Overview

k6

Stacks218

Followers226

Votes56

Wrk

Stacks8

Followers11

Votes0

Wrk vs k6: What are the differences?

Key Differences between Wrk and k6

In this section, we will explore the key differences between Wrk and k6 in terms of their performance testing capabilities.

Installation and Setup: Wrk is a command-line tool that requires manual installation and setup on the system. On the other hand, k6 provides a seamless installation process with downloadable binaries for various operating systems, making it easier and quicker to set up and start testing.
Scripting Language: Wrk utilizes Lua scripting language for creating test scenarios, which may require some learning curve for users not familiar with Lua. In contrast, k6 supports JavaScript, a widely adopted and easy-to-use scripting language, making it more accessible and convenient for a larger user base.
Metrics and Reporting: Wrk primarily focuses on providing basic performance metrics like requests per second and latency. On the other hand, k6 offers a comprehensive set of metrics that include not only basic performance metrics but also various advanced metrics, such as error rates, response time distribution, and custom metrics. k6 also provides built-in HTML and JSON reports for better visualization and analysis of test results.
HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2 Support: Wrk is primarily targeted for HTTP/1.1 requests and does not have built-in support for HTTP/2. On the other hand, k6 supports both HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2 protocols, allowing users to test the performance of modern web applications leveraging the benefits of HTTP/2.
Concurrency and Load Generation: Wrk allows users to set the desired level of concurrency and generates load accordingly. However, load generation in Wrk is limited to the single machine it is running on. In contrast, k6 not only allows users to set concurrency levels but also provides distributed load generation capabilities, enabling testing at scale across multiple machines.
Extensibility and Customization: Wrk offers limited extensibility options, allowing users to only modify certain aspects of the tool. On the other hand, k6 is highly extensible and customizable, providing a rich ecosystem of community-contributed extensions, plugins, and integration with other tools, enabling users to tailor their performance testing workflows according to their specific needs.

In summary, k6 offers a more user-friendly installation process, supports JavaScript as a scripting language, provides comprehensive metrics and reporting capabilities, supports both HTTP/1.1 and HTTP/2 protocols, offers distributed load generation, and is highly extensible and customizable compared to Wrk.

Advice on k6, Wrk

Aravinth

SSE

Nov 19, 2019

Needs advice

I want to do performance testing with HTTP protocol but the test script should be java script. For now, I kept "Artillery" and "K6" tools in my queue. Did you guys have any idea about this? Is there any tools which support Test script language: JavaScript Protocol: Http/web service Must Feature: Record OS: Mac os/windows

84.4k views84.4k

Comments

Detailed Comparison

k6	Wrk
It is a developer centric open source load testing tool for testing the performance of your backend infrastructure. It’s built with Go and JavaScript to integrate well into your development workflow.	It is a hiring platform that provides an affordable way for small businesses to get a handle on their hiring process—a seamless set of features to create custom job posts and application forms, manage incoming candidates, and document the entire journey.
Written in Go and JavaScript, built to integrate well into the modern developer workflow and automation pipelines; Primarily for load testing, it also works for functional testing of APIs and microservices with its powerful JS ES6 based scripting API; Straightforward CLI, sharing many UX aspects with the DevOps tools you already use	Applicant tracking system; Hosted job board; Hosted application forms; Candidate tracking; Candidate documentation
Statistics
Stacks 218	Stacks 8
Followers 226	Followers 11
Votes 56	Votes 0
Pros & Cons
Pros 13 Fits nicely in a CI workflow 11 Test scripts are written in javascript 11 Open-source 11 It's code-first 10 Easy to use Cons 3 Requires bundling and transpiling to use npm packages	No community feedback yet
Integrations
Kafka Linux Grafana InfluxDB macOS Datadog Debian Windows JSON	No integrations available

What are some alternatives to k6, Wrk?

Locust

Locust is an easy-to-use, distributed, user load testing tool. Intended for load testing web sites (or other systems) and figuring out how many concurrent users a system can handle.

Gatling

Gatling is a highly capable load testing tool. It is designed for ease of use, maintainability and high performance. Out of the box, Gatling comes with excellent support of the HTTP protocol that makes it a tool of choice for load testing any HTTP server. As the core engine is actually protocol agnostic, it is perfectly possible to implement support for other protocols. For example, Gatling currently also ships JMS support.

Loader.io

Loader.io is a free load testing service that allows you to stress test your web-apps/apis with thousands of concurrent connections.

BlazeMeter

Simulate any user scenario for webapps, websites, mobile apps or web services. 100% Apache JMeter compatible. Scalable from 1 to 1,000,000+ concurrent users.<br>

Apache JMeter

It is open source software, a 100% pure Java application designed to load test functional behavior and measure performance. It was originally designed for testing Web Applications but has since expanded to other test functions.

RedLine13

It is a load testing platform that brings the low cost power of the cloud to JMeter and other open source load testing tools.

AWS Device Farm

Run tests across a large selection of physical devices in parallel from various manufacturers with varying hardware, OS versions and form factors.

Flood IO

Performance testing with Flood increases customer satisfaction and confidence in your production apps and reduces business risk.

Blitz

Build bulletproof, scalable solutions with Blitz - a simple and fun service for load testing web apps and APIs in the cloud. Blitz offers powerful yet simple capabilities including continuous monitoring, performance testing and remediation. Blitz enables you to instantly burst up to 50,000 concurrent users against your app in seconds from multiple points of presence around the world.

BambooHR

It collects and organizes all the information you gather throughout the employee life cycle, then helps you use it to achieve great things. Whether you’re hiring, onboarding, preparing compensation, or building culture, BambooHR gives you the time and insights to focus on your most important asset—your people.