ctop vs dive
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted developer tools & git options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | ctop | dive |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 27 · At risk | 62 · Good |
| Category | Developer Tools & Git | Developer Tools & Git |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, docker | binary, docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 17,840 | ★ 54,597 |
| First released | 2017 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Docker Desktop | Docker Desktop |
What are ctop and dive?
ctop
ctop is an open-source command-line tool that provides a concise, real-time overview of metrics for multiple containers. It works with Docker and runc to monitor self-hosted container hosts.
- Real-time container metrics
- Compact display
- Single-container drill-down
- Lightweight
dive
dive is an open-source tool for exploring the contents of Docker image layers and discovering ways to shrink image size. It helps developers optimize images for self-hosted deployments.
- Layer-by-layer inspection
- Image efficiency score
- Wasted space detection
- CI integration
ctop vs dive: key differences
Both projects are written in Go. Ctop is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 128 MB for dive. Dive has the considerably larger community, at 54,597 GitHub stars versus 17,840.
Why pick each one
Choose ctop if…
- Zero-config overview
- Single static binary
- Real-time metrics
Watch out for
- No historical data
- Terminal only
Choose dive if…
- Instant layer inspection
- Wasted-space estimation
- CI efficiency checks
Watch out for
- Terminal interface only
- No automated slimming
Frequently asked questions
Is ctop or dive better?
Neither is universally better. dive has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are ctop and dive free and open-source?
Yes. ctop is licensed under MIT and dive under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run ctop and dive with Docker?
ctop: yes. dive: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, ctop or dive?
ctop has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for dive. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.