# k6 vs Puppeteer

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Puppeteer

| Attribute | k6 | Puppeteer |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 50.1 (7% (low)) | 72.3 (66% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 74 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 144,056 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 95,682 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | - | 11,510,272 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"An open-source Go extension that enables k6 tests to programmatically create, retrieve, list, and delete Kubernetes resources, with helper functions to set up namespaced test environments. It is indexed under Testing Tools.","source":"https://k6.io","question":"What is k6?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"k6 is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://k6.io","question":"Is k6 free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"k6 supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://k6.io","question":"What platforms does k6 support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. k6 can be deployed cloud / SaaS, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://k6.io","question":"Can k6 be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 6 integrations for k6, including Postman, New Relic, Visual Studio, Grafana, IntelliJ IDEA and Datadog. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://k6.io","question":"What does k6 integrate with?","confidence":0.6}]` | `[{"answer":"Puppeteer provides programmatic control over browser instances, enabling automated navigation, interaction, and inspection of web pages through a high-level API. It supports both Chrome and Firefox and runs in headless mode by default. It is indexed under Testing Tools.","source":"https://pptr.dev/","question":"What is Puppeteer?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Puppeteer is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://pptr.dev/","question":"Is Puppeteer free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Puppeteer supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://pptr.dev/","question":"What platforms does Puppeteer support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Puppeteer can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://pptr.dev/","question":"Can Puppeteer be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 4 integrations for Puppeteer, including Chrome, Firefox, DevTools Protocol and WebDriver BiDi. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://pptr.dev/","question":"What does Puppeteer integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Puppeteer is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer","question":"Is Puppeteer open source?","confidence":0.99}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | An open-source Go extension that enables k6 tests to programmatically create, retrieve, list, and delete Kubernetes resources, with helper functions to set up namespaced test environments. | Provides programmatic control of Chrome and Firefox browsers for automation and testing through a JavaScript API. |
| features.capabilities | `{"languages":"JavaScript","assertions":true,"ci_integration":true,"browser_automation":true,"parallel_execution":true}` | `{"coverage":true,"protocol":"cdp","languages":"JavaScript","open_source":true,"headless_mode":true,"auto_wait_retry":true,"browser_automation":true}` |
| integrations.count | 6 | 5 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Postman"},{"name":"New Relic"},{"name":"Visual Studio"},{"name":"Grafana"},{"name":"IntelliJ IDEA"},{"name":"Datadog"}]` | `[{"name":"Chrome"},{"name":"Firefox"},{"name":"DevTools Protocol"},{"name":"WebDriver BiDi"},{"name":"chrome-devtools-mcp"}]` |
| language.primary | - | TypeScript |
| license.spdx | - | Apache-2.0 |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://k6.io","retrievedAt":"2026-09-03T22:11:10.673Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://pptr.dev/","retrievedAt":"2026-09-10T16:07:42.951Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/puppeteer-v25.13.0","date":"2026-10-08T13:00:00Z","type":"stable","version":"puppeteer-v25.13.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/puppeteer-core-v25.13.0","date":"2026-10-08T13:00:01Z","type":"stable","version":"puppeteer-core-v25.13.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/browsers-v3.2.4","date":"2026-10-08T13:00:03Z","type":"stable","version":"browsers-v3.2.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/puppeteer-v25.12.0","date":"2026-09-23T12:52:04Z","type":"stable","version":"puppeteer-v25.12.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/puppeteer-core-v25.12.0","date":"2026-09-23T12:52:05Z","type":"stable","version":"puppeteer-core-v25.12.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/browsers-v3.2.3","date":"2026-09-23T12:52:06Z","type":"stable","version":"browsers-v3.2.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/puppeteer-v25.11.0","date":"2026-09-14T08:59:59Z","type":"stable","version":"puppeteer-v25.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/puppeteer-core-v25.11.0","date":"2026-09-14T09:00:00Z","type":"stable","version":"puppeteer-core-v25.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/puppeteer-v25.10.0","date":"2026-09-03T13:06:55Z","type":"stable","version":"puppeteer-v25.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/puppeteer-core-v25.10.0","date":"2026-09-03T13:06:56Z","type":"stable","version":"puppeteer-core-v25.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/browsers-v3.2.2","date":"2026-09-03T13:06:58Z","type":"stable","version":"browsers-v3.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/puppeteer-v25.9.0","date":"2026-08-25T07:40:50Z","type":"stable","version":"puppeteer-v25.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/puppeteer-core-v25.9.0","date":"2026-08-25T07:40:51Z","type":"stable","version":"puppeteer-core-v25.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/puppeteer-v25.8.0","date":"2026-08-17T09:12:45Z","type":"stable","version":"puppeteer-v25.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/puppeteer-core-v25.8.0","date":"2026-08-17T09:12:46Z","type":"stable","version":"puppeteer-core-v25.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/browsers-v3.2.1","date":"2026-08-17T09:12:47Z","type":"stable","version":"browsers-v3.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/puppeteer-v25.7.0","date":"2026-08-13T18:40:18Z","type":"stable","version":"puppeteer-v25.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/puppeteer-core-v25.7.0","date":"2026-08-13T18:40:19Z","type":"stable","version":"puppeteer-core-v25.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/puppeteer-v25.6.0","date":"2026-08-11T13:11:24Z","type":"stable","version":"puppeteer-v25.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/puppeteer/puppeteer/releases/tag/puppeteer-core-v25.6.0","date":"2026-08-11T13:11:26Z","type":"stable","version":"puppeteer-core-v25.6.0"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 7.9 |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":1,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=puppeteer&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":"MODERATE"}` |

## Capabilities (Testing Tools)

| Capability | k6 | Puppeteer |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Test types | - | - |
| Browser automation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Built-in assertion library | ✓ | - |
| Languages | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| **Isolation** |  |  |
| Mocking / stubbing | - | - |
| **Techniques** |  |  |
| Snapshot testing | - | - |
| **Performance** |  |  |
| Parallel execution | ✓ | - |
| **Insight** |  |  |
| Code coverage | - | ✓ |
| **DX** |  |  |
| Watch mode | - | - |
| **Ops** |  |  |
| CI integration | ✓ | - |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T21:00:00.293Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*