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Strawberry Perl vs Cygwin: catalog facts
Strawberry Perl	Cygwin
Free Free of charge.	Free Free and open source.
Windows, Command line	Windows, Command line
Includes gcc so CPAN modules with C code build on Windows Bundles common libraries and database clients	Large package collection of GNU and Unix tools POSIX API layer for porting Unix software to Windows
Windows only Large download compared with a bare Perl interpreter	Cannot run native Linux binaries; software must be rebuilt Requires Windows 8.1 or later for current versions
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: Artistic-1.0-Perl OR GPL-1.0-or-later	License: GPL and LGPL (varies by package)
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 October 1, 2026

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