Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Conky VS gotop

Compare Conky VS gotop and see what are their differences

Conky logo Conky

Latest commit 262a292 on Dec 7, 2017 brndnmtthws Add missing build dep. Conky is a free, light-weight system monitor for X, that displays any kind of information on your desktop.

gotop logo gotop

A terminal based graphical activity monitor inspired by gtop and vtop
  • Conky Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-21
  • gotop Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-28

Conky features and specs

  • Customization
    Conky allows for extensive customization. Users can create their own themes and widgets, which can display a wide variety of system information.
  • Lightweight
    Conky is known for being lightweight and efficient, consuming minimal system resources compared to other system monitoring tools.
  • Flexibility
    The application supports numerous outputs like text, graphs, and bars, allowing users to choose how they want their data visualized.
  • Community Support
    Conky has a strong community and a wealth of user-contributed templates and scripts, making it easier for new users to get started.
  • Integration
    It can be integrated into various desktop environments and window managers, making it a versatile tool across different Linux distributions.

Possible disadvantages of Conky

  • Complexity
    The high level of customization can make the initial setup process complex and daunting for new users.
  • Configuration Format
    Conky uses its own configuration format, which can be difficult to learn and understand for those who are not familiar with it.
  • Stability
    Sometimes Conky can be less stable, especially when running complex scripts or on less common desktop environments.
  • Documentation
    While there is community support, the official documentation can be somewhat lacking, making it difficult to troubleshoot certain issues.
  • Limited Cross-Platform Support
    Conky is primarily designed for Linux and UNIX-like systems, making it less useful for users on Windows or macOS.

gotop features and specs

  • Real-time Monitoring
    Gotop provides real-time monitoring of system metrics, allowing users to keep track of CPU usage, memory load, and other critical system parameters at a glance.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    Gotop is compatible with multiple operating systems, including Linux, macOS, and Windows, making it a versatile tool for system administrators and developers working in different environments.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    Gotop features a simple, intuitive command-line interface with color-coded metrics that make it easy for users to read and interpret system information.
  • Customizable Display
    Users can customize the display to focus on specific metrics of interest, tailoring the monitoring experience to their needs.
  • Lightweight
    Gotop is a lightweight application that requires minimal system resources, ensuring it doesn't add unnecessary load to the systems it monitors.

Possible disadvantages of gotop

  • Limited Features
    Compared to more comprehensive system monitoring tools, gotop offers a relatively limited set of features, which might not meet the needs of users requiring in-depth analysis or extended capabilities.
  • Lack of Graphical User Interface
    Gotop is a terminal-based application without a graphical user interface, which might be less appealing to users who prefer GUI-based tools.
  • Configuration Complexity
    While customizable, configuring gotop to display specific metrics or work seamlessly across all supported platforms might require additional effort, particularly for users who are less familiar with command-line environments.
  • Potential Maintenance and Support Limitations
    As an open-source project, the level of ongoing maintenance and support for gotop may vary, potentially resulting in slower updates or fewer enhancements compared to commercially-supported tools.

Analysis of Conky

Overall verdict

  • Conky is generally considered a good tool for users who appreciate customizable system monitoring solutions. Its versatility and lightweight design make it a favorite among those who enjoy tweaking and optimizing their desktop environment.

Why this product is good

  • Conky is a highly configurable system monitor software for Linux and BSD that allows users to display various system status information on their desktop in a visually appealing manner. It is popular due to its lightweight and efficient nature, consuming minimal system resources while providing a wide range of customization options for users to tailor the appearance and information displayed according to their needs.

Recommended for

    Conky is recommended for advanced users who are comfortable with configuring software through text files and those who desire a personalized and detailed view of their system’s performance metrics. It is particularly suited for Linux and BSD users looking to enhance their desktop aesthetics with dynamic system information.

Conky videos

Conky System Info for Ham Radio Digital Operators

More videos:

  • Review - LEGO Conky Robot MOC Review from Pee-Wee's Playhouse #ToyReplay
  • Review - Making Linux Look Good - Conky First-Time Setup - Live Stream

gotop videos

GoTop Smart Watch Fitness Tracker, Heart beat monitor review - 247Tech

More videos:

  • Review - Gotop G1, Gopro hero3+, SJCAM sj4000 wifi PK Review Antelife
  • Review - GOTOP Action Camera test flight with DJI Phantom 2 Zenmuse H3-3D

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Conky and gotop)
Monitoring Tools
86 86%
14% 14
Command Line Tools
87 87%
13% 13
Tool
100 100%
0% 0
Performance Monitoring
71 71%
29% 29

User comments

Share your experience with using Conky and gotop. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Conky seems to be a lot more popular than gotop. While we know about 42 links to Conky, we've tracked only 4 mentions of gotop. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Conky mentions (42)

  • An app to count down till certain day
    Maybe put something like echo $(($(date -d 24-Dec +%j) - $(date +%j))) days into your bashrc. Conky should be able to display it nicely on the desktop. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Do you plan on adding widgets to your desktop in Sonoma?
    What I could go for is something like Conky (https://github.com/brndnmtthws/conky). Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Give Wayland a shot, don't base your opinion off of 2013 articles!
    Funny meme btw. Personally, I use xorg with 3 displays. Fortunately, the resolution is same on all screens (full HD). I use Komorebi for live wallpapers and conky for sidebar. It works flawlessly. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Issue in hyprland
    If you are using Wayland, then you may want to do some searches related to "wayland conky transparency" and see what results. Also, if you are using wayland, you will want to be sure you are using the latest possible version of conky, as close to 1.18.x or 1.19.2 as possible, as wayland support is a relatively new addition to conky. If you are on the latest or a late version and are also using the wayland video... Source: about 2 years ago
  • I need a small tool to monitor the CPU temperature and Fans RPM in Fedora 38
    Conky is the best.... you can set whatever info you like and display the info in many style..... Source: about 2 years ago
View more

gotop mentions (4)

  • Looking for the name of this application - taken from Kali homepage
    As other users have said, the one on the screenshot is gotop, which was archived close to 3 years ago. I would personally recommend bashtop, which is similar function, it is still developed and it's built in shell and a bit of Python. ofc, this is just my opinion. Hope you find a good system monitor. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Is there any maintaned alternative to vtop, i.e. a system monitor with Vim bindings?
    Gotop looks awesome! Here's a maintained fork that's linked to from the original, archived GitHub repo. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • List of CLI programs (follow-up to GUI). Feel free to make suggestions.
    Gotop (a system monitor that's more readable than htop IMO). Source: over 3 years ago
  • I love Pop!_OS and changing themes a lot
    Thank you! Gruvbox is what made me want to start theming from the get-go, especially that light theme. The system monitor is a terminal instance running gotop. Source: almost 4 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Conky and gotop, you can also consider the following products

GKrellM - GKrellM is a single process stack of system monitors which supports applying themes to match its...

htop - htop - an interactive process viewer for Unix. This is htop, an interactive process viewer for Unix systems. It is a text-mode application (for console or X terminals) and requires ncurses. Latest release: htop 2.

Rainmeter - Rainmeter is a desktop customization platform.

Bashtop - Linux/OSX/FreeBSD resource monitor

Bginfo - This fully-configurable program automatically generates desktop backgrounds that include important information about the system.

gtop - System monitoring dashboard for terminal