Redgate ANTS Performance Profiler review
A focused Windows profiler with strong .NET diagnostics, but no memory profiling or cross-platform support.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
Redgate ANTS Performance Profiler is a Windows desktop tool for diagnosing performance issues in .NET applications. It supports desktop software, ASP.NET applications, Windows services, and other supported .NET workloads, with coverage for C#, VB.NET, F#, Managed C++, and other .NET languages. Developers can inspect method- and line-level timings, CPU activity, call trees, call graphs, database queries, outgoing HTTP requests, and file I/O. It is aimed at teams that need detailed CPU and application-performance analysis in a Windows and Microsoft Visual Studio environment.
The two paid plans separate customer-code profiling from broader application analysis. Standard costs $396 per user per year and profiles the customer's own .NET code. Pro costs $594 per user per year and adds profiling for third-party code, framework methods, SQL Server queries, and disk activity. A 14-day free trial is available, but there is no free plan. The annual pricing makes ANTS a more substantial commitment than a free profiling utility, particularly for individual developers or teams needing occasional investigation rather than regular performance work.
Its main strength is the range of CPU-focused investigation paths in one desktop tool: instrumented and sampling modes, a CPU usage timeline, performance-region selection, SQL execution-plan analysis, process attachment, integrated decompilation, and Visual Studio integration. It connects with SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, MariaDB, and PostgreSQL. The trade-off is focus: ANTS does not provide memory profiling, and its Windows-only deployment excludes teams that need macOS or Linux coverage. Choose it for Windows-based .NET teams investigating CPU, SQL, HTTP, or I/O bottlenecks; consider an alternative when memory analysis or cross-platform profiling is required.
Redgate ANTS Performance Profiler pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Combines instrumented timings with lower-overhead sampling and CPU timelines.
- Profiles SQL queries, execution plans, HTTP requests, file I/O, and call trees.
- Supports third-party code, decompilation, process attachment, and Visual Studio.
- Where it doesn't
- Windows-only desktop deployment limits platform coverage.
- No memory profiling is included.
- Pro costs $594 per user per year, above the Standard tier.
Redgate ANTS Performance Profiler fact sheet, pricing and score →
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