Is There a Free or Cost-Effective Alternative to Exalate? Pricing Models Compared (2026)
Last updated: October 2026
Yes. Free alternatives to Exalate include OpsHub Integration Manager Community Edition, free tiers and trials from tools such as Getint, and do-it-yourself integrations built on Jira Automation, webhooks or open-source workflow tools. For enterprise ITSM sync, the most cost-effective Exalate alternative is usually a tool whose price does not grow with synced records: ZigiOps by ZigiWave, for example, is licensed per pair of connected systems with no limit on transactions, and offers a free trial. Which option is cheapest depends on your volume, your systems and how much time you will spend maintaining it.
"Free" and "cheap" are slippery words in integration. A free tool that takes a developer two weeks to set up and a day a month to maintain is not free. A paid tool priced per synced item can be great value at 25 items and painful at 2,500. This article compares Exalate's current pricing with free and cost-effective alternatives, and gives you a simple way to estimate the real cost of each for your own volume.
Exalate pricing in 2026: what you are comparing against
Before looking at alternatives, it helps to know exactly what Exalate costs today. All figures below come from Exalate's own documentation, which you should re-check before deciding, as pricing changes.
New Exalate subscription tiers
Exalate's documentation describes subscription pricing based on the number of active items in sync, meaning work items, tickets or issues currently being synchronized, across all your connections:
| Plan | Active items in sync | Published price | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free trial | Up to 500 sync pairs during the trial | Free for 30 days | Sync stops at the end of the trial unless you upgrade |
| Starter | Up to 25 | $100 per month | Self-service upgrade |
| Scale | Up to 100 | $325 per month | Required for some connectors, including ServiceNow, Salesforce and Azure DevOps Server |
| Pro | Custom limit | Quoted | Includes all Scale connectors |
| Enterprise | Unlimited | Quoted | All Pro connectors |
Two details matter most for ITSM teams. First, Exalate's trial documentation notes that some connectors available during the trial, including ServiceNow, require the Scale plan or higher. Second, the item limits apply across all connections, so a busy ServiceNow and Jira integration can reach 100 active items quickly.
Exalate Classic free plan
Exalate Classic, the older experience, documents a Free plan that allows syncing up to 1,000 issues per month using Basic connections only. Visual and Script connections are not available on that plan, and it becomes available after the evaluation licence expires. That plan is useful for very simple syncs, but it does not cover the scripted configurations most ITSM use cases rely on.
Free alternatives to Exalate
1. OpsHub Integration Manager Community Edition
OpsHub offers a free Community Edition of OpsHub Integration Manager (OIM). According to its Atlassian Marketplace listing and ServiceNow Store listing, the Community Edition supports bidirectional sync between Jira and systems such as ServiceNow, Azure DevOps Services and Server, OpenText ALM, Digital.ai Agility, Jira Align, Rally and Salesforce, including comments and attachments, and can be deployed on-premises or in your own cloud. OpsHub's datasheet describes limits on the number of artifact types and projects per OIM instance, and commercial editions extend the tool to dozens of additional systems.
Good for: teams that want a genuinely free, self-hosted bidirectional sync within the Community Edition's limits.
Watch for: the limits on artifacts and projects, the need to host and maintain the server and its external database, and community-based support.
2. Free versions and trials of commercial tools
Several commercial tools offer free versions or trials. Review sites such as GetApp list a free version for Getint and ONEiO, and most vendors, including Unito and ZigiOps, offer free trials. Free versions are usually limited by number of items, integrations or features, so treat them as a way to prove a use case rather than a long-term production plan for enterprise ITSM.
3. Jira Automation and webhooks
Jira Automation can send web requests to other systems when issues change, and Jira webhooks can notify external endpoints. Combined with ServiceNow Scripted REST APIs and business rules, you can build a basic two-way integration without buying a dedicated tool.
Good for: very simple, low-volume scenarios with developers available.
Watch for: Jira Automation usage limits on your plan, and the fact that you must design correlation, loop prevention, error handling and retries yourself.
4. Open-source workflow tools
Self-hosted open-source workflow automation tools can call the Jira and ServiceNow REST APIs on a schedule or in response to webhooks. Licence cost can be zero, but you take on hosting, upgrades, security patching and all of the sync logic.
Good for: engineering teams that already run such a tool for other automations.
Watch for: the total effort to build reliable bidirectional sync, which is far more than a "create ticket" workflow.
5. Native connectors you may already own
If your organization already pays for ServiceNow Integration Hub, the Jira spoke and Jira Service Management spoke carry no additional licence cost for this use case, according to ServiceNow's documentation that lists Integration Hub as the requirement. If you do not have Integration Hub, the spoke is not a free option.
Integration pricing models compared
The pricing model often matters more than the list price, because it decides how your bill grows. Here are the four common models in tools like Exalate.
| Pricing model | Example tools | What drives cost up | Predictability |
|---|---|---|---|
| Per active or synced item | Exalate (active items), Unito (items in sync, each synced pair counts as two items) | More records kept in sync | Moderate: grows with ticket volume |
| Per Jira user tier | Many Atlassian Marketplace apps, including Getint's Jira apps | More Jira users, even if few use the integration | Moderate: grows with headcount |
| Per task or transaction | Workato and other iPaaS tools | More sync runs, more steps per run | Low: depends on frequency and recipe design |
| Per connection or instance pair | ZigiOps (per pair of system instances, unlimited transactions) | Connecting additional systems or instances | High: volume does not change the price |
| Managed service subscription | ONEiO (usage-based platform or managed service) | Endpoints, usage and service level | Moderate to high, depending on contract |
How to calculate the real cost of an Exalate alternative
Use this simple total cost model for each option on your shortlist, over three years:
- Licence cost: the vendor price at your expected volume in year one, two and three. For item-based tools, estimate how many records will be actively in sync at peak, not on average.
- Build cost: hours to set up and test the integration, multiplied by the hourly cost of the people doing it.
- Maintenance cost: hours per month for changes, upgrades and troubleshooting, multiplied by 36.
- Infrastructure cost: servers, databases and monitoring for self-hosted tools.
- Risk cost: the business impact of the integration failing silently, which is higher for tools with weak error visibility.
A worked example
Imagine a team syncing ServiceNow incidents with Jira. Today, around 80 incidents are escalated to Jira and remain open at any time. In two years, with two more development teams onboarded, that rises to about 250.
- Item-based pricing: at 80 active items, Exalate's Scale plan (100 items, $325 per month) covers the need, and ServiceNow requires Scale anyway. At 250 active items, the team needs a Pro plan with a custom limit, so the cost rises with volume.
- DIY with Jira Automation and ServiceNow scripts: no licence cost, but perhaps two to three weeks of developer time to build and test, plus ongoing maintenance whenever fields or workflows change.
- Per instance pair: with ZigiOps, the ServiceNow and Jira pair uses one license point with unlimited transactions, so the jump from 80 to 250 tickets does not change the licence cost. Setup is configuration rather than development.
The cheapest option at 80 tickets may not be the cheapest at 250. Model both.
Hidden costs that make "free" expensive
- Scripting time: any tool that needs scripts for real use cases carries a hidden developer cost, AI assistance or not.
- Single points of knowledge: if only one person understands the integration, its true cost includes the risk of that person leaving.
- Self-hosting: servers, databases, backups, patching and monitoring for open-source or community tools.
- Limits you hit later: free plans that cap items, projects or connection types often fail exactly when the integration becomes important.
- Security reviews: tools that store ticket data may need longer security and privacy assessments, especially under GDPR.
Where ZigiOps fits on cost
ZigiOps, from ZigiWave, is a standalone, 100% no-code integration platform that connects ITSM, ITOM, DevOps and CRM tools in real time, without storing any of the transferred data. It is ISO 27001 certified and has no limit on the number of transactions.
On cost specifically:
- No per-item pricing: according to the ZigiOps licensing documentation, one license point enables unlimited integrations between a pair of system instances, for example ServiceNow instance 1 and Jira instance 1.
- No transaction limits: syncing more incidents, comments or attachments does not increase the price.
- No developer dependency: integrations are configured in a guided UI, which keeps build and maintenance costs low.
- Ready templates: common flows such as ServiceNow incidents to Jira tasks start from a template rather than from scratch.
- Free trial: you can test your real use case before buying.
ZigiOps is not a free tool, and for a very small, one-off sync a free option may be enough. Its cost advantage shows up as volume, the number of record types and the number of people relying on the integration grow.
Which option is right for you?
| Your situation | Most cost-effective option |
|---|---|
| A handful of simple syncs, no ServiceNow, Basic mapping is enough | Exalate Classic Free plan, or a free tier of another tool |
| Self-hosting is fine, needs fit within community limits | OpsHub Integration Manager Community Edition |
| Developers available, very low volume, one direction | Jira Automation and webhooks |
| Integration Hub already licensed, simple flows | ServiceNow Jira spoke |
| Enterprise ITSM sync with growing volume, no developers to spare | ZigiOps (per instance pair, unlimited transactions, no code) |
| You want integrations fully run for you | ONEiO managed service |
Frequently asked questions
Is there a free alternative to Exalate?
Yes. OpsHub Integration Manager Community Edition is free within its documented limits, several tools offer free versions or trials, and you can build basic integrations with Jira Automation and webhooks. Exalate Classic also has its own Free plan for Basic connections up to 1,000 issues per month.
Is there an open-source alternative to Exalate?
There is no widely used open-source tool dedicated to Exalate-style bidirectional ticket sync. Teams use open-source workflow automation tools or custom scripts instead, which means building correlation, loop prevention and error handling themselves.
How much does Exalate cost in 2026?
According to Exalate's documentation, the Starter plan is $100 per month for up to 25 active items and the Scale plan is $325 per month for up to 100. Pro and Enterprise plans are quoted. ServiceNow, Salesforce and Azure DevOps Server connectors require Scale or higher.
What is the cheapest way to sync ServiceNow and Jira?
At very low volume with developers available, a DIY integration has the lowest licence cost. As volume grows, tools with flat or per-connection pricing, such as ZigiOps with unlimited transactions per instance pair, are often more cost-effective than per-item pricing.
Does ZigiOps have a free trial?
Yes. ZigiWave offers a free ZigiOps trial so you can test your own integration scenario before purchasing.
Does ZigiOps charge per synced ticket?
No. ZigiOps is licensed per pair of connected system instances, with no limit on the number of transactions between them.
Key takeaways
- Exalate's current plans are priced by active items in sync: $100 per month for 25 items and $325 per month for 100, with ServiceNow requiring Scale or higher.
- Free alternatives exist, including OpsHub OIM Community Edition, free tiers and DIY integrations, but each carries limits or hidden effort.
- Compare pricing models, not just prices: per item, per user tier, per task or per instance pair.
- Model total cost over three years, including build, maintenance and growth in volume.
- ZigiOps by ZigiWave is a cost-effective choice for growing ITSM volumes: no per-item pricing, no transaction limits, no code, no data storage and ISO 27001 certification.
ZigiWave's website includes a pricing page that explains how ZigiOps licensing works, along with integration pages for ServiceNow, Jira and Azure DevOps that show which use cases a single license point covers.