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Broadcom Agile Requirements Designer vs IBM Rational Performance Tester comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 3, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Broadcom Agile Requirements...
Ranking in Test Management Tools
8th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
6.2
Number of Reviews
21
Ranking in other categories
Application Requirements Management (6th), Test Design Automation (3rd)
IBM Rational Performance Te...
Ranking in Test Management Tools
15th
Average Rating
7.6
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the Test Management Tools category, the mindshare of Broadcom Agile Requirements Designer is 3.3%, up from 3.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Rational Performance Tester is 3.5%, up from 1.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Test Management Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Broadcom Agile Requirements Designer3.3%
IBM Rational Performance Tester3.5%
Other93.2%
Test Management Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Hosney Osman - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Solution Architect at Vodafone
Integration capabilities enhance testing and workflow automation
I rate Broadcom Agile Requirements Designer as 8 out of 10. It will be very nice if Broadcom has questions or comments related to my review and can reach me via email to clarify something. I want to be a reference for Broadcom. I don't have any information regarding the visual modeling function specifically. I'm not dealing with modeling requirements or generating optimized test cases in Broadcom Agile Requirements Designer. Broadcom takes a lot of information from us as end-users, and they provide fixes within two to five days maximum. My team has raised many enhancement requests and discussed them with Broadcom, and they are adding some of these features to the product itself. I look forward to receiving an email regarding these reviews, and I can add anything later if I forgot something, earning some points for this contribution on the website.
KashifJamil - PeerSpot reviewer
CEO at Xcelliti
Supports web and mobile applications, very scalable, very stable, and wonderful support
There are some features that Micro Focus LoadRunner provides, but they are not available in IBM Rational Performance Tester. They should include such features. It can also have more reports similar to what HP provides. It might also need some improvement in terms of the tools and support for other technology areas. Certain technologies are not supported by every tool. They need to support all sorts of technologies and platforms on which web applications and mobile applications are built. They need complete support for all sorts of technologies.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"This solution saves a lot of time in the software testing cycle because, with Broadcom Agile Requirements Designer specifically, I am doing a flowchart, and I can extract test cases and use cases to be run and tested on ALM as an integration."
"I did extensive research in this area and at the moment CA Agile Requirements Designer is probably one of the best tools in the market."
"Defects can be traced in the solution."
"In terms of meeting business challenges, it helped to shorten the dev/testing cycle by identifying requirements gaps early in the process, by having models shared within the development team, and it helped increase test coverage and reduce the number of issues experienced by clients/customers."
"None came near to this solution."
"I like the way Broadcom ARD inserts test cases in execution mode. Also, ARD can be used apart from Broadcom TDM. It's an add-on through which you supply data through ARD test cases when there is a need for extra data."
"It gives us an idea of creating the visual diagrams, which are quite easy to use. It is helpful in creating our business processes."
"By using ARD it allowed junior developers to write code because they had all of the requirements in the business flow."
"It's definitely helped in scaling the performance of our application."
"Customization and extensions made in Java is valuable because this can help you set elements to improve your results."
"Once you are used to this tool, it is user friendly and provides very good analysis for web applications."
"It's one of the most cost-effective products on the market."
"With each new version, the tool gets better and better features."
"I strongly recommend this solution to others."
"Real time view and its inbuilt root cause analysis tools is something which I like the most."
"The setup was straightforward, it depends on the company's regulations and infrastructure policies."
 

Cons

"They do not have an engine to house test scripts to really pull together the testing pieces of it."
"I was involved in the installation, which wasn’t so complex. Educating people is more of the problem."
"At present, there is no option for test data parameters from ARD for virtual databases. We have to create them in TDM and push them as well. Virtual database connectivity needs to be improved. They need to come up with some areas where they can create synthetic data parameters easily from the test cases that have been designed."
"Everything but the licensing was straightforward. The licensing is extremely complex."
"It could be quicker to use. Because we do so many things with it, sometimes it takes a long time to create a flow."
"A template in App Test should be created in advance. This has proven to be time consuming. The process is not fully automated, because there is a lot of manual intervention is required."
"CA ARD doesn't provide integration with Tosca. The possibility of creating a test case and exporting it into Tosca is not available. Integration with end-to-end automation tools, like Worksoft or Tosca, is not provided by CA ARD as of now."
"I think it's already coming, but it needs more automation aspects. There is a tab for Automation, but I think it's not robust. I think that it's going to be a crucial element of the tool."
"For a rational performance testing solution, the initial setup is very complex. The setup was difficult and the documentation was not very up to date."
"The HP tool is overall a little better but much more expensive."
"Sometimes new versions have bugs."
"There are some features that Micro Focus LoadRunner provides, but they are not available in IBM Rational Performance Tester. They should include such features. It can also have more reports similar to what HP provides. It might also need some improvement in terms of the tools and support for other technology areas. Certain technologies are not supported by every tool. They need to support all sorts of technologies and platforms on which web applications and mobile applications are built. They need complete support for all sorts of technologies."
"The solution is not easily scalable. If you want to extend the solution, you need to purchase a different kind of license. You also have to work with the IBM team to assist in scaling."
"The installation and tool setup can take some time, since this involves several components."
"We had open many PMRs for problems found in the products, and I'm not sure if all of them have been fixed."
"The tool has lots of limitations."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"This tool reduces the cost associated with test cases, automation script generation, and maintenance costs."
"It is less costly when compared to other tools on the market."
"We were able to scale down some resources to basically self-fund our ability to purchase the tool."
"The pricing model is based on how many people are using it. We have an annual license. There are not any additional costs."
"​The cost of the tool was well worth the benefit that we saw on the back-end."
"Recommendation is to go with concurrent licenses as oppose to seat license; this gives more flexibility."
"At present, Broadcom works through partners rather than dealing directly with the consumer. When there are discounts given, it's up to the partner as to whether they want to give that discount to the customer. Sometimes, the partners decide to take the discount themselves. Pricewise, I would give ARD's price a rating of three out of five."
"It is much cheaper than Micro Focus LoadRunner. We need perpetual licenses. Support is included in the first sale. After that, you need to renew support every year."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
18%
Construction Company
13%
Transportation Company
7%
Computer Software Company
6%
Construction Company
16%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Outsourcing Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Large Enterprise21
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise8
 

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Broadcom Agile Requirements Designer?
It's not affordable; it's very expensive. It would be suitable only for large customers, and a large customer will think twice before making a deal with Broadcom.
What needs improvement with Broadcom Agile Requirements Designer?
Integration with AI is an area that needs to be improved quickly. To be clear, this relates to how to use AI to improve use cases, break down applications, and review designs, as this area needs to...
What is your primary use case for Broadcom Agile Requirements Designer?
This solution saves a lot of time in the software testing cycle because, with Broadcom Agile Requirements Designer specifically, I am doing a flowchart, and I can extract test cases and use cases t...
Ask a question
Earn 20 points
 

Also Known As

Grid Tools Agile Designer, CA ARD, CA Agile Requirements Designer
Rational Performance Tester
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Williams, Rabobank
andagon, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon
Find out what your peers are saying about Broadcom Agile Requirements Designer vs. IBM Rational Performance Tester and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.