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WebPagetest VS VisualVM

Compare WebPagetest VS VisualVM and see what are their differences

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WebPagetest logo WebPagetest

Run a free website speed test from multiple locations around the globe using real browsers...

VisualVM logo VisualVM

VisualVM is a visual tool integrating several commandline JDK tools and lightweight profiling...
  • WebPagetest Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-05
  • VisualVM Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-18

WebPagetest features and specs

  • Detailed Performance Metrics
    WebPagetest provides extensive performance metrics, including Time to First Byte (TTFB), Speed Index, and First Contentful Paint, allowing for a deep understanding of website performance.
  • Real Browsers
    Tests are conducted using real browsers, which ensures that the results are closely aligned with real user experiences.
  • Geolocation Testing
    Supports testing from various locations worldwide, which is useful for understanding performance in different markets.
  • Advanced Testing Options
    Offers advanced options such as scripting for complex interactions, multi-step transactions, and authenticating users.
  • Free and Open Source
    WebPagetest is free to use and its code is open-source, allowing for community contributions and customizable implementations.
  • Video Capture
    Provides video capture of the loading process, giving a visual representation of loading performance.
  • Waterfall Charts
    Generates detailed waterfall charts that help identify bottlenecks in resource loading.

Possible disadvantages of WebPagetest

  • Complexity for Beginners
    The extensive options and detailed metrics may be overwhelming for beginners who are not familiar with web performance testing.
  • Intermittent Performance
    As a free service, sometimes the performance can be inconsistent due to high demand or limited resources.
  • Dated Interface
    The user interface of the website is somewhat dated and could benefit from modernization to improve user experience.
  • Limited Instant Support
    Lack of immediate support options can be a downside; users often have to rely on forums and community support.
  • Potential for Inconsistent Results
    Results might vary between tests due to variability in internet speed, server conditions, and other external factors.
  • Configuration Overhead
    Advanced testing options require a significant amount of configuration, which can be time-consuming.

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.

Analysis of WebPagetest

Overall verdict

  • Yes, WebPagetest is considered a good tool for evaluating website performance. It is widely used by developers and performance engineers for its accuracy and the depth of information it provides.

Why this product is good

  • WebPagetest is highly regarded for its detailed performance analysis capabilities, offering in-depth insights into page speed and other performance metrics. It allows users to run tests from multiple locations, on various devices and browsers, which is crucial for assessing a website's performance under different conditions. The tool provides a comprehensive waterfall chart and numerous other diagnostic features that help identify performance bottlenecks and potential optimization areas.

Recommended for

    WebPagetest is recommended for web developers, performance engineers, SEO specialists, and anyone interested in optimizing website speed and performance. It is especially useful for those who need detailed insights into page load processes and performance optimization opportunities.

WebPagetest videos

WebPageTest - The State of the Web

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How To Use WebPageTest.org - For Beginners

VisualVM videos

Java Heap Dump Analysis - VisualVM Tutorial

More videos:

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

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to WebPagetest and VisualVM)
Website Monitoring
100 100%
0% 0
Software Development
0 0%
100% 100
Performance Monitoring
100 100%
0% 0
Resource Profiling And Monitoring

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, WebPagetest should be more popular than VisualVM. It has been mentiond 51 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.

WebPagetest mentions (51)

  • A PageSpeed insight report, but for every page in your domain
    Trust neither. The most optimal option I've found is webpagetest.org Its been quite handy lately. This tool does look interesting. Source: about 2 years ago
  • How are you all accurately checking your website load time? Not sure PageSpeedInsights is very helpful.
    Webpagetest.org is another. Pagespeedinsights and lighthouse are great for identifying page load issues to fix, but actual page load times will always vary between the user and your web server. Universal analytics has some page load timings but that's going away soon and nothing afaik is in GA4. I've seen an example of building a page load timer in tag manager and dumping the results into an event. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Extreme confusing over Speed Index results -- webpagetest.org
    So I am working on rebuilding our company's site with a new stack. I am running tests using webpagetest.org, and I am having trouble fully understanding the speed index results as well as the film strip view. The page renders quite fast everywhere I test it. Google Lighthouse shows it in the 90s + for performance score, however when I test the page on webpagetest, I get load times of 77 seconds (NOT MS) which is... Source: about 2 years ago
  • Does anyone else experience pure ecstasy when they get 100 on Lighthouse? 😩
    Webpagetest.org is great, and checking OP's site they have done an incredible job, I don't think I have ever made or seen an Ecom site this slick. Super clean waterfall view. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Performance scores for Google Lighthouse/Insights seem to be very inaccurate
    Thanks for the recommendation regarding webpagetest.org, another user made a similar recommendation so I will check it out. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

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 / almost 4 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 / 6 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: about 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 / about 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

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

GTmetrix - GTmetrix is a free tool that analyzes your page's speed performance. Using PageSpeed and YSlow, GTmetrix generates scores for your pages and offers actionable recommendations on how to fix them.

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.

PageSpeed Insights - PageSpeed is addon for ...

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

Google Lighthouse - Lighthouse is an open-source, automated tool for improving the quality of web pages.

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