---
title: "Local vs cloud execution | Grafana Labs"
description: "When to run k6 tests locally versus on Grafana Cloud k6"
---

> For a curated documentation index, see [llms.txt](/llms.txt). For the complete documentation index, see [llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt).

## When to reach for each

You ran both **`k6 run`** and **`k6 cloud run`** in the path. Most teams use both: iterate locally, then promote to **Grafana Cloud k6** when a script is ready to keep around. The table below is the cheat sheet for choosing between them next time.

|                     | Local execution                                          | Grafana Cloud k6                             |
|---------------------|----------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------|
| **Command**         | `k6 run test.js`                                         | `k6 cloud run test.js`                       |
| **Where load runs** | Your machine                                             | Grafana Cloud k6 infrastructure              |
| **Results**         | Terminal summary (session-only unless you add an output) | Stored in Grafana Cloud with dashboards      |
| **History**         | None by default                                          | Compare runs over time                       |
| **Collaboration**   | Share logs manually                                      | Share dashboards and links                   |
| **Best for**        | Script development, quick checks                         | Team baselines, CI artifacts, trend analysis |

For optional output modes (for example streaming a local run to Grafana Cloud), refer to [k6 results output](/docs/k6/latest/results-output/) and [Grafana Cloud k6](/docs/grafana-cloud/testing/k6/).