Side by side
DriveDx vs HDD Health Monitor
Both stand on disk health monitoring software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Choose DriveDx if you use macOS and want local drive health checks, self-tests, and alerts for drive or free-space issues. Personal, household, and commercial licenses cover different computer counts and use cases. Look elsewhere if you need remote monitoring or support outside the stated macOS range.
Visit DriveDx
HDD Health Monitor brings drive health indicators, alerts, and retained history into a standalone Windows utility. Its ability to read S.M.A.R.T. data depends on drive and controller support, and it requires administrator privileges.
Visit HDD Health MonitorThe facts
| DriveDx | HDD Health Monitor | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | A free trial | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | Mac | Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | DriveDx – Personal License: $19.99, paid once | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 10 | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | binaryfruit.com | hddmonitor.github.io |
| On disk health monitoring software | #22 of 28 | #13 of 28 |
DriveDx: what it does well
- Checks SSD wear, I/O errors, pending sectors, and reallocated bad sectors.
- Runs background monitoring and alerts when it detects an issue.
- Users can control drive self-tests.
- Calculates drive health, performance, and SSD lifetime-left indicators.
- Email reports can be configured by criteria.
What to know first
- There is no free plan.
- It supports macOS only.
- The stated compatibility range is macOS 10.9 through macOS 26.
- Remote monitoring is not offered.
HDD Health Monitor: what it does well
- Monitors multiple physical drives automatically.
- Records selected health data every five seconds while running.
- Provides several drive-health and failure alerts.
- Runs without an installer or dependencies.
- Free, MIT-licensed, and requires no registration.
What to know first
- Administrator privileges are needed to read S.M.A.R.T. data.
- USB bridge support can prevent S.M.A.R.T. access.
- S.M.A.R.T. data usually cannot be read from unofficial flash drives, memory cards, or eMMC products.
- Some Windows antivirus products may incorrectly flag it as malware.
Alternatives to DriveDx Alternatives to HDD Health Monitor The whole list