Autoruns vs Supervisor
Autoruns
learn.microsoft.comSupervisor
supervisord.orgSide by side
| Figure | Autoruns | Supervisor |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Process Monitoring Software | 8.0 (#6) | 7.3 (#21) |
| Purpose | Autoruns shows programs and drivers configured to run during system boot, login, and when certain built-in Windows applications start. | Supervisor is a client/server system for controlling processes on UNIX-like operating systems. |
| Support | Microsoft says Sysinternals tools are provided as is without official Microsoft support and points users to a community support forum. | The project directs users to its GitHub issues page to report bugs or other errors. |
Plans
In their own words
Autoruns
Autoruns shows programs and drivers configured to run during Windows boot, login, or when certain built-in Windows applications start. It reports startup items from locations such as the Startup folder, Registry keys, Explorer extensions, services, scheduled tasks, and Winlogon entries. Users can hide signed Microsoft entries to focus on third-party items, inspect startup images configured for other accounts, and disable an entry or delete its configuration. Scan options include signature verification and VirusTotal hash checks; submitting files not previously scanned requires the upload option, and VirusTotal features require accepting its terms. The download includes Autorunsc, a command-line version that can output CSV or tab-delimited data, verify signatures, and scan an offline Windows system. The Autoruns and Autorunsc download is listed as 3 MB, and Microsoft offers a Sysinternals Live option. Autoruns costs nothing, with no limit on installation or use on devices owned or supported by the user, but no redistribution license. Microsoft says Sysinternals tools are provided as is without official support and points users to a community forum.
Supervisor
Supervisor is a free client/server system for starting, monitoring and controlling processes on UNIX-like operating systems. It can restart processes after crashes and report their status. Administrators set per-process options in an INI-style configuration file, including failed-process restarts and automatic log rotation. Priorities and groups let related processes be started or stopped together.
Control is available through a command-line client, an optional browser interface and an XML-RPC interface. The browser view can display and control process status when the HTTP server is enabled; authentication can be required for commands over UNIX-domain or TCP sockets. Supervisor also has an event-notification protocol usable by programs in any language and extension points for Python developers. It can be installed with pip or from a downloaded distribution, including on systems without internet access. It is intended for project- or customer-related processes, not as a replacement for init as process ID 1. It runs on supported UNIX-like systems and does not run under Windows.