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Process Explorer VS API Monitor

Compare Process Explorer VS API Monitor and see what are their differences

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Process Explorer logo Process Explorer

The top window always shows a list of the currently active processes, including the names of their owning accounts, whereas the information displayed in the bottom window depends on the mode that Process Explorer is in: if it is in handle mode you'l…

API Monitor logo API Monitor

API Monitor is a software that monitors and displays API calls made by applications and services. Its a powerful tool for seeing how Windows and other applications work or tracking down problems that you have in your own applications
  • Process Explorer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-21
  • API Monitor Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-20

Process Explorer features and specs

  • Detailed System Information
    Process Explorer provides in-depth information about system processes, including detailed CPU and memory usage stats.
  • Hierarchical View
    It shows processes in a tree structure, making it easy to understand parent-child relationships between processes.
  • Advanced Diagnostic Capabilities
    The tool offers advanced features like DLL and handle viewing, allowing detailed investigation of system issues.
  • Real-Time Monitoring
    It allows real-time monitoring of system performance, including CPU, GPU, and I/O activity, which is critical for diagnosing performance bottlenecks.
  • Integration with VirusTotal
    Process Explorer can integrate with VirusTotal to check the safety of running processes, adding an extra layer of security.
  • Free to Use
    Process Explorer is part of the Sysinternals suite, which is freely available for use, making it accessible for both individual users and organizations.

Possible disadvantages of Process Explorer

  • Complexity
    The extensive features and detailed information can be overwhelming for novice users who may find the interface complex to navigate.
  • Resource Intensive
    While generally lightweight, the comprehensive monitoring features can consume a noticeable amount of system resources, which might affect performance on older or less powerful systems.
  • Windows Only
    Process Explorer is designed specifically for Windows operating systems, limiting its use for those who work in cross-platform environments.
  • No Built-In Reporting
    The tool does not offer built-in reporting capabilities, requiring users to manually capture and document information.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    Due to its advanced features and detailed information, new users might face a steep learning curve before being able to fully utilize all its capabilities.
  • Limited Documentation
    While there are some resources available, the documentation can be sparse, making it difficult for users to find solutions to specific problems.

API Monitor features and specs

  • Comprehensive Monitoring
    API Monitor provides a comprehensive toolset for monitoring API calls made by applications, allowing developers to capture details such as function calls, parameters, and return values.
  • Real-Time Surveillance
    It allows users to intercept and display API activity in real-time, which can be beneficial for debugging and understanding how applications interact with the operating system or other software components.
  • Customizable Filters
    Users can set up filters to monitor specific APIs or applications, enhancing the focus and efficiency of the monitoring process.
  • Ease of Use
    The interface and setup of API Monitor are user-friendly, making it accessible to a wide range of users, from beginners to advanced developers.
  • Detailed API Information
    Offers detailed information about API functions, including their parameters and modules, which helps in thorough analysis and development.

Possible disadvantages of API Monitor

  • Windows Exclusivity
    API Monitor is designed for Windows operating systems, limiting its use for applications or developers working on other platforms like macOS or Linux.
  • Resource Intensive
    Monitoring extensive API activity in real-time can be resource-intensive, potentially affecting the performance of the system being monitored.
  • No Source Code
    Being a proprietary tool, it does not provide access to its source code, which may be a downside for developers looking for open-source alternatives.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly interface, users may still face a learning curve when understanding how to effectively use all the features and interpret the data provided.
  • Limited Documentation
    Some users report that the documentation is not as comprehensive as they would like, which can hinder new users from fully utilizing the tool's capabilities.

Analysis of Process Explorer

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Process Explorer is generally regarded as a good and reliable tool by both system administrators and other IT professionals. It is frequently recommended for its depth of features, ease of use, and the detailed process information it provides.

Why this product is good

  • Process Explorer is considered a valuable tool because it offers comprehensive insights into system processes, threads, and resource usage. It provides detailed information about which files and directories individual processes have open, the DLLs they have loaded, and more. Its ability to offer real-time data and powerful searching capabilities makes it invaluable for troubleshooting and performance monitoring.

Recommended for

  • System administrators
  • IT professionals
  • Software developers
  • Anyone interested in detailed system diagnostics
  • Users troubleshooting application issues

Process Explorer videos

+ Add

Sysinternals Process Explorer Review + download link and method

More videos:

  • Review - Scan for Malware Using Process Explorer and Virus Total
  • Review - What Is?: Process Explorer?

API Monitor videos

No API Monitor videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Process Explorer and API Monitor)

Process Explorer

API Monitor

Monitoring Tools
93 93%
Monitoring Tools
7% 7
Command Line Tools
100 100%
Command Line Tools
0% 0
IDE
0 0%
IDE
100% 100
Performance Monitoring
100 100%
Performance Monitoring
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Process Explorer and API Monitor

Process Explorer Reviews

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API Monitor Reviews

The 5 Best Reverse Engineering Software for 2022
API Monitor includes individual versions for monitoring both 32-bit and 64-bit applications, with definitions for over 15,000 APIs, 1,800 COM interfaces, and almost 200 DLL files. The latest version supports breakpoints, structural decoding, arrays, unions, and enumerated data types. API Monitor runs on both Windows Desktop and Server and includes a portable version that...
Source: online.yu.edu

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Process Explorer seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 289 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.

Process Explorer mentions (289)

  • Stats – macOS system monitor in your menu bar
    Unclear what you mean by programmable, but https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer is the bee's knees and you can set an option to have it take over taskmon.exe, launch on login, and put as many of the widgets in the taskbar as you fancy. I love it I've heard about running them directly from SMB but have never been the kind of person to try out such a stunt... - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Ask HN: What tools do you recommend for working on Windows?
    Always put all your portable programs in the "A:\MyPC\Programs\" folder. Always put all your documents in the "A:\MyPC\Documents\" folder. Put driver files and runtime libraries in the "A:\MyPC\Install\" folder. For all three, feel free to create subfolders as needed, either per topic, per group, or however your brain envisions data trees. You can find plenty of portable windows software in the links provided... - Source: Hacker News / 11 months ago
  • Hidden dependencies in Linux binaries.
    On windows, this is Dependency Walker versus ProcExp. Similar eye-goggling results. https://www.dependencywalker.com/ https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Windows Explorer and Desktop Window Manager high RAM usage
    If you run Process Explorer (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/process-explorer) and enable process tree view, you can see what processes are running under explorer.exe. That should give you a better idea of what's consuming that memory if you're genuinely concerned about this. Source: over 1 year ago
  • Roblox doesn't launch for months on PC
    If you have any suspicious processes running onto your computer, close them IMMEDIATELY. I suggest using Process Explorer, as it has a Virustotal which submits all Executables to virustotal under 70+ antiviruses. If any of the processes have 3+ detections, Close them down as anticheats will detect it and stop you from running Roblox. Source: over 1 year ago
View more

API Monitor mentions (0)

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

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Process Explorer and API Monitor, 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.

Process Monitor - Monitor file system, Registry, process, thread and DLL activity in real-time.

Valgrind - Valgrind is an instrumentation framework for building dynamic analysis tools.

Autoruns - See what programs are configured to startup automatically when your system boots and you login.

perf - Perf is a simple app monitoring solution paired with meaningful alerts.

glances system monitoring - Glances is a cross-platform system monitoring tool written in Python. Written in Python, Glances will run on almost any plaftorm : GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, OS X and Windows.

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