diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 22478f0..22e798f 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -302,6 +302,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "fslock",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "bumpalo"
+version = "3.20.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "72f5acc6cb2ba439de613abc23857ec3d78374d8ed5ac84e9d11336e87da8649"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "byteorder"
 version = "1.5.0"
@@ -368,6 +374,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "humansize",
  "hyper",
  "hyper-util",
+ "indicatif",
  "pin-project-lite",
  "rand",
  "rustls",
@@ -475,6 +482,18 @@ version = "1.0.1"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "0b6a852b24ab71dffc585bcb46eaf7959d175cb865a7152e35b348d1b2960422"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "console"
+version = "0.16.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "e96a4956774c13c126a8b5af4daa79384f4d826534c95a02d76afb39e2ab64e3"
+dependencies = [
+ "encode_unicode",
+ "libc",
+ "unicode-width",
+ "windows-sys 0.61.2",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "const-oid"
 version = "0.9.6"
@@ -683,6 +702,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "zeroize",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "encode_unicode"
+version = "1.0.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "34aa73646ffb006b8f5147f3dc182bd4bcb190227ce861fc4a4844bf8e3cb2c0"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "equivalent"
 version = "1.0.1"
@@ -1089,6 +1114,19 @@ dependencies = [
  "hashbrown",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "indicatif"
+version = "0.18.6"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "9433806cd6b4ec1aba79c021c7e4c58fb4c3b9977c085062e611ac929998fb0c"
+dependencies = [
+ "console",
+ "portable-atomic",
+ "unicode-width",
+ "unit-prefix",
+ "web-time",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "inout"
 version = "0.1.4"
@@ -1146,6 +1184,17 @@ version = "1.0.11"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "49f1f14873335454500d59611f1cf4a4b0f786f9ac11f4312a78e4cf2566695b"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "js-sys"
+version = "0.3.105"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "ce57d20d1ea864ce2ac172ab472d409214f4fd359f0b2a2775abdf522e2af99e"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "futures-util",
+ "wasm-bindgen",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "lazy_static"
 version = "1.5.0"
@@ -1479,9 +1528,9 @@ dependencies = [
 
 [[package]]
 name = "portable-atomic"
-version = "1.11.0"
+version = "1.15.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-checksum = "350e9b48cbc6b0e028b0473b114454c6316e57336ee184ceab6e53f72c178b3e"
+checksum = "05c8b63e8d9609db387f0324918f81d68fe27748f084ef092fb35954d0539a85"
 
 [[package]]
 name = "powerfmt"
@@ -1752,6 +1801,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "untrusted",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "rustversion"
+version = "1.0.23"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "cf54715a573b99ac80df0bc206da022bcd442c974952c7b9720069370852e21f"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "ryu"
 version = "1.0.18"
@@ -2296,6 +2351,18 @@ dependencies = [
  "tinyvec",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "unicode-width"
+version = "0.2.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "b4ac048d71ede7ee76d585517add45da530660ef4390e49b098733c6e897f254"
+
+[[package]]
+name = "unit-prefix"
+version = "0.5.2"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "81e544489bf3d8ef66c953931f56617f423cd4b5494be343d9b9d3dda037b9a3"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "universal-hash"
 version = "0.5.1"
@@ -2384,6 +2451,61 @@ dependencies = [
  "wit-bindgen-rt",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "wasm-bindgen"
+version = "0.2.128"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "aecb87a33d3b0c5e3b7aa46336eaf486cffafbd281b195e4c8b80d50df2351bf"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if",
+ "once_cell",
+ "rustversion",
+ "wasm-bindgen-macro",
+ "wasm-bindgen-shared",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "wasm-bindgen-macro"
+version = "0.2.128"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "a690d511e3c1a8b3a55e33511e3c2c00c78415cd23650f32b808627f5696b9ed"
+dependencies = [
+ "quote",
+ "wasm-bindgen-macro-support",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "wasm-bindgen-macro-support"
+version = "0.2.128"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "411e4887f0071ef2d2164a9d5fdf2d20efbef78fccd3a78b0c10a1dc5295e48a"
+dependencies = [
+ "bumpalo",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 3.0.5",
+ "wasm-bindgen-shared",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "wasm-bindgen-shared"
+version = "0.2.128"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "81941cd78d0c92026c33e5e01312845a4cb1e9af3407f9134b100dd03144103e"
+dependencies = [
+ "unicode-ident",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "web-time"
+version = "1.1.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "5a6580f308b1fad9207618087a65c04e7a10bc77e02c8e84e9b00dd4b12fa0bb"
+dependencies = [
+ "js-sys",
+ "wasm-bindgen",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "webrtc"
 version = "0.12.0"
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 93bea2f..ae35850 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ http-body-util = "0.1.2"
 humansize = "2.1.3"
 hyper = { version = "1.0", features = ["client", "http1", "http2"] }
 hyper-util = { version = "0.1", features = ["tokio"] }
+indicatif = "0.18"
 pin-project-lite = "0.2"
 rand = "0.8"
 rustls = { version = "0.23.10", default-features = false, features = ["std", "ring"] }
diff --git a/src/main.rs b/src/main.rs
index 00f8dcc..89254c5 100644
--- a/src/main.rs
+++ b/src/main.rs
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ mod saturate;
 mod up_down;
 mod util;
 
+use std::io::IsTerminal;
+
 use cf_mach::{nq_core, nq_latency, nq_load_generator, nq_packetloss, nq_rpm, nq_tokio_network};
 
 use clap::error::ErrorKind;
@@ -39,6 +41,10 @@ async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         return Ok(());
     }
 
+    let show_progress = std::io::stderr().is_terminal()
+        && std::env::var_os("RUST_LOG").is_none()
+        && args.verbosity.log_level_filter() <= LevelFilter::Error;
+
     setup_logging(args.verbosity)?;
 
     // default to RPM
@@ -47,7 +53,7 @@ async fn main() -> anyhow::Result<()> {
         .unwrap_or_else(|| Command::Rpm(RpmArgs::default()));
 
     match command {
-        Command::Rpm(config) => rpm::run(config).await?,
+        Command::Rpm(config) => rpm::run(config, show_progress).await?,
         Command::Download(config) => up_down::download(config).await?,
         Command::Upload(config) => up_down::upload(config).await?,
         Command::Rtt { url, runs } => latency::run(url, runs).await?,
diff --git a/src/rpm.rs b/src/rpm.rs
index ea95f51..d5da057 100644
--- a/src/rpm.rs
+++ b/src/rpm.rs
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ use crate::nq_rpm::{Responsiveness, ResponsivenessConfig, ResponsivenessResult};
 use crate::nq_tokio_network::TokioNetwork;
 use anyhow::{Context, bail};
 use http_body_util::BodyExt;
+use indicatif::{ProgressBar, ProgressFinish, ProgressStyle};
 use serde::Deserialize;
 use tokio::time::timeout;
 use tokio_util::sync::CancellationToken;
@@ -48,8 +49,34 @@ fn warn_on_degraded_result(leg: &str, failed_connections: usize, upload_bytes_pe
     }
 }
 
+fn start_phase(show: bool, msg: &'static str) -> ProgressBar {
+    if !show {
+        return ProgressBar::hidden();
+    }
+
+    let pb = ProgressBar::new_spinner()
+        .with_style(
+            ProgressStyle::with_template("{spinner:.cyan} {msg} {elapsed:.dim}")
+                .expect("valid spinner template"),
+        )
+        .with_message(msg)
+        .with_finish(ProgressFinish::AndClear);
+    pb.enable_steady_tick(Duration::from_millis(100));
+    pb
+}
+
+/// Replace a phase's spinner with a permanent `✓` line.
+fn finish_phase(pb: ProgressBar, msg: String) {
+    pb.set_style(
+        ProgressStyle::with_template("{prefix:.green} {msg} {elapsed:.dim}")
+            .expect("valid finished template"),
+    );
+    pb.set_prefix("✓");
+    pb.finish_with_message(msg);
+}
+
 /// Run a responsiveness test.
-pub async fn run(cli_config: RpmArgs) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
+pub async fn run(cli_config: RpmArgs, show_progress: bool) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     info!("running responsiveness test");
 
     let scoped_headers = crate::access::cf_access_scoped_headers()?;
@@ -65,7 +92,9 @@ pub async fn run(cli_config: RpmArgs) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     let rpm_urls = match cli_config.config.clone() {
         Some(endpoint) => {
             info!("fetching configuration from {endpoint}");
+            let pb = start_phase(show_progress, "Fetching configuration");
             let urls = get_rpm_config(endpoint, scoped_headers.clone()).await?;
+            finish_phase(pb, "Fetched configuration".to_string());
             info!("retrieved configuration urls: {urls:?}");
 
             urls
@@ -84,23 +113,23 @@ pub async fn run(cli_config: RpmArgs) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
 
     // first get unloaded RTT measurements
     info!("determining unloaded latency");
+    let pb = start_phase(show_progress, "Measuring unloaded latency");
     let rtt_result = crate::latency::run_test(&LatencyConfig {
         url: rpm_urls.small_download_url.parse()?,
         runs: 20,
         scoped_headers: scoped_headers.clone(),
     })
     .await?;
-    info!(
-        "unloaded latency: {} ms. jitter: {} ms",
-        rtt_result
-            .median()
-            .map(pretty_secs_to_ms)
-            .unwrap_or_default(),
-        rtt_result
-            .jitter()
-            .map(pretty_secs_to_ms)
-            .unwrap_or_default(),
-    );
+    let median_ms = rtt_result
+        .median()
+        .map(pretty_secs_to_ms)
+        .unwrap_or_default();
+    let jitter_ms = rtt_result
+        .jitter()
+        .map(pretty_secs_to_ms)
+        .unwrap_or_default();
+    finish_phase(pb, format!("Unloaded latency: {median_ms} ms"));
+    info!("unloaded latency: {median_ms} ms. jitter: {jitter_ms} ms");
 
     let config = ResponsivenessConfig {
         large_download_url: rpm_urls.large_download_url.parse()?,
@@ -129,11 +158,15 @@ pub async fn run(cli_config: RpmArgs) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
     }
 
     info!("running download test");
+    let pb = start_phase(show_progress, "Running download test");
     let download_result = run_test(&config, true).await?;
+    finish_phase(pb, "Download test".to_string());
     debug!("download result={download_result:?}");
 
     info!("running upload test");
+    let pb = start_phase(show_progress, "Running upload test");
     let upload_result = run_test(&config, false).await?;
+    finish_phase(pb, "Upload test".to_string());
     debug!("upload result={upload_result:?}");
 
     warn_on_degraded_result(