Side by side

Autoruns vs iotop

Both stand on process monitoring software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Autoruns

Free plan Windows

Choose Autoruns if you need a free Windows tool to inspect startup items across many system locations and manage their configurations. Its Autorunsc companion adds command-line output and offline scanning. Look elsewhere if you need a non-Windows platform or official Microsoft support.

Visit Autoruns

iotop

Free plan Linux

iotop offers configurable process-level I/O monitoring for Linux, including batch output and filters. Its root requirement and lack of remote monitoring or process alerting may matter for some users.

Visit iotop

The facts

	Autoruns	iotop
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	Windows	Linux
Lowest paid plan	Free or on request	Free or on request
Plans published	1	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	learn.microsoft.com	github.com
On process monitoring software	#9 of 26	#13 of 26

Autoruns: what it does well

Reports startup entries across folders, Registry keys, services, tasks, and more.
Can hide signed Microsoft entries to focus on third-party items.
Supports disabling or deleting startup configuration entries.
Autorunsc can export CSV or tab-delimited data and scan offline systems.
Free to use on devices owned or supported, with no use limit.

What to know first

Runs on Windows only.
VirusTotal features require accepting VirusTotal's terms.
Microsoft provides no official support for Sysinternals tools.
Redistribution requires a license.

iotop: what it does well

Displays accumulated I/O or bandwidth.
Can monitor selected processes or users.
Supports interactive and batch modes.
Available for several Linux distributions.

What to know first

Requires root access.
Remote monitoring is not supported.
Process alerting is not supported.

Alternatives to Autoruns Alternatives to iotop The whole list