# Checkstyle vs pre-commit

**Leader by Vioscale score:** pre-commit

| Attribute | Checkstyle | pre-commit |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 61.4 (54% (medium)) | 68.2 (73% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | 13 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 1,425 | 35,684 |
| adoption.github_stars | 9,001 | 15,536 |
| adoption.package_downloads_weekly | - | 42,454,729 |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A development tool that automatically scans Java code to verify adherence to coding standards, detecting style violations, design problems, and formatting issues. Supports customizable rule sets and integrates with build tools and IDEs. | A framework that automates the execution of code quality checks as git pre-commit hooks, eliminating the need for developers to manually install language-specific dependencies on their machines to run linters and formatters written in any programming language. |
| features.capabilities | `{"autofix":false,"metrics":true,"function":"static_analyzer","ci_gating":true,"deployment":"cli_local","open_source":"oss","config_model":"config_file","custom_rules":true,"impl_language":"Java","pricing_model":"free","language_scope":"single_language"}` | `{"autofix":false,"metrics":false,"function":"meta_runner","ci_gating":true,"deployment":"cli_local","incremental":false,"open_source":"oss","config_model":"config_file","custom_rules":true,"impl_language":"Python","pricing_model":"free","language_scope":"multi_language","editor_integration":false}` |
| integrations.count | 2 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Maven"},{"name":"Ant"}]` | - |
| language.primary | Java | Python |
| license.spdx | LGPL-2.1 | MIT |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"free","sourceUrl":"https://checkstyle.org/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T08:38:14.583Z"}` | `{"type":"free","sourceUrl":"https://pre-commit.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T09:20:48.398Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | - | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 14 | 57 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-14.0.0","date":"2026-08-18T13:09:20Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-14.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-13.11.0","date":"2026-08-16T21:52:20Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-13.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-13.10.0","date":"2026-08-09T17:48:41Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-13.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-13.9.0","date":"2026-07-27T01:04:59Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-13.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-13.8.0","date":"2026-07-12T02:55:15Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-13.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-13.7.0","date":"2026-06-28T15:13:54Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-13.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-13.6.0","date":"2026-06-15T03:24:52Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-13.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-13.5.0","date":"2026-05-30T20:22:13Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-13.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-13.4.2","date":"2026-05-02T04:07:51Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-13.4.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-13.4.1","date":"2026-04-27T12:43:10Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-13.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-13.4.0","date":"2026-03-29T17:41:44Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-13.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-13.3.0","date":"2026-02-28T17:36:40Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-13.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-13.2.0","date":"2026-02-05T20:28:40Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-13.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-13.1.0","date":"2026-01-31T17:26:20Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-13.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-13.0.0","date":"2026-01-04T23:48:39Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-13.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-12.3.1","date":"2025-12-31T15:42:54Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-12.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-12.3.0","date":"2025-12-13T15:50:49Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-12.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-12.2.0","date":"2025-11-30T13:55:29Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-12.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-12.1.2","date":"2025-11-11T16:40:51Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-12.1.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/checkstyle/checkstyle/releases/tag/checkstyle-12.1.1","date":"2025-10-26T14:12:24Z","type":"stable","version":"checkstyle-12.1.1"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.6.2","date":"2026-08-10T22:08:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.6.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.6.1","date":"2026-07-21T20:58:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.6.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.6.0","date":"2026-04-21T20:32:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.5.1","date":"2025-12-16T21:18:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.5.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.5.0","date":"2025-11-22T21:08:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.4.0","date":"2025-11-08T21:48:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.3.0","date":"2025-08-09T18:59:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.2.0","date":"2025-03-18T21:42:20Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.1.0","date":"2025-01-20T18:49:11Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.0.1","date":"2024-10-08T16:10:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v4.0.0","date":"2024-10-05T19:19:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.8.0","date":"2024-07-28T20:05:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.7.1","date":"2024-05-11T01:31:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.7.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.7.0","date":"2024-03-24T17:41:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.6.2","date":"2024-02-18T18:22:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.6.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.6.1","date":"2024-02-10T19:47:57Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.6.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.6.0","date":"2023-12-09T21:29:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.5.0","date":"2023-10-13T16:06:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.4.0","date":"2023-09-02T17:13:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/pre-commit/pre-commit/releases/tag/v3.3.3","date":"2023-06-13T23:12:35Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.3.3"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.scorecard | 6.7 | 4.6 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":2,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=com.puppycrawl.tools%3Acheckstyle&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":"MODERATE"}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=pypi&package_name=pre-commit&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Code Quality Tools)

| Capability | Checkstyle | pre-commit |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Function | Static analyzer | Meta-runner |
| Language scope | Single-language | Multi-language |
| Implementation language | Java | Python |
| **Capability** |  |  |
| Autofix | ✗ | ✗ |
| **Config** |  |  |
| Config model | Config file | 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: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T17:33:26.018Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*