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Goose

Free plan Self-hosted

What Goose is

Goose is a free, open-source load-testing tool for teams examining website performance and peak loads on pre-production infrastructure. It simulates traffic to expose bottlenecks and check scalability. The self-hosted, on-premise tool uses Rust applications built with the Goose library; users define behavior in Rust code, and requests use the Reqwest HTTP client. A single process can use all available CPU cores, while distributed tests follow a Manager and Worker model. Goose aggregates metrics and can produce reports with summaries, segmentations, and test-to-test comparisons. An opt-in web dashboard streams live metrics and may let authenticated users control a running test, although the Goose Book identifies a full control-and-monitoring interface as a missing feature in progress. Use cases include complex workflows, API load testing, regression testing, and capacity planning. Goose is inspired by Locust, licensed under Apache-2.0, and supports system-native TLS by default or configurable rustls. Browser-based testing is not supported.

Who it suits

Goose suits engineering teams that can write Rust and need self-hosted performance, API, regression, or capacity tests. It is aimed at pre-production infrastructure rather than browser testing.

What it does well

Open-source Apache-2.0 license
Rust tests can use all CPU cores
Supports Manager and Worker distributed tests
Aggregates metrics into comparison reports
Self-hosted and on-premise deployment

What to know first

Tests require Rust coding
Browser-based testing is not supported
Full control-and-monitoring UI remains in progress
Dashboard is opt-in

Verdict

Goose provides code-driven load testing with aggregated metrics and flexible deployment. Teams should consider its Rust workflow and incomplete control interface before adopting it.

Facts from Goose's own pages

Dashboard: The repository describes an opt-in web dashboard that streams live metrics and can optionally let authenticated users control a running test. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Dashboard limit: The Goose Book describes a UI for controlling and monitoring load tests as a missing feature that was a work in progress; it also mentions an optional HTML report. · book.goose.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Founded: 2007 · tag1.com, 28 Sept 2026
Headquarters: St. Petersburg, Florida, United States · tag1.com, 28 Sept 2026
How tests are written: Users define behavior in Rust code and build load tests as applications that depend on the Goose library. · book.goose.rs, 11 Oct 2026
HTTP client: Goose uses the Reqwest HTTP client to make web requests. · book.goose.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Implementation: Goose is written in Rust and inspired by the Python-based Locust framework. · tag1.com, 11 Oct 2026
Intended use: The maker describes Goose for teams that need to test site performance and peak loads on pre-production infrastructure. · tag1.com, 11 Oct 2026
License: The Goose repository lists the Apache-2.0 license. · github.com, 11 Oct 2026
Limit: The Goose Book says its biggest missing feature is a UI for controlling and monitoring tests, and describes that work as in progress. · book.goose.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Load generation: A single Goose process can use all available CPU cores, and distributed tests use a Manager and Worker model. · book.goose.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Metrics: Goose collects and aggregates metrics, with reports that can include summaries, segmentations, and test-to-test comparisons. · tag1.com, 11 Oct 2026
Performance: The Goose Book says Goose generates at least 11 times as much traffic as Locust per CPU core. · book.goose.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Purpose: Goose is an open-source load-testing tool that simulates real-world traffic to find performance bottlenecks and validate scalability. · tag1.com, 11 Oct 2026
Reports: Goose can produce automated reports with summaries, segmentations, and test-to-test comparisons. · tag1.com, 11 Oct 2026
Security: Goose uses the system-native TLS implementation by default and can be configured to use the Rust-based rustls implementation. · book.goose.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Support: The maker’s page links to the Goose Book, developer documentation, source code, and a way to contact a Goose expert. · tag1.com, 11 Oct 2026
Test authoring: Users define behavior in Rust code and build load tests as applications that depend on the Goose library. · book.goose.rs, 11 Oct 2026
Use cases: The Goose Book describes use cases including complex workflows, API load testing, performance regression testing, and capacity planning. · book.goose.rs, 11 Oct 2026

Where Goose stands on Freedom251

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