GATLING  VS  K6

Running the load test
is the easy part

k6 and Gatling both generate load efficiently, that argument is over. The difference is everything after the run: AI that reads your results across runs, SLOs you set visually, campaign scores your leadership can track.

In Java,JavaScript, TypeScript, Kotlin, or Scala.
‍

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k6 fits the team that writes JavaScript. Gatling is built for the whole engineering organization.

If your entire stack is JS and you live in Grafana, k6 is a genuinely good tool, and we say it twice on this page. But most engineering organizations aren't one language, one dashboard, and one team. That's the gap this comparison is about.

k6 + Grafana Cloud

JavaScript-only, Grafana-native, strongest inside that ecosystem.

Gatling Community + Gatling Enterprise

Open-source core, enterprise platform, built only for performance.

Scripting in JavaScript or TypeScript. A fit if your team writes JS, a wall if it doesn't.

Protocol-level load plus real-browser user journeys with Web Vitals.

Single dependency-free binary; Projects group tests, but carry no score or trend across them.

Metrics exploration through Grafana Explore. Powerful, if Grafana is already your stack.

Test-as-code in Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, Kotlin, and Scala. The same repo, build, and review flow as your app.

60,000 virtual users or 300,000 requests/second per load generator. 5M+ concurrent users on a 20-generator fleet.

HTTP/S, WebSockets, SSE, gRPC, MQTT, JMS natively, plus Kafka, AMQP, and JDBC databases via plugins.

After the run: AI analysis, SLO compliance, trends, comparisons, and a campaign score that moves over time.

An engine that doesn't waste a single CPU cycle

A single machine caps out around 64,000 concurrent sockets per target. Gatling’s engine is built to use nearly all of them.

60,000 VUs300,000 req/s per generator

Netty-based non-blocking I/O saturates the socket ceiling instead of stalling on threads.

0 threadsper virtual user

Fully async virtual users use a fraction of the CPU and memory of thread-per-user tools. Fewer machines, same traffic.

Full TLSthroughput under bursts

BoringSSL and persistent connection reuse, no TIME_WAIT stalls, no handshake collapse on HTTPS-heavy traffic.

5M+ VUson 20 load generators

Linear fleet scaling, Gatling-managed on AWS, or self-managed on AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, OpenShift, and on-prem.

BEYOND THE RUN

Stop reading charts.
‍Start reading results.

Gatling Enterprise Edition is built for everything that happens after the loadhits: understanding what broke, whether it's getting worse, and proving to the business that reliability is improving.

AI analysis

One click after every run: what broke, what slowed down, what to fix first. Across runs, the AI tells you whether a regression is new or chronic, with a confidence level, not a shrug.

Service Level Objectives

Pick a percentile (50th to 99.9999th) or an error ratio, set the target, stack asmany as you need. Every run comes back compliant or not.

Campaigns and scores

A composite score per test and per campaign for multiple tests (Methodology, Objectives, Confidence) tracked over time with deltas.

Injection profile builder

Ramps, plateaus, staircases built visually, previewed live, without touching your scenario code. Change the load shape, not the script.

MCP server and AI skills

Your coding agent gets live access to your Gatling Enterprise account: itconfigures, deploys, and starts tests with the right settings, from your IDE.

Migration agents

AI converts your JMeter and LoadRunner scripts into Gatling tests. Years of test assets move with you, nobody rewrites them by hand.

Gatling vs k6
Feature-by-feature comparison

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Gatling

k6

Edge

Architecture & Protocols

Concurrency & capacity

Native protocol support

Extended protocol support

Non-blocking Netty engine; up to 60,000 VUs or 300,000 req/s per generator
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HTTP, HTTP/2, WebSockets, Server-Sent Events, gRPC, JMS, MQTT
Kafka, AMQP, JDBC databases, FTP/SFTP via third-party plugins
Go engine (goroutines); high concurrency per generator
HTTP/1.1, HTTP/2, WebSockets, gRPC, browser
SQL, Kafka, MQTT, AMQP, Redis and more via xk6 extensions (require building a custom k6 binary)
Gatling
Gatling
Tied

Developer experience

Scripting languages

Build tool integration

No-code / low-code option

Injection profile builder

CLI-driven workflow

Java, JavaScript, TypeScript, Scala, Kotlin
Native Maven, Gradle, sbt plugins
Gatling Studio web recorder + no-code test builder (Enterprise)
Visual builder: ramps, plateaus, staircases, live timeline preview
CLI available; build-tool oriented
JavaScript, TypeScript
Single-binary CLI; integrates via any pipeline
k6 Studio desktop app (recorder + test generator, open source)
Load shape defined in code only (stages, executors)
Native, single-binary CLI
Gatling
Tied
Tied
Gatling
Tied

AI CAPABILITIES

AI-assisted test authoring

AI-powered results analysis

Agent-to-platform deployment

JMeter migration assistant

LoadRunner migration assistant

In-IDE AI Assistant generates, explains, and improves test;
MCP server + AI skills
AI Run Summary, Trend Analysis, Run Comparison: narrative verdicts
MCP + skills: validate, generate, and run tests via coding agent
AI-powered migration assistant
AI-powered migration assistant
k6 x agent / MCP bootstraps external AI coding assistants to write scripts
Explain Test Run Results only available at the run level
MCP server: validates, runs, and generates scripts via coding agent
No
No
Tied
Gatling
Tied
Gatling
Gatling

Open Source Core

License


Metrics collection

Apache License 2.0 (permissive)
Full-resolution capture: every request and response recorded as an individual event
AGPL-3.0 (copyleft)

Real-time metric streaming; summary statistics and granular metrics exportable
Gatling

Tied

METRICS, REPORTS & DASHBOARD

Metrics catalog breadth

Observability integrations

SLO management

Single-run scoring


Campaign-level scoring & multi-test tracking


Run trends over time


Multi-run comparison

25+ built-in metrics: network, TCP, TLS, DNS, GC, CPU/memory
5 named APM connectors: Datadog, Dynatrace, New Relic, InfluxDB, OpenTelemetry
Visual no-code SLO builder: percentile or error ratio, stack multiple
No per-test numeric score; results read as narrative

Campaign score aggregates multiple tests, tracked over time


Trends view over last 10 runs


Compare up to 5 runs, 11 metrics, one click from Run History
~18 built-in metrics: HTTP, VU, iteration, data transfer
Also exports to Datadog, Dynatrace, New Relic - direct competitors of parent Grafana Labs
Thresholds in code only (e.g. p(95)<500); fails the CI build
Cloud Insights scores every run 0-100 across 3 categories

Projects group tests, but carry no score or aggregated tracking


Customizable trending chart per test


Base-vs-target diff: overlaid charts, threshold and check comparison
Gatling
Gatling
Gatling
k6


Tied


Tied


Tied

Enterprise & Deployment

Self-hosted load generators

Managed cloud load generators

Multi-cloud / private mix

Maintenance overhead

Private locations on AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, and on-premises
Gatling-managed AWS regions worldwide; optional dedicated IPs
Combine managed + private locations in one test
Managed: fully managed, no patching. Self-managed: you provision AWS/Azure/GCP/K8s/on-prem
k6 Operator (Kubernetes-native, open source)
Grafana Cloud k6 managed load zones
Private via K8s Operator; broader reach needs Grafana Cloud
Managed: Grafana handles it. Self-managed: you provision the K8s cluster
Gatling
Tied
Gatling
Tied

Test Architecture

Load-test-as-a-service (SaaS)

Hybrid SaaS

Self-managed
load generators

Shift-left / CI-native testing

Maintainability

Yes (Gatling Enterprise Edition)
Yes: private locations report to the cloud control plane
Yes
Runs in the build pipeline via Maven, Gradle, or sbt
Test-as-code: versionable and refactorable across five languages
Yes (Grafana Cloud k6)
Yes: run locally, stream results to Grafana Cloud k6
Yes
Runs in any pipeline via the single CLI binary
Test-as-code: versionable, single language
Tied
Tied
Tied
Tied
Tied

Products & licensing

Organization

Guarantees

Gatling Corp - performance testing is the entire product
Open-source core + commercial license: enterprise support, SLAs, advisory services, feature co-development
Grafana Labs - k6 is one product within the observability suite
Open-source core + commercial license within Grafana Cloud
Gatling
Tied

Teams that switched
and what changed.

30M
concurrent users
JioStar
5M+ VUs
on 20 load generators
100,000 req/s
sustained in production
Bouygues Telecom
0 errors
at 100k RPS per service
Attentive
G2 Leader
Load Testing category

This year we rewrote our simulations in JavaScript so the whole team could really take ownership. It’s the most accessible language for our developers; and in e-commerce, we use it every day,

Loïc Chero
IT Leader, Tikamoon

Compared to other options, Gatling Enterprise Edition has helped us streamline performance testing in JS. It gave us visibility into key metrics we can now measure and improve, which helps us enhance our product for our customers.

Kundan Singh
Director of Product and Engineering, LoginRadius

Before Gatling, going live felt like crossing our fingers and hoping it held. Now we can simulate, measure, and move forward with clarity.

Nordine El Mojahid
Head of Digital IT, Tape à l'œil

Ready to
test with Gatling?

See how Gatling's engine, platform, AI features, and reporting tools can help you go beyond load testing.

Try Gatling Enterprise
Try Gatling Enterprise

Your all-in-one load testing platform

Design complex tests, manage global infrastructure, and turn results into action on one powerful platform.

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