bottom

What is it?

bottom (invoked as btm) is a terminal system monitor written in Rust. It shows CPU, memory, network, disk, temperature, and process widgets that you can show, hide, rearrange, and resize from a TOML config file. Charts can be zoomed and panned, and the process table supports filtering and sorting by any column.

Why use it?

Bottom is for people who want their monitor exactly their way. The config file controls default widgets, colors, time ranges, and behaviour, and a command-line flag can start it with a specific layout for a script or tmux popup. It is cross-platform, so the same config works on Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Key features

• Configurable widgets and layouts via TOML
• Zoomable, scrollable time-series charts
• Per-process CPU, memory, and disk usage
• Temperature and battery widgets where available
• Basic mode for terminals without advanced color support
• Free and open source, written in Rust

How it compares

Against htop, bottom offers richer charts and configuration but a busier default screen. Against btop it is more keyboard-centric and config-driven, with fewer mouse niceties. Against glances it is a local monitor rather than a remote-capable one. A strong choice if you like to tune your tools.