diff --git a/doc/developer-notes.md b/doc/developer-notes.md
--- a/doc/developer-notes.md
+++ b/doc/developer-notes.md
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
         - [DEBUG_LOCKORDER](#debug_lockorder)
         - [Valgrind suppressions file](#valgrind-suppressions-file)
         - [Compiling for test coverage](#compiling-for-test-coverage)
+        - [Performance profiling with perf](#performance-profiling-with-perf)
         - [Sanitizers](#sanitizers)
     - [Locking/mutex usage notes](#lockingmutex-usage-notes)
     - [Threads](#threads)
@@ -302,6 +303,49 @@
 To include branch coverage, you can add the `-DENABLE_BRANCH_COVERAGE=ON` option
 to the `cmake` command line.
 
+### Performance profiling with perf
+
+Profiling is a good way to get a precise idea of where time is being spent in
+code. One tool for doing profiling on Linux platforms is called
+[`perf`](http://www.brendangregg.com/perf.html), and has been integrated into
+the functional test framework. Perf can observe a running process and sample
+(at some frequency) where its execution is.
+
+Perf installation is contingent on which kernel version you're running; see
+[this StackExchange
+thread](https://askubuntu.com/questions/50145/how-to-install-perf-monitoring-tool)
+for specific instructions.
+
+Certain kernel parameters may need to be set for perf to be able to inspect the
+running process' stack.
+
+```sh
+$ sudo sysctl -w kernel.perf_event_paranoid=-1
+$ sudo sysctl -w kernel.kptr_restrict=0
+```
+
+Make sure you [understand the security
+trade-offs](https://lwn.net/Articles/420403/) of setting these kernel
+parameters.
+
+To profile a running bitcoind process for 60 seconds, you could use an
+invocation of `perf record` like this:
+
+```sh
+$ perf record \
+    -g --call-graph dwarf --per-thread -F 140 \
+    -p `pgrep bitcoind` -- sleep 60
+```
+
+You could then analyze the results by running
+
+```sh
+perf report --stdio | c++filt | less
+```
+
+or using a graphical tool like [Hotspot](https://github.com/KDAB/hotspot).
+
+See the functional test documentation for how to invoke perf within tests.
 
 ### Sanitizers
 
diff --git a/doc/functional-tests.md b/doc/functional-tests.md
--- a/doc/functional-tests.md
+++ b/doc/functional-tests.md
@@ -180,6 +180,39 @@
 echo 0 | sudo tee /proc/sys/kernel/yama/ptrace_scope
 ```
 
+### Benchmarking and profiling with perf
+
+An easy way to profile node performance during functional tests is provided
+for Linux platforms using `perf`.
+
+Perf will sample the running node and will generate profile data in the node's
+datadir. The profile data can then be presented using `perf report` or a graphical
+tool like [hotspot](https://github.com/KDAB/hotspot).
+
+There are two ways of invoking perf: one is to use the `--perf` flag when
+running tests, which will profile each node during the entire test run: perf
+begins to profile when the node starts and ends when it shuts down. The other
+way is the use the `profile_with_perf` context manager, e.g.
+
+```python
+with node.profile_with_perf("send-big-msgs"):
+    # Perform activity on the node you're interested in profiling, e.g.:
+    for _ in range(10000):
+        node.p2p.send_message(some_large_message)
+```
+
+To see useful textual output, run
+
+```sh
+perf report -i /path/to/datadir/send-big-msgs.perf.data.xxxx --stdio | c++filt | less
+```
+
+#### See also:
+
+- [Installing perf](https://askubuntu.com/q/50145)
+- [Perf examples](http://www.brendangregg.com/perf.html)
+- [Hotspot](https://github.com/KDAB/hotspot): a GUI for perf output analysis
+
 ##### Prevent using deprecated features
 
 Python will issue a `DeprecationWarning` when a deprecated feature is
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/test_framework.py b/test/functional/test_framework/test_framework.py
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/test_framework.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/test_framework.py
@@ -129,8 +129,11 @@
                             help="Attach a python debugger if test fails")
         parser.add_argument("--usecli", dest="usecli", default=False, action="store_true",
                             help="use bitcoin-cli instead of RPC for all commands")
+        parser.add_argument("--perf", dest="perf", default=False, action="store_true",
+                            help="profile running nodes with perf for the duration of the test")
         parser.add_argument("--with-axionactivation", dest="axionactivation", default=False, action="store_true",
                             help="Activate axion update on timestamp {}".format(TIMESTAMP_IN_THE_PAST))
+
         self.add_options(parser)
         self.options = parser.parse_args()
 
@@ -212,9 +215,20 @@
             self.log.info(
                 "Note: bitcoinds were not stopped and may still be running")
 
-        if not self.options.nocleanup and not self.options.noshutdown and success != TestStatus.FAILED:
+        should_clean_up = (
+            not self.options.nocleanup and
+            not self.options.noshutdown and
+            success != TestStatus.FAILED and
+            not self.options.perf
+        )
+        if should_clean_up:
             self.log.info("Cleaning up {} on exit".format(self.options.tmpdir))
             cleanup_tree_on_exit = True
+        elif self.options.perf:
+            self.log.warning(
+                "Not cleaning up dir {} due to perf data".format(
+                    self.options.tmpdir))
+            cleanup_tree_on_exit = False
         else:
             self.log.warning(
                 "Not cleaning up dir {}".format(self.options.tmpdir))
@@ -353,6 +367,7 @@
                 extra_args=extra_args[i],
                 use_cli=self.options.usecli,
                 emulator=self.options.emulator,
+                start_perf=self.options.perf,
             ))
             if self.options.axionactivation:
                 self.nodes[i].extend_default_args(
diff --git a/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py b/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
--- a/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
+++ b/test/functional/test_framework/test_node.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import time
 import urllib.parse
 import collections
+import shlex
 
 from .authproxy import JSONRPCException
 from .messages import COIN, CTransaction, FromHex
@@ -59,7 +60,13 @@
     be dispatched to the RPC connection."""
 
     def __init__(self, i, datadir, *, chain, host, rpc_port, p2p_port, timewait, bitcoind, bitcoin_cli,
-                 coverage_dir, extra_conf=None, extra_args=None, use_cli=False, emulator=None):
+                 coverage_dir, extra_conf=None, extra_args=None, use_cli=False, emulator=None, start_perf=False):
+        """
+        Kwargs:
+            start_perf (bool): If True, begin profiling the node with `perf` as soon as
+                the node starts.
+        """
+
         self.index = i
         self.datadir = datadir
         self.bitcoinconf = os.path.join(self.datadir, "bitcoin.conf")
@@ -106,6 +113,7 @@
                 "Binary '{}' could not be found.\nTry setting it manually:\n\tBITCOINCLI=<path/to/bitcoin-cli> {}".format(bitcoin_cli, sys.argv[0]))
         self.cli = TestNodeCLI(bitcoin_cli, self.datadir, self.emulator)
         self.use_cli = use_cli
+        self.start_perf = start_perf
 
         self.running = False
         self.process = None
@@ -116,6 +124,8 @@
         self.log = logging.getLogger('TestFramework.node{}'.format(i))
         # Whether to kill the node when this object goes away
         self.cleanup_on_exit = True
+        # Cache perf subprocesses here by their data output filename.
+        self.perf_subprocesses = {}
         self.p2ps = []
 
     AddressKeyPair = collections.namedtuple(
@@ -248,6 +258,9 @@
         self.running = True
         self.log.debug("bitcoind started, waiting for RPC to come up")
 
+        if self.start_perf:
+            self._start_perf()
+
     def wait_for_rpc_connection(self):
         """Sets up an RPC connection to the bitcoind process. Returns False if unable to connect."""
         # Poll at a rate of four times per second
@@ -317,6 +330,10 @@
         except http.client.CannotSendRequest:
             self.log.exception("Unable to stop node.")
 
+        # If there are any running perf processes, stop them.
+        for profile_name in tuple(self.perf_subprocesses.keys()):
+            self._stop_perf(profile_name)
+
         # Check that stderr is as expected
         self.stderr.seek(0)
         stderr = self.stderr.read().decode('utf-8').strip()
@@ -402,6 +419,91 @@
             'Expected messages "{}" does not partially match log:\n\n{}\n\n'.format(
                 str(expected_msgs), print_log))
 
+    @contextlib.contextmanager
+    def profile_with_perf(self, profile_name):
+        """
+        Context manager that allows easy profiling of node activity using `perf`.
+
+        See `test/functional/README.md` for details on perf usage.
+
+        Args:
+            profile_name (str): This string will be appended to the
+                profile data filename generated by perf.
+        """
+        subp = self._start_perf(profile_name)
+
+        yield
+
+        if subp:
+            self._stop_perf(profile_name)
+
+    def _start_perf(self, profile_name=None):
+        """Start a perf process to profile this node.
+
+        Returns the subprocess running perf."""
+        subp = None
+
+        def test_success(cmd):
+            return subprocess.call(
+                # shell=True required for pipe use below
+                cmd, shell=True,
+                stderr=subprocess.DEVNULL, stdout=subprocess.DEVNULL) == 0
+
+        if not sys.platform.startswith('linux'):
+            self.log.warning(
+                "Can't profile with perf; only availabe on Linux platforms")
+            return None
+
+        if not test_success('which perf'):
+            self.log.warning(
+                "Can't profile with perf; must install perf-tools")
+            return None
+
+        if not test_success(
+                'readelf -S {} | grep .debug_str'.format(shlex.quote(self.binary))):
+            self.log.warning(
+                "perf output won't be very useful without debug symbols compiled into bitcoind")
+
+        output_path = tempfile.NamedTemporaryFile(
+            dir=self.datadir,
+            prefix="{}.perf.data.".format(profile_name or 'test'),
+            delete=False,
+        ).name
+
+        cmd = [
+            'perf', 'record',
+            '-g',                     # Record the callgraph.
+            # Compatibility for gcc's --fomit-frame-pointer.
+            '--call-graph', 'dwarf',
+            '-F', '101',              # Sampling frequency in Hz.
+            '-p', str(self.process.pid),
+            '-o', output_path,
+        ]
+        subp = subprocess.Popen(
+            cmd,
+            stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
+            stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
+        self.perf_subprocesses[profile_name] = subp
+
+        return subp
+
+    def _stop_perf(self, profile_name):
+        """Stop (and pop) a perf subprocess."""
+        subp = self.perf_subprocesses.pop(profile_name)
+        output_path = subp.args[subp.args.index('-o') + 1]
+
+        subp.terminate()
+        subp.wait(timeout=10)
+
+        stderr = subp.stderr.read().decode()
+        if 'Consider tweaking /proc/sys/kernel/perf_event_paranoid' in stderr:
+            self.log.warning(
+                "perf couldn't collect data! Try "
+                "'sudo sysctl -w kernel.perf_event_paranoid=-1'")
+        else:
+            report_cmd = "perf report -i {}".format(output_path)
+            self.log.info("See perf output by running '{}'".format(report_cmd))
+
     def assert_start_raises_init_error(
             self, extra_args=None, expected_msg=None, match=ErrorMatch.FULL_TEXT, *args, **kwargs):
         """Attempt to start the node and expect it to raise an error.