7 Top gRPC Load Testing Tools

Sona Hakobyan

If you’re working with gRPC, you already know how important it is to test your system’s performance under real-world conditions. Whether you’re managing microservices or building real-time applications, the tools you use for testing can either save you time or create headaches.

So, let’s not waste any time and go directly to the best gRPC testing tools our experts handpicked for you!

gRPC Performance Testing Tools Comparison

Choosing the right gRPC performance testing tools depends on your specific needs—whether it’s scalability, ease of use, or advanced features. This comparison highlights the core features, usability, support, and pricing of the top gRPC testing tools to help you decide which one best fits your requirements.

gRPC load testing tools comparison:

Common Usage of gRPC

gRPC, short for Google Remote Procedure Call, is a high-performance, open-source communication framework developed by Google. It allows systems to communicate with each other seamlessly, regardless of the programming languages or platforms they use. Built on HTTP/2, gRPC is known for its efficiency, bi-directional streaming capabilities, and low latency. It’s particularly suited for distributed systems, where fast and reliable communication between different services is essential.

At its core, gRPC uses protocol buffers (Protobuf) for data serialization, which makes it faster and more compact than traditional text-based formats like JSON or XML. This framework has quickly become a favorite in modern architecture due to its flexibility and ability to scale effortlessly.

Because of its high performance and scalability, gRPC is widely used in various domains, each leveraging its unique features:

List of 7 Best gRPC Load Testing Tools 

When it comes to testing gRPC performance, having the best load testing tools can make a significant difference. Below is a detailed list of the best gRPC load testing tools, including their features, advantages, and pricing, to help you find the one that fits your needs.

1. PFLB

Visit PFLB Website

PFLB is a cloud-based load testing solution specifically designed for large-scale performance testing. It enables developers to simulate high loads across distributed systems, making it an ideal tool for testing gRPC services. With Postman integration, PFLB simplifies the process of importing API configurations and provides preconfigured load testing infrastructure, saving developers weeks of setup time.

Key Features

Advantages

Pricing
PFLB is a cloud-based subscription solution, so you only pay for what you use. A free license allows up to 5 test runs, while pricing for more tests starts at $50 per month. 

2. ghz

Visit ghz GitHub Repository

ghz is one of the open-source gRPC benchmarking tools known for its simplicity and effectiveness. It allows developers to run performance tests directly from the command line, offering valuable insights into request rates, latency, and error rates. For individual developers or small projects, ghz is a reliable, lightweight solution for gRPC performance testing.

Key Features

Advantages

While ghz is a great entry-level tool, it’s limited in scalability and lacks certain productivity-enhancing features. PFLB, on the other hand, is designed for larger-scale, enterprise-level testing. Its cloud-based architecture enables distributed load testing, simulating millions of real-world requests—a feature ghz doesn’t offer. Additionally, Postman integration in PFLB streamlines the process of importing APIs, eliminating manual configurations and saving significant time during setup.

Pricing
Free (open source).

3. Kreya

Visit Kreya Website

Kreya is a modern API performance testing tool that supports gRPC and RESTful APIs. Its intuitive interface and advanced debugging capabilities make it a popular choice for developers working with complex gRPC services.

Key Features

Advantages

Pricing
Free with optional premium features.

4. Postman

Visit Postman Website

Postman is a widely recognized API development and testing tool, now equipped with support for gRPC APIs. It’s an excellent option for developers who already use Postman for RESTful APIs and want to extend their testing capabilities to gRPC.

Key Features

Advantages

Pricing
Free for basic use; paid plans start at $14/user/month.

5. K6

Visit K6 Website

K6 is one of the modern, open-source gRPC load simulation tools designed for developers and DevOps teams. Known for its simplicity and high performance, K6 supports testing gRPC services alongside other protocols, making it a powerful choice for large-scale benchmarking. With its script-based approach, K6 allows users to define detailed performance scenarios to simulate real-world workloads effectively.

Key Features

Advantages

Pricing
Free and open-source with additional paid cloud features available starting at $19/month.

6. JMeter with gRPC Plugin

Visit JMeter Website

JMeter, a widely recognized open-source load testing tool, can be extended to test gRPC services using the gRPC Plugin. This combination makes JMeter a powerful solution for simulating high-performance workloads on gRPC-based systems. With its comprehensive load testing capabilities and flexible configurations, JMeter with the gRPC Plugin provides a versatile and effective approach to validating gRPC services under stress.

Key Features

Advantages

Pricing
Free and open source.

7. strest-grpc

Visit strest-grpc GitHub Repository

strest-grpc is a specialized load testing tool for gRPC services, designed to validate the scalability and performance of your APIs under stress. Built with simplicity in mind, strest-grpc allows developers to define load scenarios and execute high-volume tests to identify bottlenecks in gRPC services. Its focus on gRPC makes it an excellent choice for teams looking to ensure the reliability of their applications in production environments.

Key Features

Advantages

Pricing
Free (open source).

Consider PFLB Your Best gRPC Load Testing Tool Provider

When it comes to gRPC load testing tool, PFLB stands out as a leader in delivering scalable and reliable solutions for performance validation. 

With our cloud-based infrastructure and Postman integration, we simplify the complex process of testing high-performance gRPC systems, saving developers weeks of effort. Our platform is designed to handle enterprise-scale gRPC applications, ensuring they perform flawlessly under real-world conditions.

Why Choose PFLB for gRPC Load Testing?

PFLB Load Testing Case Studies

NOV enhances real-time drilling data with PFLB load testing

NOV, a global leader in oil and gas solutions, faced performance issues with its CTES Max Completions brand under heavy user loads. To resolve this, NOV partnered with PFLB for customized load testing.

Challenge identified

Bottleneck in SQL Server interactions causing delays.

Solution:

PFLB engineers collaborated closely with NOV to design a tailored load testing strategy. Using PFLB’s in-house platform, they conducted rigorous load and stress tests. These tests uncovered a critical bottleneck in the SQL Server database’s interaction with the application server, triggered by multiple Async Network IO wait events under heavy load. This analysis enabled NOV to pinpoint and address the issue effectively, ensuring the tool’s scalability for real-time data delivery.

Knowledge transfer

NOV gained the ability to perform future tests independently.

Read full case

How Load Testing Helped Texans Survive Power Outages During a Storm

Pedernales Electric Cooperative (PEC), the largest electric distribution cooperative in Texas, faced a critical need to ensure the reliability of its Storm Center and Outage Reporting & Status (OR&S) systems.

Challenge Identified

PEC needed to test both systems under a load of 10,000 virtual users within a week. Complex dependencies on external contractors like KUBRA, who provided the infrastructure, added to the challenge.

Solution:

PFLB collaborated with PEC and KUBRA to conduct real-time load testing. They developed user scenarios to simulate outages, configured load scenarios, and managed IP whitelisting to avoid throttling. Testing uncovered performance issues, including spikes in response time under peak loads, providing PEC with actionable insights to enhance system reliability.

Result:

PEC received a comprehensive performance report and vital insights, enabling them to deploy optimized systems. PEC is now equipped to independently manage future performance testing, ensuring preparedness for heavy user loads during storms.

Read full case

Conclusion

Testing your services is about making sure your systems can handle the pressure of real-world use. Whether you’re working on microservices, IoT devices, or real-time streaming, choosing the right tool makes all the difference. 

Tools like ghz and gRPC UI are great for smaller-scale testing, but when it comes to large-scale performance and load testing, PFLB truly shines. Its cloud-based infrastructure, Postman integration, and real-time analytics make it the go-to solution for developers and teams looking to take their gRPC applications to the next level.

Let PFLB help you take your load testing to the next level.