Checkstyle vs clang-tidy
Checkstyle
checkstyle.orgclang-tidy
clang.llvm.orgSide by side
| Figure | Checkstyle | clang-tidy |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Linters | 8.0 (#9) | 8.5 (#4) |
| Checks | Checks cover naming, imports, Javadoc, formatting, class design, and coding practices. | It provides its own checks and can also run Clang Static Analyzer checks. |
| Configuration | Users can choose supplied Google Java Style, Sun Conventions, OpenJDK Style, or Doc Style configurations, or create their own. | Checks can be selected with comma-separated positive and negative globs, and configuration can be read from a .clang-tidy file. |
| License | The project license is LGPL-2.1-or-later. | The LLVM project states that its code is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License with LLVM exceptions. |
| Purpose | Checkstyle analyzes Java source code against configurable rules to help teams enforce coding standards. | clang-tidy is a Clang-based C++ linter for diagnosing and fixing typical programming errors, including style violations, interface misuse, and bugs detectable by static analysis. |
Plans
In their own words
Checkstyle
Checkstyle is a free Java source-code analyzer for programmers who follow a coding standard. It checks naming, imports, Javadoc, formatting, class design, and coding practices against configurable rules. You can select supplied Google Java Style, Sun Conventions, OpenJDK Style, or Doc Style configurations, or create your own. Checkstyle runs from its command-line tool or as an Ant task, with documented Maven and Gradle integrations. Listed IDE and CI integrations include Eclipse, Bamboo, GitHub Actions, Codacy, and Code Climate. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows. The current site says it parses Java features through Java 25; versions 13.x and 14.x require Java runtime 21 or newer. Analysis is single-file and source-level, without expression-type determination or a full inheritance hierarchy. Releases are available through GitHub releases and Maven Central, including a standalone all-in-one JAR. It is licensed under LGPL-2.1-or-later and supports only the latest version.
clang-tidy
clang-tidy has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.