Locust vs Vegeta
Locust
locust.ioVegeta
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Locust | Vegeta |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Performance Testing Software | 7.7 (#23) | 7.8 (#22) |
| Spec score · Load Testing Software | 7.6 (#10) | 7.9 (#8) |
| Installation | The documented installation method is pip install locust, with uvx also offered as an alternative. | The README lists precompiled executables, Homebrew and MacPorts for macOS, pacman for Arch Linux, and a FreeBSD package. |
| License | Locust is licensed under the MIT license. | The GitHub repository identifies the project as MIT licensed. |
| Purpose | Locust is an open-source performance and load testing tool for HTTP and other protocols. | Vegeta is an HTTP load testing tool built to test HTTP services at a constant request rate. |
Plans
In their own words
Locust
Locust is an open-source performance and load testing tool for HTTP and other protocols. Test scenarios are written in Python, with regular Python libraries available for use within them. Tests can run from the command line or web interface, which displays throughput, response times, and errors in real time; results can be exported for later analysis. The interface shows progress and lets users change load during a run. Locust can distribute tests across multiple machines and says it can support hundreds of thousands of concurrent users. Other systems and protocols can be tested by adding a client, and documentation lists community extensions for protocols and reporting. Optional OpenTelemetry support exports traces, metrics, and logs to compatible backends such as OTLP, Prometheus, Jaeger, and Tempo. Automatic instrumentation currently covers the requests library. Installation is documented with pip install locust or uvx. Locust is free and MIT-licensed. Its documentation also describes hosted load testing through Azure Load Testing, with reporting, Application Insights integration, and CI/CD support for Azure DevOps and GitHub Actions.
Vegeta
Vegeta is a free, open-source HTTP load-testing tool and Go library that sends requests at a constant rate. Its command-line interface is built for UNIX-style composition, while the library offers use from Go programs. The project states that its load measurements avoid coordinated omission and that distributed testing is supported. Reports can be written as text, JSON, histograms, or HDR plots, and results can also be encoded as CSV, Gob, or JSON. The attack command can expose an optional Prometheus exporter. HTTP/2 works when supported by the server, including HTTP/2 over TCP without TLS. TLS options include client certificates and keys, custom root certificates, and ignoring invalid server certificates. The documented request timeout defaults to 30 seconds, with zero disabling timeouts. Prebuilt binaries, package-manager installs, distribution packages, and source builds are documented for Linux, macOS, Windows, API use, and self-hosting. The repository uses the MIT license.