Guide: How to Select the Best Performance Testing Tool for Your Next Project

Selecting the right performance testing tool is a crucial step in ensuring the success of your software projects. A well-chosen tool can help you identify bottlenecks, understand system behavior under load, and ensure that your application meets performance requirements. Here’s a guide to help you make an informed decision:

Understanding Your Requirements

Before diving into tool features, clarify your specific needs:

1. Conduct Gap Analysis & Requirement Gathering Sessions

Before you spend too much time evaluating the market for potential alternatives, make sure stakeholders are receptive to making a change. Ideally, there will be a general consensus amongst technical team members about the reasoning for adopting or migrating to a new solution. It’s also important to ensure executives are on board with at least considering alternatives. 

2. Assess Project Scale

Assess the number, size, and complexity of your target applications. If you just need a more efficient tool for a standard web app, you can narrow down your search. However, if your team is responsible for a wide array of applications - you’ll need to opt for solutions that have more advanced capabilities. 

3. Determine What Types of Tests are Needed

Most solutions can support load testing, stress testing, endurance testing, or a combination. Still, it’s helpful to at least consider what kinds of tests you’ll need to run on a frequent or periodic basis. Specifically, you should have a sense of how many virtual users you need to simulate interacting with your application on a recurring basis and how many interact with your app during peak usage. Most licensing models for performance tools are predicated on these numbers. 

4. Identify Key Performance Metrics

Define the key performance indicators (KPIs) that are critical for your project, such as response times, throughput, and resource utilization. This will make it easier to rule out platforms that don’t provide robust reporting and analytics capabilities. 

5. Integration Needs

Determine if the tool needs to integrate with other tools in your tech stack. It’ll be difficult to facilitate continuous performance testing if a tool lacks the flexibility to integrate with CI/CD tools like ADO pipelines and GitLab. It’s also important to consider integrations to application performance monitoring (APM) solutions like Dynatrace, Splunk, and New Relic.

6. Define Budget Ranges for Licensing & Training

As we discuss in, “Building the Business Case: How to Quantify the Value of Investing in Performance Engineering,” there are multiple ways to justify ROI for investing in performance testing tools. Regardless, don’t go into an evaluation with the mindset that you’ll need a blank check. You can still request budgetary quotes from vendors even if you’re not ready to start an evaluation. This should include ballpark estimates for licensing along with training & implementation services. 

Tool Comparison

If you’re just starting to build out a ‘longlist’ of options, here’s a few to get started. These can be narrowed down based on evaluation criteria - which we’ll review next. 

JMeter

• Open-source and extensible.
• Supports a variety of protocols.
• Provides community support and plugins.
• Requires more manual setup compared to commercial tools.
• Scripting and maintaining tests can be painful, as outlined in, “Struggling with JMeter Maintenance? Here’s 5 Signs it’s Time for New Framework”

NeoLoad by Tricentis

• Supports an extensive range of protocols.
• Low-code test design makes creating and maintaining tests much easier 
• Offers cloud and on-premises deployment options.
• Strong integration capabilities with CI/CD and APM tools.
• Detailed reporting and analytics​​.
• Extensive support available during implementation & training

OctoPerf

• Cloud-based and on-premise load testing solution.
• Supports reuse JMeter scripts and enhances them with a user-friendly interface.
• Real-time monitoring and comprehensive reporting.
• Integrates with CI/CD tools and provides collaborative features for teams.
• Cost-friendly, both for enterprises and teams who are purchasing their first commercial performance framework

LoadRunner by Micro Focus

• Comprehensive tool with support for a wide range of protocols.
• Advanced analytics and monitoring capabilities.
• Offers extensive integration with other testing tools.
• Can be complex and costly for smaller teams, as discussed in, “NeoLoad vs. LoadRunner: When Does it Make Sense to Migrate?”

Gatling

• Open-source with a focus on ease of use and scalability.
• Strong reporting and integration with CI/CD pipelines.
• Ideal for high-load scenarios with HTTP-based applications.

BlazeMeter

• Cloud-based performance testing platform.
• Supports Apache JMeter scripts.
• Real-time reporting and collaboration features.
• Suitable for continuous testing in DevOps environments.

10 Fundamentals for an Evaluation Scorecard

As you narrow down your longlist to a shortlist of 2-3 options, here are some key areas to evaluate during demos, trials, and POC’s. This is by no means exhaustive. In fact, we’d recommend designating a team member to collect feedback on other factors to consider through surveying colleagues.  

1. Ease of Use: Tools should be user-friendly and support quick setup and test execution.
2. Scalability: Ensure the tool can handle the expected load and can scale as your requirements grow.
3. Protocol Support: Check if the tool supports the necessary protocols, such as HTTP/HTTPS, WebSockets, databases, and others relevant to your application.
4. Cloud & On-Premise Support: Depending on your infrastructure, you might need a tool that supports cloud-based testing, on-premises, or both.
5. Reporting & Analysis: Look for detailed reporting capabilities that help you analyze performance test results effectively.
6. Scripting & Low-Code Test Design: Advanced scripting capabilities can provide more flexibility and control over test scenarios. Also consider solutions that provide a low-code approach to test design, which makes it easier to create and maintain tests
7. Real-time Monitoring & Alerting: Evaluate tools with real-time monitoring and alerting capabilities during tests. Real-time data is crucial for diagnosing issues as they happen.
8. Support for Modern Development Practices: Be sure the solution can facilitate continuous performance testing through workflows with CI/CD pipelines 
9. Customer Support & Documentation: Look for providers who deliver reliable customer support and comprehensive documentation that can save time and resources.
10. Implementation & Training Support: The vendor should ideally provide support through the implementation and training phases to ensure swift and smooth adoption

It’s worth mentioning that not every requirement is created equal. Assuming you’ve formed a steering committee that’s responsible for evaluating options, spend some time prioritizing each requirement with classifications like ‘must-have’, ‘need to have’, and ‘nice to have’. Initial alignment makes final decision making much easier once the evaluation of each platform is done. 

Consider Vendor Offerings and Services

As you evaluate platforms, be sure to look beyond the functionality and evaluate the professional services and support offered by tool vendors. If you anticipate needing extra support after the initial implementation and training phases, you may also consider working with a 3rd party that can provide more continuity in the long term.  For example, Perform is a certified implementation & solutions partner for both NeoLoad and OctoPerf.

As a point of reference, here’s a few examples of deliverables from our NeoLoad Quick Start services package. These help ensure that end users can comfortably and effectively use the platform within a matter of weeks (or even days). 

• Web-based Training: Instructions for training and certification.
• Application Deep Dives: Workshops to understand the application under test.
• Sample Test Case Automation: Demonstrations of best practices in test automation.
• Advanced Topics Training: Sessions focused on advanced tool features and usage​​.

Pilot and Evaluate

Once you’ve shortlisted a few tools, conduct a pilot test to evaluate how well they meet your needs. Consider the following during the pilot:

• Setup Time: How quickly can you get up and running?
• Learning Curve: Is it easy for team members to adopt? 
• Performance Insights: What kind of data does the platform provide that you don’t have today? How can it improve decision making?.
• Support Experience: Is your account team responsive and easy to work with?
• Detailed Pilot Plan: Are you following a comprehensive test plan that includes realistic test scenarios and clear success criteria?
• Community & Documentation: Do you have access to useful documentation, forums, or some sort of community for help?

Before we conclude, let’s examine the four key factors that influence overall cost. 

5 Key Cost Considerations

If you purely weigh the cost of a ‘free’ solution like JMeter vs. a commercial framework like NeoLoad or OctoPerf, it’d be a bit shortsighted. Granted, it can be easy to gravitate towards a zero-cost line item for licensing. However, it’s important to place a premium on areas like support, depth of functionality, time to value, and so on. 

If your team won’t be productive for 6 months using a free or cheap tool but can get started  in 2 weeks using a more expensive product - it’s a clear decision. 

• License Costs: What are the limitations of your subscription? Are you purchasing the right ‘package’ for what your business actually needs? Does it account for regular usage volume and peak usage volumes?
• Training & Support: How long will it take to implement and effectively use the solution with vs. without training? Can you start with a smaller training package to start, and then have follow-on enablement later? How many people need to use the platform on a regular basis?
• Infrastructure: Are there any associated infrastructure costs that you’ll need to purchase separately?
• Operational Overhead: How much productivity gain can you expect with each shortlisted solution? If you average out the forecasted time spent on areas like scripting and maintenance, what’s the potential monetary savings from using a solution with more robust features?
• Hidden Costs: What’s the cost to your team of having to manage the implementation and change management process? All things being equal, the platform you can quickly scale is likely the best option 

Need Help Evaluating Solutions?

At Perform, our team of expert consultants has 100+ years in combined performance engineering expertise. Collectively, we’ve used everything from legacy solutions like LoadRunner and Silk Performer - to open source frameworks JMeter and Gatling - all the way to modern frameworks like NeoLoad and OctoPerf. Our team has also supported a wide range of project types that includes enterprise app migrations to native mobile apps (and just about everything in between). If you’re not sure what performance testing platform makes sense for your business, you’re welcome to book a time with one of our performance experts to discuss potential options!