Performance Test Plan Template - Free Download & Example

Performance testing is critical to ensure your application performs reliably under expected and peak load. This template provides a complete structure for planning and executing performance tests, with sections for objectives and KPIs (response time, throughput, error rate), test scenarios (load, stress, soak, spike), test environment configuration, test data preparation, tool selection and reporting. By testing performance early in the development process you avoid costly bottlenecks that only surface in production.

Variations

How to use

Step 1: Download the performance test plan template and define the objectives: which KPIs must be met (e.g. P95 response time < 200ms, throughput > 1000 req/s). Step 2: Identify the critical user flows to be tested: registration, login, search, checkout and other high-traffic scenarios. Step 3: Configure the test environment to mirror the production environment as closely as possible in terms of hardware, software and network configuration. Step 4: Prepare realistic test data: sufficient unique users, products and transactions to obtain representative results. Step 5: Select the test tool (k6, JMeter, Gatling, Locust) and write the test scripts based on the defined scenarios. Step 6: Execute the tests in stages: baseline test, load test with normal traffic, load test with peak traffic and stress test. Step 7: Analyse the results: identify bottlenecks via response time percentiles, error rates and resource usage (CPU, memory, I/O). Step 8: Document findings and recommendations in the reporting template and schedule follow-up tests after optimisations.