It also supports permanent logging of resource utilization if you want it for long-term analysis. If you want more details on the running processes or the ones that were previously running, atop is a useful utility for that. In either case, you can also download the source if you want. You can also find RPM/DEB packages from the links on their official website for other Linux distributions. How to install htop?įor Ubuntu-based distros, you just have to head to the terminal and type in: sudo apt install htop It lets you kill processes, filter them, offers tree view of processes (press F5), and a couple of other features. In fact, I personally prefer using htop over top to keep an eye on the system resources and the processes. Not just limited to the advanced features - but it also highlights the processes and information using some color codes which makes it look more organized and easy to work with. Htop is an interactive system monitor that supports scrolling and mouse interaction as well. The list is in no particular order of ranking. Almost all the tools mentioned here should be available via the package manager of other distributions as well. I have included installation commands for Debian/Ubuntu based distributions. Hence, in this article, I’ll mention a few good alternatives to the top command utility that are potentially better.

Useful system monitoring tools like top (but better than top) There are alternatives which provide you more information on the running processes and lets you manage them easily. For these reasons, using top command to its fullest is not easy for everyone. However, you won’t find any mouse support, scroll support, no colors to highlight things, and a few other cons. Why do you need “Top” Alternatives?Ĭonsidering that you’ll find it baked in on most of the Linux distribution by default, top isn’t going anywhere. It also gives you the ability to kill processes that you don’t need.īut, what alternatives do you have? Do you need any? Let’s find out. In case you didn’t know, the “Top” utility helps display all the running processes and gives you some important information on the performance of your personal computer or server. No matter whether you’re a system administrator or just a casual desktop user, you may have heard about one of the most popular terminal-based system monitoring tool “ top“.

Htop network usage