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Apache JMeter vs OpenText Silk Test comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Apache JMeter
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
97
Ranking in other categories
Performance Testing Tools (1st), Load Testing Tools (1st), API Testing Tools (3rd)
OpenText Silk Test
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.8
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
Functional Testing Tools (20th), Regression Testing Tools (8th), Test Automation Tools (17th)
 

Mindshare comparison

While both are Quality Assurance solutions, they serve different purposes. Apache JMeter is designed for Performance Testing Tools and holds a mindshare of 11.2%, down 24.0% compared to last year.
OpenText Silk Test, on the other hand, focuses on Functional Testing Tools, holds 1.8% mindshare, up 0.9% since last year.
Performance Testing Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Apache JMeter11.2%
OpenText Professional Performance Engineering (LoadRunner Professional)12.8%
Tricentis NeoLoad10.7%
Other65.3%
Performance Testing Tools
Functional Testing Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
OpenText Silk Test1.8%
Tricentis Tosca10.8%
OpenText Functional Testing6.3%
Other81.1%
Functional Testing Tools
 

Featured Reviews

RR
Principal Performance Architect at Tecnotree Corporation
Have built custom performance test scripts and integrated them into automated pipelines seamlessly
Apache JMeter has its own pros and cons when compared to other tools. It is easy to use the tool and it has open-source capability so we can build our custom scripts and execute them. It provides other capabilities, such as integrating a database and connecting to other application servers for monitoring and related functions. We use dynamic HTML reporting, which helps us in testing analysis by pinpointing the bottlenecks based on the reports. We can identify the specific areas that need attention, troubleshoot them, and report to the development team. The user-friendly GUI for creating and managing tests makes it very easy to drag and drop samplers. For example, if you want the HTTP sampler, you can drag and drop it and use it. For configurations, we have other samplers. For results, we have the view results samplers that we can also drag and drop. The UI is good in comparison with other tools. Regarding integration with CI/CD pipelines, we can create Apache JMeter scripts and use the Docker image. From the image, whatever scripting we have done can be connected. We can use the CI/CD pipelines and connect them with Jenkins tools and GitHub. Then we can create the pipelines and automate the end-to-end flow. For connecting Jenkins to Apache JMeter, JMeter plugins are available, and we have used them. Apache JMeter also has some third-party plugins, which are not native samplers. If we want to use custom test executions, we definitely use all the different plugins available in Apache JMeter. The capability to simulate users has impacted testing resources and outcomes as Apache JMeter is based on Java, which has a limit to the users in a particular load generator. Apache JMeter provides distributed load testing where you can connect multiple PCs in a master and slave concept, allowing you to pump the load with any number of users. In the past, I have done load testing with 10,000 users by connecting the Apache JMeter distributed network in BlazeMeter. There is a cloud version available, the updated BlazeMeter, and I used that. It is very easy to launch load generators in BlazeMeter, and then we can run the test, scaling up beyond 10,000 users.
JG
Manager of Central Excellence at Alpura
Easy to set up with good documentation and easy management of testing cycles
The solution allows for a complete test cycle. The management of testing cycles are easy. We have good control over test cases. We can capture functional testing very easily. We're actually able to accelerate testing now and have end-to-end cycles for testing. We didn't used to have these capabilities. It's easy to automate and accelerate testing. The product offers very good cross-browser testing capabilities. We can do continuous testing and regression testing.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Apache JMeter is stable."
"It is very quick and user-friendly."
"If you are a company that is evaluating other licensed tools, just go for JMeter."
"JMeter lets us generate virtual users and T-load, per our requirements, and it's easy to configure and adjust the virtual users according to the DPS we want to achieve."
"JMeter lets us generate virtual users and T-load, per our requirements. It's easy to configure and adjusting the virtual users according to the DPS we want to achieve."
"What I like best about Apache JMeter is its user-friendly GUI because even if you don't have very good coding knowledge or understanding, or even if you don't come from a development background, you can still use the solution with just a few clicks. This is what's unique about Apache JMeter, in comparison with other tools in the market. As Apache JMeter is open source, when there's a missing feature, you can search in several community blogs for plugins that you can use to modify Apache JMeter to meet your requirements, and this is another advantage."
"The features that I appreciate are quite basic. It is easy to ramp up the threads and start calling the application. A lot of connectors can already be found within Apache JMeter, but we are not using the entire set because the integration between the customers and platform is based on HTTP. We are just going to produce lots of HTTP sequences."
"It is cost-effective and simple to use."
"A good automation tool that supports SAP functional testing."
"The statistics that are available are very good."
"It speeds up testing efforts."
"Using this DLL functionality we were able to automate our product."
"The solution is user-friendly with respect to automation."
"It is a fine product; it is a powerful tool, and it needs commitment."
"The major thing it has helped with is to reduce the workload on testing activities."
"Not many performance Testing tool provides end to end response times for scripts running on the page, this tool is capable of providing end to end real time browser response times."
 

Cons

"I sometimes found the documentation to be not as explanatory as I would've liked it."
"The UI has room for improvement."
"Given that Apache JMeter is a free and open-source tool, documentation improvement may not be a major concern, as it is mostly contributed on a voluntary basis. The essential information is already available. However, in terms of the interface, there are occasional bugs, and the tool may not address them as quickly as some users would like. Fixing defects and bugs might take a considerable amount of time, with users sometimes having to wait for several months or even a year for the next release to address specific issues."
"I think JMeter hangs up on large loads."
"One drawback which I can see when I compare it with other tools is the amount of cache that it uses, the memory that it uses."
"We are going to migrate away from JMeter in the near future."
"Currently, the integration pipeline is implemented by using Jenkins or a similar tool platform. These are continuous integration tools."
"The GUI of Apache JMeter is not that user-friendly because we have many proxies, and we have to record through the proxy."
"Need to improve online documentation, community and forums to share issues encountered and solutions."
"Implementing a better integration with Git. It was extremely painful to implement the link from Silk Central to Git."
"They should extend some of the functions that are a bit clunky and improve the integration."
"We moved to Ranorex because the solution did not easily scale, and we could not find good and short term third-party help."
"Everything is very manual. It's up to us to find out exactly what the issues are."
"The pricing is an issue, the program is very expensive. That is something that can improve."
"I've seen a lot of potential users upset with the SilkTest due to broken installation."
"SilkTest has to improve on Firefox and Chrome as their versions change."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"In terms of open-source adoption, it is completely free."
"This is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs associated with it."
"The product has reasonable pricing."
"Since it's free, there's no need for extensive support or improvements in pricing."
"The tool is open-source."
"We are using the free version, and if required, we can easily switch to the other version."
"Everything is included, and there are no additional costs."
"The solution is open source."
"We paid annually. There is a purchase cost, and then there is an ongoing maintenance fee."
"Our licensing fees are on a yearly basis, and while I think that the price is quite reasonable I am not allowed to share those details."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Computer Software Company
9%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
14%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Construction Company
10%
Healthcare Company
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business27
Midsize Enterprise25
Large Enterprise56
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise10
 

Questions from the Community

How does Postman compare with Apache JMeter?
Postman lets you easily define variables, which then get updated automatically. This is a huge time-saver and makes processes very efficient. We can also export the test cases we create and share t...
How does BlazeMeter compare with Apache JMeter?
Blazemeter is a continuous testing platform that provides scriptless test automation. It unifies functional and performance testing, enabling users to monitor and test public and private APIs. We ...
What do you like most about Apache JMeter?
I appreciate JMeter's simplicity and power for performance testing.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Silk Test?
The pricing depends on the license used. The pricing is similar to others in the market.
What is your primary use case for Silk Test?
The product is used for manual, functional, and performance testing. I'm using the tool for loading data into ERP systems.
 

Also Known As

JMeter
Segue, SilkTest, Micro Focus Silk Test
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

AOL, Orbitz, Innopath Software, PrepMe, Sapient, Corporate Express Australia, CSIRO, Ephibian, Talis, DATACOM, ALALOOP, eFusion, Panter, Sourcepole, University of Western Cape
Krung Thai Computer Services, Quality Kiosk, Mªller, AVG Technologies
Find out what your peers are saying about Apache, Tricentis, OpenText and others in Performance Testing Tools. Updated: April 2026.
889,855 professionals have used our research since 2012.