Bazel vs CMake
Bazel
bazel.build
CMake
cmake.orgSide by side
| Figure | Bazel | CMake |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 2 |
| Spec score · Game Build Automation Software | 8.7 (#7) | 8.6 (#11) |
| Maker | Google identifies Bazel as its own build tool. | Kitware says it was founded in 1998 and began with an office in Clifton Park, New York. |
| Purpose | Bazel is an open-source tool that automates software builds and tests. | CMake is an open source, cross-platform family of tools for building, testing, and packaging software. |
| Support | The project directs users to its discussion group, GitHub issue tracker, Slack, and Stack Overflow. | Kitware offers access to CMake experts for guidance, technical questions, and help resolving issues, with flexible support options. |
Plans
In their own words
Bazel
Bazel is a free, open-source tool for automating software builds and tests across languages and platforms. Projects define targets in BUILD files using Starlark, which can also be used to create custom rules and macros. Bazel caches prior work and rebuilds what needs to change, while running tasks in parallel. It supports languages including C++, Java, Kotlin, Python, Go, and Rust, with outputs for desktop, server, Android, and iOS. Bazel runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows, and the documentation describes builds with 100,000 or more source files across multiple repositories. Sandboxing can make builds and tests more hermetic, and failures return a non-zero exit code for basic CI integration. Teams can share outputs through a remote cache, but must select and maintain its backend and secure access because it can contain binaries. IDE options include plugins for IntelliJ, Android Studio, CLion, and Visual Studio Code, plus Xcode integration. Bazel is not well suited to uncached deployment steps that change cloud configuration.