Apache Benchmark

Apache Benchmark

Apache Benchmark (ab) is an open-source tool for benchmarking the performance of HTTP web servers. It allows users to measure response times, requests per second, and other metrics to test a server's load capacity and performance under different conditions.
Network & Admin Web Server Tools
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Apache Benchmark alternatives ➤

Apache Benchmark (ab)

Apache Benchmark (ab) is an open-source tool for benchmarking the performance of HTTP web servers. It allows users to measure response times, requests per second, and other metrics to test a server's load capacity and performance under different conditions.

What is Apache Benchmark?

Apache Benchmark (ab) is an open-source command-line tool for benchmarking the performance of HTTP web servers. It is distributed as part of the Apache HTTP server project and is commonly installed alongside the Apache web server. ab allows users to simulate requests to test the responsiveness, throughput capacity, and scalability of a web server under a variable load.

Some key features and uses of ab include:

  • Measuring a web server's requests per second capacity and response times under different concurrency levels
  • Testing how a web server performs as the number of simultaneous connections increases
  • Comparing the load handling capabilities of different web servers or web server configurations
  • Generating basic HTTP workloads to analyze application code performance and bottlenecks
  • Identifying the maximum number of concurrent users a web server can handle before performance degrades

ab runs from the command line and generates a specified number of requests from one single machine to the target web server. Reports include metrics like requests per second, time per request, percentage of failed requests, and more. It also supports HTTP protocols like HTTPS and can reuse TCP connections to better simulate browser behavior. While simple, ab provides an easy way to generate and test varying user loads on a web server.

Apache Benchmark Features

Features

  1. Load testing tool for web servers
  2. Measures requests per second and response times
  3. Can simulate multiple concurrent requests
  4. Supports HTTP/HTTPS protocols
  5. Command-line interface
  6. Cross-platform (Windows, Linux, etc)

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Free and open source

Lightweight and easy to use

Wide platform support

Can benchmark any HTTP/HTTPS server

Allows load testing from a single machine

Cons

Only supports basic HTTP requests

Limited reporting compared to other tools

Not ideal for complex application benchmarking

No GUI interface

Official Links

Official Website
https://httpd.apache.org/docs/current/programs/...

The Best Apache Benchmark Alternatives

Top Network & Admin and Web Server Tools and other similar apps like Apache Benchmark

Here are some alternatives to Apache Benchmark:

Apache JMeter icon
Apache JMeter
Siege icon
Siege
Locust icon
locust
Gatling.io icon
Gatling.io
Wrk icon
wrk
HTTPulse icon
HTTPulse
Suggest an alternative ❐

Apache JMeter icon

Apache JMeter

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Siege icon

Siege

Siege is an open source load testing and benchmarking utility designed specifically to test web applications. It allows developers to simulate a large number of concurrent users accessing a web application to test its performance and stability under heavy load.Some key features of Siege include:Ability to simulate hundreds or thousands...
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Locust

Locust is an open source load testing and performance testing tool written in Python. It is designed to test the performance of web applications by simulating a large number of concurrent users making requests.Some key features of Locust:Simulates thousands of concurrent users making requests to target web appsCan generate various...
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Gatling.io

Gatling.io is an open-source load and performance testing framework based on Scala, Akka and Netty. It provides a domain-specific language (DSL) to model user behavior and create scenarios that simulate load on a system.Some key features of Gatling include:Support for standard protocols like HTTP, WebSocket, JMS, MQTT etc.Advanced assertion capabilities...
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Wrk icon

Wrk

wrk is an open-source HTTP benchmarking and load testing application. It was created by Will Glozer and is written in C with LuaJIT. wrk is designed to apply a specified user-configurable rate of requests to a target web application to measure performance.Some key features and capabilities of wrk include:Lightweight and...
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HTTPulse icon

HTTPulse

HTTPulse is an open-source web debugging proxy and HTTP monitor designed for developers and testers. It sits between web applications and backend servers to intercept all HTTP and HTTPS communication.Key features of HTTPulse include:Inspecting all HTTP requests and responses with full headers, params, cookies, and bodiesModifying requests and responses on...
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HailStorm icon

HailStorm

HailStorm is an open-source distributed load testing tool used to test the performance and reliability of web applications and services under heavy load. It allows engineers to generate high volumes of simulated traffic from globally distributed servers to identify system bottlenecks, performance issues, and capacity limitations.Some key features of HailStorm...
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Kraken By octoPerf icon

Kraken By octoPerf

Kraken is an open source load and API testing tool created by octoPerf. It is designed to be lightweight, easy to use, and enable developers to simulate heavy user load on web applications in order to measure overall system performance, reliability and scalability.Some key features of Kraken include:Ability to create...