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gatling.io VS wrk

Compare gatling.io VS wrk and see what are their differences

gatling.io logo gatling.io

Gatling is an open-source load testing framework based on Scala, Akka and Netty

wrk logo wrk

HTTP benchmarking tool capable of generating significant load on a multi-core CPU.
  • gatling.io Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-27
  • wrk Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-28

gatling.io features and specs

  • High Performance
    Gatling is designed to handle a large number of concurrent users, making it suitable for stress testing and performance testing high-load applications.
  • Scalability
    It supports distributed testing, allowing you to scale your tests across multiple machines to simulate more users.
  • Detailed Reporting
    Gatling provides comprehensive reports with graphical visualizations, making it easy to analyze the results and pinpoint performance bottlenecks.
  • Scriptable Tests
    It uses a domain-specific language (DSL) in Scala for test scripts, offering powerful features for customizing test scenarios.
  • Integration Capabilities
    Gatling can be integrated with CI/CD pipelines, making it beneficial for continuous testing in development workflows.
  • Open-Source
    The tool offers an open-source version, allowing for cost-effective testing solutions and community-driven support and enhancements.

Possible disadvantages of gatling.io

  • Learning Curve
    The use of Scala in writing scripts may pose a steep learning curve for users unfamiliar with this programming language.
  • Limited Protocol Support
    Gatling primarily focuses on HTTP protocols, which may limit its use for applications that require broad protocol support.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running high-load tests can be resource-intensive, requiring considerable hardware infrastructure for accurate simulations.
  • Complex Setup
    Setting up distributed testing or integrating with other systems may require additional configuration and technical expertise, adding to the initial setup complexity.
  • Paid Enterprise Version
    Advanced features and support are available in the enterprise version, which may incur additional costs compared to the open-source offering.

wrk features and specs

  • High Performance
    wrk is able to generate significant load, making it suitable for testing how a web server performs under stress.
  • Ease of Use
    The command-line interface of wrk is straightforward, allowing users to quickly set up and execute tests with minimal configuration.
  • Lua Scripting Support
    wrk supports Lua scripting, which allows users to customize requests and extend testing functionalities beyond basic HTTP requests.
  • Open Source
    Being open source, wrk is freely available for use and modification, and it benefits from community contributions and feedback.
  • Multi-threading
    wrk is designed to take advantage of multi-threading, which helps in utilizing system resources efficiently for load testing.

Possible disadvantages of wrk

  • Limited Metrics
    wrk provides basic metrics like latency and throughput, but it lacks built-in detailed analytical tools available in other performance testing tools.
  • No GUI
    It is a command-line tool without a graphical user interface, which might be a barrier for non-technical users or those who prefer visual representations.
  • Scripting Complexity
    While Lua scripting adds flexibility, it can also increase complexity, especially for users who are not familiar with Lua or programming.
  • Limited Protocol Support
    wrk is primarily built for HTTP benchmarking, and it does not natively support other protocols such as WebSocket or gRPC.
  • No Distributed Testing
    wrk does not support distributed load testing out-of-the-box, limiting its effectiveness in simulating geographically distributed traffic.

Analysis of gatling.io

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Gatling.io is considered a very good tool for load testing due to its performance, scalability, and user-friendly reporting. It is widely used in both open-source and enterprise environments and is praised for its efficiency in testing and analyzing application performance.

Why this product is good

  • Gatling.io is a highly-regarded open-source load testing tool known for its performance, scalability, and efficiency. It is built on Scala, Akka, and Netty, making it well-suited for handling large-scale testing scenarios. Gatling is particularly appreciated for its ability to handle high loads with low resource consumption, and it provides detailed and comprehensive reports that help developers identify performance bottlenecks. Moreover, its scripting capabilities using the Gatling DSL allow for flexible and expressive test scenarios.

Recommended for

  • Developers and testers seeking an open-source load testing tool.
  • Teams looking to perform extensive performance and stress testing.
  • Organizations that require detailed reports and analyses of application performance.
  • Users familiar with Scala or those willing to learn a powerful DSL for scripting test scenarios.

gatling.io videos

Gatling Introduction

wrk videos

WRK Core Collection Line Review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to gatling.io and wrk)
Monitoring Tools
68 68%
32% 32
Hiring And Recruitment
0 0%
100% 100
Website Testing
70 70%
30% 30
Development
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

wrk might be a bit more popular than gatling.io. We know about 30 links to it since March 2021 and only 23 links to gatling.io. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

gatling.io mentions (23)

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wrk mentions (30)

  • Bombardier: Fast cross-platform HTTP benchmarking tool written in Go
    Cool, I didn't see this tool before. I have tried most open source load testing tools out there, as part of writing a couple of review articles on them (https://grafana.com/blog/2020/03/03/open-source-load-testing-tool-review/) and my gut reaction is this one looks like a Golang alternative to Wrk (https://github.com/wg/wrk) in that its main feature is speed. I'd bet Wrk... - Source: Hacker News / 9 months ago
  • "Free WAF" SafeLine Performance Testing
    Wrk: A straightforward HTTP benchmarking utility for putting web servers through their paces. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
  • Running a Billion Workflows a month with Netflix Conductor
    We used wrk2, a fantastic tool to generate stable load on the server. Wrk2 improves on wrk and adds the ability to generate sustained load at a specific rate (-R parameter). - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
  • So how does WSGI concurrency work?
    I am using a tool called wrk to make a bunch of requests to my website, and changing the concurrency of the requests drastically changes the result, with concurrency set to 1, I get 894 requests made in 10 seconds, and when I set concurrency to 10, I get 8549 requests. This linear scaling stops when increasing the concurrency more drastically (18805 requests for 100 and 19814 for 500 concurrency). Source: about 2 years ago
  • TcpSocket read error (with wrk)
    Im creating multithreaded async http server for learning purposes and I'm facing problem when benchmarking with wrk. I get socket read errors on every connection:. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing gatling.io and wrk, you can also consider the following products

locust - An open source load testing tool written in Python.

Apache JMeter - Apache JMeter™.

Loader.io - Loader.io is a simple cloud-based load testing service

Zinc - Automated hiring tools to empower applicants 🙌

k6 Cloud - Managed load testing service built on top of the popular open-source project k6.

Workable - Hire better with Workable. Post to the top job boards and enjoy a simple, intuitive applicant tracking system, made for teams. Start a free trial today.