STATIC COMPARISON / TIER B
Locust vs LoadRunner Professional
Answer Locust is an open source, self-hosted load testing tool from Locust authors, scripted in Python. LoadRunner Professional is a commercial, self-hosted enterprise performance suite from OpenText, scripted in C, JavaScript, C#. The practical split is the cost model: Locust is open source, LoadRunner Professional is commercial.
Curator verdict
Both cover HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket. On recorded coverage LoadRunner Professional is the wider of the two (6 protocols against 3), which matters only if your workload actually uses the extra ones. Budget and procurement usually settle Locust against LoadRunner Professional before any benchmark does. Run the same scenario on both before you standardize; the rows below only tell you what is true on paper.
Spec matrix
| Field | Locust | LoadRunner Professional |
|---|---|---|
| Vendor | Locust authors | OpenText |
| Category | Load Testing | Enterprise Suite |
| License | Open Source | Commercial |
| Deployment | Self-hosted | Self-hosted |
| Status | Active | Active |
| First released | 2011 | 1993 |
| Pricing | Free; MIT License. | Commercial license; request a quote. |
| Scripting | Python | C, JavaScript, C# |
| Protocols | HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket | HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket, SAP, Citrix, Oracle |
| OS support | Windows, macOS, Linux | Windows, Linux |
How to choose
- Choose Locust if you need a free, self-supported stack (Free; MIT License).
- Choose LoadRunner Professional if you can fund a commercial license for vendor support (Commercial license; request a quote).
- Only LoadRunner Professional records support for SAP, Citrix, Oracle — one hard requirement there decides the pair on its own.
- Match the authoring language to the team: Locust means Python, LoadRunner Professional means C, JavaScript, C#.
- Open the Test Rig to compare license, deployment, protocol and OS rows side by side.
Need more than two tools or a shareable matrix? Use the live Test Rig from the directory compare tray.
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