Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

VisualVM VS Yourkit

Compare VisualVM VS Yourkit and see what are their differences

VisualVM logo VisualVM

VisualVM is a visual tool integrating several commandline JDK tools and lightweight profiling...

Yourkit logo Yourkit

Java and .NET profilers. Continuous performance monitoring.
  • VisualVM Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-18
  • Yourkit Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-08

CPU and memory Java profiling has never been easier, and smarter at the same time. YourKit has developed a revolutionary way to profile Java applications at both development and production stages, bringing unparalleled benefits to Java developers.

VisualVM features and specs

  • Comprehensive Monitoring
    VisualVM allows developers to monitor and troubleshoot Java applications through various data points like JVM-level statistics, thread monitoring, and memory inspection.
  • Integration with JDK
    As a part of the JDK, VisualVM is easy to access and use without the need for additional installations or configurations.
  • Lightweight
    Being lightweight, VisualVM does not add significant overhead to the system and can be used effectively in development without impacting performance.
  • User-friendly Interface
    VisualVM provides an intuitive and graphical interface that makes it easier for users to analyze the performance metrics and diagnose issues.
  • Plugin Support
    VisualVM supports plugins, allowing users to extend its functionalities according to specific requirements and use cases.
  • Cross-platform
    As a Java-based tool, VisualVM can be run on any platform that supports Java, making it highly versatile.

Possible disadvantages of VisualVM

  • Limited to Java Applications
    VisualVM can only be used with Java applications, which can be a limitation for mixed-environment monitoring needs.
  • Limited Features for Enterprise
    While excellent for basic monitoring, VisualVM might lack some features and scalability needed for large enterprise-grade monitoring and performance analysis.
  • Steep Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    Despite its user-friendly interface, some advanced features and customizations can be complex and may require a steep learning curve.
  • Infrequent Updates
    The update cycle for VisualVM can be slower compared to commercial alternatives, leading to potential lag in addressing bugs or adding new features.
  • Resource Usage
    Running VisualVM for in-depth analysis on the same machine as the application it monitors could potentially affect the application’s performance due to resource consumption.

Yourkit features and specs

  • Comprehensive Profiling
    YourKit offers a wide range of profiling features including CPU, memory, threads, and more, which help developers identify performance bottlenecks and optimize applications effectively.
  • Ease of Use
    The tool provides an intuitive interface and powerful features that are easy to navigate, making it accessible even for developers who are not experts in profiling.
  • Integration
    YourKit integrates well with various IDEs and build tools, enhancing the workflow for developers by bringing profiling capabilities directly into their existing development environments.
  • Low Overhead
    The profiler is designed to minimize the performance impact on the applications it profiles, allowing for more accurate results without significantly affecting application behavior.
  • Detailed Analysis
    It provides detailed analysis and visualization of performance data, helping users understand complex profiling information through easy-to-read reports and graphs.

Possible disadvantages of Yourkit

  • Cost
    YourKit is a commercial product with licensing costs which can be a disadvantage for small teams or individual developers with limited budgets.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its intuitive interface, some features may require a learning curve for new users, especially those unfamiliar with performance profiling concepts.
  • Limited Community Support
    Unlike some open-source profiling tools, YourKit lacks a large community base for support, which might limit the availability of community-driven resources and forums.
  • Resource Usage
    While designed to be efficient, profiling complex applications with YourKit can still demand significant system resources, potentially limiting its use on resource-constrained environments.
  • Complex Setup
    In certain environments, particularly where specific application servers or configurations are involved, setting up YourKit might be more complex and time-consuming.

VisualVM videos

Java Heap Dump Analysis - VisualVM Tutorial

More videos:

  • Tutorial - OutOfMemoryError Java Heap Space Fix - Heap Dump Analysis VisualVM Tutorial

Yourkit videos

No Yourkit videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to VisualVM and Yourkit)
Software Development
83 83%
17% 17
IDE
69 69%
31% 31
Resource Profiling And Monitoring
Text Editors
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using VisualVM and Yourkit. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, VisualVM seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 23 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

VisualVM mentions (23)

  • Streaming data from RDBMS with jooq
    For the purposes of this demo, let’s simply count the number of retrieved rows. The Thread.sleep() is included to give me time to open VisualVM and check the metrics:. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • How to Monitor SQL Performance in Spring Boot
    To track query-level metrics, check out the Hibernate Statistics section. Profiling tools like YourKit or VisualVM can help you analyze key metrics such as:. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Can java collection be fixed?
    If you're curious, attach VisualVM and watch the RAM usage graph. You'll notice that Java performs garbage collections long before reaching allocating the maximum amount of RAM allocated, and you can't even feel any performance issue in-game. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Items won't drop when either mined or dropped from inventory and new chunks won't load.
    Hangs and deadlocks are significantly harder to debug. A first step is taking a thread dump so you can see what each thread in the JVM is currently trying to do. I like VisualVM for this, you can also use the command-line tools jps -l (to list all Java PIDs) and jstack for taking a thread dump. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Top metrics for Elasticsearch monitoring with Prometheus
    The Java VisualVM project is an advanced dashboard for Memory and CPU monitoring. It features advanced resource visualization, as well as process and thread utilization. - Source: dev.to / almost 2 years ago
View more

Yourkit mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Yourkit yet. Tracking of Yourkit recommendations started around Mar 2021.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing VisualVM and Yourkit, you can also consider the following products

Eclipse Memory Analyzer - The Eclipse Foundation - home to a global community, the Eclipse IDE, Jakarta EE and over 350 open source projects, including runtimes, tools and frameworks.

UltraEdit - UltraCompare is the name of an advanced level of file and folder comparison platform that is loaded with an advanced level of features and functions.

Robot Console - Robot Console is a Message and Event Monitoring Software for IBM i thathas automatic message management, resource monitoring, and log monitoring.

Sublime Text - Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, html and prose - any kind of text file. You'll love the slick user interface and extraordinary features. Fully customizable with macros, and syntax highlighting for most major languages.

JConsole - Provides information about performance and resource consumption for Java applications.

Eclipse IoT - Eclipse IoT provides the technology needed to build IoT Devices, Gateways, and Cloud Platforms.