Alternatives to nvme-cli
A Linux command-line tool for managing, inspecting and formatting NVMe solid-state drives. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
nvme-cli
A Linux command-line tool for managing, inspecting and formatting NVMe solid-state drives.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as nvme-cli.
smartmontools
Reads the SMART health data built into disks and runs self-tests, giving advance warning before a drive fails.
smartmontools reads NVMe health too, runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and schedules monitoring with smartd, but it lacks nvme-cli's formatting and NVMe over Fabrics support.
GSmartControl
A graphical interface for smartctl that shows the health of hard drives and SSDs.
GSmartControl adds a graphical window over smartctl on Windows and Linux for health checks and self-tests, without NVMe formatting or vendor plugins.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
fio
A flexible command-line I/O tester for benchmarking and stress-testing storage devices.
Scrutiny
A self-hosted web dashboard for hard drive S.M.A.R.T. monitoring with historical trends and failure thresholds.
CrystalDiskInfo
Reads the health data your drives already record and tells you plainly whether one is dying.
Samsung Magician
Samsung's management app for its consumer SSDs, covering firmware updates, health checks, benchmarks and secure erase.
Parted Magic
A bootable disk utility for partitioning, cloning, rescuing, benchmarking and securely erasing drives from a USB stick.
KDiskMark
A graphical disk benchmark for Linux that runs fio tests and shows easy-to-read results.
