Side by side

bottom (btm) vs Glances

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.

bottom (btm)

Free plan LinuxMacWindows

bottom combines system graphs and process controls in a customizable terminal interface. Check the platform and architecture support for your system, especially if considering an unofficial platform.

Visit bottom (btm)

Glances covers a broad set of system metrics and offers several ways to monitor remotely or export statistics. Check its Python requirement and optional dependency setup against the features you need.

Visit Glances

The facts

	bottom (btm)	Glances
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Yes
Runs on	Linux, Mac, Windows	Android, API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Web, Windows
Lowest paid plan	Free or on request	Free or on request
Plans published	1	2
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	bottom.pages.dev	nicolargo.github.io
On process monitoring software	#4 of 26	#1 of 26

bottom (btm): what it does well

Graphs CPU, RAM, swap, network, and disk activity.
Process widget supports sorting and searching.
Supports themes, layout, and filtering customization.
Offers read-only operation.
Available on Linux, macOS, and Windows.

What to know first

Architecture support varies by system.
Android support is unofficial and limited.
Runs in a terminal.

Glances: what it does well

Monitors CPU, memory, network, disks, sensors and uptime.
Remote checks available through terminal, Web UI or API.
Exports statistics to files, databases, brokers or REST.
Documents Docker and Podman monitoring support.
Free and open source under LGPL version 3.

What to know first

Glances 4 requires Python 3.10 or later.
Web interface dependencies are not included by default.
Features such as exports and MCP need optional dependencies.

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