Glances vs Servers Alive
Glances
nicolargo.github.ioServers Alive
woodstone.nuSide by side
| Figure | Glances | Servers Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | €16.58/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | Yes | — |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 2 |
| Spec score · Server Monitoring | 8.9 (#6) | 7.6 (#29) |
| Alerts | Glances includes monitoring alerts and configurable thresholds. | The alerting engine supports notifications by email, Slack, and Microsoft Teams, and can route alerts according to a person’s schedule. |
| Monitoring | Its listed monitoring features include CPU, memory, load, processes, network, disk I/O, sensors, filesystems, containers, alerts and uptime. | Its checks include ping, SNMP, web URLs, Windows performance, VMware and Hyper-V virtual machines, and Azure or AWS infrastructure. |
| Support | The project directs users to its manual, official Reddit forum and GitHub Discussions for help. | The maker offers a support and maintenance contract for Servers Alive v10 for EURO 85. |
Plans
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.
Servers Alive
Servers Alive has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.