Glances

What it is and what it does

Glances is a Python-based system monitoring tool that runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux, providing real-time visibility into CPU, memory, disk, network, and process metrics. It presents data through a terminal dashboard (using curses), a web interface, or command-line output in multiple formats (raw, CSV, JSON). The tool supports remote monitoring via client/server mode with XML-RPC and RESTful APIs, and can export statistics to external databases and services including InfluxDB, Prometheus, Elasticsearch, and others.

You can use Glances as a standalone command-line tool, a web server for browser-based monitoring, or as a Python library by importing the GlancesAPI class to programmatically access system metrics. It includes plugins for container monitoring (Docker, LXC), temperature and fan sensors, and running processes. The architecture is plugin-based, allowing developers to add custom monitoring modules.

Use it for:

• Monitor system performance in real-time on a local machine using the terminal dashboard
• Set up remote monitoring of multiple servers via the web interface or client/server mode
• Export system metrics to time-series databases like Prometheus or InfluxDB for long-term analysis
• Embed system monitoring into Python applications via the GlancesAPI library
• Display specific metrics to stdout in CSV or JSON format for scripting and automation
• Monitor container resource usage alongside host metrics in Docker or LXC environments

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Glances is a cross-platform system monitoring tool that displays real-time CPU, memory, disk, network, process, and container metrics in a terminal dashboard or web interface.

Yes. Glances is actively maintained, has no known vulnerabilities, installs with low friction, and solves a clear problem—real-time cross-platform system monitoring. It is suitable for system administrators, developers, and end users. The LGPL-3.0-only license is permissive for use but requires source disclosure if you redistribute modifications. Install the base package for terminal monitoring, or add [web] extras for the web interface.

Install

glances on PyPI

pip install glances

uv add glances

poetry add glances

Installing Glances

Before you install

Low install friction with a pure Python wheel distribution. Actively maintained with a recent release (13 days old) and strong community engagement (33364 GitHub stars). Requires Python 3.10 or later and psutil as a core dependency; on some Linux systems you may need python3-psutil or python-dev headers pre-installed.

License in practice

Licensed under LGPL-3.0-only (copyleft). You may use and modify Glances freely, but any distributed modifications must also be licensed under LGPL-3.0-only and source code must be made available.

Quickstart

pip install glances
glances

Or as a library:
from glances import api
gl = api.GlancesAPI()
print(gl.cpu["total"])

Python 3.10 or later required. On Linux, psutil may require python3-dev or python-devel headers to compile.

Verify before relying

• Whether the web interface (glances -w) requires additional dependencies beyond the base install
• Performance overhead of running Glances on resource-constrained systems
• Compatibility of remote monitoring (client/server mode) across different network configurations

Package facts

Evidence: glances-4.5.6-py3-none-any.whl

Keywords: cli, curses, monitoring, system

Tags

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