k6

Formerly Load Impact

k6 is a load testing tool designed by Grafana Labs to assist engineering teams in preventing failures, improving reliability, and releasing with confidence. According to the vendor, it is specifically developed to test the performance and scalability of applications, ensuring they can handle expected traffic and meet reliability targets. The product is suitable for a wide range of company sizes, from solo developers to large enterprises, and is utilized by various professions including developers, backend and frontend engineers, site reliability engineers, software engineers in test/ QA, and DevOps professionals. It is widely adopted across industries such as software development, e-commerce, financial services, media and entertainment, and gaming.

Key Features

Script tests in JavaScript: According to the vendor, k6 allows users to write load tests using JavaScript, making it easier for developers to create and maintain test scripts.

API: The vendor states that k6 provides an extensive API with functions for making HTTP requests, checking responses, handling cookies, and more, allowing users to simulate real-world scenarios during load testing.

Threshold config: According to the vendor, users can set thresholds in k6 to define pass/fail criteria for load tests, helping teams establish performance goals and ensure applications meet desired standards.

GraphQL: The vendor claims that k6 supports load testing of GraphQL APIs, enabling users to test the performance and scalability of GraphQL-based applications by sending queries and mutations.

Cookies: According to the vendor, k6 includes built-in support for handling cookies during load tests, allowing users to manage and manipulate cookies to simulate realistic user behavior and test cookie-related functionality.

WebSocket: The vendor states that k6 has native support for load testing WebSocket-based applications, enabling users to establish connections, send and receive messages, and test real-time communication performance and reliability.

gRPC: According to the vendor, k6 supports load testing of gRPC-based applications, allowing users to send requests and receive responses to test the performance and scalability of gRPC services.

On your machines, our cloud, or both: The vendor claims that k6 offers flexibility in running load tests, allowing users to choose between running tests on their local machines, in the cloud using k6 Cloud, or a combination of both.

Scale from solo developers to large enterprises: According to the vendor, k6 is designed to scale from individual developers to large enterprise teams, and can handle load testing needs of varying sizes and accommodate the growth and requirements of different organizations.

Use the same script for local, distributed, and cloud tests: The vendor states that with k6, users can write a single test script and run it locally, distribute it across multiple machines, or execute it in the cloud, facilitating seamless transitions between different testing environments.