NeoLoad vs. LoadRunner

What’s the difference?

Organizations are increasingly finding that the Micro Focus suite of performance testing tools, that they’ve relied on for years, cannot keep pace with modern software development and testing approaches.

That’s where NeoLoad comes in.

It's hard to even compare.

NeoLoad shines with:

  1. Rapid performance test design
  2. Low-code or no-code approaches
  3. Automated script maintenance
  4. Short learning curve
  5. CI pipeline automated
  6. Native multi-cloud flexibility
  7. Simple integration into traditional and modern tech stacks
  8. Single tool for protocol and browser-based testing

LoadRunner on the other hand:

  1. Slow performance test design
  2. All code all the time
  3. High script maintenance
  4. Long learning curve
  5. Not natively designed for CI
  6. Limited cloud options
  7. Complex to integration into tech stacks

NeoLoad vs LoadRunner: A comparative guide

Performance testing for the modern enterprise

Enterprises that successfully moved from LoadRunner to NeoLoad

Business benefits of better performance testing

Test fast to release fast

Reduce testing cycles from weeks to days, from days to hours. Our drag-and-drop approach avoids time-consuming scripting “by hand.” Automatic updates means no more rewriting scripts every time code changes. Get more done faster with fewer resources.

Background

Make performance a team sport

Open up performance testing to all different teams with different skill sets. A standardized platform that’s both easy for non-experts and has enterprise-grade muscle for the experts, promotes effective and efficient collaboration and scales performance expertise without adding more experts.

Simplify the transition to DevOps

Complexity is the #1 obstacle to “test early and often.” Simplify testing to empower every team to automate continuous performance testing into their go/no-go decisions every time they check in code — when it’s easier and less expensive to fix problems, before they ever see the light of day.

NeoLoad resources

Recommended for you

Background

Rapid test design

  • Simple performance design for complex scripts
  • Automatic script update
  • One-click functional test reuse (from Tricentis Tosca, Selenium, Ranorex, and Worksoft Certify) as performance tests

One-click APM integration

One-click APM integration for bi-directional Dynatrace, AppDynamics, and New Relic data for quick analysis and pass/fail automation

Easy implementation

  • Expert level in three days of training
  • Thousands of certified NeoLoad resources globally
  • Tasks take an hour vs. an entire day

Cloud native

  • Vendor-agnostic to support multi-cloud strategy
  • Native integration with container platforms (i.e., Docker, OpenShift, Kubernetes, EKS, AKS, GKE)
  • Integrates with cloud CI tools (e.g., GitLab, AWS CodeBuild, etc.)

Native CI automation

  • Automate performance tests as code in CI pipelines
  • Prebuilt API integrations with Jenkins and other CI servers/tools
  • Unblocks dynamic, parallel load testing in CI through support for Docker/Kubernetes

SAP testing made simple

  • Simpler test creation, fewer steps
  • Native SAP support certified by SAP
  • Reuse SAP functional test assets Worksoft Certify and Tricentis Tosca

Fast, reliable support

  • Create a ticket and get a response in a few hours from a skilled expert
  • Customer support proactively communicates

Technology openness

  • SDK to build custom protocols and custom plugins
  • Open APIs make it easy to integrate with development and business tools: Splunk, Tableau, Slack, etc.

What's the ROI of switching?

Migrating to NeoLoad is actually less work than sticking with LoadRunner

Tricentis has been migrating some of the world’s most complex application environments from LoadRunner to NeoLoad for 10+ years. Enterprise customers consistently find that switching to NeoLoad is far faster, easier, and higher in business value than they anticipated. Their key takeaways:

  1. Migration is not a technical challenge
    Enterprises who’ve made the switch agree: there is no technical difficulty in migrating. It’s more a cultural misperception about the effort involved.
  2. Everything’s faster in NeoLoad
    Writing scripts in NeoLoad once is no more effort than updating them in LoadRunner once — but then NeoLoad’s automatic maintenance is 60-75% faster than LoadRunner’s manual maintenance.
  3. Proven migration strategy
    Tricentis has developed a time-tested, proven strategy for a painless migration from LoadRunner to NeoLoad. We know what works — and what doesn’t. Our four-point action plan is based on practical experience, not theory.
  4. Migration is a great time to reassess
    Changing tools is a golden opportunity to reassess your approach to performance testing and focus on your most important goals (think: DevOps).
  5. Start realizing ROI in about 3 months
    The average enterprise migration to NeoLoad takes only three months. Most (± 70%) scenarios can be migrated in just a couple of weeks. You start reaping the benefits immediately.