PM2 vs atop

PM29.2Visit Aatop8.7Visit

Higher score PM2 #2 in Process Monitoring Software 9.2/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 5 features Visit PM2

vs

A atop #7 in Process Monitoring Software 8.7/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 1 of 5 features Visit Atoptool.nl

• PM2 fits best

  Node.js application process operations

• atop fits best

  Linux administrators needing historical process data

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Side by side

Feature	PM2 9.2/10 Visit ↗	Aatop 8.7/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.2	8.7
Ranking	#2 in Process Monitoring Software	#7 in Process Monitoring Software
Best for	Node.js application process operations	Linux administrators needing historical process data
Pricing model	Free plan + paid	Free
Starting price	—	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud, Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Platforms	Web, Windows, macOS, Linux	Linux
Support	Docs	Email
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features PM2 4/5 · atop 1/5
Remote monitoring	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Service monitoring	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Process alerting	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Process controls	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Activity logs	✓	✓
Specs
Supported platforms	Linux, macOS, Windows, web dashboard	linux
History retention	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Automatic restarts for crashes, exits, thresholds, file changes, and schedules Zero-downtime reloads and cluster-mode load balancing for Node.js Logs, reboot persistence, terminal monitoring, and web monitoring options	Per-process and per-thread resource views Compressed activity logs support long-term analysis Finished-process accounting and atopsar reports
Cons	Advanced remote monitoring depends on PM2 Plus Enterprise capabilities are reserved for the highest tier The product is centered on process operations rather than broad observability	Linux-only platform support Alerting and automated actions are not included Network and GPU statistics require optional components
Our verdict	PM2 is an open-source daemon process manager for keeping Node.js and other applications online. It supports process actions such as starting, stopping, restarting, reloading, and deleting managed processes, while also providing automatic… Read the review →	atop is an open-source, terminal-based performance monitor for Linux systems. It combines live views of CPU, memory, swap, disk, and network utilization with per-process and per-thread resource consumption. Linux administrators,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• PM2 — where it wins

  • Automatic restarts for crashes, exits, thresholds, file changes, and schedules
  • Zero-downtime reloads and cluster-mode load balancing for Node.js
  • Logs, reboot persistence, terminal monitoring, and web monitoring options

  Where it doesn't

  • Advanced remote monitoring depends on PM2 Plus
  • Enterprise capabilities are reserved for the highest tier
  • The product is centered on process operations rather than broad observability

• atop — where it wins

  • Per-process and per-thread resource views
  • Compressed activity logs support long-term analysis
  • Finished-process accounting and atopsar reports

  Where it doesn't

  • Linux-only platform support
  • Alerting and automated actions are not included
  • Network and GPU statistics require optional components

• PM29.2/10 · Free plan

  A capable Node.js process manager with deeper monitoring in paid tiers.

  Visit PM2Full verdict →
• Aatop8.7/10 · Free plan

  A focused open-source monitor for detailed Linux process history and analysis.

  Visit Atoptool.nlFull verdict →