SCons is described as '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' and is an app in the development category. There are more than 25 alternatives to SCons for a variety of platforms, including Linux, Windows, Mac, BSD and Self-Hosted apps. The best SCons alternative is CMake, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like SCons are GNU Make, Maven, Gradle and Ant.