HWiNFO is the sensor-reading tool most Windows enthusiasts default to. It reads every meaningful voltage, temperature, and fan speed on a modern motherboard, and its report engine feeds MSI Afterburner’s on-screen overlay. It is also Windows-only, closed-source, and its UI is stuck in 2015. XDA’s recent write-up on switching from Nvidia to AMD leaned on HWiNFO for hardware sensors during the transition, and the comments made the same point regulars have been making for years: it works, but on Linux, macOS, or newer AMD platforms, you probably want something else. Here are the seven HWiNFO alternatives we ended up using.
Quick comparison
| App | Best for | Free plan | Starting price | Standout feature |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Libre Hardware Monitor | Open-source Windows monitoring | Yes | Free | Fork of Open Hardware Monitor, actively maintained |
| AIDA64 Extreme | Deep benchmarks and stress tests | 30-day trial | $39.95 lifetime | Broadest sensor library on Windows |
| GPU-Z | GPU-only inspection | Yes | Free | The reference for graphics card details |
| HWMonitor | Simple sensor readout | Yes | $22.10 (Pro) | Lightweight, always-open second monitor |
| Open Hardware Monitor | The classic Windows OSS reader | Yes | Free | Original open-source Windows sensor reader |
| lm-sensors | Linux sensor daemon | Yes | Free | Standard on every modern Linux distro |
| iStat Menus | macOS menu bar monitor | 14-day trial | $11.99 lifetime | The gold standard on macOS |
Why people leave HWiNFO
The complaints are consistent across r/Amd, r/hardware, and Level1Techs threads:
- Windows-only. HWiNFO has never had a Linux or macOS version and shows no plans.
- The UI has not aged well. Panels overlap on high-DPI screens, and dark mode is partial at best.
- Sensor tree is a wall of text. Finding the specific temperature that matters takes practice.
- Closed source. Every sensor read goes through code no one outside REMedy has audited.
- New AMD platforms occasionally lag on sensor support. AM5 launch had a two-month gap.
- The free “portable” version omits some polling features that used to be on by default.
The alternatives
Libre Hardware Monitor - Best open-source Windows monitor
Libre Hardware Monitor is the active fork of Open Hardware Monitor and it has caught up on Ryzen 9000, Intel Arrow Lake, and current-gen GPUs. Same look and feel as the original, but the sensor library gets updates every few months. Also useful: it exposes sensors as a Windows performance counter, which lets Grafana or Windows Admin Center scrape them.
Where it falls short: GPU sensor coverage on Intel Arc is thinner than HWiNFO’s. Some board-specific voltages remain “unknown.”
Pricing:
- Free: MIT
- Paid: none
- vs HWiNFO: open source and better cross-tool integration; sensor breadth slightly less on the newest chips
Migrating from HWiNFO: install alongside, cross-check sensors for a day, then delete HWiNFO. The XML export format is different; recreate any dashboards.
Download: github.com/LibreHardwareMonitor/LibreHardwareMonitor
Bottom line: the default open-source pick on Windows.
AIDA64 Extreme - Best for benchmarks and stress tests
AIDA64 Extreme does everything HWiNFO does, plus a serious benchmark suite, cache and memory stress tests, and a well-known 30-minute stability run. Sensor coverage is the deepest on Windows, especially for enterprise motherboards and ECC memory. LCD panel output (for cases with side-panel screens) is built in.
Where it falls short: paid. Trial nags after 30 days. Overkill for people who just want to see temperatures.
Pricing:
- Free: 30-day trial
- Paid: $39.95 lifetime individual, engineer/business tiers go higher
- vs HWiNFO: much more than a sensor tool; the benchmarking side is the actual value
Migrating from HWiNFO: the reports look nothing alike. Redo any monitored-sensor logs.
Download: aida64.com
Bottom line: the pick when the workload includes hardware validation.
GPU-Z - Best for graphics card inspection
GPU-Z does one thing and does it perfectly. Every field you would want about the GPU (VBIOS revision, memory chips, PCIe generation, driver version, sensor timings) lives in one small window. Sensor tab logs to CSV. Free.
Where it falls short: GPU only. If you also want CPU, memory, or drive temperatures, GPU-Z is not the whole answer.
Pricing:
- Free: freeware
- Paid: none
- vs HWiNFO: narrower scope, better GPU depth
Migrating from HWiNFO: run in parallel. There is no reason not to.
Download: techpowerup.com/gpuz
Bottom line: install by reflex on any Windows machine.
HWMonitor - Best lightweight always-open readout
HWMonitor (from CPUID, same team as CPU-Z) is the small “keep it open in a corner” sensor tool. Lower RAM footprint than HWiNFO, cleaner default layout, and Pro adds remote monitoring and graphs.
Where it falls short: less sensor breadth than HWiNFO or AIDA64. Free version’s export is CSV only.
Pricing:
- Free: freeware
- Paid: $22.10 for HWMonitor Pro (adds graphs and remote monitoring)
- vs HWiNFO: cleaner UI, less data
Migrating from HWiNFO: direct swap for the “sensor panel on second monitor” use case.
Download: cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor
Bottom line: the readout for people who do not need every sensor.
Open Hardware Monitor - Best classic Windows OSS reader
Open Hardware Monitor is the original open-source Windows sensor tool. Development slowed and Libre Hardware Monitor picked up the torch, but plenty of setups still run OHM because it works and their sensors have not changed. Useful when you inherited a machine with existing dashboards keyed to OHM’s output.
Where it falls short: upstream development is minimal. Newer chips need Libre Hardware Monitor.
Pricing:
- Free: MPL 2.0
- Paid: none
- vs HWiNFO: older, open, still stable for legacy setups
Migrating from HWiNFO: the same swap advice as Libre Hardware Monitor. Prefer LHM for new installs.
Download: openhardwaremonitor.org
Bottom line: the legacy pick; take Libre Hardware Monitor if starting fresh.
lm-sensors - Best sensor daemon on Linux
lm-sensors is the sensor stack on Linux. Every desktop environment has a widget that consumes it, sensors on the command line spits temperatures for scripts, and psensor gives a graphical view. If HWiNFO is what you use on Windows, lm-sensors is what the same job looks like on Linux.
Where it falls short: setup on new hardware occasionally needs sensors-detect and a manual kernel module. No native GPU polling; feed that from nvtop or radeontop.
Pricing:
- Free: LGPL
- Paid: none
- vs HWiNFO: standard on Linux; not available on Windows
Migrating from HWiNFO: unrelated stacks. Set up lm-sensors alongside your Linux tools of choice.
Download: included in your distro. Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, and Debian all ship it.
Bottom line: the answer to “what is HWiNFO on Linux.”
iStat Menus - Best macOS sensor tool
iStat Menus is the mac equivalent, and the only tool most Mac users install for hardware monitoring. Menu bar readouts, notification-based alerts, per-fan detail on Intel Macs, plus a solid Apple Silicon backport. The $11.99 lifetime license is one of the best deals in this list.
Where it falls short: Apple Silicon sensor coverage is deep on power and thermals, sparser on individual core voltages. Not many people need what is missing.
Pricing:
- Free: 14-day trial
- Paid: $11.99 lifetime
- vs HWiNFO: closer feature match than anything else on the macOS side
Migrating from HWiNFO: buy the license, drop the menu bar items into a layout you like, done.
Download: bjango.com/mac/istatmenus
Bottom line: every macOS-side hardware tinkerer has this installed.
How to choose
- If you are on Windows and want an open-source HWiNFO: Libre Hardware Monitor.
- If you want the deepest sensor coverage and are willing to pay: AIDA64 Extreme.
- If you only care about the GPU: GPU-Z.
- If you want a lightweight always-open panel: HWMonitor.
- If you are on Linux: lm-sensors plus
nvtoporradeontop. - If you are on macOS: iStat Menus.
- Stay on HWiNFO when you need every last board sensor, Windows-only, and closed source is not a dealbreaker. Free (personal) version still leads on Ryzen and Intel Xe support.
FAQ
Is HWiNFO free? Yes for personal use, no for commercial. The personal build has the same sensors as the paid Pro tier.
What is the best HWiNFO alternative for Windows? Libre Hardware Monitor for open source, AIDA64 Extreme for paid depth, HWMonitor for something lighter.
Is there a HWiNFO equivalent for Linux?
lm-sensors plus a distro-specific widget. Add nvtop for NVIDIA GPUs or radeontop for AMD.
Is there a HWiNFO equivalent for macOS? iStat Menus is the standard. Stats and Sensei cover a subset for free.
Does HWiNFO work on Ryzen 9000? Yes, since HWiNFO 8.10. Libre Hardware Monitor added support in the same window. AIDA64 also.
