OctoPerf offers a JTL import feature that allows anyone to import JMeter results and manipulate them through our reporting UI for free.
What is JTL¶
JTL stands for Jmeter Test Logs. It is the recommended output for JMeter test results.
It is basically a CSV file that contains a single line for each individual sample result:
It is important to note that the JTL is not structured, it contains results for a given JMeter instance across all threads running. Because of this it can be difficult to differentiate items that share a similar label.
How OctoPerf helps¶
OctoPerf always provided a top-notch reporting where you do not need to worry about JTL results. But when you do run a test from a local JMeter there aren't many tools that offer such a nice reporting based on the JTL files. Such a tool existed in the past but was purchased by Blazemeter and quickly put behind a paywall.
That is why we've built the Import JTL feature. This way, new OctoPerf users can compare their past open source tests with new OctoPerf ones. Or simply make use of our free account to continue to run free local JMeter tests.
It really doesn't matter to us whether you buy a license or not, you're free to use our reporting dashboard anyway.
Import JTL¶
The Import JTL feature works as follows, click on 
from the left menu:
Now you can import a .zip file containing one or several JTL. If you import several JTL at once make sure their timestamps are aligned otherwise you might end up having artefacts.
OctoPerf JTL report¶
The report will look like any OctoPerf report, especially the line charts:
If you imported several JTL at once, you will be able to use filters, each JTL will be considered as coming from a distinct load generator:
We even try to build a virtual user tree, but since it's based on the first occurrence of each metrics, there might be inaccuracies:
Also note that if you have not used a distinct label for each request/sampler they will be merged under the same name.
We also show the error table with a list of all the issues (the details of each error are not in the JTL though):
Export JTL¶
As a side effect, you can also export JTL results from an OctoPerf test and import them in another project or OctoPerf server.
This could also be a way to preserve some key results that could expire and import them later for comparison or historical purpose.
Competition review¶
Blazemeter¶
Blazemeter purchased a tool named loadosophia, about 10 years ago. At the time, the purchase was seen as a way to integrate an innovation, but as we now know the tool was quickly put behind a paywall and then merged into their tooling as Blazemeter Sense. Nowadays, it is unclear if it still exists even for paid users. What's for sure is that there is no equivalent free/cheap reporting tool for JMeter users that are just looking for nice analytics/dashboards.
My personal opinion is that they were scared that such a tool would reduce their value proposition of only launching machines in the cloud. And that's something that a lot of other tools can do just fine, and not so hard to automate yourself (to some extent).
OctoPerf has a better reporting than Blazemeter since ours is fully configurable with a lot of visualizations, templates and multi term filters. But we are not afraid to offer most of it for free through this JTL import. It is our belief that people using the service will look keenly on our affordable unlimited prices when they have a larger requirement or simply when their company scales up. We've already made the same decision for the JMX download feature that allows users to benefit from our design UI and then export to JMeter for free.
Legacy tools¶
Tools like NeoLoad and Loadrunner only allow metrics from their own tests to be integrated in their dashboards. Which means none of this would be possible.
They both claim you can execute JMeter tests, but it's actually just a regular load generator running a JMeter process in the background. You still have to create the JMeter script using JMeter's heavy client, upload it and all its dependencies, and even manually split the datasets and other unique items. You also have to setup the load generators in order to execute both the legacy tool and JMeter. And for all that work, the JMeter results can only be integrated for tests you've run through these tools.
Basically you pay to have the same drawbacks as JMeter, but you get very few advantages since you could be doing the same thing manually without a license.
Or even better, you can import your JTL results into OctoPerf and get the same value as both those tools but without the cost.