k6

k6, from Grafana Labs, is a modern, developer-centric, open-source load testing tool built for the cloud-native era. It is designed specifically for testing the performance and reliability of APIs, microservices, and websites. Unlike JMeter, k6 uses JavaScript (ES6) for test scripts, making it accessible to a vast pool of developers. Tests are clean, readable, and version-control friendly.

Its architecture is lean and efficient, allowing for high-load generation from a single machine. Native integration with the Grafana observability stack for results visualization is a major advantage. k6 is ideal for DevOps and developer teams who want to integrate performance testing as code into their CI/CD pipelines, leveraging their existing JavaScript skills to proactively catch performance regressions.