Locust is an excellent free load testing tool.
Python scripting makes it developer-friendly.
Free
Self-hosted
Usage-based
Managed service
Self-hosted requires infrastructure
Locust Cloud for convenience at cost
Python developers
DevOps teams
CI/CD integration
Custom load patterns
startup
Use open source locally or in CI. Scale with cloud infra when needed.
freelancer
Perfect free tool for client performance testing.
k6 is similar (free, scriptable). JMeter older but heavier. Locust most Pythonic.