Open Hardware Monitor vs smcFanControl

Struggling to choose between Open Hardware Monitor and smcFanControl? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

Open Hardware Monitor is a System & Hardware solution with tags like hardware, monitoring, sensors, temperatures, fan-speeds.

It boasts features such as Monitors CPU temperature, load, clock speed and power, Monitors GPU temperature, load, clock speed and power, Monitors hard drive temperature and load, Monitors RAM usage, Monitors fan speeds, Displays graphs and statistics for monitored values, Can set thresholds and alerts for monitored values, Supports AMD and NVIDIA GPUs, Plugin support to add more hardware sensors, Portable version available and pros including Free and open source, Simple and easy to use interface, Lightweight resource usage, Supports many hardware components, Available on Windows, Linux and macOS.

On the other hand, smcFanControl is a System & Hardware product tagged with fan, mac, temperature, monitoring, control.

Its standout features include Monitor fan speeds, Control fan speeds manually or automatically, Set custom fan speed thresholds, Temperature sensors monitoring, Notifications when temperature or fan thresholds are reached, and it shines with pros like Free and open source, Works on Intel and M1 Macs, Simple and easy to use interface, Allows optimizing fan noise vs cooling.

To help you make an informed decision, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison of these two products, delving into their features, pros, cons, pricing, and more. Get ready to explore the nuances that set them apart and determine which one is the perfect fit for your requirements.

Open Hardware Monitor

Open Hardware Monitor

Open Hardware Monitor is a free, open source software that monitors temperature sensors, fan speeds, voltages, load and clock speeds of a computer's hardware components. It works on Windows, Linux and macOS.

Categories:
hardware monitoring sensors temperatures fan-speeds

Open Hardware Monitor Features

  1. Monitors CPU temperature, load, clock speed and power
  2. Monitors GPU temperature, load, clock speed and power
  3. Monitors hard drive temperature and load
  4. Monitors RAM usage
  5. Monitors fan speeds
  6. Displays graphs and statistics for monitored values
  7. Can set thresholds and alerts for monitored values
  8. Supports AMD and NVIDIA GPUs
  9. Plugin support to add more hardware sensors
  10. Portable version available

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Free and open source

Simple and easy to use interface

Lightweight resource usage

Supports many hardware components

Available on Windows, Linux and macOS

Cons

Limited customization options

Not all hardware fully supported

Can only view current values, no logging


smcFanControl

smcFanControl

smcFanControl is a free, open source fan control software for Macs. It allows you to monitor and control fan speeds to optimize cooling and noise.

Categories:
fan mac temperature monitoring control

SmcFanControl Features

  1. Monitor fan speeds
  2. Control fan speeds manually or automatically
  3. Set custom fan speed thresholds
  4. Temperature sensors monitoring
  5. Notifications when temperature or fan thresholds are reached

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Free and open source

Works on Intel and M1 Macs

Simple and easy to use interface

Allows optimizing fan noise vs cooling

Cons

Limited to controlling fans only

Requires manually starting on login

No official support