IBM Rational Performance Tester vs Visual Studio Test Professional comparison

IBM and Microsoft are both solutions in the Test Management Tools category. IBM is ranked #23, while Microsoft is ranked #5 with an average rating of 8.4. IBM holds a 2.3% mindshare in TMT, compared to Microsoft’s 2.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of IBM users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Microsoft users who would recommend it.

IBM Rational Performance Te...

Read 17 IBM Rational Performance Tester reviews

754 Views
279 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Visual Studio Test Professi...

Read 53 Visual Studio Test Professional reviews

1,306 Views
379 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

IBM Rational Performance Te...

Visual Studio Test Professi...

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 16, 2024

IBM Rational Performance Tester and Visual Studio Test Professional are competitors in the software testing market. Visual Studio Test Professional seems to have the upper hand due to better integration, customer service, and pricing.

Features:IBM Rational Performance Tester offers comprehensive load and performance testing, in-depth analysis tools, and detailed reporting. Visual Studio Test Professional provides robust test planning, tracking, and integrated continuous testing tools, along with superior integration within the Microsoft ecosystem.

Room for Improvement:IBM Rational Performance Tester has a complexity and steep learning curve, lacks an intuitive design, and needs smoother user experience. Visual Studio Test Professional occasionally experiences performance lags, needs enhanced cross-platform support, and requires optimization for faster operations.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service:IBM Rational Performance Tester's deployment is cumbersome and requires extensive support, but its customer service is positively recognized. Visual Studio Test Professional has smoother deployment experiences and benefits from extensive Microsoft support resources.

Pricing and ROI:IBM Rational Performance Tester is relatively expensive with a longer ROI period. Visual Studio Test Professional offers better value for money with quicker ROI and flexible pricing options.

To learn more, read our detailed IBM Rational Performance Tester vs. Visual Studio Test Professional Report (Updated: December 2025).

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational Performance Tester vs. Visual Studio Test Professional

December 2025

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Helped 881,082 peers since 2012

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

IBM Rational Performance Te...

Ranking in Test Management Tools

23rd

Average Rating

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Visual Studio Test Professi...

Ranking in Test Management Tools

5th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Functional Testing Tools (10th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Test Management Tools category, the mindshare of IBM Rational Performance Tester is 2.3%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Visual Studio Test Professional is 2.8%, down from 3.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Test Management Tools Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
Visual Studio Test Professional	2.8%
IBM Rational Performance Tester	2.3%
Other	94.9%

Test Management Tools

Featured Reviews

KashifJamil

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.

Read full review

Payel Saha

Test Automation Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees

Integrated collaboration with automated test management has improved our agile workflows and continuously supports quality reporting

Visual Studio Test Professional could be improved as earlier we had flexibility in automation testing with TFS, which became a bit difficult moving to Azure DevOps. Additionally, in Visual Studio Code, we have an agent mode for GitHub Copilot, which is very helpful in testing or development phases, while Visual Studio's GitHub Copilot is a bit tricky and sometimes does not provide my desired output.For future improvements, I would like to see prompt fixing, as currently, if something goes wrong in Visual Studio, the fixing options are not always correct. If that intelligence is embedded, it would be very helpful.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Technical support is very good. I'm very satisfied with the assistance we've received so far."

"It can support both web applications and mobile applications, and in certain cases, it can also support testing of desktop applications or software-based applications. You can write web applications, mobile applications, and software-based applications."

"The solution is very useful for compiling existing projects and developing new projects."

"Visual Studio Test Professional's most valuable feature is the rich IDE for doing code and test development."

"Visual Studio is the easiest to use."

"The tool is flexible and easy to manage. We use it since it is scalable and easy to use. It integrates with solutions."

"It is a good and user-friendly tool."

"The setup is easy and straightforward."

"It is very easy to use. You can handle a lot of things together at once in one package, which is a good point for us."

"You can easily write code, test, and deploy within the same environment. It is a mature tool. It regularly receives new updates and versions. In my opinion, it's one of the best products by Microsoft for developers."

More Visual Studio Test Professional pros

Cons

"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."

"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."

"Enhancing the support for web application testing and load performance would be an improvement."

"One of the problems with this solution is you need to be highly technically skilled to operate it, it is not for everyone."

"Visual Studio Test Professional is a little pricey."

"Visual Studio Test Professional should include more automation."

"The data flow can be improved."

"The solution's documentation could be improved because it keeps disappearing from the solution."

"Sometimes Visual Studio is slow. It uses a lot of resources like memory and processing power. You should optimize the performance by only installing what you need on your machine. Don't install unnecessary things that will slow your machine."

"The tool crashes and has high memory consumption."

More Visual Studio Test Professional cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"Visual Studio Test Professional is not an expensive solution."

"The tool is affordable."

"I think that the pricing is quite good."

"We have licensing for Visual Studio Community edition."

"There is a paid version of the solution as well as a community version that is free."

"Our company pays a yearly licensing fee for Visual Studio Test Professional."

"We pay a yearly licensing fee for Visual Studio Test Professional, which is expensive."

"Users have to pay a licensing fee for Visual Studio Test Professional."

More Visual Studio Test Professional pricing and cost advice

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881,082 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

23%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

Real Estate/Law Firm

Manufacturing Company

15%

Performing Arts

13%

Financial Services Firm

Outsourcing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	6
Large Enterprise	8

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	15
Midsize Enterprise	14
Large Enterprise	24

Questions from the Community

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What do you like most about Visual Studio Test Professional?

The most valuable features of the solution are its ease of use and availability.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Visual Studio Test Professional?

The tool is free, resulting in no costs associated with its use. The absence of price makes it cost-effective.

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What needs improvement with Visual Studio Test Professional?

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Comparisons

Apache JMeter vs IBM Rational Performance Tester

Compared 26% of the time

OpenText Professional Performance Engineering (LoadRunner Professional) vs IBM Rational Performance Tester

Compared 22% of the time

Tricentis NeoLoad vs IBM Rational Performance Tester

Compared 13% of the time

TestRail vs IBM Rational Performance Tester

Compared 9% of the time

SpecFlow vs IBM Rational Performance Tester

Compared 8% of the time

More IBM Rational Performance Tester Competitors

Tricentis Tosca vs Visual Studio Test Professional

Compared 11% of the time

Apache JMeter vs Visual Studio Test Professional

Compared 9% of the time

SmartBear TestComplete vs Visual Studio Test Professional

Compared 8% of the time

Tricentis qTest vs Visual Studio Test Professional

Compared 8% of the time

Katalon Studio vs Visual Studio Test Professional

Compared 6% of the time

More Visual Studio Test Professional Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational Performance Tester

January 2026

Download IBM Rational Performance Tester product report

Buyer's Guide

Visual Studio Test Professional

January 2026

Download Visual Studio Test Professional product report

Also Known As

Rational Performance Tester

No data available

Overview

IBM Rational Performance Tester is a performance testing solution that validates the scalability of web and server applications. Rational Performance Tester identifies the presence and cause of system performance bottlenecks and reduces load testing complexity.

IBM

Visual Studio Professional Edition provides an IDE for all supported development languages. As of Visual Studio 2010, the Standard edition was dropped. MSDN support is available as MSDN Essentials or the full MSDN library depending on licensing. It supports XML and XSLT editing, and can create deployment packages that only use ClickOnce and MSI. It includes tools like Server Explorer and integration with Microsoft SQL Server also. Windows Mobile development support was included in Visual Studio 2005 Standard, however, with Visual Studio 2008, it is only available in Professional and higher editions. Windows Phone 7 development support was added to all editions in Visual Studio 2010. Development for Windows Mobile is no longer supported in Visual Studio 2010; it is superseded by Windows Phone 7.

Microsoft

Sample Customers

andagon, Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon

Transport for Greater Manchester, Ordina, Bluegarden A/S, CLEAResult, Jet.com, OSIsoft, Australian Taxation Office, BookedOut, Tracasa

Buyer's Guide

IBM Rational Performance Tester vs. Visual Studio Test Professional

December 2025

Free Report: IBM Rational Performance Tester vs. Visual Studio Test Professional

Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Rational Performance Tester vs. Visual Studio Test Professional and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.

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