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GNU Global vs Cscope: catalog facts
GNU Global	Cscope
Free Free software under the GNU GPL.	Free Free and open source under the BSD license.
Windows, Linux, Command line	macOS, Linux, Command line
Finds references as well as definitions Works across Emacs, Vi, shell and browser	Searches symbol references and definitions Indexes code for repeated searches
Built-in parser covers only a few languages Designed mainly for POSIX systems	Its fuzzy parser is designed for C and may also be useful for C++ and Java.
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-3.0-or-later	License: BSD-3-Clause
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 8, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.