ServiceNow (NOW) RSU sell-vs-hold
Calculator · free · no signup · NOWSell at vest or hold? Compare after-tax payout from selling ServiceNow RSUs at vest vs. holding through the LTCG cliff at 12 months.
Beta · invite-only · AlphaLatitude Inc. · Free Tools
Your vest
Tax inputs
Hold strategy
Best after-tax payout — at year 1 yr
$47,709
Sell + invest wins by $4,981 over Hold 1 yr.
Estimates only. Not financial advice.
Heads-up: under-withholding. Your employer withholds federal tax at the IRS supplemental rate (22.0% on this vest, ≈ $17,600). Your marginal federal rate on this vest is 32.7%, owing $26,171. Expect to settle the $8,571 gap at tax time.
The hidden purchase
Tax was paid at vest either way. Holding is mathematically equivalent to taking $44,509 in after-tax cash and buying $44,509 of NOW today.
Most diversification frameworks would advise against a purchase that size in a single name; the right answer depends on your conviction in NOW. Holding past one year converts the gain to LTCG.
Sell + invest
Best payout| Vest value (shares × price) | $80,000 |
| Federal | |
| State | |
| Medicare | −$1,160 |
| Additional Medicare | −$720 |
| Market gain over 1 yr at 10.0% | $4,451 |
| Cap-gain tax on diversified gain — LTCG (federal + state + NIIT) | −$1,251 |
| Net at year 1 yr | $47,709 |
Sell every share at vest; invest the after-tax cash at the market return for 1 yr, then liquidate. Diversified — no single-stock concentration risk.
Hold 1 yr
| Vest value (shares × price) | $80,000 |
| Vest tax (federal + state + FICA) | |
| Net at year 1 yr | $42,728 |
Sold 444 shares to cover vest tax (net-settled); kept 556 shares 1 yr to qualify for long-term capital gains.
Social Security + Medicare are payroll taxes (collectively called FICA) — they apply because you're still employed at vest.
Both columns are stated in year-1 yr dollars. The sell side compounds at the market return; the hold side compounds at your single-stock expected return after a 20% volatility drag.
Estimates only. Assumes net-settled (sell-to-cover) vesting; double-trigger and pre-IPO RSUs are out of scope. Excludes multi-state moves, AMT interactions on other equity, and 83(b) elections. Not financial advice.
You evaluated one RSU vest. The beta plans every vest of every grant across years, with concentration and AMT in the loop.
Request beta access →About ServiceNow
ServiceNow (NOW) is a public Cloud/SaaS company, incorporated in Delaware and headquartered in Santa Clara, CA. IPO'd Jun 29, 2012.
Last close: $101.33 per share (as of 2026-06-17).
Equity grants at ServiceNow typically include restricted stock units (RSUs).
ServiceNow, Inc. is an American software company that supplies cloud computing platforms for the creation and management of automated business workflows. The company was founded in Santa Clara, California, United States, in 2003 by Fred Luddy. It is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the S&P 100 and S&P 500 indices.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Fred Luddy founded ServiceNow in 2003 as Glidesoft after his stint as Peregrine Systems CTO, betting that IT service management belonged on a single workflow platform rather than scattered ticketing tools. The Santa Clara company went public on the NYSE in June 2012 at $18 under ticker NOW. Bill McDermott took over as CEO in late 2019 and pushed the Now Platform beyond ITSM into ITOM, HR, customer service, and App Engine. Recent Xanadu and successor releases layered Now Assist generative AI and agentic workflows across the stack, helping revenue clear roughly $11B for fiscal 2024.
Sources: en.wikipedia.org · newsroom.servicenow.com
Equity comp at ServiceNow
- RSUs use single-trigger vesting: shares become yours as each portion vests on schedule, and the value is taxed as ordinary income at that point. No IPO or acquisition is required.
Researched 2026-05-07.
OptionsAhoy is an independent tool and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by ServiceNow.
ServiceNow (NOW) RSUs vest as ordinary income at the price on vest day. The decision is whether to sell at vest and reinvest, or hold the shares through the 12-month LTCG cliff. This calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare like-for-like.
Example: 500 ServiceNow (NOW) RSUs vesting at $101.33 per share is $50,665 of ordinary income on vest day. After roughly 32% combined federal + state + FICA (~$16,213), the post-tax share value is ~$34,452. Holding 12 months for long-term capital-gains treatment then only matters for the price change between vest and sale; the ordinary income at vest is already locked in. The calculator runs both paths through the same after-tax math.
All ServiceNow tools → · Use the generic RSU Sell-vs-Hold Calculator for any company.
ServiceNow equity questions
- Should I sell or hold my ServiceNow RSUs at vest?
- ServiceNow restricted stock units (RSUs) are taxed as ordinary income on their value at vest whether or not you sell. The only open decision is what to do with the shares afterward: sell at vest and reinvest, or hold past twelve months for long-term capital-gains treatment on any further gain. The calculator above runs both paths through the same after-tax math so you can compare them directly.
- Does ServiceNow grant ISOs, NSOs, or RSUs?
- Equity compensation at ServiceNow typically takes the form of restricted stock units (RSUs). Restricted stock units are taxed as ordinary income when they vest.
- Do ServiceNow RSUs use double-trigger vesting?
- No. ServiceNow restricted stock units (RSUs) use single-trigger vesting: each tranche becomes yours as it vests on schedule, taxed as ordinary income at that point, with no liquidity event required.
One piece of the puzzle.
OptionsAhoy plans your ServiceNow equity alongside hedging, vesting, and de-concentration, across bullish, neutral, and bearish market scenarios. Free during beta.