Skip to content
Talk to Us

Blocks.ai publishes this comparison and sells in this market. Every claim about another product links to a public source.

LangSmith vs ServiceNow AI Control Tower

LangSmith

Platform for observing, evaluating, and deploying agents

ServiceNow AI Control Tower

What ServiceNow calls a central hub to discover, secure, govern, observe, and measure AI

Short answer

LangChain calls LangSmith a platform for observing, evaluating, and deploying agents; ServiceNow calls AI Control Tower a central hub to discover, secure, govern, observe, and measure AI.⁠Source 1, Source 2 LangSmith’s Plus plan hosts agents in LangChain’s cloud, and Enterprise adds your own infrastructure; ServiceNow’s Foundation, Advanced, and Prime tiers include AI Control Tower.⁠Source 3, Source 4, Source 5, Source 6

By Blocks.ai teamLast checked

Where each one sits

Six layers of running AI agents at a company, and what each product’s own public sources say it covers.

These aren’t the same kind of product

Where they overlap
Both list agents in a registry or inventory, monitor agents through traces, and keep audit logs of configuration changes, which LangSmith offers on its Enterprise plan.⁠Source 2, Source 7, Source 8, Source 9, Source 10
Where they differ
LangSmith builds agents in Fleet and runs agents on LangSmith Deployment; ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio creates and deploys agents.⁠Source 3, Source 11, Source 12 AI Control Tower’s connectors discover AI on outside platforms.⁠Source 13
Running both
ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway governs MCP connections from any agent platform, not just agents built in ServiceNow’s AI Agent Studio.⁠Source 14
Public sources · checked 2 October 2026
  • Offered
  • Not publicly documented

LangSmith

  • Build agents: OfferedFleet agent builder⁠Source 11
  • Host and run agents: OfferedLangSmith Deployment runtime⁠Source 3
  • Identity and access: OfferedFleet per-agent permissions⁠Source 15
  • Registry and governance: OfferedCentralized registry in Deployment⁠Source 7
  • Traffic between agents, tools, and models: OfferedFleet forwards MCP tool calls⁠Source 16
  • Agents across organizations: Not publicly documented

ServiceNow AI Control Tower

  • Build agents: Not publicly documented
  • Host and run agents: Not publicly documented
  • Identity and access: OfferedScoped OAuth tokens (community docs)⁠Source 17
  • Registry and governance: OfferedAI inventory tied to CMDB⁠Source 2
  • Traffic between agents, tools, and models: OfferedAI Gateway (community docs)⁠Source 18
  • Agents across organizations: Not publicly documented

At a glance

TopicLangSmithServiceNow AI Control Tower
Builds and runs agentsFleet builds agents without code.⁠Source 11 LangSmith Deployment runs agents in production, on the Plus plan or above.⁠Source 3ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio creates, configures, and deploys agents.⁠Source 12 Creating new custom agents needs the Prime tier.⁠Source 6
Agents it coversAgents on LangSmith Deployment, built with LangChain, Google ADK, CrewAI, or other frameworks.⁠Source 19 Agents hosted elsewhere can send traces.⁠Source 5ServiceNow says it inventories AI agents, models, and MCP servers from ServiceNow and third parties.⁠Source 2 Outside platforms need connectors you set up.⁠Source 13, Source 20
Where it runsLangChain’s cloud, on GCP or AWS; or, on Enterprise, BYOC on AWS, self-hosted, or hybrid.⁠Source 4, Source 5, Source 21, Source 22ServiceNow says it runs on the ServiceNow AI Platform.⁠Source 2 Data may go to a central ServiceNow environment in another region, or to a cloud such as Microsoft Azure; ServiceNow says it has controls to disable this.⁠Source 23
Pricing modelDeveloper has one free seat; Plus is $39 per seat a month; Enterprise is through sales.⁠Source 22 Usage is metered in LangChain Standard Units, $1 each.⁠Source 22ServiceNow says to contact it for pricing.⁠Source 2 AI Control Tower is included in the Foundation, Advanced, and Prime tiers.⁠Source 6
Generally availableLangChain announced GA of LangGraph Platform (now Deployment) in May 2025 and Agent Builder (now Fleet) in January 2026.⁠Source 7, Source 24, Source 25, Source 26ServiceNow announced general availability on 6 May 2025.⁠Source 27 ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway became generally available on 10 September 2026.⁠Source 28

What each one is

LangSmith

LangChain describes LangSmith as a framework-agnostic platform for observing, evaluating, and deploying agents.⁠Source 1 LangSmith Deployment runs agents in production, and LangChain says Fleet lets teams, including non-technical ones, create and manage agents without code.⁠Source 1, Source 3, Source 11 Agents hosted elsewhere can send it traces.⁠Source 5

ServiceNow AI Control Tower

ServiceNow describes AI Control Tower as a central hub to discover, secure, govern, observe, and measure AI across an enterprise.⁠Source 2 ServiceNow says it inventories agents, models, and MCP servers from ServiceNow and third parties, tied to your configuration management database (CMDB).⁠Source 2

The differences that matter

  1. Building and running agents

    LangSmith

    Fleet builds agents from a description without code, and LangSmith Deployment runs agents built with LangChain, Google ADK, CrewAI, and other frameworks.⁠Source 3, Source 11, Source 19

    ServiceNow AI Control Tower

    ServiceNow says AI Control Tower inventories AI from ServiceNow and third parties; ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio builds agents.⁠Source 2, Source 12

    LangSmith Cloud deployments need the Plus plan or above.⁠Source 3 ServiceNow supports creating new custom agents only in its Prime tier.⁠Source 6

  2. How far each catalog reaches

    LangSmith

    LangChain says LangSmith Deployment manages agents in a centralized registry with versioning and rollbacks; agents hosted elsewhere can send LangSmith traces.⁠Source 5, Source 7, Source 29

    ServiceNow AI Control Tower

    ServiceNow says AI Control Tower auto-discovers agents, models, MCP servers, and datasets into one inventory tied to the CMDB, with connectors for external platforms.⁠Source 2, Source 13

    Listing agents not deployed on LangSmith Deployment or built in Fleet is not publicly documented. ServiceNow’s community documentation says only assets marked Managed get governance workflows and monitoring.⁠Source 30

  3. Controls on tools and MCP servers

    LangSmith

    Fleet agents can be set to pause for approval before specific actions; on Enterprise, Fleet admins control tool and MCP server access, including by tag.⁠Source 31

    ServiceNow AI Control Tower

    ServiceNow’s community documentation says agents using AI Gateway can reach only approved, active MCP servers, with tool-level policies by role, department, or data classification.⁠Source 14, Source 17

    Fleet forwards MCP tool calls to remote MCP servers rather than running them.⁠Source 16 ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway supports only remotely hosted MCP servers.⁠Source 14

For security teams

What a security review asks, answered from each vendor’s public documentation.

TopicLangSmithServiceNow AI Control Tower
Network exposureEnterprise customers can reach LangSmith Cloud over AWS PrivateLink or GCP Private Service Connect, off the public internet.⁠Source 4Discovery authenticates to external platforms with credentials you supply.⁠Source 20 Ports and egress requirements are not publicly documented.
IdentityHosted Agent Servers default to API keys; self-hosted ones have no default authentication.⁠Source 32 Cloud Enterprise adds SAML SSO and SCIM.⁠Source 33ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway issues scoped, short-lived OAuth 2.1 tokens for MCP connections through it.⁠Source 17
Access changes and revocationFleet sharing can be revoked at any time.⁠Source 31 Organization admins can deactivate any member’s personal access token.⁠Source 34The kill switch can contain a managed agent and revoke all of its active credentials across connected systems.⁠Source 35, Source 36
Audit trailEnterprise audit logs record admin and configuration actions, kept up to 400 days; a scheduled pull can feed a SIEM.⁠Source 9Audit logs record changes to Data, Approvals, and AI model provider settings.⁠Source 10 Every kill-switch containment leaves an audit trail.⁠Source 35
ComplianceLangChain’s Trust Center lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001:2022, GDPR, and HIPAA for LangSmith.⁠Source 37ServiceNow says the company has undertaken an annual SOC 2 Type 2 attestation since 2013 and holds ISO/IEC 42001.⁠Source 38

Full comparison

18 criteria in five groups. Every cell links to its source, or says no public source answers it.

LangSmith and ServiceNow AI Control Tower compared on 18 criteria
LangSmithServiceNow AI Control Tower
What it is
What it is and who it’s forLangChain calls it a framework-agnostic platform for observing, evaluating, and deploying agents.⁠Source 1 LangChain says no-code Fleet is for non-technical teams.⁠Source 1, Source 11ServiceNow describes it as a central hub to discover, secure, govern, observe, and measure AI across an enterprise, on the ServiceNow AI Platform.⁠Source 2
MaturityLangChain announced GA of LangGraph Platform (now Deployment) on 14 May 2025 and Agent Builder (now Fleet) on 13 January 2026.⁠Source 7, Source 24, Source 25, Source 26ServiceNow announced general availability on 6 May 2025.⁠Source 27 ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway became generally available on 10 September 2026.⁠Source 28
Control
Agent registry and discoveryLangChain says Deployment manages agents in a centralized registry with versioning and rollbacks.⁠Source 7, Source 29 Listing agents hosted elsewhere is not publicly documented.ServiceNow says it auto-discovers agents, models, MCP servers, and datasets into one inventory tied to the CMDB.⁠Source 2 Connectors you set up reach external platforms.⁠Source 13, Source 20
Identity and access controlHosted agents use LangSmith API keys by default, or your auth handlers.⁠Source 32 Fleet has per-agent Clone, Run, and Edit permissions.⁠Source 15 RBAC is Enterprise.⁠Source 39ServiceNow’s community documentation says AI Gateway verifies agent identity and issues scoped, short-lived OAuth 2.1 tokens for MCP connections through it.⁠Source 17
Ownership, policy, and revocationFleet agent cards show the owner, sharing can be revoked at any time, and pausing an agent’s channels pauses it.⁠Source 26, Source 31, Source 40 Fleet spend limits cover agents and users.⁠Source 41ServiceNow says AI assets can carry ownership.⁠Source 2 The kill switch covers agents on ServiceNow and four connected platforms.⁠Source 42
Audit log and observabilityEnterprise audit logs of admin and configuration actions, kept up to 400 days.⁠Source 9 Each deployment gets a tracing project.⁠Source 8Audit logs record Data, Approvals, and model provider setting changes.⁠Source 10 Each containment is audited.⁠Source 35 Traces come via trace connections or SDK instrumentation.⁠Source 43
Connection
How agents connectOn self-hosted LangSmith with Deployment, agents run behind an ingress you configure.⁠Source 44 Enterprise can reach LangSmith Cloud over AWS PrivateLink.⁠Source 4ServiceNow’s community documentation says agents using AI Gateway call a ServiceNow-hosted URL instead of the MCP server, which must be remote.⁠Source 14, Source 18
Agents across organizationsAgent Server agents can talk to other A2A-compatible agents.⁠Source 45 An access model for another organization’s agents is not publicly documented.Systems like Microsoft Agent 365 can discover publishable agents via an open API.⁠Source 46 Bringing in agents another organization controls: not publicly documented.
Protocol supportAgent Server supports A2A over JSON-RPC, with documented gaps, and can expose agents as MCP tools.⁠Source 45, Source 47 Fleet discovers tools from remote MCP servers.⁠Source 16Its community docs call AI Gateway its MCP enforcement layer.⁠Source 17 ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio can connect external agents over A2A.⁠Source 48
Frameworks, models, and clouds supportedDeployment runs Google ADK, Strands, CrewAI, and AutoGen agents via a wrapper or the LangGraph Functional API.⁠Source 19 Agents hosted elsewhere can send traces.⁠Source 5ServiceNow says it inventories agents, models, and MCP servers from ServiceNow or third parties.⁠Source 2 Outside platforms need connectors you set up.⁠Source 13, Source 20
Operations
Deployment options and data residencyCloud on GCP (US, EU, APAC) or AWS (US).⁠Source 4 BYOC on AWS, or self-hosted or hybrid, on Enterprise.⁠Source 5, Source 21, Source 22ServiceNow says it runs on the ServiceNow AI Platform.⁠Source 2 Data may go to a central ServiceNow environment in another region or a third-party cloud.⁠Source 23
Compliance attestationsLangChain’s Trust Center lists SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001:2022, GDPR, and HIPAA, with a 2026 SOC 2 Type II report and ISO 27001 certificate.⁠Source 37ServiceNow says the company has undertaken an annual SOC 2 Type 2 attestation since 2013.⁠Source 38 It says the company holds ISO/IEC 42001 certification.⁠Source 38
Support and SLABase, Standard, and Premium support plans.⁠Source 49 Reasonable commercial efforts toward 99.5% API uptime for SaaS, measured quarterly.⁠Source 49ServiceNow’s company-wide Customer Support Addendum states a 99.8% availability SLA for production instances.⁠Source 50 Its community docs point to Now Support.⁠Source 51
Time and effort to get runningCloud deployment needs the Plus plan or above and an API key.⁠Source 52 Self-hosting the Deployment control plane needs Kubernetes, self-hosted LangSmith, and Enterprise.⁠Source 3Initial setup uses a Guided Setup widget.⁠Source 53 Discovering outside agents needs a connector and credentials you supply.⁠Source 13, Source 20 Features depend on your license.⁠Source 54
Pricing model and public pricesDeveloper: free, one seat.⁠Source 22 Plus: $39 per seat a month, with one free small serverless deployment.⁠Source 22 Enterprise: contact sales.⁠Source 22 Usage is metered in LSUs, $1 each.⁠Source 22Included in every tier; full management of external AI needs a separate license.⁠Source 6 ServiceNow’s community documentation says usage-based costs may apply.⁠Source 14, Source 55
Building
Agent building toolsFleet builds agents from a description or a template, without code.⁠Source 11 Code-first agents can be deployed with the LangGraph CLI and app templates.⁠Source 3ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio creates, configures, and deploys agents.⁠Source 12 Creating new custom agents is supported only in the Prime tier.⁠Source 6
Model accessLangChain says closed or open models work.⁠Source 1 Fleet’s managed tiers (Fast, Pro, Max) need no provider key of your own; custom models aren’t in that picker.⁠Source 56AI model provider settings cover ServiceNow-supported providers, such as Now LLM Service, and providers your organization configures.⁠Source 10
Integrations and ecosystemFleet has built-in tools such as Gmail; LangChain says its agents work in Slack, Teams, and Gmail.⁠Source 56, Source 57 Tracing integrates with OpenAI, Anthropic, and more.⁠Source 58ServiceNow’s community documentation names discovery connectors for Databricks, Snowflake, and Hugging Face, and says connectors can also be custom-built.⁠Source 30, Source 51

Which to choose

Choose LangSmith if

  • You want a platform that builds and runs agents: Fleet builds them without code, and LangSmith Deployment runs agents in production.⁠Source 3, Source 11
  • You want to trace agents wherever they run, from any OpenTelemetry-compatible app or through integrations such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and CrewAI.⁠Source 5, Source 58, Source 59
  • You need LangSmith’s control plane and Agent Servers in your own infrastructure, for full data residency or air-gapped use, on Enterprise.⁠Source 3
  • You want Fleet’s per-agent Clone, Run, and Edit permissions, and approval steps before specific agent actions.⁠Source 15, Source 31

Choose ServiceNow AI Control Tower if

  • Your ServiceNow tier already includes AI Control Tower, which ServiceNow says ties AI assets to your CMDB.⁠Source 2, Source 6
  • You want one inventory of AI agents, models, and MCP servers across platforms, with connectors that discover AI assets outside ServiceNow.⁠Source 2, Source 13
  • You want a kill switch that can contain a managed agent and revoke all of its active credentials, with an audit trail.⁠Source 35, Source 36
  • You want AI compliance content: ServiceNow’s pack covers the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, California SB 53, and Colorado’s AI Act.⁠Source 60

Questions buyers ask

How is each one priced?

LangSmith: one free Developer seat, Plus at $39 per seat a month, Enterprise through sales; usage is metered in LSUs, $1 each.⁠Source 22 ServiceNow says to contact it for pricing; every tier includes AI Control Tower.⁠Source 2, Source 6 ServiceNow’s community documentation says usage-based costs may apply.⁠Source 14, Source 55

Do LangSmith and AI Control Tower support MCP and A2A?

LangSmith’s Agent Server supports A2A, with documented gaps, and can expose agents as MCP tools.⁠Source 45, Source 47 ServiceNow says AI Control Tower inventories MCP servers and, per its community documentation, proxies MCP traffic through AI Gateway; A2A is documented for ServiceNow’s separate AI Agent Studio.⁠Source 2, Source 17, Source 18, Source 48

Can I self-host LangSmith or AI Control Tower?

On the Enterprise plan, LangSmith Deployment can run in your own Kubernetes cluster, including air-gapped, and LangSmith comes as BYOC on AWS.⁠Source 3, Source 5, Source 21 ServiceNow says AI Control Tower runs on the ServiceNow AI Platform; whether self-hosted ServiceNow customers can use it is not publicly documented.⁠Source 2

Can either one connect agents across organizations?

Agents on LangSmith’s Agent Server can talk to other A2A-compatible agents.⁠Source 45 Outside systems like Microsoft Agent 365 can discover AI Control Tower agents marked publishable through an open API.⁠Source 46 For both, bringing in another organization’s agents with access that organization controls is not publicly documented.

How we compare

Read the full method

Every claim on this page links to a public source. Where none answers a question, the page says so.

We re-check every fact at least every 90 days. This page was last checked .

Something wrong or out of date? Tell us and we’ll correct it.

Sources

66 public sources, each with the date we checked it. Every one opens in a new tab.

  1. Source 1: LangSmith: The Agent Engineering Platform LangChain · checked Back:abcdef

  2. Source 2: AI Control Tower - ServiceNow (product page) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcdefghijklmnopqrst

  3. Source 3: LangSmith Deployment LangChain · checked Back:abcdefghijkl

  4. Source 4: Cloud (SaaS) LangChain · checked Back:abcde

  5. Source 5: Set up LangSmith LangChain · checked Back:abcdefghi

  6. Source 6: ServiceNow product tiers (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcdefgh

  7. Source 7: LangSmith Deployment LangChain · checked Back:abcdef

  8. Source 8: LangSmith control plane LangChain · checked Back:ab

  9. Source 9: Audit logs LangChain · checked Back:abc

  10. Source 10: AI model providers (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcd

  11. Source 11: No-code agents with LangSmith Fleet LangChain · checked Back:abcdefgh

  12. Source 12: AI Agent Studio (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcd

  13. Source 13: Discovering AI assets through connectors (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcdefg

  14. Source 14: AI Gateway FAQ (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcdef

  15. Source 15: Agent platform comparison LangChain · checked Back:abc

  16. Source 16: Remote MCP servers LangChain · checked Back:abc

  17. Source 17: What's new in AI Gateway v3.4 - September 2026 release (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcdef

  18. Source 18: AI Gateway Implementation Guide (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:abc

  19. Source 19: Deploy other frameworks LangChain · checked Back:abcd

  20. Source 20: Configuring connectors (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcde

  21. Source 21: Bring Your Own Cloud (BYOC) LangChain · checked Back:abc

  22. Source 22: LangSmith Plans and Pricing LangChain · checked Back:abcdefghi

  23. Source 23: AI Control Tower (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  24. Source 24: LangGraph Platform is now Generally Available: Deploy & manage long-running, stateful Agents LangChain · checked Back:ab

  25. Source 25: Now GA: LangSmith Agent Builder LangChain · checked Back:ab

  26. Source 26: LangSmith Fleet changelog LangChain · checked Back:abc

  27. Source 27: ServiceNow Launches AI Control Tower, a Centralized Command Center to Govern, Manage, Secure, and Realize Value From Any AI Agent, Model, and Workflow (ServiceNow news release, investor relations PDF) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  28. Source 28: What's new in AI Control Tower for August & September 2026 (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  29. Source 29: Assistants LangChain · checked Back:ab

  30. Source 30: AI Control Tower: What's new in the June 2026 release (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  31. Source 31: Access & oversight LangChain · checked Back:abcd

  32. Source 32: Authentication & access control LangChain · checked Back:ab

  33. Source 33: Authentication methods LangChain · checked Back to text

  34. Source 34: Overview (administration) LangChain · checked Back to text

  35. Source 35: AI agent containment using kill switch protocol manually (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:abcd

  36. Source 36: Configure AI agent containment using kill switch protocol manually (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  37. Source 37: Trust Center - LangChain LangChain · checked Back:ab

  38. Source 38: Compliance - ServiceNow Trust ServiceNow · checked Back:abc

  39. Source 39: Role-based access control LangChain · checked Back to text

  40. Source 40: Manage agent settings LangChain · checked Back to text

  41. Source 41: Manage workspace administration LangChain · checked Back to text

  42. Source 42: Control enforcement points (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  43. Source 43: Configuring trace connections (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  44. Source 44: Enable additional LangSmith features LangChain · checked Back to text

  45. Source 45: A2A endpoint in Agent Server LangChain · checked Back:abcd

  46. Source 46: External Registries (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  47. Source 47: MCP endpoint in Agent Server LangChain · checked Back:ab

  48. Source 48: Integrating external AI agents (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  49. Source 49: Support Plans LangChain · checked Back:ab

  50. Source 50: Customer Support Addendum (ServiceNow legal schedules, Version 12MAR2025) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  51. Source 51: AI Control Tower Welcome Guide (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  52. Source 52: Deploy your app to cloud LangChain · checked Back to text

  53. Source 53: AI Control Tower release notes (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  54. Source 54: Activating AI Control Tower (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  55. Source 55: AI Control Tower Observability & Monitoring FAQ (ServiceNow Community, AI Control Tower articles) ServiceNow · checked Back:ab

  56. Source 56: Essentials LangChain · checked Back:ab

  57. Source 57: LangSmith Fleet LangChain · checked Back to text

  58. Source 58: LangSmith Observability LangChain · checked Back:ab

  59. Source 59: Trace with OpenTelemetry LangChain · checked Back to text

  60. Source 60: AI Risk and Compliance Content Pack (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release, Governance, Risk, and Compliance) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  61. Source 61: Activate evaluation scoring for external AI systems (ServiceNow product documentation, Australia release) ServiceNow · checked Back to text

  62. Source 62: Your company's private network Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  63. Source 63: Network requirements Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  64. Source 64: Solutions: Agent sprawl Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  65. Source 65: Solutions: Partner networks Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  66. Source 66: Pricing Blocks.ai · checked Back to text