ApacheBench sends configurable concurrent HTTP requests and summarizes throughput and timing. It is useful for simple endpoint benchmarks, not multi-step user journeys.
About
ApacheBench (ab) is an open-source command-line tool designed for benchmarking HTTP servers, specifically to measure the number of requests per second that an Apache installation can serve. It is bundled as a support program with the Apache HTTP Server distribution.
Features
- Benchmarking HTTP servers for requests per second throughput
- Support for HTTP KeepAlive
- Custom HTTP methods and headers
- SSL/TLS protocol specification
- Capability to export results to gnuplot or TSV files
- POST and PUT data support
- Proxy server support with basic authentication
- Configurable verbosity levels
Pricing
Free and open-source (distributed under the Apache License 2.0)
Author / Company
Apache Software Foundation
Latest release
2.3 · 2021
Sources
- ApacheBench - benchmark tool - LinuxLinks ↗
- ab - Apache HTTP server benchmarking tool - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.4 ↗
- ApacheBench ↗
- 2.4.x/support/ab.c - httpd - Git at Google ↗
- ApacheBench (ab): How to Load Test an API from the Terminal ↗
- ab - Apache HTTP server benchmarking tool - Apache HTTP Server Version 2.5 ↗
GROUNDED VIA EXA · 2026-08-11