Hi,

With a good combination of the following

* Web Automation Framework, e.g. Selenium WebDriver

* Test syntax framework and Scrpting Language, e.g. RSpec and Ruby

* Continuous Testing Server, e.g. BuildWise

E2E performance/load testing is a good (sometimes, only practical solution). Test Automation, IMO, is practical, if it works (and continue prove so), cost effective, maintainable (running daily), it is fine.

"My Innovative Solution to Load Testing: Run Selenium Tests (in real browsers) in a CT Server with Parallel Execution for better Load Testing"

https://zhiminzhan.medium.com/my-innovative-solution-to-load-testing-run-selenium-tests-in-real-browsers-in-a-ct-server-with-7c04847a69f1

"Case Study: Continuous Performance Testing"

https://zhiminzhan.medium.com/case-study-continuous-performance-testing-ffc1ff93a39d

For more, check out my book, "Practical Performance and Load Testing", https://leanpub.com/practical-performance-and-load-testing