Guías/htop for Mac

htop for Mac: how to install it, and the 5 best alternatives

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Precios y funciones comprobados el

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htop runs on a Mac. Install Homebrew from brew.sh, run brew install htop, then type htop. The built-in top needs no install: top -o cpu sorts by CPU. btop is the better-looking terminal monitor, with graphs, GPU and temperature. If the question is which app is busy, not which process, Vitals, a system monitor for the Mac, shows about 60 apps in place of 1,000 processes, each with its helpers counted in, and keeps 30 days of history, or up to a year.

How to install htop on a Mac

  1. 01 Open Terminal: press ⌘Space, type Terminal and press Return.
  2. 02 If you do not have Homebrew, install it with the one line on brew.sh.
  3. 03 Run brew install htop.
  4. 04 Type htop and press Return. Press F6 to choose the sort column, F5 for the tree, F3 to search, F9 to end a process and Q to leave.

If figures for some system processes are missing, run sudo htop. With nothing installed, top -o cpu lists processes by CPU and top -o mem by memory; press Q to leave.

htop is a process list for the terminal: every process on its own row, sorted live, with the keyboard doing the work. On a Mac it shows the same thousand processes Activity Monitor does, so a browser is still dozens of rows. The tools below are the ones worth knowing besides it. Four live in the terminal, and one answers the question htop cannot: which app do all these processes belong to? Each is labeled with the job it does best.

#AppIdeal paraPrecioSe usa en
1 Vitals La mejor en general Apps instead of processes, in a window, with history $9 durante el lanzamiento Una ventana y la barra de menús
2 btop The best-looking monitor in the terminal Gratis (Apache 2.0) La terminal
3 Glances Watching a Mac from a browser or another machine Gratis (LGPLv3) The terminal, or a web page
4 bottom Graphs over time, in a layout you arrange Gratis (MIT) La terminal
5 mactop Apple silicon power, GPU and every sensor Gratis (MIT) The terminal, with a menu bar mode
  1. 01

    Vitals

    Ideal para: Apps instead of processes, in a window, with history

    Precio
    $9 durante el lanzamiento, luego $39, en un solo pago
    Se usa en
    Una ventana y la barra de menús

    htop answers which process. Vitals answers which app. It adds every helper process to the app that launched it, so a Mac with 1,000 processes shows about 60 apps, each with one figure for memory, CPU, energy, disk and network. Open an app and its processes are there, each with its PID, CPU and memory, and any of them can be quit or force quit after a confirmation. It keeps 30 days of history for every app, or up to a year, tells you when an app keeps the CPU busy or keeps growing in memory, and lists dev servers with the ports they hold. It is a window and a menu bar item, not a terminal tool, but Claude Code, Codex and Cursor can ask it what is running through its MCP server.

    A favor

    • Una fila y una cifra por app, con sus procesos auxiliares
    • Open an app to see each process, with its PID
    • History for every app: 30 days, or up to a year
    • Avisos cuando una app se porta mal
    • Dev servers and the ports they hold, by project
    • An MCP server, so an assistant in your terminal can ask it

    Conviene saberlo

    • Not a terminal tool: it does not run over SSH
    • No parent and child process tree
    • Paid, where every terminal tool here is free
    Consigue Vitals por $9 Vitals frente a Monitor de Actividad
  2. 02

    btop

    de aristocratos (código abierto)

    Ideal para: The best-looking monitor in the terminal

    Precio
    Gratis (Apache 2.0), brew install btop
    Se usa en
    La terminal

    Un monitor a pantalla completa para la terminal, con árbol de procesos, filtrado y ordenación, kill y renice, gráficos de red y disco, temperatura de la CPU y batería, y cifras de la GPU de los chips de Apple desde la versión 1.4.7. Si ya vives en la terminal, es la forma más vistosa de ver lo que se está ejecutando.

    A favor

    • Gratuito, rápido y manejable con el teclado
    • Kill y renice desde la lista

    En contra

    • Sin historial más allá de la sesión, sin avisos
    • Procesos, no apps
    Web de btop
  3. 03

    Glances

    de nicolargo (código abierto)

    Ideal para: Watching a Mac from a browser or another machine

    Precio
    Gratis (LGPLv3), brew install glances
    Se usa en
    The terminal, or a web page

    Glances fits CPU, memory, load, disks, network, sensors, containers and the process list on one terminal screen, and does what the others here do not: it can serve the same figures as a web page and a REST API, so you can watch one Mac from another, export them to CSV or a time-series database, and answer AI assistants through its own MCP server. Version 4.5.8, released on 11 de octubre de 2026.

    A favor

    • A web page and REST API for watching from another machine
    • Exports to CSV and time-series databases
    • Its own MCP server
    • Gratuito y de código abierto

    En contra

    • Installed with pip, the web page, sensors and GPU are optional extras
    • Procesos, no apps
    Web de Glances
  4. 04

    bottom

    de ClementTsang (código abierto)

    Ideal para: Graphs over time, in a layout you arrange

    Precio
    Gratis (MIT), brew install bottom
    Se usa en
    La terminal

    bottom draws CPU, memory, network, temperature and disk activity as graphs over time, beside tables for disks, temperature sensors and the battery. Its process list sorts and searches, has a tree mode and can send a kill signal, and any one widget can be expanded to fill the screen. The layout is yours to arrange in a config file. It runs on Intel and Apple silicon Macs. Version 0.14.9, released in agosto de 2026.

    A favor

    • Graphs over time for CPU, memory, network, temperature and disk
    • A layout you arrange yourself
    • Search, tree mode and kill in the process list
    • Gratuito y de código abierto

    En contra

    • Sin historial más allá de la sesión, sin avisos
    • Procesos, no apps
    Web de bottom
  5. 05

    mactop

    de Carsen Klock (código abierto)

    Ideal para: Apple silicon power, GPU and every sensor

    Precio
    Gratis (MIT), brew install mactop
    Se usa en
    The terminal, with a menu bar mode

    mactop is written for Apple silicon and nothing else. It shows efficiency and performance cores apart, GPU use and frequency, the power drawn by the CPU, GPU and Neural Engine in watts, the thermal state, fan speeds, and every temperature sensor the Mac reports, without needing sudo. Its process list filters by name and can kill a process after a confirmation, and it can also run as a menu bar item. Version 2.1.6, released on 30 de septiembre de 2026.

    A favor

    • Every temperature sensor the Mac reports, with readable names
    • Power in watts for the CPU, GPU and Neural Engine
    • No sudo needed
    • Gratuito y de código abierto

    En contra

    • Apple silicon only
    • Sin historial más allá de la sesión, sin avisos
    • Procesos, no apps
    Web de mactop

Herramientas que hacen bien una sola cosa

These are not process lists, so they are not ranked against the tools above. Each is the best pick for its one job.

TG Pro $10 en un solo pago (rebajado de $20)

Temperaturas y control de los ventiladores

Temperaturas por núcleo en los chips de Apple hasta el M5 Max, control de ventiladores con reglas y avisos por correo. Sin lista de procesos.

Little Snitch Desde €59 en un solo pago

Qué app habla con qué servidor

Su Network Monitor guarda hasta 12 meses de tráfico por app, con cada conexión, puerto y dominio, y bloquea con un clic. Solo red.

App Tamer $14.95 en un solo pago, prueba de 15 días

Frenar automáticamente las apps que acaparan la CPU

Ralentiza o pausa las apps en segundo plano que usan demasiada CPU. Su web indica compatibilidad hasta macOS 26.5.

When htop or top is enough

If you are logged into a server, or you want to end one runaway process and get back to work, htop is the right tool, and top is already there when you cannot install anything. Both are free and start in a second.

They fall short when the question is about the whole app or about earlier. A browser is dozens of rows that you add up in your head, nothing is kept once you close the terminal, and nothing tells you when a process starts misbehaving while you are looking elsewhere. What the columns and process names mean is in the Activity Monitor glossary.

Cómo lo hemos comprobado

Cada precio y cada función salen de la propia web del fabricante, consultada el 12 de octubre de 2026: la página de precios, la del producto o la ficha de la App Store, y para las herramientas de código abierto, el README y el historial de versiones en GitHub. Cuando un fabricante no dice si su app hace algo, la ficha tampoco lo afirma ni lo niega. Los precios cambian: consulta la web del fabricante antes de comprar.

Vitals is first because it answers the question most people on a Mac open htop with, which app is doing this, and keeps the answer for 30 days or more. If you want to stay in the terminal, btop is the pick, and the entry says so. Every other tool is ranked for how well it replaces htop on a Mac, and where one does a job better, the entry says so. If something here is out of date, email us and we will fix it.

Preguntas frecuentes

Does htop work on a Mac?

Yes. Install it with Homebrew: brew install htop, then type htop in Terminal. It runs on Intel and Apple silicon Macs.

What is the Mac equivalent of htop?

Built in, it is top in Terminal and Activity Monitor as an app. top -o cpu sorts by CPU. htop itself also runs on a Mac once installed with Homebrew.

Is btop better than htop on a Mac?

For looking at a Mac, usually. btop adds graphs for network and disk, CPU temperature, battery and Apple silicon GPU figures. htop is plainer and is on almost every Unix machine, which is the reason to know it.

Does htop show GPU or temperature on a Mac?

No. btop shows CPU temperature and Apple silicon GPU use. mactop shows every temperature sensor and the power drawn by the CPU, GPU and Neural Engine, on Apple silicon only.

Is there an app like htop for Mac with a window?

Vitals. It lists apps instead of processes, with each app's helpers counted in, and opens an app to show its processes with their PIDs. It keeps 30 days of history, or up to a year, and sits in the menu bar.

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