Best Profiling Software in 2026
Updated
In short: Valgrind is ranked #1 of 29 as of 4 October 2026, ahead of AMD Auto-Detect and Install Tool and async-profiler. The best-ranked option with a free plan is AMD Auto-Detect and Install Tool. The lowest first paid tier on this page is Grafana Cloud Application Observability at $0.03/mo.
Profiling software can help you inspect application behavior through CPU, memory and thread profiling. Compare those capabilities with profiling modes and supported languages to see which entries match the code and performance questions you work with. Deployment model, free-plan availability and paid-from pricing add other comparison points. Valgrind and YourKit Java Profiler open the ranking, followed by AMD Auto-Detect and Install Tool and async-profiler. Grafana Cloud Application Observability, Grafana k6, Intel VTune Profiler and VisualVM are also among the first entries. Consider the listed language and profiling support alongside how you plan to deploy the software and what resources you need to examine.
29 profiling software ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
Recognised 40% · Phone app 26% · Documented 20% · Free plan 14% of the score
- 1 Valgrind Android only RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.8 Profiling modes: instrumentationSupported languages: C, C++, Rust, assemblyCPU profiling: Yes
- 2 AMD Auto-Detect and Install Tool No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.3Free Profiling modes: bothSupported languages: C, C++, Fortran, Assembly, Java, Python, .NETCPU profiling: Yes
- 3 async-profiler No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.3Free Profiling modes: bothSupported languages: Java, C, C++CPU profiling: Yes
- 4 Grafana Cloud Application Observability No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.3$0.03/mo
- 5 Grafana k6 No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.3$19/mo Profiling modes: bothSupported languages: C/C++, Go, Rust, Zig, Java, .NET, Python, Ruby, PHP, Node.js, PerlCPU profiling: Yes
- 6 Intel VTune Profiler No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.3Free Profiling modes: bothSupported languages: C, C++, C#, Fortran, Java, OpenCL, Python, Go, SYCL, .NET, AssemblyCPU profiling: Yes
- 7 VisualVM No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.3Free Profiling modes: bothSupported languages: Java, JavaScript, Python, Ruby, RCPU profiling: Yes
- 8 Google Cloud Profiler No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.2Free Profiling modes: samplingSupported languages: Go, Java, Node.js, PythonCPU profiling: Yes
- 9 Scalene No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.2Free Profiling modes: samplingSupported languages: PythonCPU profiling: Yes
- 10 Pyroscope No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 6.1$19/mo Profiling modes: bothSupported languages: C/C++, Go, Rust, Zig, Java, .NET, Python, Ruby, PHP, Node.js, PerlCPU profiling: Yes
- 11 YourKit Java Profiler No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.9$37454.08/mo Profiling modes: bothSupported languages: JavaCPU profiling: Yes
- 12 Go pprof No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.8 Profiling modes: samplingSupported languages: GoCPU profiling: Yes
- 13 Blackfire.io No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.7€33.25/mo Profiling modes: instrumentationSupported languages: PHP, PythonCPU profiling: Yes
- 14 Redgate SQL Provision No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.6 Profiling modes: bothSupported languages: C#, VB.NET, F#, Managed C++, and other .NET languagesCPU profiling: Yes
- 15 JProfiler No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.5 Profiling modes: bothSupported languages: Java, KotlinCPU profiling: Yes
- 16 Node.js --prof No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.3 Profiling modes: samplingSupported languages: JavaScript, C++CPU profiling: Yes
- 17 Parca No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.3 Profiling modes: samplingSupported languages: C, C++, Go, Rust, .NET, Deno, Erlang, Java, Julia, Node.js, Wasmtime, PHP, Ruby, PythonCPU profiling: Yes
- 18 PerfView No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.3 Profiling modes: samplingSupported languages: C/C++, .NET, JScriptCPU profiling: Yes
- 19 py-spy No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.3 Profiling modes: samplingSupported languages: Python; C; C++; CythonCPU profiling: Yes
- 20 AQtime No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.2 Profiling modes: bothSupported languages: Native/unmanaged code, .NET, Java, VBScript, JScriptCPU profiling: Yes
- 21 GNU gprof No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.2 Profiling modes: bothSupported languages: C, C++CPU profiling: Yes
- 22 JetBrains dotMemory No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.2 Profiling modes: samplingSupported languages: C#, VB.NETCPU profiling: No
- 23 KCachegrind No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.2 Profiling modes: instrumentationCPU profiling: Yes
- 24 Amazon CodeGuru Profiler No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.1 Profiling modes: samplingSupported languages: Java/JVM languages; Python 3.6 or laterCPU profiling: Yes
- 25 Javadoc No phone app RecognisedPhone appDocumentedFree plan 5.1Free
Is your app on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored. They are labelled, and the editorial order and scores never change for payment.
Questions about this list
Which profiling software is ranked first on Samsung Mobile US Press?
Valgrind is ranked #1 of 29 with a score of 6.8. AMD Auto-Detect and Install Tool is second and async-profiler third.
How many of these have a free plan?
10 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, Grafana Cloud Application Observability has the lowest first paid tier we found: $0.03/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked mobile-first: a phone app alongside the web or desktop product, a free tier and the depth of its documentation. Paid placements never change a rank.