ctop

ctop is a terminal-based container monitoring tool that provides a top-like interface for viewing real-time metrics of running containers. It displays CPU, memory, network I/O, and block I/O statistics in a condensed grid view, allowing users to monitor multiple containers simultaneously. The tool includes interactive features such as filtering containers, sorting by different metrics, and opening detailed single-container views for deeper inspection.

Built with native support for Docker and runC, ctop connects directly to container runtimes to gather performance data. Users can toggle between showing only active containers or all containers (including stopped ones), apply filters to narrow down the display, and save configuration preferences to a file. The interface supports various keybindings for navigation, including opening container logs, executing shells within containers, and configuring column displays.

The tool requires no configuration by default and uses standard Docker host variables for connection. It can be run as a standalone binary on Linux, macOS, and Windows, or executed within a Docker container itself by mounting the Docker socket. ctop is particularly useful for DevOps engineers, system administrators, and developers who need to monitor container resource usage without switching to more complex monitoring solutions.

Installation

# via Homebrew
brew install ctop

# via Arch Linux
sudo pacman -S ctop

# via Scoop (Windows)
scoop install ctop