clcache vs Depot

clcache is a free, open-source Python script for Windows builds using Microsoft Visual C++ cl.exe. It intercepts compiler calls and reuses cached object files to avoid recompiling matching work, while unsupported invocations can be passed to the real compiler. Cache keys use preprocessed source, a normalized command line, and the compiler binary’s size and modification time. Command-line controls provide statistics, cleanup, clearing, and maximum-size settings; the default limit is 1073741824 bytes (1 GiB). Object files can be compressed at levels 1 through 9, though changing compression settings requires clearing the cache. Hard-link mode requires cache and build directories on the same drive. Documentation covers Visual Studio and MSBuild integration, recommends disabling TrackFileAccess, and describes optional hash caching and memcached storage. The documented path requires /c, excludes /link and /Zi, and supports /Z7. INCLUDE and LIBPATH changes may not be detected.

Depot provides software delivery tools spanning source control, builds, CI runners, sandboxes, caches, and registries. Its container build service is a drop-in replacement for Docker builds, with persistent caching and native x86 and Arm support. Depot CI runs existing GitHub Actions workflows as a programmable, debuggable CI service, while Depot Registry is an OCI-compliant registry for builds, pull-through caching, and other artifacts. Integrations include GitHub Actions, CircleCI, GitLab CI, Google Cloud Build, Travis CI, Bitbucket Pipelines, Buildkite, Jenkins, and AWS CodeBuild. Cache integrations cover Bazel, Go, Gradle, Maven, Pants, sccache, Nx, and Turborepo. Each build and CI run is isolated in a dedicated virtual machine. Depot says communications use TLS and storage is encrypted at rest; it also identifies SOC 2 Type 2 compliance and time-bound, permission-based debugging access. Plans start at $20 a month, billed monthly, with a 7-day trial and no free plan. Developer includes community support; Business includes Slack Connect support.