Four years ago, I wrote about how LoadRunner Cloud was debunking the myth that open-source is cheaper. At the time, LoadRunner Cloud’s pay-as-you-go pricing, bundled infrastructure, and rapid setup were already making it a compelling alternative to JMeter and similar tools.
Fast forward to 2025, and the core truth remains: people are the real cost, not tools.
One of the best things about LoadRunner Cloud is that you don’t have to be an expert in the tool. This lowers the barrier to entry, allowing more people to execute performance tests.
In this follow-up, I’ll explore what’s changed in the last four years, what hasn’t, and why LoadRunner is still the best choice for organisations that value time, efficiency, and results.
LoadRunner Cloud is Cheaper Than You Think
Let’s address the biggest misconception up front: LoadRunner Cloud is far more affordable than most people realise, especially when you factor in the ability to run your existing JMeter or Gatling scripts.
Many are surprised to discover just how cost-effective it can be compared with the hidden costs of open-source solutions.
LoadRunner Cloud offers subscription options, as well as pay-as-you-go options. With pay-as-you-go, there’s no need for upfront investment or ongoing maintenance: the pricing is based on Virtual User Hours (VUHs), so when you’re not testing, you’re not paying.
Everything you need is included in the cost: controller, detailed reporting, and fully managed, cloud-based infrastructure. You simply select the number of load generators and the regions you want, and you’re ready to go.
An Example Of LoadRunner Cloud’s Cost-Effective Pricing
To put this into perspective, running four one-hour tests with JMeter or Gatling Scripts (with LoadRunner Cloud) and 500 Vusers costs just £250. Increase the duration to four hours, and it’s still only £1,000. Even scaling up to 1,000 users for two one-hour tests only comes to £250.
Here are the examples broken down into purely numerical values:
- 500 Vusers x 4 tests x 1 hour = £250
- 500 Vusers x 4 tests x 4 hour = £1000
- 1000 Vusers x 2 tests x 1 hour = £250
You just provide the JMeter or Gatling scripts, define your scenario, and select the load generators you want to use. There’s no additional setup, fees, or configuration needed.
How much time, effort, and hassle would that cost with an open-source tool?
Like I say, most people are shocked when they realise how little it costs. Additionally, if you plan to conduct more testing or for higher volumes, the price per VUH decreases rapidly, making high-volume or frequent testing even more cost-effective.
The Evolving Landscape: More Tools, More Complexity
Over the past four years, the testing ecosystem has exploded. Open-source tools like JMeter, Gatling, and k6 have undoubtedly matured. Cloud-based testing is increasingly prominent. DevOps and CI/CD pipelines demand faster, more integrated testing cycles.
With technological progress comes developmental complexity.
Teams are managing more environments, more protocols, and ever-tighter deadlines. The need for tools that reduce, not add to, your workload has never been greater.
During that period, LoadRunner Cloud was acquired and renamed: OpenText Core Performance Engineering. For simplicity and easier comparison with 2021, I am using the familiar old LoadRunner name in this article.
Open Source: Still Not as Free as It Looks
The original article highlighted the hidden costs of open-source testing: infrastructure, setup time, maintenance, and reporting. In 2025, these costs have only grown.
Open-source tools now require even more scripting expertise, cloud orchestration skills, and manual effort to keep up with evolving application architectures.
Key challenges with open-source tools
- Infrastructure Overhead: You still need to provision, secure, and maintain your own cloud or on-premises load generators.
- Setup and Maintenance: Integrating open-source tools into modern CI/CD pipelines is possible, but rarely seamless.
- Scripting and script maintenance: often complex and requiring coding skills. LoadRunner offers no-code or low-code options, whilst also having a coded option for the experienced performance tester.
- Reporting: While some progress has been made, deep-dive analytics and real-time dashboards still lag behind LoadRunner.
- People Costs: Skilled engineers are in short supply and are expensive. With LoadRunner, you can achieve more with fewer people, which translates into savings on people
LoadRunner: Evolving to Meet Modern Demands
The LoadRunner suite has not stood still, with all variants seeing significant enhancements:
- Seamless Cloud Integration: LoadRunner Cloud now offers even more flexible, on-demand infrastructure, with expanded global coverage and instant scalability.
- Protocol Breadth: LoadRunner continues to support the broadest range of protocols, from legacy systems to the latest web and mobile technologies.
- DevOps Ready: Native integrations with CI/CD tools, version control, and automated pipelines make LoadRunner a first-class citizen in modern development workflows.
People often underestimate the significant investment and development that occur with the OpenText toolset. To get an idea of the changes to LoadRunner Cloud over the last few years, check out LoadRunner Cloud section of OpenText’s excellent ADM Help Centre.
Script Reuse: Maximising Your Existing Open-Source Investments
A standout feature across the LoadRunner suite is its ability to natively run JMeter and Gatling scripts, right alongside traditional LoadRunner protocols. For many organisations, this is a game-changer.
Over the years, teams have invested significant time and expertise in developing open-source scripts, often building a valuable library of test assets tailored to their unique applications and business needs.
With LoadRunner, there’s no need to leave those investments behind.
Your existing open-source scripts can be executed as part of broader LoadRunner performance testing scenarios. This integration enables teams to continue leveraging their previous scripting investment, alongside LoadRunner’s advanced analytics, unified reporting, and robust infrastructure.
Importantly, LoadRunner Cloud offers this capability at even lower rates than standard web testing.
The result is a seamless transition for organisations looking to move to LoadRunner or adopt a hybrid approach—continue to use your investment in open-source scripts until you are ready to replace or retire them. Combine open-source scripts with the power and support of the leading enterprise tool.
The Bottom Line: People Are Still the Real Cost
The most significant shift in the last four years? The value and cost of people’s time have only increased. Skilled performance engineers are in high demand, and every hour spent wrestling with infrastructure, writing and maintaining scripts, or manually analysing test results is an hour not spent delivering value.
In 2025, performance testing is more critical—and more complex—than ever.
The real-world costs of setting up, maintaining, and relying on open-source tools, as well as the need for expensive, skilled performance engineers, make them less free than they seem.
LoadRunner Cloud continues to lead the way:
- Best-in-class functionality and protocol support
- Rapid setup and minimal maintenance
- Powerful analytics and reporting
- Flexible, subscription and pay-as-you-go pricing that scales with your needs
- Enterprise-grade support
If your goal is to deliver reliable, high-performing applications while minimising effort, time, and total cost, LoadRunner remains the smartest investment you can make.
Ready to see how much you could save?
Contact Calleo today for a demo and discover why LoadRunner is the performance test tool others are chasing.
