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GNU Autoconf vs CMake: catalog facts
GNU Autoconf	CMake
Free Free software under the GPL-3.0-or-later with the Autoconf exception for generated…	Free Free and open source under the OSI-approved BSD 3-clause licence.
macOS, Linux, Command line	Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
Generated configure scripts run without Autoconf installed Adapts builds to many Unix-like systems	One project description generates Makefiles, Ninja files, Visual Studio and Xcode projects IDEs, package managers and libraries all assume CMake, so integration is everywhere
Requires GNU M4 to run M4 macro syntax has a steep learning curve	The scripting language is idiosyncratic and widely disliked Older tutorials teach outdated patterns that still appear in real projects
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-3.0-or-later	License: BSD-3-Clause
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 1, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026

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