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National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes vs Tektronix Oscilloscopes comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

National Instruments (NI) O...
Ranking in Oscilloscopes
7th
Average Rating
8.6
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Tektronix Oscilloscopes
Ranking in Oscilloscopes
3rd
Average Rating
8.4
Number of Reviews
23
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Oscilloscopes category, the mindshare of National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes is 4.8%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Tektronix Oscilloscopes is 14.7%, down from 17.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Oscilloscopes Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Tektronix Oscilloscopes14.7%
National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes4.8%
Other80.5%
Oscilloscopes
 

Featured Reviews

AA
Senior Technical Officer at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
I have saved almost 50 percent of my total budget for a project by using their products
The use of this solution does require a specific mindset. Some people are not tailored for it. Try it. The learning curve is really fast, so it's easy to use. We are measuring RF signals, one-sided analog signals, and control loops for system controls. We are not using this product to support connected devices nor are we planning to going forward.
HC
Sr Engineer at a tech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
B-scan is its most valuable feature. However, we are looking for an Intel platform with the newest chipset.
Try it if it is within your budget. It is a good product. The learning curve is very quick. It takes about one or two days. While we have plans to use this product to support connect devices, we are not currently doing so. We are currently measuring signals from 3.0 and 4.0, and looking for 5.0.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"I chose this solution because it integrates a lot of functionality in one piece of equipment."
"I have saved almost 50 percent of my total budget for a project by using their products."
"Using this product is helpful, so I would recommend it to people at any other company."
"The learning curve was really fast, which was also the reason for saving a lot on the budget."
"Because their view is a graphical user interface (GUI), it's very easy to program the tool."
"It speeds up the process to develop test software."
"I can automate a lot of testing very quickly. With just a push of a button, I can test hundreds of different scenarios without having to do all that manual testing myself."
"The user interface is very good. Their boards are reliable. We buy boards from them, they are reliable, and we don't have problems with them."
"B-scan is its most valuable feature."
"They provide a great partnership with us."
"The technical support is great; they come in, they show us how to use it, and if we have questions, they'll give presentations."
"It has very fast response with deep memory."
"I haven't seen anything similar where it has a spectrum analyzer and regular scope together."
"Being able to monitor data from a CAN bus while the vehicle is running will cut down a lot of the feedback for the design mode."
"It is a very capable instrument; it really does the job."
"It is easy to handle, so everyone likes to use it."
 

Cons

"The price is a little steep."
"There is a learning curve."
"I would like to have more RF. They're going that way, but still there is some work that they have to do."
"I would like more competitive pricing."
"It took a good year until I felt proficient using the product, as It is a complex program. Their newest version has a less steep learning curve, but back closer to 15 years ago, it was a lot less user-friendly."
"There is a learning curve. It takes one to two months to get acclimated to the tool."
"National Instruments needs to be focusing on its 5G RF applications. They are aware of this, and that's where most of their R&D is going."
"I would like to see more of a tasking user base and documentation inside the instrument itself, rather than having to go online for it."
"If they could make the user interface even more intuitive that would help. If they could make it easier to read, to know where the buttons are, that's all I need."
"I know you can get the Bit Masks but it's generally really expensive to get the eye diagrams and Bit Masks with it. I wish they were included or cheaper."
"The power of the computer inside is weak. Sometimes I send a lot of data and I'll feel the lag... I would like to see them improve the processing power."
"The pricing is very expensive."
"On the source side, their AWGs don't have enough bandwidth. They need to increase the bandwidth of their AWGs, meaning they have to have a faster sample rate."
"There was a learning curve, which was a little tricky at times. Getting used to the GUI took time because we had to learn the different features."
"If you are dealing with time domain measurement, I strongly recommend using a vendor other than this company."
"I wish we could turn off the automatic measurement feature of the oscilloscope, for teaching purposes."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price is a little steep. A lot of people, like our customers, use a different machine because of the price. The price has to come down a bit so we can do other tests without paying the equipment's high costs."
"They have an initial investment cost, which is quite high. But, along the way, there is so much behind it that the product is really invaluable."
"I would like more competitive pricing."
"The cost of the equipment has room for improvement. The pricing could improve."
"These products are a very low-cost, effective alternative to traditional Big Iron ATE hardware."
"It's a bit expensive. However, you get the entire package, not just the box. It's a box which supports older releases."
"The pricing was good. Compared to the others, it was very good."
"It's reasonably priced for what we spend our money on in the lab. It's one of the lower-end purchases."
"The pricing is very expensive."
"They have academic pricing which is helpful."
"It's available on the low-end scopes for free, but on the higher-end scopes, it is expensive. Therefore, it's a bit more difficult to make stuff work."
"It is a great price for a great product."
"Tecktronix pricing tends to be pretty fair and reasonable with current market trends. They don't usually bump up the price too much."
"In the 100 gigabit Ethernet and 400 gigabit Ethernet category, everything is in the multi-hundred thousand dollar range, so it was fair pricing because everything is expensive."
"The pricing is not too high and not too low."
"The pricing is okay. It was within our budget."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Legal Firm
24%
Construction Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Healthcare Company
10%
Manufacturing Company
15%
University
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Financial Services Firm
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Large Enterprise7
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise19
 

Also Known As

NI Oscilloscopes
TBS Series, TDS Series, MDO Series, MSO Series
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about National Instruments (NI) Oscilloscopes vs. Tektronix Oscilloscopes and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
915,533 professionals have used our research since 2012.