ControlUp · /// Alternative
Moving off ControlUp?
Here’s exactly what LoadGen replaces, what it adds, and what it doesn’t. ControlUp is a credible real-user DEM product. This page is about what actually changes if you move monitoring and testing onto one platform.
Replaces · adds · doesn’tRun them side by sidePublished pricingPoC on your own stack
Side-by-side capability matrix. Autoplay highlights every row.
Replacement scope
What LoadGen replaces, what it adds, and what it doesn’t.
Every vendor in this category will tell you they replace everything. This is the version with the third column filled in, because the gap a buyer discovers halfway through a demo is the one that stalls the deal.
What LoadGen replaces
Real-user DEM: SessionSight heatmaps, session replay, journeys and visitor tracking. Synthetic monitoring across Citrix, AVD, Horizon, RDS and Web. Uptime and availability checks, on one platform and one timeline.
What LoadGen adds
Load and performance testing: stress, soak and capacity runs, licensed from 50 to 25,000+ vUsers. API testing through the visual flow editor. Both sit on the same timeline as the monitoring data, from one vendor.
What LoadGen does not replace
Endpoint remediation actions are not a LoadGen function. Autonomous endpoint management is outside LoadGen’s scope, and so is device-level inventory and control. If those are why ControlUp is in the stack, this is not a one-for-one swap.
The fair version
ControlUp is good at what it does.
No straw-man comparisons. ControlUp is a credible name in real-user DEM. These are the strengths a fair-minded buyer should weigh before deciding anything.
Real-user DEM focus
ControlUp has spent years building real-user digital experience monitoring, mature analytics, polished dashboards, and a deep ecosystem.
DEX analytics depth
Years of investment in user-experience metrics, score-cards, and historical trend analysis across the VDI fleet.
Established install base
Sits in many enterprise stacks already. Operations teams know the dashboards by heart. Familiarity has value.
SessionSight DEM
DEM parity, on a platform that also tests.
ControlUp built its reputation on real-user DEM. SessionSight delivers the same surface, heatmaps, replay, journeys, visitor tracking, and adds load testing and API testing on the same vendor.
- Heatmaps (click + scroll) with viewport-aware thresholds (desktop, tablet, mobile).
- DOM masking with Strict, Balanced (default), and Relaxed modes. Fail-closed by default, with per-element overrides applied at capture time.
- Session replay (image and DOM) from 0.25× to 12× (fixed 8-value dropdown), with event log.
- Deep-filter by country, browser, OS, device, and UTM. Correlated on the same timeline as synthetic checks and uptime events.
SessionSight heatmaps. Modes and viewports.
Evaluation path
How teams actually evaluate this.
Step 01
Keep ControlUp running
Nothing gets ripped out on day one. The evaluation happens alongside whatever is already in production.
Step 02
Deploy LoadGen alongside it
An appliance (Ubuntu with Docker recommended, or bring your own Windows) plus Core, Full or VDI agents, depending on the stack you are validating.
Step 03
Run both for a defined window
Same environment, same period, both tools live. The comparison then happens on measured data instead of on feature tables.
Step 04
Decide per capability
Not all at once. Most teams consolidate monitoring first and add load testing second, then revisit the rest at the next renewal.
Testing + Monitoring on one platform
What ControlUp doesn’t do, and you also need.
Monitoring tells you what happened. Load testing tells you what will happen. LoadGen ships both. The cockpit looks the same whether you’re simulating tomorrow’s peak or watching today’s production.
- Same scenario engine drives synthetic monitoring AND load tests. Author once, replay both modes.
- Live cockpit during execution: per-step generic p95 latency, sessions table, error hotspots.
- Multi-test overlay. Compare up to 5 runs against the same scenario shape.
- Transparent published pricing. Load & Performance Testing from €1,099 / week (50 vUsers); End-to-End Monitoring from €899 / Agent / month.
Live monitoring and testing cockpit. Same UI, two modes.
What changes when you add LoadGen
Four buying-decision deltas.
Before
Real-user DEM only
After
Testing + Monitoring + DEM + API
Before
Contact sales
After
Published rates
Before
Author per tool
After
One .lgs scenario · two modes
Before
Multi-tool stack
After
One platform · one cockpit
How teams move
Three ways teams move off ControlUp.
Consolidate monitoring first
The most common first move. Synthetic monitoring, uptime and alerting come across onto one platform and one cockpit, while load testing and the rest follow at the next renewal.
See use caseReplace on DEM
SessionSight overlaps ControlUp on the DEM surface, heatmaps, replay, journeys, and visitor tracking. Pricing transparency and the testing + API layer become the deciding signals for teams already over budget.
See use caseAdd what ControlUp doesn’t do
Keep ControlUp on real-user DEM for now and add LoadGen for load testing and API testing. Single-vendor consolidation becomes a later decision, taken on measured data.
See use caseRun a Proof of Concept in your own environment.
We deploy the appliance and agents alongside your existing ControlUp deployment, run SessionSight DEM, a Citrix or AVD synthetic test and an API flow against your estate, and compare on measured data. ControlUp keeps running unchanged.
Questions
Frequently asked.
Can LoadGen fully replace ControlUp?
For DEM, synthetic monitoring and uptime, yes. For endpoint remediation and autonomous endpoint management, no. Those are not LoadGen capabilities. Most teams that switch are consolidating monitoring and testing onto one platform rather than looking for endpoint management.
Can we run both at the same time?
Yes, and that is the recommended way to evaluate. Keep ControlUp running, deploy the LoadGen appliance and agents alongside it, run both against the same environment for a defined window, and decide per capability on what you measured.
What does LoadGen do that ControlUp doesn’t?
Load and performance testing and API testing on the same platform and the same timeline as the monitoring data. Monitoring tells you what happened; load testing tells you what happens at a concurrency you have not run yet.
How long does a proof of concept take?
The documented onboarding flow reaches a first completed test in roughly 215 minutes of hands-on work: 30 minutes setup, 60 minutes configuration wizards, 15 minutes workload creation, 20 minutes agent deployment, and 90 minutes testing and analysis. The PoC window itself is agreed on the discovery call.
Does LoadGen replace ControlUp, or run alongside it?
Both are common patterns. Teams initially add LoadGen for the load testing and API testing capabilities ControlUp doesn’t ship, then evaluate SessionSight DEM against ControlUp’s real-user DEM over a renewal cycle. Some consolidate. Some keep both.
How does SessionSight compare to ControlUp’s DEM?
SessionSight ships heatmaps (click + scroll), DOM masking (Strict / Balanced / Relaxed modes with fail-closed defaults and per-element overrides), session replay (image and DOM) from 0.25× to 12×, journey analysis, and visitor tracking. It covers the DEM surface a ControlUp buyer expects, on a published per-Agent pricing model.
What about Citrix-specific monitoring depth?
LoadGen runs Citrix-native synthetic users via the 7-step Citrix wizard. Basic (ICA) and Enhanced (HDX), with StoreFront, Gateway, PNAgent, and External Login as wizard auth-flow steps. SUT Monitoring binds generic Windows performance counters. The same engine that runs your load test runs the synthetic user.
What does it cost compared to ControlUp?
LoadGen publishes €899 per Agent per month for End-to-End Monitoring (annual subs include two months free) and €1,099 per week for Load & Performance Testing at the 50-vUser license tier. SessionSight DEM is contact-us. Multi-module bundles are quoted on a call. ControlUp pricing isn’t something we publish on your behalf, get current numbers from them.
Can we test LoadGen alongside our ControlUp deployment in PoC?
Yes. The PoC runs against your own Citrix or AVD environment over a timeline agreed on the discovery call. LoadGen agents deploy on-prem, in cloud, or in remote-office locations. ControlUp keeps running unchanged. The comparison happens on real data.
What’s the migration story if we decide to consolidate?
Teams typically retain ControlUp for one renewal cycle while LoadGen takes load testing, API testing, and SessionSight DEM. At the next renewal, the question becomes whether ControlUp’s incremental DEM features justify the multi-tool cost. The decision is yours. We’ll show the numbers honestly.
