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java tools performance monitoring

10 Java Performance Monitor Tools for 2024

Estimated read time: 8 minutes
Aran Davies

Aran Davies

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Are you concerned about performance issues and need Java performance monitor tools to help?

You’ve come to the right place.

Efficient long-term high application performance is the holy grail for all mobile and web application developers. Performance problems quickly start to creep in as soon as users start to use the app. Everything from garbage collection and excessive memory usage to poorly chosen application servers can result in bottlenecks and poor app response times.

Since developers have to build applications for a variety of operating systems and a multitude of different hardware specs, optimization is hard as building a complex app will result in performance issues with slower CPU hardware, etc.

As a result, project developers must test the app for performance bottlenecks when in its various QA and production environments, and also undertake regular performance monitoring of the application post-release.

In order to do this, developers need trustworthy performance metrics from application performance monitoring tools.

In this list below, we have included our top 10 java performance monitoring tools.

10 Java Performance Monitor Tools for 2024

These include all the essential real-time metrics that any performance analyzer needs to identify any performance issues and give a clear picture of what their root cause might be.

JProfiler 

JProfiler is a Java profiler tool. Java Virtual Machine (JVM) profiles collect and make available huge amounts of data that can be used to thoroughly monitor memory consumption, etc. Java Profiling Tools provide developers with all the tools they need for application performance management.

These are ideal for optimizing memory and CPU consumption, use as a garbage collector, monitoring page load speeds, etc. The only drawback is that these monitoring solutions require a constant connection to the Java Virtual Machine which makes them unsuitable in post-launch environments.

JProfiler offers an intuitive user experience with all the JVM metrics you will need. It is easy to use, offers an extensive analysis of memory leaks, has extensive QA capabilities, and has a low overhead as it only records data when you need it to.

Java VisualVM 

Java VisualVM is included in the Java Performance Kit and supports local and remote real-time profiling as well as java performance monitoring of memory usage and app runtime behavior.

Developers can monitor application threads and thread dumps, and analyze memory allocation. Java VisualVM also offers help with plugin functionality development.

Added to this, VisualVM is completely free and is highly popular with developers. This means that most Java developers should be familiar with it, and so be able to pick up and run with it, should your startup or organization require it. 

YourKit

YourKit has a software release for all the main operating systems including Windows, Linux, macOS, Solaris, etc. As it is another free-to-use Java application performance tool it can be quickly installed and set loose on whatever Java application stack you are developing. 

This Java monitoring tool allows developers to monitor memory usage and leaks, visualize threads, deal with heap dumps, etc. It provides detailed readouts that allow developers to quickly pinpoint any discrepancies so that they can undertake troubleshooting to fix them. 

The price paid for such detailed data of CPU and memory usage is that, like JProfiler, YourKit requires a constant connection to Java virtual machines and is very heavy on system resources. 

Oracle Java Mission Control

JDK Mission Control is an open-source tool suite for the Java virtual machine. It works alongside Java Flight Recorder as a tool to collect and collate application runtime information. It is able to gather low-level information regarding application behavior either in a local or runtime environment.

JDK Mission control allows developers to analyze this behavior in detail via real-time Java monitoring tools for a variety of key indicators. With the addition of the flight recorder, developers are able to undertake profiling and diagnostics from the events coming back.  

Java Mission Control is focused on low overhead in order to not impact the application as it is being run. This minimal impact on running applications is one of the much-loved features of this software.

Stagemonitor

Stagemonitor, unlike JDK Mission Control, YouKit, and JProfiler, most of the metrics Stagemonitor collects are not available via JMX. Since it was built with clustered applications in mind, Stagemonitor is able to monitor numerous applications that are running on different servers.

It includes a very intuitive dashboard from which users can monitor both historic or live data from the cluster or from the server, depending on their needs. The dashboard can even be customized to fit the developer’s preferences. 

It offers distributed tracing that enables users to analyze and debug code-level latency problems in a microservice environment by correlating related requests. It is a good lightweight performance monitoring tool.

Glowroot

Glowroot is an open-source Java APM and as such is completely free. It is designed to be very easy to use and to have a low overhead that is claimed to be in microseconds. It enables both historical (1m, 5m, 30m, 4h) and real-time data analysis for trace capture of slow requests and errors, log time trace, and SQL capture.

Other performance metrics include continuous profiling with customizable filtering, response time percentile charts, service call capture, and aggregation, MBean attribute capture and charts, and configurable alerting.

It has been tested on a number of the most popular servers including Tomcat, TomEE, and Wildly. Finally, Glowroot allows users to monitor their applications from both their desktops and via their mobile devices. This is an excellent free Java performance monitor app.

Eclipse MAT

The Eclipse Memory Analyzer (MAT) is a powerful Java performance monitoring tool that allows developers to precisely monitor memory usage, identify memory leaks, and troubleshoot of OutOfMemoryError.

It allows programmers to optimize the configuration of their apps to best reduce memory consumption. Another useful feature is that it will analyze productive heap dumps in order to provide data on the relative sizes of retained objects.   

Prefix

Prefix has proudly noted that its handy Java performance monitor is used by over 20,000 developers in more than 140 countries. One drawback to the application that is preventing it from being used by many more is that it is not available on macOS.

It was created for use in large-scale distributed systems to give developers the performance data that will allow them to optimize their applications for the best performance across such networks.

It has a user-friendly dashboard that allows developers to monitor active threads in real time. Metrics include CPU usage, memory use, garbage collection, and JVM arguments.

XRebel

XRebel is a comprehensive Java performance monitoring application for professionals. The major drawback is that it costs a whopping $365 a year, which unless you are a full-time development company is likely to be enough to put you off considering there are lots of viable alternatives out there for a fraction of the price.

However, price aside, XRebel is a powerful tool that provides real-time performance insights that allow developers to quickly identify and resolve performance issues before they become a problem.

Its exceptional user interface provides full transaction diagnostics regarding application function. Tools include root cause diagnostics and the ability to trace individual transactions.

It is available for Windows, Mac, and in a SaaS version. A free trial is available for those who want to test XRebel out.

Netbeans Profiler

Netbeans IDE comes with a built-in profiler that provides real-time application and JVM performance metrics including CPU and memory usage, as well as JVM monitoring, threads, locks, and SQL query profiling.

As an open-source application, it is free and is well supported by a large development community, which produces regular updates that include additional functionalities, etc.

The NetBeans profiler imposes a relatively low overhead, making it a good option when it comes to Java application performance monitoring.

Final Thoughts on Java Performance Monitor Tools

We have enlisted the top Java performance monitoring tools for you to select the one for your Java applications. The best Java application monitoring tool will depend on your Java application development and running requirements.

Read our blog for more information on how you can improve the performance of your Java app.

If you need assistance in developing market-competitive Java applications or monitoring their performance in the run-time environment, DevTeam.Space can help you via its field-expert Java developers community.

Write to us your initial project specifications, and one of our account managers will reach out to you for more details on how we can help with Java software development and deployment.

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Frequently Asked Questions on Java Performance Monitor Tools

What are APM tools?

APM or Application Performance Management refers to application performance monitoring. These are tools that allow developers to optimize and monitor the performance of their applications and also help with real user monitoring.

How does Tomcat optimize performance?

Tomcat must be configured to cache static resources. Provided the size of the cache has been configured to be large enough, Tomcat will boost application performance.

Is Rest API slower for querying a SQL database?

This really depends on a number of factors including the architecture the app is using. Generally speaking, adding an extra service tier always will usually have a negative effect on speed. However, there are certain cases such as types of architecture, where using a REST API can improve speed due to shared caching.


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