AppControl vs bottom (btm)
AppControl
appcontrol.combottom (btm)
bottom.pages.devSide by side
| Figure | AppControl | bottom (btm) |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Process Monitoring Software | 7.9 (#8) | 8.0 (#7) |
| Support | Users can get help through the AppControl Forum, Discord, or contact page. | For issues on officially supported platforms, the project says it will fix them if possible and directs users to troubleshooting or GitHub issues and discussions. |
| What it does | AppControl is a free historical Task Manager for Windows that tracks system activity and app behavior over time. | bottom is a customizable graphical process and system monitor that runs in the terminal. |
Plans
In their own words
AppControl
AppControl is a free historical Task Manager for Windows that records system activity and application behavior over time. It keeps approximately 72 hours of second-by-second history covering CPU, GPU, memory, disk, temperature, and app events. Executables are described in plain language with publisher, signature, and elevated-privilege information. Alerts can flag webcam, microphone, or location access, along with new or unsigned apps and silent updates. Users can disable an app, block a publisher, and create rules to stop software from returning. History is stored locally. An optional MCP server connects compatible AI clients after you enable it and approve data access; its nine tools are read-only and cannot change rules or configuration. A command-line tool shows live resource use and process events. AppControl supports modern Windows 10 and Windows 11, requires administrator privileges to install, and is not an antivirus replacement.
bottom (btm)
bottom is a free graphical system and process monitor that runs in a terminal on Linux, macOS and Windows. It charts CPU use for each core and as an average, along with RAM and swap over time. Network and disk I/O are graphed too, with a control for zooming the displayed time interval. Its process widget lets users display, sort and search process information, use tree mode and send kill signals. Other widgets show disk capacity and use, temperature sensors and battery use. Appearance and behavior can be changed through command-line options or a configuration file, including themes, layout, widget behavior and filtering. An htop-inspired basic mode offers a simpler view, and a selected widget can be expanded to fill the terminal. A read-only option blocks actions that affect the system, such as stopping processes. Installation is documented through package managers, Cargo and pre-built release binaries. Official platform support covers macOS, Linux and Windows; architecture support varies by system. Android and some other systems may work unofficially with limited testing and support.