MSBuild Alternatives

MSBuild is described as 'The Microsoft Build Engine is a platform for building applications. This engine, which is also known as MSBuild, provides an XML schema for a project file that controls how the build platform processes and builds software' and is an app in the development category. There are more than 10 alternatives to MSBuild for a variety of platforms, including Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD and Snapcraft apps. The best MSBuild alternative is CMake, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like MSBuild are GNU Make, SCons, LazFuck and Premake.

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Alternatives list

  1. CMake icon
     33 likes
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    CMake is a family of tools designed to build, test and package software. CMake is used to control the software compilation process using simple platform and compiler independent configuration files. CMake generates native makefiles and workspaces that can be used in the compiler...

    40 CMake alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Haiku
     
    • CMake is the most popular Windows, Mac & Linux alternative to MSBuild.

    • CMake is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to MSBuild.

    • CMake is Free and Open SourceMSBuild is Free and Proprietary
  2. GNU Make icon
     23 likes
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    Make is a tool which controls the generation of executables and other non-source files of a program from the program's source files.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Cygwin
     
  3. SCons icon
     13 likes
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    SCons is an Open Source software construction tool—that is, a next-generation build tool. Think of SCons as an improved, cross-platform substitute for the classic Make utility with integrated functionality similar to autoconf/automake and compiler caches such as ccache.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  4. LazFuck icon
     1 like
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    LazFuck is a GUI application for writing, executing, compiling and debugging programs written in famous BrainFuck esoteric programming language.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak
    • Snapcraft
     
  5. Premake icon
     10 likes
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    Powerfully simple build configuration

    Describe your software project just once, using Premake's simple and easy to read syntax, and build it everywhere. Generate project files for Visual Studio, GNU Make, Xcode, Code::Blocks, and more across Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. Use.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  6. Automake icon
     2 likes
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    GNU Automake is a programming tool that produces portable makefiles for use by the make program, used in compiling software.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  7. Cake icon
     1 like
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    Cake (C# Make) is a cross-platform build automation system with a C# DSL for tasks such as compiling code, copying files and folders, running unit tests, compressing files and building NuGet packages.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  8. Task icon
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    Task is a task runner / build tool that aims to be simpler and easier to use than, for example, GNU Make.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Mac
    • Linux
    • Go (Programming Language)
     
  9. Buildr icon
     1 like
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    Apache Buildr is a build system for Java-based applications, including support for Scala, Groovy and a growing number of JVM languages and tools. We wanted something that’s simple and intuitive to use, so we only need to tell it what to do, and it takes care of the rest.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
     
  10.  Like
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    Werk is a command runner and simplistic build system. It is intended to supplant Make in projects that need a simple build tool adjacent to a main build system, such as Cargo or NPM.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Rust
    • Linux
    • Mac
    • Windows
    • BSD
     
  11. xmake icon
     1 like
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    xmake is a cross-platform build utility based on Lua. The project focuses on making development and building easier and provides many features (e.g package, install, plugin, macro, action, option, task ...

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Android
    • iPhone
     
    • xmake is the most popular Android & iPhone alternative to MSBuild.

    • xmake is Free and Open SourceMSBuild is Free and Proprietary
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