The Windows Task Manager is a fairly powerful resource monitoring tool that’s more than enough for most people, but it’s a bit too limiting for power users. While you can use it in combination with Process Explorer, a component of Microsoft’s Sysinternals suite, you can also opt for a third-party alternative that offers both basic and advanced features in one package.
This is what I did because I didn’t want to constantly hop between Task Manager and Process Explorer to get all the system monitoring info I need when using my Windows PC.
The catch is that there are a good number of Task Manager alternatives out there, each with a loyal following and a unique set of features. I decided to try out the three most popular options—System Informer, Process Lasso, and Task Manager DeLuxe—and kept the one that impressed me the most. Here are the results.
System Informer
A solid Task Manager alternative that didn’t wow me
I started my testing with System Informer. Of the three programs I tested, this one looks and feels closest to the Windows Task Manager. The bulk of the info is displayed in the main window, which features six tabs: Processes, Services, Network, Disk, Firewall, and Devices.
Across these tabs, you can easily monitor active processes and services, check which ones use the most memory or CPU, sort them by CPU, disk, and memory usage, and perform a variety of operations (terminate, suspend, restart, and freeze).
You can also set CPU priority and affinity, enable or disable CPU boost for specific processes, set disk and page file priority, and more. One interesting option available in the context menu (right-click a process) is the ability to search for the process name online, which can be very useful when troubleshooting your system. I also like that System Informer uses DuckDuckGo instead of Google.
While the main window doesn’t include any graphs, you can launch them by clicking the System Information button. There, you can see basic usage graphs for the CPU, memory, disks, and GPU. You can also display each disk separately, or even display multiple GPUs if your system has more than one.
While System Informer looks and feels like Task Manager on steroids, is easy to navigate, and includes plenty of system info available in just a few clicks, it didn’t click for me for a few reasons.
Firstly, I don’t like that you can’t include any performance graphs on the home screen and instead have to open a separate window. System Informer also doesn’t offer any unique, game-changing features, unlike Process Lasso. Finally, compared to Task Manager DeLuxe, you get less information at your disposal on the home screen, and you can’t dive into the nitty-gritty details the way you can with Task Manager DeLuxe.
Process Lasso
ProBalance isn’t a gimmick
When I first opened Process Lasso, I wasn’t impressed by its UI, but after some time, I realized it’s a really powerful Task Manager replacement. I was able to see detailed info about every running process, set CPU, GPU, and memory priority, as well as CPU affinity, allowing me to reserve specific CPU cores for each process, and even disable CPU hyperthreading if I wanted.
You also get quick access to certain Windows settings, such as power options and Resource Monitor. The program also offers a slew of process automation options, allowing you to blacklist individual processes and prevent them from starting, reduce CPU core usage for specific processes when they exceed a certain CPU usage threshold, and more. You can fine-tune CPU and memory usage for each process running on your PC, giving you an impressive level of control over your system’s resources and how they’re used.
Overall, Process Lasso is another example of a Task Manager replacement done right, one that offers a couple of very handy advanced features. The first is called IdleSaver, which lets you switch to a different power plan when your system is idle. This can be handy for laptop owners who want maximum performance when using their device, but also want it to automatically switch to a power-saving plan when not in use.
The second feature allows you to force specific apps to use the performance power profile when active. This also caters to laptop owners who like to game on their PC, allowing them to automatically switch to performance mode when gaming and then return to a power-saving profile afterward.
The last feature is what Process Lasso is best known for: ProBalance. It monitors active processes and their CPU usage, adjusting process priority on the fly to keep the PC responsive even when a single app takes up the entire CPU. This can be especially useful when you’re exporting a video or rendering a complex scene, both of which can choke your CPU and reduce responsiveness.
ProBalance adjusts the priority of such CPU-intensive processes, allowing them to use as many resources as possible while keeping your system responsive—and it’s not a gimmick. I tried the included CPUEater demo, and with ProBalance enabled, I was able to launch most apps in just a few seconds, even while the simulated process was maxing out all CPU cores.
I really like Process Lasso and consider it the best choice for gamers and anyone who wants their machine to stay responsive under heavy CPU loads. It can genuinely improve performance in CPU-limited games and make your PC noticeably more responsive under heavy CPU loads. However, compared to the next contender, it falls behind in the amount and level of detail of available system information, as well as in its UI design.
Task Manager DeLuxe
We have a winner
Before trying Task Manager DeLuxe, I thought Process Lasso would be the winner and the app I’d keep on my PC. But half an hour after launching Task Manager DeLuxe for the first time, I changed my mind.
It’s mostly because I really like the way Task Manager DeLuxe presents system and process information. You can see key system stats on the home screen, including the app using the most memory and CPU resources, overall CPU and memory usage percentages, and even incoming and outgoing network activity.
You’ve also got nine tabs, each showing different bits of information. There are the usual Processes and Services tabs, but also the Autoruns tab, which lets you discover a bunch of processes that start automatically and aren’t shown in Task Manager. You can prevent most of them from launching at startup with just a few clicks, which is a very welcome option.
Then there’s the Network tab, which shows details about your network devices, along with several performance-related tabs that provide far more detailed information than Task Manager.
The app also includes shortcuts to Task Manager, Control Panel, Event Viewer, Task Scheduler, and other built-in Windows tools, allowing you to open them all from one place. Machine Journal is another useful feature that shows important system events starting from when you installed Windows.
One feature I really like is the ability to display VirusTotal scan information right inside the app (all you need is an API key, which you can get for free by creating a VirusTotal account), and even submit a file if it isn’t found in their database. You can also restart and suspend processes, set CPU affinity and priority, monitor each process, and much more.
One downside is that you can’t sort processes by CPU, memory, or disk usage. While this can be annoying, you can still see the most resource-intensive processes on the home screen, as well as the most CPU-intensive ones in the CPU overview within the Performance tab, which somewhat mitigates the issue. This wasn’t a deal-breaker for me, but your mileage may vary.
While it doesn’t include advanced features to improve your PC’s performance and responsiveness, I still ended up preferring Task Manager DeLuxe over Process Lasso. It’s not only fully portable, but it also has a cleaner, more readable UI that’s easy to navigate and includes all the information you might need. And that’s the most important thing a Task Manager alternative should offer, in my opinion.
All three programs I tested are worthy Task Manager replacements
While I did keep Task Manager DeLuxe on my machine, it wasn’t because the other two are poor options—quite the contrary. Each of the three can replace the Windows Task Manager and then some. Each is a robust utility offering a slew of extra options you won’t find in Task Manager. But at the end of the day, I found Task Manager DeLuxe’s UI to be closest to my personal taste. I also like how it works and the options on offer.
That said, this shouldn’t stop you from trying out the other two programs, as both are excellent Task Manager replacements, and there’s a good chance one of them will suit your preferences better than Task Manager DeLuxe.
Stephan is the sports journalist for the Maple Grove Report.
