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Igor Giamoniano
Igor Giamoniano

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BTOP++: The Resource Monitor I Didn’t Know I Needed

#linux #archlinux #resources #productivity

Today is January 1st, 2026. The holidays are over, keyboards are warming up again, and it’s time to get back to building things.

There’s been a lot of talk about **2026 being “the year of Linux.” **Steam even kicked off the year with a banner suggesting exactly that. Will it actually be? I honestly don’t know.

What I do know is that 2025 was the year of Linux for me. After four years working as a developer and using Linux only sporadically, things finally clicked at the end of last year — and since then, the penguin has completely taken over my workflow.

My wife can confirm it.
Even with the Brazilian summer heat, we don’t use Windows at home.😄

With that in mind, this post is both a small New Year wish — and a quick, practical introduction to a resource monitor I genuinely didn’t know I needed: BTOP++.

BTOP++ vs HTOP

First of all, this is not an attack on HTOP.

On the contrary: HTOP is an amazing tool, created by my fellow countryman Hisham Muhammad, written in C, and known for being extremely efficient. It earned its place in the Linux community and even in hacker pop culture for a reason.

Many of the features I’ll mention for BTOP++ already exist in HTOP.

So the real question is:

Why consider BTOP++?

BTOP++ is the natural evolution of the HTOP idea.

It is inspired by HTOP but written in C++, which allows:

  • More information displayed at once in the same terminal
  • Integrated graphs for CPU, memory, disk, and network
  • A more modern and polished look
  • Extra visual context without a noticeable performance hit

Those visuals make a real difference when you’re trying to understand resource usage patterns.

BTop Interface

Should You Switch?

As always in tech, there’s no silver bullet.

HTOP is still:

  • Minimal
  • Fast
  • Extremely reliable
  • Perfect for SSH sessions and servers

BTOP++, on the other hand, is:

  • More complete
  • Visually rich
  • Modern
  • Ideal for desktops and workstations

A simple summary:

  • HTOP → minimal, fast, reliable, great for servers
  • BTOP++ → complete, beautiful, modern, great for desktop/workstation

Both tools can easily coexist.

Installation

Big Linux / Arch / Manjaro 

sudo pacman -Syu   # update the system
sudo pacman -S btop
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After installation, just run:

btop
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Ubuntu 22.10 or newer 

sudo apt update
sudo apt install btop
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Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or older 

sudo snap install btop
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Useful Shortcuts

Inside BTOP++:

  • ESC or M → open the menu
  • ↑ / ↓ → navigate processes
  • F → filter processes by name
  • K → kill the selected process

You can find all available shortcuts under Help inside the menu.

BTop Keys

BTop Menu

That’s it.

Long live Linux — and happy hacking 🐧

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