When you think LoadRunner, you think expensive. It’s a knee-jerk reaction. You’re used to buying bundles of virtual users and paying a lot for them. Conversely, when you think of open-source tools like Jmeter, you think free.
But is this true?
Open Source Costs More Than You Expect
In reality, open-source performance testing is far from free, and LoadRunner prices are cheaper than you think. Plus, with LoadRunner Cloud your performance infrastructure is included at no extra cost. This makes LoadRunner Cloud cheaper than testing with ‘free’ open-source tools like Jmeter.
What about Paid Open-Source Solutions?
Of course, there are also paid open-source solutions, BlazeMeter in particular. BlazeMeter has a similar license model to LoadRunner Cloud but it lacks the deep protocol support and reporting. Blazemeter actually comes out more expensive, when you factor in realistic protocols and volumes. I’m going to cover BlazeMeter specifically in an upcoming article.
You can Save Money and Time With LoadRunner Cloud
With LoadRunner Cloud’s on-demand service you only pay for the testing you perform. Gone are the days of huge upfront investment and ongoing maintenance, or of virtual users sitting unused.
True, there’s no license cost with open-source, but there are a host of other incurred costs with open-source. Costs that you avoid when using LoadRunner Cloud. Your biggest savings are:
- Performance testing infrastructure, which is included in the cost of your virtual users.
- Set up time/cost – LRC Performance test set-up takes minutes. JMeter can take hours
- Reporting time/cost – LRC Analysis is done in minutes. JMeter can take hours/days
When considered together, on-demand virtual users and inclusive infrastructure can make LoadRunner Cloud a lot cheaper than open-source tools.
You Pay for Virtual Users by the Hour
With LoadRunner Cloud you pay for virtual users by the hour, or ‘Virtual User Hours’ (VUHs). This means that when you’re not testing, you’re not paying anything. With LoadRunner Cloud on-demand, there’s no upfront license payment or annual maintenance. You just pay for your VUHs when you’re running a test.
VUHs are incredibly cheap
Prices for web testing start at 20.3p for 1 VUH. The more VUHs, the cheaper the unit cost, coming down below 10p per VUH quickly. But 20.3p is a fantastic starting price:
Web Protocol Price Examples:
- Running 4 x 1-hour tests with 500-users will only cost you £407! (20.3p per VUH)
- Run that test 50 times, say one a week, will only cost you £3,622!! (14.5p per VUH)
- Running 100 x 1-hour tests with 1,000-users will only cost you £11,559! (11.6p per VUH)
The Pricing Model Adapts as You Grow.
LoadRunner Cloud is also available on a Vuser basis – rather than buying VUH’s, you instead buy a given number of Vusers that you can use whenever you like. You can even use a hybrid model where you top up your Vusers with Virtual User Hours.
Already Invested in Jmeter or Gatling scripts?
No problem, LoadRunner Cloud can run these, and the even better news is that it’s even cheaper than web testing. For example, for Jmeter and Gatling scripts you’d use the developer protocol:
Developer Protocol Price Examples:
- Running 4 x 1-hour tests with 500-users will only cost you £212! (10.6p per VUH)
- Run that test 50 times, say one a week, will only cost you £1,958!! (7.8p per VUH)
- Running 100 x 1-hour tests with 1,000-users will only cost you £6,457! (6.5 per VUH)
You Have Zero Performance Testing Infrastructure Costs
With LoadRunner Cloud, you get a cloud-based performance infrastructure created on-demand at no extra cost. This includes the following, with your Vusers:
- Free – Geographically dispersed load injectors – from 30 different locations across the globe
- Free – Network Virtualization to mimic real world network conditions – no one else has this
- Free – The most sophisticated performance testing controllers
- Extensive inflight reporting to enable you to find problems as they happen and get support teams involved
- Free – Extensive reporting capabilities including predictive analytics
Remember, this is all included at no extra cost. All you pay for, is VUHs.
Take Our Previous Example – for only £407 you get:
- All your virtual users
- All of your infrastructure
- Class-leading controllers
- In-depth analysis
- Informative reports
How much would all that cost you with open-source tools?
The cost of LoadRunner Cloud is so small that most companies can pay for performance testing on credit card, without even consulting procurement.
How can LoadRunner Cloud be cheaper, When Open-Source Tools Are Free?
LoadRunner Cloud is cheaper than you think, especially when you factor in the infrastructure and controller costs. You can also simulate real-world network conditions at no extra cost.
However, People are always the real cost on projects. LoadRunner Cloud saves you time, this more than outweighs the relatively small license cost.
Are You Serious About Performance Testing?
If you are serious about Performance Testing or Engineering, then it is worth investing in simple, smart and scalable tools.
LoadRunner Cloud will save you time, effort, and cost.
Arrange a demo today – and find out how much you can save with LoadRunner Cloud
