Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Process Explorer VS NewRelic

Compare Process Explorer VS NewRelic and see what are their differences

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'lโ€ฆ

NewRelic logo NewRelic

New Relic is a Software Analytics company that makes sense of billions of metrics across millions of apps. We help the people who build modern software understand the stories their data is trying to tell them.
  • Process Explorer Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-21
  • NewRelic Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-05

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.

NewRelic features and specs

  • Comprehensive Monitoring
    New Relic provides a wide range of monitoring capabilities including application performance, infrastructure, and real user monitoring, offering a holistic view of your system's health.
  • Real-Time Data
    New Relic offers real-time analytics and insights, enabling quick identification and resolution of issues as they occur.
  • Advanced Alerting
    New Relic's advanced alerting system allows you to set customizable thresholds and get notified through various channels, helping to proactively manage potential issues.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    The platform features an intuitive, user-friendly interface that makes it easy to navigate and visualize data, even for less experienced users.
  • Integration Capabilities
    New Relic integrates seamlessly with many other tools and platforms, making it easy to incorporate into existing workflows.
  • Scalability
    Whether you have a small startup or a large enterprise, New Relic scales easily with your growing needs.
  • Comprehensive Documentation and Support
    New Relic offers extensive documentation and a variety of support options including forums, customer support, and a vibrant community.

Possible disadvantages of NewRelic

  • Cost
    New Relic can be expensive, especially for smaller businesses or startups that may not have a large budget for monitoring tools.
  • Complexity
    While New Relic offers a lot of features, it can also be complex to set up and configure, requiring significant time and expertise.
  • Performance Impact
    In some cases, the agents and monitoring tools can add overhead to the monitored systems, potentially affecting performance.
  • Data Storage Limits
    Lower-tier plans come with limits on data retention and storage, which may not be sufficient for some businesses with high data requirements.
  • Steep Learning Curve
    The breadth of features and capabilities can result in a steep learning curve for new users, making it challenging to fully leverage the platform's potential quickly.

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

Analysis of NewRelic

Overall verdict

  • Overall, NewRelic is regarded as a reliable and feature-rich APM solution. Its intuitive user interface, robust monitoring capabilities, and scalability generally receive positive feedback from users. However, it is essential to consider pricing and specific needs, as some users find it expensive compared to other solutions.

Why this product is good

  • NewRelic is considered a good choice for application performance monitoring (APM) because it offers comprehensive monitoring capabilities, real-time insights, and detailed analytics. It supports a wide range of programming languages and platforms, and features like distributed tracing, error analytics, and infrastructure monitoring make it a versatile tool for ensuring application reliability and performance.

Recommended for

  • Development teams needing real-time application performance insights
  • Organizations looking to monitor complex distributed applications
  • Businesses that require comprehensive monitoring across different technology stacks
  • Teams focusing on optimizing application availability and performance

Process Explorer videos

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?

NewRelic videos

No NewRelic 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 NewRelic)
Monitoring Tools
31 31%
69% 69
Command Line Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Application Performance Monitoring
Performance Monitoring
34 34%
66% 66

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 NewRelic

Process Explorer Reviews

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NewRelic Reviews

New Relic vs. Scout: Which Is The Right APM For You?
The top portion of the page is similar between New Relic and Scout: a breakdown of time spent by category (ex: Ruby, Database, External HTTP services, etc) over time. You can view data across similar timeframes in both Scout and New Relic (New Relic offers three months of data in their Pro package and Scout can do the same in their custom plans).
Source: scoutapm.com
Best New Relic Alternatives for Application Performance Monitoring (Cloud & SaaS)
Pingdom Server Monitor, which was formerly Scout Server Monitoring App which was acquired by Pingdom, has superior performance to New Relic, in particular when comparing response times, as seen in comparisons below. Ping Server Monitor comes ahead of New Relic in almost every single Response Time test and benchmark, beating it by almost 20x in terms of overhead.
10 Best Application Monitoring Tools for all Platforms
The NewRelic is a one of the best application performance management and monitoring software that gives you a deep analysis to the app stack. New Relic offers a real-time status checking of the appโ€™s availability. It also gives email alerts and real-time notification.
Source: www.technig.com
Best DataDog Alternatives, Replacements & Competitors for Application & Log Monitoring
New Relic is an application/infrastructure performance management software designed for DevOps. The basic platform gives you real-time insights on the full stack of your cloud apps and infrastructure. New Relic can keep track of your apps whether is on-premises, on the cloud, or in hybrid environments.
Source: www.pcwdld.com
Top 15 Website Monitoring Tools
New Relic is very well known in the performance and developer community for providing a lot of different features and has been around since 2008. New Relic gives you deep performance analytics for every part of your software environment. You can easily view and analyze massive amounts of data, and gain actionable insights in real time. They do provide uptime alerts and...
Source: www.keycdn.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Process Explorer should be more popular than NewRelic. 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 โ€“ 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 / over 1 year 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 / almost 2 years 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 2 years 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 2 years 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 2 years ago
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NewRelic mentions (108)

  • Best Synthetic Monitoring Tools in 2026: Honest Comparison
    New Relic has the broadest type matrix โ€” seven first-class monitor types including a genuine no-code Step monitor, broken-links, and cert checks โ€” plus serious compliance (SOC 2, ISO 27001, HIPAA BAA, FedRAMP Moderate). For regulated teams that need a no-code authoring path, it is a real contender. - Source: dev.to / 13 days ago
  • New Relic - CPU usage (%) and Load Average
    At AWS re:Invent 2025, I had the opportunity to give a brief demonstration at the New Relic booth that opened the stage to some AWS Heroes. In Linux environments, administrators often rely on CPU usage and load average metrics to determine whether an instance is appropriately sized. An oversized instance that sits idle wastes resources and drives up the cloud bill, whereas an undersized instance pushed to its... - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Top 5 Trending APM Tools to Explore
    Ideal for: Teams that want comprehensive monitoring without drowning in complexity or cost. Official link:New Relic. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Best AI Coding Tools of 2025: What Tools Should You Use?
    Tembo integrates with observability tools like Sentry, Datadog, and New Relic to detect performance regressions, query slowdowns, and recurring exceptions. When it finds issues, it analyzes recent commits, traces the root cause, and opens pull requests with fixes or optimizations โ€” often before anyone notices the problem. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Troubleshooting Broken Function Level Authorization
    Real-world examples highlight how damaging BFLA can be. For instance, breaches at a state insurance department and a major telecommunications provider involved attackers exploiting these vulnerabilities. In another case, New Relic Synthetics faced a privilege escalation issue where restricted users could modify alerts on monitors without proper permissions. - Source: dev.to / 10 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Process Explorer and NewRelic, you can also consider the following products

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

Datadog - See metrics from all of your apps, tools & services in one place with Datadog's cloud monitoring as a service solution. Try it for free.

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.

Zabbix - Track, record, alert and visualize performance and availability of IT resources

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

Dynatrace - Cloud-based quality testing, performance monitoring and analytics for mobile apps and websites. Get started with Keynote today!