Best Process Monitoring Software in 2026
Updated
Keeping track of running processes means deciding what you need to see, how long that information should remain available, and what actions you can take when attention is needed. Compare process alerting and process controls with service monitoring and remote monitoring; activity logs and history retention help clarify the available oversight. Supported platforms can affect fit with your environment, and free-plan availability and paid-from pricing add cost context. PM2, Glances, and Supervisor are among the tools to weigh against your monitoring needs. Consider whether you are focused on local process visibility, remote oversight, service health, or some combination.
Process Monitoring Software, one module each.A lit port is something its maker publishes; 4 of 4 with a known API signal have a public API.
- 01 PM2 API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.3$79/mo
- 02 Glances API yesFREE yesDOCS 7.2Free
- 03 Supervisor API yesDOCS 6.9
- 04 Owlette API yesDOCS 6.8$20/mo
- 05 Process Lasso FREE yesDOCS 6.0$2.08/mo
- 06 OpenProcMon FREE yesDOCS 5.9Free
- 07 Ambih Monitor FREE yesDOCS 5.8$10/mo
- 08 AppControl FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 09 atop FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 10 bottom (btm) FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 11 btop FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 12 iotop FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 13 ManageEngine Free Process Manager FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 14 Monit FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 15 nmon FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 16 NVTOP FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 17 Remote Process Explorer FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 18 runit FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 19 s6 FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 20 System Informer FREE yesDOCS 5.8Free
- 21 htop FREE yesDOCS 5.7Free
- 22 TaskExplorer DOCS 5.5€5/mo
- 23 winproc-tui DOCS 5.5
- 24 rproc DOCS 5.3
- 25 Autoruns DOCS 5.0
Compare all 25 in a table
| # | Platform | Score | Free plan | From | Free plan | Paid from | Supported platforms | Remote monitoring |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | PM2 | 7.3 | Free plan | $79/mo | Yes | Linux, macOS, Windows, web dashboard | Yes | |
| 2 | Glances | 7.2 | Free plan | Free | Yes | |||
| 3 | Supervisor | 6.9 | Yes | Linux, macOS, self-hosted Unix-like systems, web interface, XML-RPC API | Yes | |||
| 4 | Owlette | 6.8 | $20/mo | No | 20 /mo | Windows | Yes | |
| 5 | Process Lasso | 6.0 | Free plan | $2.08/mo | Yes | 4.95 /mo | Windows 7, 8, 10, 11; Windows Server 2012-2025 | |
| 6 | OpenProcMon | 5.9 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Windows | ||
| 7 | Ambih Monitor | 5.8 | Free plan | $10/mo | Yes | 5.42 /mo | Windows | No |
| 8 | AppControl | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Windows | ||
| 9 | atop | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | linux | ||
| 10 | bottom (btm) | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Linux, macOS, Windows | ||
| 11 | btop | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Linux, macOS, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD | ||
| 12 | iotop | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Linux | No | |
| 13 | ManageEngine Free Process Manager | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Windows | Yes | |
| 14 | Monit | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | |||
| 15 | nmon | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Linux on POWER, x86, x86_64, mainframe, and ARM | ||
| 16 | NVTOP | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | linux, macos, windows | ||
| 17 | Remote Process Explorer | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 10, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2022, Windows 11, Windows Server 2025 | Yes | |
| 18 | runit | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | GNU/Linux, *BSD, MacOSX, Solaris, other adaptable Unix systems | ||
| 19 | s6 | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | POSIX-compliant systems | |||
| 20 | System Informer | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Yes | Windows | No | |
| 21 | htop | 5.7 | Free plan | Free | Yes | |||
| 22 | TaskExplorer | 5.5 | €5/mo | Windows, Linux | ||||
| 23 | winproc-tui | 5.5 | Windows 11 x64 | No | ||||
| 24 | rproc | 5.3 | Linux (X11 or Wayland) | |||||
| 25 | Autoruns | 5.0 | Yes |
Is your platform on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored, and a sponsored row is labelled as paid.





