# PMD vs RuboCop

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** RuboCop

| Attribute | PMD | RuboCop |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 55.6 (49% (low)) | 63.9 (50% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 64 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 356 | 115,529 |
| adoption.github_stars | 5,508 | 12,913 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"PMD is a multilingual static code analyzer that detects common programming issues like unused variables and inefficient patterns. It includes over 400 built-in rules, supports 16+ languages with primary focus on Java, and supports custom rules via Java or XPath. It is indexed under Code Quality Tools.","source":"https://pmd.github.io/","question":"What is PMD?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"PMD offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://pmd.github.io/","question":"Is PMD free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"PMD supports Windows, macOS, Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://pmd.github.io/","question":"What platforms does PMD support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. PMD can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://pmd.github.io/","question":"Can PMD be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6}]` | `[{"answer":"RuboCop is an open-source Ruby linter and formatter that enforces code style based on the Ruby community style guide. It detects code quality issues and can automatically fix many of them, with extensive configuration options and extensibility through community plugins. It is indexed under Code Quality Tools.","source":"https://rubocop.org/","question":"What is RuboCop?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"RuboCop is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://rubocop.org/","question":"Is RuboCop free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"RuboCop supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://rubocop.org/","question":"What platforms does RuboCop support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 13 integrations for RuboCop, including rubocop-performance, rubocop-rails, rubocop-rspec, rubocop-minitest, rubocop-rake, rubocop-sequel, rubocop-thread_safety and rubocop-capybara, plus 5 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://rubocop.org/","question":"What does RuboCop integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. RuboCop is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop","question":"Is RuboCop open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | PMD is a static analysis tool that scans source code to detect bugs, code smells, and quality issues across many programming languages. It includes copy-paste detection capabilities and supports custom rule creation. | An open-source linter and formatter for Ruby that enforces the community style guide, identifies potential bugs, and can automatically correct many issues. |
| features.capabilities | `{"metrics":true,"function":"static_analyzer","ci_gating":true,"deployment":"cli_local","open_source":"oss","config_model":"rule_packs","custom_rules":true,"impl_language":"Java","pricing_model":"free","language_scope":"multi_language","editor_integration":true}` | `{"autofix":true,"metrics":true,"function":"linter_formatter","ci_gating":true,"deployment":"cli_local","open_source":"oss","config_model":"config_file","custom_rules":true,"impl_language":"Ruby","pricing_model":"free","language_scope":"single_language","editor_integration":true}` |
| integrations.count | 4 | 14 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Eclipse"},{"name":"Gradle PMD Plugin","native":true},{"name":"eclipse-pmd","native":true},{"name":"pmd-eclipse-plugin","native":true},{"name":"PMD X","native":true},{"name":"PMD","native":true},{"name":"Apex PMD","native":true},{"name":"PMD for Java","native":true},{"name":"Gradle","native":true,"category":"build_system"},{"name":"IntelliJ","native":false,"category":"editor"},{"name":"VS Code","native":false,"category":"editor"}]` | `[{"name":"rubocop-performance"},{"name":"rubocop-rails"},{"name":"rubocop-rspec"},{"name":"rubocop-minitest"},{"name":"rubocop-rake"},{"name":"rubocop-sequel"},{"name":"rubocop-thread_safety"},{"name":"rubocop-capybara"},{"name":"rubocop-factory_bot"},{"name":"rubocop-rspec_rails"},{"name":"rubocop-i18n"},{"name":"Eglot"},{"name":"Helix"},{"name":"Flycheck"},{"name":"VS Code","native":true,"category":"editor","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"RubyMine","native":true,"category":"editor","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Emacs","native":true,"category":"editor","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Neovim","native":true,"category":"editor","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Zed","native":true,"category":"editor","direction":"bidirectional"}]` |
| language.primary | Java | Ruby |
| license.spdx | - | MIT |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://pmd.github.io/","retrievedAt":"2026-09-14T13:23:26.960Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Free and open source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://rubocop.org/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T08:31:22.550Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 28 | 16 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.29.0-SNAPSHOT","date":"2026-09-25T09:32:04Z","type":"prerelease","version":"pmd_releases/7.29.0-SNAPSHOT"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.28.0","date":"2026-09-25T09:00:39Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.28.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.27.0","date":"2026-08-28T12:41:56Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.27.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.26.0","date":"2026-06-29T09:27:48Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.26.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.25.0","date":"2026-05-29T07:31:55Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.25.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.24.0","date":"2026-04-24T10:32:31Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.24.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.23.0","date":"2026-03-27T11:16:41Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.23.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.22.0","date":"2026-02-27T12:03:19Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.22.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.21.0","date":"2026-01-30T09:52:21Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.21.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.20.0","date":"2025-12-30T15:44:30Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.20.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.19.0","date":"2025-11-28T11:36:32Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.19.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.18.0","date":"2025-10-31T08:59:05Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.18.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.17.0","date":"2025-09-12T08:10:30Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.17.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.16.0","date":"2025-07-25T07:00:32Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.16.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.15.0","date":"2025-06-27T12:45:08Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.14.0","date":"2025-05-30T18:45:09Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.14.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.13.0","date":"2025-04-25T08:32:19Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.13.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.12.0","date":"2025-03-28T08:27:08Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.12.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.11.0","date":"2025-02-28T11:24:10Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pmd/pmd/releases/tag/pmd_releases/7.10.0","date":"2025-01-31T10:26:11Z","type":"stable","version":"pmd_releases/7.10.0"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.92.0","date":"2026-10-10T09:34:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.92.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.91.0","date":"2026-09-10T13:55:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.91.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.90.0","date":"2026-08-24T11:40:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.90.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.89.0","date":"2026-08-04T09:00:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.89.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.88.2","date":"2026-07-08T06:22:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.88.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.88.1","date":"2026-07-01T09:52:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.88.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.88.0","date":"2026-06-16T05:10:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.88.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.87.0","date":"2026-05-30T08:52:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.87.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.86.2","date":"2026-05-14T05:26:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.86.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.86.1","date":"2026-04-09T06:12:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.86.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.86.0","date":"2026-03-23T10:39:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.86.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.85.1","date":"2026-03-05T10:22:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.85.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.85.0","date":"2026-02-26T09:50:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.85.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.84.2","date":"2026-02-12T07:25:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.84.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.84.1","date":"2026-02-03T01:55:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.84.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.84.0","date":"2026-01-27T09:57:17Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.84.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.82.1","date":"2025-12-24T08:47:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.82.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.82.0","date":"2025-12-17T10:25:17Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.82.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.81.7","date":"2025-10-31T09:01:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.81.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/rubocop/rubocop/releases/tag/v1.81.6","date":"2025-10-21T07:34:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.81.6"}]` |
| security.scorecard | 6.2 | 5.1 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=net.sourceforge.pmd%3Apmd-java&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":1,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=rubygems&package_name=rubocop&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":"LOW"}` |

## Capabilities (Code Quality Tools)

| Capability | PMD | RuboCop |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Function | Static analyzer | Linter + formatter |
| Language scope | Multi-language | Single-language |
| Implementation language | Java | Ruby |
| **Capability** |  |  |
| Autofix | - | ✓ |
| **Config** |  |  |
| Config model | Rule packs | Config file |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| Custom rules | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Deployment | CLI-local | CLI-local |
| **Delivery** |  |  |
| Editor integration | ✓ | ✓ |
| CI / VCS gating | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Insight** |  |  |
| Code metrics | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Performance** |  |  |
| Incremental / monorepo aware | - | - |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Open-source | OSS | OSS |
| **Commercial** |  |  |
| Pricing model | Free | Free |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T21:41:37.286Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*