Checkstyle vs PHP_CodeSniffer
Checkstyle
checkstyle.orgPHP_CodeSniffer
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Checkstyle | PHP_CodeSniffer |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Linters | 8.0 (#9) | 7.3 (#29) |
| License | The project license is LGPL-2.1-or-later. | The repository identifies PHP_CodeSniffer as BSD-3-Clause licensed. |
| Purpose | Checkstyle analyzes Java source code against configurable rules to help teams enforce coding standards. | PHP_CodeSniffer tokenizes PHP files and detects violations of a defined coding standard. |
| Runtime requirement | The site lists Java runtime 21 and above for Checkstyle versions 13.x and 14.x. | PHP_CodeSniffer requires PHP version 7.2.0 or greater, and individual sniffs may have additional requirements. |
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.
PHP_CodeSniffer
PHP_CodeSniffer has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.