Alternatives to bottom

A graphical system monitor for the terminal, with charts for CPU, memory, network, temperature and disk over time. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as bottom.

  • btop++

    A terminal resource monitor that looks good enough to leave open, with processes, CPU, memory, disks, network and GPUs.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOSLinuxCommand line

    btop++ shows processes, CPU, memory, disks, network and GPUs in one themeable terminal screen, but has no native Windows build, so Windows users need WSL.

  • htop

    Interactive process viewer for the terminal.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOSLinuxCommand line

    htop is a GPL-2.0 interactive process viewer with per-core meters and easy kill and renice, but it has no historical graphs and no Windows version.

  • Glances

    A cross-platform system monitor that runs in a terminal, in a browser, or as an API feeding a dashboard.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxCommand lineWeb

    Glances runs in a terminal, a browser or as an API across Windows, macOS and Linux, and can export metrics, but needs a Python installation.

  • NeoHtop

    Inspect running processes in a desktop system monitor.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    NeoHtop is an MIT-licensed desktop app rather than a terminal tool, offering CPU and memory views with process search on Windows, macOS and Linux.

  • atop

    A full-screen Linux performance monitor that reports and logs system and per-process resource usage.

    FreeProprietaryLinuxCommand line

    atop adds daily logging and includes processes that finished during the interval, but is Linux only and not open source.

  • nmon

    A terminal performance monitor for Linux and AIX showing CPU, memory, disks, network and processes.

    FreeProprietaryLinuxCommand line

    nmon shows many metrics on one screen and records to CSV, but is aimed at Linux and AIX servers and uses keyboard toggles to learn.

Also worth comparing

These listings name bottom as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.

  • GNOME System Monitor

    GNOME's process viewer and resource monitor for checking CPU, memory, network and file system usage.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    bottom plots resources over time in a terminal on Linux, macOS and Windows, with process sorting, tree mode and kill signals instead of a GNOME window.

  • Mission Center

    A Linux system monitor that looks like the Windows Task Manager, which is exactly the point.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    bottom runs in a terminal on Linux, macOS and Windows, charting CPU, memory, network, temperature and disk over time.

  • Plasma System Monitor

    KDE's desktop application for monitoring system sensors, running processes and resource usage on Linux.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    bottom is an MIT-licensed terminal monitor charting CPU, memory, network, temperature and disk over time on Linux, macOS and Windows.

  • procs

    Inspect processes with a more readable command-line listing.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinuxCommand line

    bottom is MIT-licensed like procs and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, adding charts over time to a process widget with tree mode and kill signals.

  • Stats

    See system resource use in the macOS menu bar.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOS

    bottom runs in a terminal on macOS, Linux and Windows, charting CPU, memory, network, temperature and disk over time with a process widget.

  • System Informer

    An open-source Process Explorer alternative that monitors resources, debugs software and helps detect malware, with no installation needed.

    FreeOpen sourceWindows

    bottom moves process monitoring into a terminal on Windows, macOS and Linux, with sorting, tree mode and kill signals plus resource charts over time.

  • Zenith

    A terminal system monitor like top or htop, with zoomable charts for CPU, memory, network and disk.

    FreeOpen sourceLinuxCommand line

    bottom is also Rust-based and MIT-licensed with zoomable charts for CPU, memory, network, temperature and disk, and adds Windows support including an MSI installer.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.