Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

lsof VS gtop

Compare lsof VS gtop and see what are their differences

lsof logo lsof

Lsof lists open files for running UNIX processes. It is a

gtop logo gtop

System monitoring dashboard for terminal
  • lsof Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-09-16
  • gtop Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-28

lsof features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

gtop features and specs

  • User-friendly Interface
    Gtop provides a visually appealing and easy-to-read terminal-based interface, allowing users to quickly understand system performance at a glance.
  • Cross-platform Compatibility
    Gtop is built on Node.js, making it compatible with multiple operating systems such as Linux, macOS, and Windows.
  • Real-time Monitoring
    It offers real-time visualization of system processes, CPU, memory, and network usage, which makes it easier to monitor system performance continuously.
  • Open Source
    Being open source, users can modify and contribute to the code, enhancing its features to fit their needs and encouraging community collaboration.
  • Ease of Installation
    Gtop can be easily installed using npm (Node Package Manager), simplifying setup for users who are familiar with Node.js environment.

Possible disadvantages of gtop

  • Limited Features
    Compared to more comprehensive system monitoring tools, gtop may offer fewer features and customization options.
  • Node.js Dependency
    Since gtop is based on Node.js, users must have Node.js installed, which might be an extra dependency for those not already using Node.js.
  • Performance Overhead
    As a JavaScript application running in a terminal, gtop could potentially introduce some performance overhead compared to native system monitoring solutions.
  • Terminal-only Interface
    Gtop is limited to terminal use, which might not be ideal for users looking for a graphical user interface with mouse interactions.
  • Potential Instability
    Being a community-driven project, users might encounter bugs or instability, especially with new updates, compared to more established system tools.

Analysis of lsof

Overall verdict

  • lsof (List Open Files) is a mature, battle-tested Unix/Linux utility that reliably reveals which files, sockets, and resources are opened by processes, making it an indispensable diagnostic tool for system administrators and developers.

Why this product is good

  • Provides comprehensive visibility into open files, network sockets, pipes, and devices tied to running processes
  • Extremely useful for troubleshooting 'device busy' errors, port conflicts, and locating processes holding onto deleted files
  • Highly portable across many Unix-like systems including FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, and Solaris
  • Long history of stable, well-maintained releases with extensive documentation and community support
  • Powerful filtering options let you query by user, process, port, file, or network connection

Recommended for

  • System administrators diagnosing resource and file-locking issues
  • Developers debugging network connections and socket usage
  • Security professionals investigating suspicious process activity and open network ports
  • Anyone needing to identify which process is using a specific file, directory, or port before unmounting or killing

lsof videos

8 Basic lsof Commands Every Sysadmin Needs to Know

More videos:

  • Review - HakTip - Network monitoring in Linux with lsof

gtop videos

Chocolate Fangirl Review: GTOP High High Album

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to lsof and gtop)
Monitoring Tools
12 12%
88% 88
Performance Monitoring
100 100%
0% 0
Command Line Tools
19 19%
81% 81
System & Hardware
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, gtop seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 2 times since March 2021. 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.

lsof mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of lsof yet. Tracking of lsof recommendations started around Mar 2021.

gtop mentions (2)

What are some alternatives?

When comparing lsof and gtop, you can also consider the following products

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.

nmon - This systems administrator, tuner, benchmark tool gives you a huge amount of important performance...

Sysdig - Sysdig is an open source, system-level exploration that capture system state and activity from a running Linux instance, then save, filter and analyze.

psutil - psutil is a module providing an interface for retrieving information on all running processes and...

vtop - vtop is a graphical command-line tool that uses unicode braille to chart CPU and memory usage.

GrandTotal - Create invoices and estimates on your Mac