What is our primary use case?
BlazeMeter is user-friendly and excellent. My company prefers the licensed version of BlazeMeter, which I occasionally use for scripting and designing on the CentOS site, specifically for creating real-world scenarios.
In LoadRunner, we currently cannot create realistic user load behavior as effectively.
I use BlazeMeter occasionally, depending on the project. It's not used for everything but when necessary, especially with JMeter, for specific testing scenarios. So, my use cases depend on and vary according to the project.
How has it helped my organization?
In load testing, BlazeMeter is utilized to create realistic user behavior. It's particularly friendly for web LoadRunner users, providing proper pacing and timing control.
Moreover, it allows for comprehensive control over user behavior across scripts, such as ramp-up and steady-state phases, which is crucial for conducting incremental load tests and more. This level of control isn't as easily achievable with other tools, but with JMeter and BlazeMeter, it's possible.
Incremental load testing is a type of test you can perform with JMeter. It's a technique that isn't straightforward without BlazeMeter. BlazeMeter facilitates this process.
What is most valuable?
In our company, various teams use BlazeMeter, particularly appreciating its cloud license software, which supports up to 5,000 users.
BlazeMeter's cloud capabilities allow us to load test or simulate traffic from any location worldwide, such as Europe, North America, South America, Australia, and even specific cities like Delhi. So, with one cloud license, we can simulate user load from various locations globally.
This global simulation capability is a significant advantage of holding a cloud license with BlazeMeter.
We also tried the ShiftLeft testing approach with BlazeMeter.
What needs improvement?
An area for improvement could be enhancing BlazeMeter's integration with automation scripts.
It would be beneficial if BlazeMeter could support automation frameworks more effectively, including the use of Selenium scripts for both manual and automated load testing.
Integration is one of the things lacking in BlazeMeter compared to some newer options. A lot of products are coming out, and BlazeMeter pricing is a factor.
For example, LoadStorm by Neustar is integrated with built-in APMs. It won't capture all server stats, but it will collect the minimum important aspects – CPU consumption, utilization rate, and how much a single server is being stressed. If BlazeMeter offered similar functionality, it would be fantastic.
For how long have I used the solution?
I started using it almost four years ago and continue to use it as needed.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I would rate the stability a six out of ten. It's good. But one suggestion – people tend to rate based on cost these days. Because of that pricing, there are a lot of other new technologies on the market. That's why some people integrate BlazeMeter with an Application Performance Monitor (APM) tool, like Elastic Search or Elastic module. You can pull anything, even CPU utilization or memory usage, by installing agents.
It's actually really good.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
BlazeMeter is a scalable product. It's user-friendly and easy to operate, which I find appealing.
I would rate the scalability a seven out of ten.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I used Micro Focus LoadRunner. I transitioned from my previous company to a different company. In my previous company, they used LoadRunner for customer projects, with a license for around 500 users.
I've faced a lot of issues with LoadRunner. Even with proper Java configuration, it throws exceptions when I run the first couple of servers. Because of that, I had to use a different VM and install everything from scratch. After that, things worked smoothly with BlazeMeter.
Additionally, I utilize JMeter for several products and Webber out of curiosity.
How was the initial setup?
The setup process for BlazeMeter is simple.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The pricing is manageable. It is not that big. Big companies won't mind the licensing costs. However, Neustar has more reasonable pricing.
Most people don't prefer Neustar, but it is a good solution.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
I specialize in load testing, so I use both LoadRunner and BlazeMeter in parallel.
I've previously worked with other tools like Neustar, where we were able to simulate load similarly. A noteworthy aspect of these tools is the ability to integrate automation scripts for load testing, which enhances their utility.
Neustar is actually replacing LoadRunner in our current environment. If we want to do both automation and load testing, I would choose Nustar. We can create Selenium scripts directly in Neustar, and automation engineers can use Selenium to create scripts that can then be called within Neustar.
What other advice do I have?
BlazeMeter meets our needs well. It performs admirably for our purposes.
Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. I would recommend using this solution to other users.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud