Glances vs Sidebar Diagnostics

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.

Sidebar Diagnostics is a free Windows desktop sidebar for viewing hardware diagnostic information. It monitors CPU, RAM, GPU, network, and logical drives, and can graph those measurements. The sidebar can show a clock and supports alerts, hotkeys, and monitors with different DPI settings. The project describes extensive customization, with hardware data supplied by Libre Hardware Monitor. The README lists Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 as supported systems. Releases include an installer and a standalone ZIP; the standalone build does not update automatically. The application must be run as administrator. The GitHub repository identifies it as GPL-3.0 software and provides an issue template for reporting problems. The author says it will always be free on GitHub and invites donations. The Free plan costs nothing. Remote monitoring is not supported.