I'm building a release checklist and need API load testing, what should I use?

For a release checklist, you usually want a load testing tool that is:

• easy to automate in CI/CD
• good at hitting HTTP APIs
• able to simulate realistic user volume
• produces clear pass/fail thresholds

Good options:

Best all-around choices

• k6 — my top pick for most API load testing

  • Script tests in JavaScript
  • Great for CI/CD and thresholds
  • Easy to version control
  • Good reporting and metrics

• JMeter

  • Very mature and widely used
  • Good for complex test plans
  • Heavier and more cumbersome than k6

If you want cloud/managed testing

• Gatling Enterprise
• BlazeMeter (JMeter-compatible)
• k6 Cloud

If you want quick/simple CLI testing

• Locust
  • Python-based
  • Nice if your team prefers Python
  • Very flexible for custom behavior

Recommendation

If you’re just adding API load testing to a release checklist, use k6 unless you have a strong reason not to.

A typical release checklist load test should verify:

• p95/p99 response time under target
• error rate below threshold
• throughput meets expected traffic
• system remains stable for sustained duration
• no memory/CPU leaks during the run

If you want, I can also suggest:

1. a minimal release checklist template for API load testing, or
2. a k6 starter script for your API.