A method and apparatus for managing software processes to improve their stability. Each instance of a software process periodically reports its operating status to a recycler. The status information identifies how long the instance has been continuously executing and how many transactions the instance has executed during that time. If either value exceeds a threshold associated with the process or that specific instance of the process, the instance is instructed to recycle. If instructed to recycle, the instance may stop accepting new transactions, finish handling its current transactions, then restart and resume normal operation. The recycler may postpone or cancel a recycle instruction if the combined capacity of all active instances of the process is below, or may fall below, a minimum desired capacity for the process. The recycler may also recycle itself.