ScriptsApr 11, 2026·1 min read

btop — Beautiful Resource Monitor for Linux, macOS, Windows

btop is a resource monitor that shows usage and stats for CPU, memory, disks, network, and processes. Beautiful TUI with mouse support, gradients, themes, and low memory footprint. The modern successor to htop and bashtop.

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Quick Use

Use it first, then decide how deep to go

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# Install
brew install btop                          # macOS
sudo apt install btop                      # Debian/Ubuntu
scoop install btop                         # Windows
snap install btop                          # Linux snap

# Launch
btop

Keybindings:

  • esc / m — menu
  • 1-4 — toggle CPU/Memory/Network/Process boxes
  • f — filter processes
  • +/- — sort columns
  • e — tree view of processes
  • t — toggle tree
  • k — kill selected process
  • q — quit
Intro

btop is a resource monitor for Linux, macOS, Windows, FreeBSD, and OpenBSD that displays usage and stats for processor, memory, disks, network, and processes. Written in C++ (a Python version, bpytop, also exists). Beautiful TUI with gradients, graphs, theming, and mouse support. Successor to the older htop and bashtop.

What btop Does

  • CPU monitor — per-core usage, frequency, temperature
  • Memory — RAM and swap with detailed breakdown
  • Disks — IO, usage, mounts
  • Network — RX/TX speeds, interface selection
  • Processes — sortable list, tree view, filter, kill
  • GPU — NVIDIA / AMD / Intel support (v1.3+)
  • Themes — 20+ built-in, truecolor gradient rendering
  • Mouse — click to focus boxes, select processes

Architecture

Written in C++ for speed and low memory. Uses ncurses-like rendering with 24-bit truecolor gradients. Polls /proc (Linux), sysctl (macOS), or PDH (Windows) for stats. Very low CPU footprint (under 1%).

Self-Hosting

CLI tool.

Key Features

  • Beautiful TUI with gradients
  • Truecolor support
  • 20+ themes
  • Mouse support
  • GPU monitoring
  • Process tree view and kill
  • Disk IO graphs
  • Network graph
  • Low CPU/memory overhead

Comparison

Tool Language UI GPU Themes
btop C++ Gradient TUI Yes Many
htop C Classic TUI No Few
bpytop Python Gradient TUI Partial Many
gtop Node.js Basic TUI No No
glances Python Classic TUI Yes Few

常见问题 FAQ

Q: 比 htop 好在哪？ A: 更漂亮的 gradient UI、truecolor、GPU 监控、磁盘 IO 图表、鼠标支持。核心功能覆盖 htop 全部。

Q: CPU 占用会不会高？ A: 通常 <1% 单核。C++ 比 bpytop（Python）快很多。

Q: 支持 Windows？ A: v1.2 之后官方支持 Windows。

来源与致谢 Sources

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