TOOL REVIEW / ACTIVE

Artillery

Artillery Software

Protocol/API Load Open Source Self-hosted REVIEWED general pick

REVIEWED · 2026-09-17 · HANDS-ON

MAINTAINED BY · Artillery

Official site ↗ Source repo ↗
Pricing model
Free open-source core; commercial cloud features available.
First released
2016
Last verified
READ THE Artillery REVIEW → Artillery is the JavaScript load tool that leans on YAML. 2026-09-17 · HANDS-ON
Answer

Artillery is a modern, powerful, and easy-to-use performance and reliability testing toolkit designed to ship scalable applications that remain performant under load. It supports full-stack testing, including load testing, scalable Playwright E2E testing, and production monitoring in one toolkit. It is designed to be incrementally adoptable and uses a "batteries-included" philosophy to prioritize developer experience.

What it is

Artillery is a modern, powerful, and easy-to-use performance and reliability testing toolkit designed to ship scalable applications that remain performant under load. It supports full-stack testing, including load testing, scalable Playwright E2E testing, and production monitoring in one toolkit. It is designed to be incrementally adoptable and uses a "batteries-included" philosophy to prioritize developer experience.

Features

  • Distributed load testing with zero infrastructure management required
  • Built-in support for HTTP, WebSocket, and Socket.io protocols
  • Plugin system for additional protocol support (e.g., HLS, Kinesis, Kafka)
  • Supports running tests on AWS (Lambda/Fargate) or Azure (ACI) directly from user accounts
  • Automatic metric aggregation and cost reporting for tests
  • Support for complex test scenarios using TypeScript/JavaScript

Best for

  • API and protocol throughput or latency campaigns
  • Teams that prefer open-source licensing and self-hosting options
  • Groups comfortable scripting in JavaScript, TypeScript

Not the best fit when

  • Teams unwilling to operate generators, results storage, and scaling

Architecture and concurrency

Artillery is commonly operated as self-hosted software with scenario authoring in JavaScript, TypeScript. Concurrency and distribution depend on how you size workers or injectors.

Fact sheet

Specs

Scripting
JavaScriptTypeScript
Protocols
HTTPHTTPSWebSocketSocket.IOMQTT
Operating systems
WindowsmacOSLinux
Tags
nodejsapijavascript
Repo health
★ 9066 · last push 2026-08-26

Latest release

The Artillery changelog tracks feature updates and improvements for Artillery CLI and Artillery Cloud, including updates to the HTTP engine, Playwright integration, AWS Fargate/Lambda support, Slack plugin, and reporting dashboard enhancements. Specific version numbers and dates are not explicitly detailed in the provided documentation format.

Pricing

Artillery offers a free Developer plan ($0/month), a Team plan ($199/month), and a Scale plan ($499/month). Enterprise add-ons are available starting at $1199/month. Annual subscription options offer a 20% savings. Subscriptions are also available via AWS Marketplace.

Sources

SHOW SOURCES

LAST VERIFIED · 2026-08-11 · GROUNDED VIA EXA · CURATED BY NAVEENKUMAR NAMACHIVAYAM

Frequently asked

ANSWER-SHAPED
Who is Artillery for?

Artillery is best for engineers focused on API and protocol-level throughput and latency. It is open source, so teams can self-host and extend it. Vendor: Artillery Software. Deployment model: self-hosted. Free open-source core; commercial cloud features available. Confirm details against the official site and a short proof-of-concept in your environment.

How does Artillery differ from Drill?

Compared with Drill, scripting centers on JavaScript, TypeScript rather than Rust, YAML. Artillery lists protocols HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket, Socket.IO, MQTT; Drill lists HTTP, HTTPS. Status is active versus active. Use the Test Rig to compare full specs side by side before a proof-of-concept.

What scripting language and concurrency model does Artillery use?

Artillery uses JavaScript, TypeScript for scripting or scenario definition. Runtime model: code-first scenarios where virtual users execute scripted behavior under load. OS support: Windows, macOS, Linux. Protocols: HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket, Socket.IO, MQTT. Match these to how your team already authors tests and which systems you must drive under load.

What is the cloud or enterprise path for Artillery?

Artillery is primarily self-hosted; teams typically run generators on their own machines, CI runners, or private cloud. Plan for generator capacity, network access to targets, and result storage yourself. As open source, commercial support or hosted siblings may exist separately. Check the official site. Pricing note: Free open-source core; commercial cloud features available.

What are known limitations of Artillery?

Artillery limitations to weigh: self-hosted tools require you to provision, scale, and observe load generators yourself. Status: active. Always validate against your target protocols and scale with a proof-of-concept. Confirm details against the official site and a short proof-of-concept in your environment.