well as increasing usage limits for data records, file storage, and automation runs, compared to the free tier.

Custom enterprise pricing is also available, with more advanced security options, like Active Directory, SCIM, and SAML SSO.

6. FreshService

Lastly, we have FreshService, a popular, off-the-shelf, cloud-based service management platform with a strong change management offering.

FreshService

Pros

FreshService is a great option for teams that need an out-of-the-box IT change management solution. It’s highly ITIL-aligned, including native tools for managing a change advisory board and setting up a change schedule.

For automations, there’s a visual flow-chart designer, which provides an intuitive experience for setting up notifications to end users and service agents alike. Since FreshService is a wider service management platform, it’s also easy to integrate related processes.

FreshService is also a strong offering for multi-channel interactions. So, we can initiate change management workflows from instant messages, tickets, emails, and more in a single location.

Cons

Like Helix and JSM, FreshService is primarily optimized for IT use cases. While it could be utilized for other business verticals, some teams might also find it a bit too rigid for other use cases.

Within the scope of ITSM platforms, it also offers somewhat less customization than its more enterprise-focused counterparts.

In addition, it’s a wholly cloud-based platform, so it can’t be self-hosted.

Pricing

As a general ITSM platform, FreshService offers relatively transparent, scalable pricing. However, it’s important to note that specific change management features are only available with the Growth license at $99 per agent per month.

Although we might be able to create a workable solution with general workflow management and approval tools on lower tiers, this has the potential to make it quite an expensive option as a stand-alone change management tool.

At the same time, FreshService is quite easy to use straight out of the box, requiring less initial configuration and implementation than the likes of BMC Helix.

Turn data into action with Budibase

Budibase is the open-source, low-code platform that enables IT teams to turn data into action. With extensive data connectivity, autogenerated UIs, powerful automations, free SSO, powerful automation, and more, there’s never been an easier way to ship secure workflow tools.

Check out our features overview to learn more.