Glances vs Netdata
Glances
nicolargo.github.ioNetdata
netdata.cloudSide by side
| Figure | Glances | Netdata |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $4.50/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 4 |
| Spec score · Hardware Monitoring Software | 8.9 (#6) | 9.0 (#5) |
| Spec score · Server Monitoring | 8.9 (#6) | 9.0 (#5) |
| Spec score · Container Monitoring | 8.8 (#8) | 9.0 (#5) |
| Spec score · Hardware monitoring tools | 8.6 (#12) | 8.8 (#8) |
| Deployment | Glances can be installed with pip, pipx, Homebrew or Linux and FreeBSD packages, and Docker images are available. | Netdata offers a managed cloud platform and an on-premises deployment, including air-gapped deployment options. |
| Extensibility | The project uses an open plugin and export-module architecture intended for developer extensions. | The project describes a modular plugin and collector architecture that supports custom metrics and integrations with other monitoring systems. |
| Latest release | PyPI lists Glances 4.5.8 as released on October 11, 2026. | Version 2.12.1 was released on October 8, 2026 to fix a Windows startup crash, a timezone bug, eBPF stability issues and collector performance problems. |
| License | Glances is distributed under the GNU LGPL version 3, expressed on PyPI as LGPL-3.0-only. | The Netdata Agent repository is marked GPL-3.0, while the Netdata UI is distributed under the NCUL1 license. |
| Monitoring | Its listed monitoring features include CPU, memory, load, processes, network, disk I/O, sensors, filesystems, containers, alerts and uptime. | Netdata says it supports per-second metrics and ML-based anomaly detection and troubleshooting. |
| Network monitoring | The tool reports network-interface activity. | The product includes topology views, NetFlow analysis, SNMP monitoring, trap monitoring and network-device discovery. |
| Platforms | The project documents GNU/Linux, FreeBSD, macOS and Windows support; it also gives installation instructions for rooted Android devices using Termux. | The agent page says Netdata runs natively on Linux, Windows, macOS, and FreeBSD and monitors Docker, Kubernetes, Podman, and LXC containers. |
| Support | The project directs users to its manual, official Reddit forum and GitHub Discussions for help. | The site lists documentation and community support, with premium support available. |
| What it does | Glances is a Python-based, cross-platform system monitoring tool with terminal and web interfaces. | Netdata is a real-time infrastructure observability platform for systems, containers, applications, cloud environments, Kubernetes and IoT devices. |
Plans
Netdata
- CommunityFree
- Business$4.50 a month
- Homelab$90 a year
- Enterprise On-PremisePriced on request
In their own words
Glances
Glances is a free, open-source, cross-platform tool for monitoring real-time system statistics and running processes. Its listed coverage includes CPU, memory, load, processes, network, disk I/O, sensors, filesystems, containers, alerts, and uptime. Client/server mode enables remote monitoring through a terminal, web interface, or API, while its built-in web UI lets users view a system from a browser-equipped device. Statistics can be exported to CSV or JSON files, databases such as InfluxDB and Prometheus, brokers such as RabbitMQ and Kafka, or a REST endpoint. The project documents Docker and Podman support and describes Docker and LXC container monitoring in its README. Installation options include pip, pipx, Homebrew, Linux and FreeBSD packages, and Docker images. Glances 4 requires Python 3.10 or higher. Its default installation does not include web interface dependencies; separate extras cover features such as web, GPU, containers, exports, and MCP. Version 4.5.1 and higher can provide an MCP server for AI assistants. The project uses the LGPL version 3 license.
Netdata
Netdata is an observability platform for real-time infrastructure monitoring and troubleshooting. Its agent gathers metrics and logs and provides per-second monitoring, machine-learning anomaly detection, dashboards, and alerts. Netdata lists more than 800 collectors and notification channels, including Slack, PagerDuty, Microsoft Teams, email, and webhooks. The agent can ingest Prometheus, OpenMetrics, StatsD, and OpenTelemetry data and export to Prometheus Remote Write, InfluxDB, Graphite, OpenTSDB, and TimescaleDB. Organizations can use the managed cloud platform or deploy on premises, including in air-gapped environments. Netdata says metrics remain on the user's infrastructure while only metadata reaches the cloud. Native Android and iOS apps provide alerts and notifications. The Community plan is free, with up to five active connected nodes and one active custom dashboard per room. Signing up for Netdata Cloud includes a 14-day Business trial for any number of nodes with no limits. Business costs $4.50 per month billed annually, with a stated total of $540.00/year.