Numerous tools can help with load testing a web application. Below you will find a list of 10 free tools that can be used to perform various load testing activities on a website. These tools can also be combined together as part of a load test plan.
On the search for the best free tools for load testing Web Applications? Keep reading, I’ve picked some of the best web application load testers for you.
WAPT – Employs a universal performance test design approach by recording real-life web sessions from a browser or a mobile application
WAPT lets users design or run tests locally or in the cloud. Users are enabled to create tests using a browser or a mobile application; employ remote, distributed and cloud-based testing; launch server and database performance monitoring; and more.
Some of the most exemplary elements of the software are the usefulness of auto-parameterization of most dynamic values, the extensibility via Javascript, and point-and-click recording capabilities.
The WAPT interface, as seen from the associated screenshot, comes across quite dated in the color, look, feel, and even text orientation. For those used to modern tech UI, it may be a bit of an eyesore; thus, they lost a few points per the UX review criteria.
WAPT starts at $700 and has a free trial.
JMeter
JMeter is the most popular open-source tool in the performance space to help measure load time.
Apache JMeter describes itself as a Java application that was designed specifically for load testing with the ability to measure application performance and response times.
JMeter was built to pretty much be the open-source alternative to LoadRunner, so you’ll find it has lots of sophisticated features. It’s a thick client Java app that’s largely driven by right clicks. It’s a little weird, but it’s got a lot of power. Also, all the features a professional load tester wants are available on JMeter.
Some features are:
- The ability to performance test a host of technologies using a range of protocols such as Java Objects, Web HTTP/HTTPS, SOAP and Rest Services, FTP, Databases with JDBC
- A nice IDE you can use for recording, building, and debugging your performance tests
- Starting with JMeter 3.1 Groovy is the default programming language
- One of the more popular performance testing tools
- Can configure it to help test mobile performance of mobile apps
Although JMeter is one of the more popular test tools, it does have some shortcomings.
For instance, JMeter can be a bit difficult to scale for a large distributed test; especially if you have to set up a bunch of machines since you have to configure them to talk to each other. There is also a host of orchestrating problems in executing large JMeter tests.
That’s where a tool open sourced by BlazeMeter—Taurus—can help you out.
WebLOAD
Enterprise-grade load and performance testing tool for web applications. WebLOAD is a tool of choice for enterprises with heavy user load and complex testing requirements. It allows you to perform load and stress testing on any internet application by generating load from the cloud and on-premises machines.
WebLOAD’s strengths are its flexibility and ease of use – enabling you to quickly define the tests you need with features like DOM-based recording/playback, automatic correlation, and JavaScript scripting language.
Further reading =>> How to run URL-based Load Test with WebLOAD
The tool provides a clear analysis of your web application performance, pinpointing issues and bottlenecks that may stand in the way of achieving your load and response requirements.
WebLOAD supports hundreds of technologies – from web protocols to enterprise applications and has built-in integration with Jenkins, Selenium and many other tools to enable continuous load testing for DevOps.
Kobiton
Kobiton offers flexible real device access options that include a public cloud, private cloud, and on-premises. With Kobiton’s Performance Testing capabilities, users can integrate real device testing with Load and Stress testing solutions. This can be done manually, with automation via script-based solutions like Appium, and using Kobiton’s AI-driven scriptless engine. With Kobiton, you have a platform solution that allows for insight into app and device-specific performance metrics that easily integrates with solutions like NeoLoad or JMeter.
Features:
- Kobiton’s device lab management will let you connect with devices in the cloud, your local on-premises devices as well as on-desk devices.
- Create automated test scripts from manual tests and are executable on multiple devices simultaneously.
- Users can test crucial app and website-specific performance with Kobiton’s Payload capture
- Automatic test case generation from the manual session
LoadNinja – Best for load testing with real browsers at scale
LoadNinja helps users diagnose web and API performance issues. It is simpler to use than conventional load testing tools and uses real browsers, which delivers a more accurate representation of load.
Creating performance tests via record and playback enhanced with AI can save around 60% of time vs traditional tools, and also reduces time maintaining tests as the application changes. Using real browsers at scale to generate load gives you the most accurate representation of load. Test results reflect true end-user experience and allow you to quickly diagnose bottlenecks and performance issues. The tool was designed with ease of use in mind, and is accessible to users of all skill levels.
Tool costs starting from $239/month for 100 virtual users. They also offer a free 14-day trial.
Taurus
While not technically a load testing tool Taurus acts more like a wrapper on top of other solutions that hides the complexity of running performance tests.
The power of Taurus is that it allows you to write your tests in YAML.
You can actually describe a full-blown script in about ten lines of text, which gives teams the ability to describe their tests in a YAML or JSON file. The YAML is a human, readable, edible approach that enables you to describe a test in a simple text file.
This is a big leap forward from the old days of having to bring up a big, heavy vendor-specific record and scripting tool for load time measuring.
Features
- This should also allow more members of your team to contribute to performance tests. Also, since your test cases are written in YAML the tests are much more readable, making them easier to perform code reviews on.
- Taurus basically fits performance testing into your CI/CD pipeline much more efficiently.
- Taurus provides a sort of abstraction layer on top of JMeter, as well as some other tools like Locust, Gatling, the Grinder and Selenium.
Conclusion
Do you want to load test your e-commerce or other web applications? When you do that, you need a tool for this task.