I was tired of keeping four tools open to test one service.
HTTP in a REST client. GraphQL in another tab. A gRPC call in the
terminal. A WebSocket in wscat. Kafka somewhere else. Load testing
in a fifth window. None of them shared variables or a single report.
RedfireForge is my attempt to put that in one workbench.
What it is
An open-source visual API testing and load-testing app for HTTP,
GraphQL, gRPC, WebSocket, SSE, and Kafka. Same engine in the
desktop app (Tauri + React), the browser, and the CLI.
You can:
- Send ad-hoc requests (Postman-style client + OpenAPI catalog)
- Chain calls in a workflow designer (variables, conditions, fork/join)
- Run load tests with assertions
- Stand up a local mock server
- Run the same tests in CI:
npm install -g redfireforge-cli
There is an optional Learning Hub desktop build with guided
lessons. The hosted site is the browser app, not that lesson player.
Why open source
I need this on my machine, against local ports and private networks.
A hosted-only tool cannot do that. AGPL v3 keeps the code open.
Cloud-hosted load testing is on a waitlist — it is not required to
use the app today.
What I would like feedback on
- Which protocols you actually need in one UI
- Whether the workflow designer is understandable
- What is missing for CI
Links
- GitHub: https://github.com/redfireforge/redfireforge-public
- Live demo: https://demo.redfireforge.com
- Download: https://redfireforge.com/download
- Cloud waitlist: https://tally.so/r/1AaNzQ?source=devto
Top comments (4)
I downloaded the Demo Hub build mainly to try API performance testing. I’m used to tools that either push you into scripts/config files or give you a thin UI and weak result views, so I wasn’t sure what to expect.
What helped most was the self-training lessons. I actually went through them instead of skipping ahead, and after that I could run performance checks without fighting the product. It felt like guided practice tied to the real UI, not a long manual I had to memorize.
The part that stands out vs other tools I’ve used: you get a proper GUI and graphical results in the same place. I could set up the run, execute it, and read latency / pass-fail style charts without exporting data and rebuilding graphs somewhere else. That cut a lot of back-and-forth.
Still early days for me, but the path was clear: lessons → confident enough to run real API performance work → results I could interpret without leaving the app. That’s a better first experience than most API/performance tools give me.
Next I want to push beyond basic HTTP performance and try more of the multi-protocol side in one flow.
I’ve used several performance testing tools like k6 and JMeter, but Redfireforge stands out. It provides a visual interface for tracking metrics, is incredibly powerful yet easy to use, and best of all, it's completely free. I really love it!
We really appreciate the feedback! Our goal with Redfireforge was to remove the steep learning curve often found in performance testing without sacrificing power. Knowing that the visual metric tracking has streamlined your workflow—and that you're enjoying the platform for free—is exactly what we love to hear. Thanks for choosing us over the alternatives!
Thank you for taking the time to write such a detailed review! Hearing that our onboarding lessons gave you the confidence to run real API checks right out of the gate is incredibly rewarding.You're hitting on exactly why we built the unified GUI—no one wants to waste time exporting data just to see a latency chart. As you start exploring the multi-protocol side, please don't hesitate to reach out if you have feedback or feature requests. We'd love to know how we can make that transition just as smooth for you.