Compare software

ack vs CGrep: catalog facts
ack	CGrep
Best for: Programmers searching large source trees from the terminal	Best for: Developers searching code by syntax and context
Free Free and open source.	Free Free and open source under the GPL-2.0 license.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line	Command line
Built for searching source code rather than general text Full Perl regular expressions All 3 strengths for ack Built for searching source code rather than general text Full Perl regular expressions Boolean --and, --or and --not options	Searches code, comments, and string literals separately Supports semantic and multi-line patterns All 3 strengths for CGrep Searches code, comments, and string literals separately Supports semantic and multi-line patterns Can filter results to or exclude test code
Needs a Perl interpreter Newer tools such as ripgrep are typically faster on very large trees	Command-line interface only
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: Artistic-2.0	License: GPL-2.0
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Offline features available	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for ack beyondgrep.com Catalog checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for CGrep awgn.github.io/cgrep Catalog checked October 8, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.