pgbench

pgbench is a command-line benchmarking tool included with the PostgreSQL database system. It is designed to measure the performance of PostgreSQL under various workloads, helping administrators and developers assess database efficiency, scalability, and throughput. pgbench is particularly useful for evaluating read-heavy, write-heavy, or mixed workloads, as well as for testing transactional performance under different configurations.

The tool simulates client activity by executing predefined SQL commands against a PostgreSQL database. By default, pgbench uses a simple banking application schema with a single table containing account balances, allowing users to generate synthetic workloads. Users can customize the schema, queries, and concurrency levels to simulate real-world scenarios. It supports both single-client and multi-client testing, enabling benchmarking under concurrent load.

pgbench provides detailed output metrics, including transactions per second (TPS), response times, and error rates. These metrics help identify bottlenecks, optimize database settings, and compare performance across different hardware or software configurations. The tool is particularly useful during database deployment, upgrade testing, or hardware evaluation.

pgbench is lightweight and does not require additional dependencies beyond PostgreSQL itself. It is commonly used by database administrators, performance engineers, and developers to ensure PostgreSQL meets performance expectations before production deployment. While it does not replicate all aspects of real-world applications, it serves as a reliable baseline for evaluating PostgreSQL’s performance characteristics.