Performance Validator vs ANTS Performance Profiler

ANTS Performance Profiler has not received a meaningful update since January 2021.

A single maintenance release (v11.1) was pushed on August 24, 2023 – the same day as the ANTS Memory Profiler update – and nothing has shipped since.

If you are evaluating your .NET performance profiling toolchain, this guide compares ANTS Performance Profiler with Performance Validator from Software Verify.

Quick Summary

What ANTS Performance Profiler Does

ANTS Performance Profiler measures .NET managed method execution time: which methods are called, how often, and how long they take. It provides call trees, hot-path identification, and timeline views that show the sequence of calls over a profiling session. It integrates with Visual Studio.

For developers whose entire problem is in .NET – a C# web service, a WPF application, a .NET Core worker – ANTS has historically offered this in a reasonable interface.

The same caveats apply as with ANTS Memory Profiler: nothing has shipped since August 2023, and any application with a native code component falls outside its scope.

What Performance Validator Does

Performance Validator measures execution performance for Windows applications built in any supported language or compiler.

For .NET applications: Performance Validator instruments .NET methods and records call counts, execution time, and call trees. Hot paths are identified the same way they would be in ANTS.

For native C++ applications: Performance Validator provides both instrumented and sampling profiling modes. Instrumented mode gives exact call counts and cumulative timing per function – no sampling uncertainty. Sampling mode provides low-overhead statistical profiling where overhead is a concern.

For mixed-mode applications (C++/CLI, native C++ hosting .NET): Performance Validator profiles both the native and managed layers in a single session. A C++ function that calls into .NET, or a .NET method that P/Invokes into a native DLL, is measured end-to-end without a gap at the language boundary.

Compiler and Language Coverage

ANTS Performance Profiler profiles .NET languages only: C#, VB.NET, F#, and any other managed language targeting the CLR.

Performance Validator works with:

• MSVC (Visual C++ 6.0 through Visual Studio 2026), native and .NET
• Delphi 5.0 and later
• C++Builder 5.5 and later
• GCC and MinGW
• Intel C++ Compiler
• Clang
• Fortran
• VB6
• Rust

If your application is built in any combination of these – or if you maintain a legacy codebase that predates modern .NET – Performance Validator can profile it.

The Update Cadence Problem

ANTS Performance Profiler v11.1 was released on August 24, 2023 – the same day as ANTS Memory Profiler v11.0. Both were released together after a gap of approximately two and a half years. No further updates have been released for either product since.

As of May 2026, ANTS Performance Profiler has had no update in 21+ months. The pattern – active development until 2020/2021, then silence, then one token maintenance release, then silence again – is the same pattern that preceded the announced exits of AQTime and Parasoft Insure++ in 2026.

Red Gate has not announced an end-of-life date for ANTS Performance Profiler. But developers paying maintenance on a product that has not shipped in nearly two years are receiving no value from that maintenance payment.

Performance Validator ships multiple updates per year and is actively maintained in 2026.

Migration Path

Pure .NET applications: Profile with Performance Validator directly. Launch your application through Performance Validator or attach to the running process. Call tree, hot path, and timeline views are available. The workflow is similar to ANTS for the .NET scenarios.

Mixed-mode or native applications: Run a single Performance Validator session. Both the native and managed layers are visible in the same report. You do not need to profile the two layers separately.

No project modification required: Performance Validator does not require you to recompile or relink your application to begin profiling. Start profiling the production build.

The “Do I Need Both?” Question

The framing of “ANTS for .NET performance, Performance Validator for native performance” is incorrect for the same reason it is incorrect for memory: Performance Validator covers the whole application. For a mixed-mode team, a single Performance Validator licence covers what ANTS covers (the managed layer) plus everything ANTS cannot see (the native layer).

Licence Model

ANTS Performance Profiler is sold on an annual subscription. When your subscription lapses, the software stops working.

Performance Validator uses a perpetual licence. You buy it once and it continues to work. An optional annual update subscription keeps you on the latest version; if you let it lapse, you retain the last version you were entitled to. Performance Validator also provides a floating licence option that allows you to share your licences with multiple team members.

For teams who prefer to own their tools rather than rent them, perpetual licensing is a material difference.

Summary