# picocli vs urfave/cli

| Attribute | picocli | urfave/cli |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 47.3 (24% (low)) | 69.7 (20% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 1 | 37 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 4,237 | 57,081 |
| adoption.github_stars | 5,414 | 24,204 |
| description.long | An open-source framework that simplifies CLI development by handling argument parsing, type conversion, validation, and formatted help generation through an annotation-based API. | An open-source Go library that streamlines CLI development with support for commands, subcommands, help text generation, shell completion, and flexible flag parsing. Designed to be simple, fast, and developer-friendly. |
| language.primary | Java | Go |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| platform.support | - | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Open source, free to use","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://picocli.info","retrievedAt":"2026-08-18T12:55:42.406Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://cli.urfave.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-18T12:51:42.473Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 70 | 15 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.7.7","date":"2025-04-19T01:21:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.7.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.7.6","date":"2024-05-08T00:30:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.7.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.7.5","date":"2023-08-26T23:07:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.7.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.7.4","date":"2023-06-03T01:14:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.7.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.7.3","date":"2023-04-16T07:27:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.7.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.7.2","date":"2023-04-09T09:56:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.7.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.7.1","date":"2023-01-29T00:25:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.7.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.7.0","date":"2022-10-31T20:13:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.6.3","date":"2022-02-09T10:12:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.6.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.6.2","date":"2021-11-05T12:19:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.6.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.6.1","date":"2021-01-03T03:42:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.6.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.6.0","date":"2021-01-01T10:37:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.5.2","date":"2020-10-14T12:12:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.5.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.5.1","date":"2020-08-26T05:33:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.5.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.5.0","date":"2020-08-01T03:13:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.4.0","date":"2020-07-05T02:40:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.3.2","date":"2020-05-16T09:30:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.3.1","date":"2020-05-14T23:14:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.3.0","date":"2020-05-12T22:57:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/remkop/picocli/releases/tag/v4.2.0","date":"2020-02-11T23:25:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.0"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.11.0","date":"2026-08-16T14:58:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.10.1","date":"2026-06-29T20:47:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.10.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.10.0","date":"2026-06-14T13:22:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.9.1","date":"2026-06-10T12:59:11Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.9.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.9.0","date":"2026-05-12T17:30:51Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.8.0","date":"2026-03-25T13:55:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.7.0","date":"2026-03-01T12:27:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.6.2","date":"2026-01-18T01:51:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.6.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.6.1","date":"2025-11-16T19:11:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.6.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.6.0","date":"2025-11-09T12:13:35Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.5.0","date":"2025-10-21T10:23:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.4.1","date":"2025-08-12T11:25:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.4.0","date":"2025-08-12T02:18:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.4.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.3.9","date":"2025-08-12T02:18:17Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.3.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v2.27.7","date":"2025-06-14T02:48:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.27.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v1.22.17","date":"2025-06-14T02:45:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.22.17"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.3.8","date":"2025-06-13T02:16:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.3.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.3.7","date":"2025-06-13T02:13:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.3.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.3.6","date":"2025-06-13T02:11:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.3.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/urfave/cli/releases/tag/v3.3.5","date":"2025-06-13T02:10:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.3.5"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 6 | 6.5 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=maven&package_name=info.picocli%3Apicocli&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Furfave%2Fcli&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (CLI Frameworks)

| Capability | picocli | urfave/cli |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Language | - | - |
| Design style | - | - |
| Nested subcommands | - | - |
| Auto generated help | - | - |
| Plugin system | - | - |
| Interactive prompts | - | - |
| Type validation | - | - |
| Styled rich output | - | - |
| Project scaffolding | - | - |
| Test harness | - | - |
| Open source | - | - |
| License | - | - |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T14:42:23.223Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*