clang-tidy vs Clippy

CTclang-tidy8.7Visit Clippy8.6Visit

Higher score CT clang-tidy #5 in Linters 8.7/10 Open source ✓ 4 of 4 features Visit LLVM Project

vs

Clippy #6 in Linters 8.6/10 Open source ✓ 3 of 4 features Visit Clippy

• clang-tidy fits best

  C++ teams needing bug and style analysis

• Clippy fits best

  Rust developers seeking extensive lint coverage

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Side by side

Feature	CTclang-tidy 8.7/10 Visit ↗	Clippy 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.7	8.6
Ranking	#5 in Linters	#6 in Linters
Best for	C++ teams needing bug and style analysis	Rust developers seeking extensive lint coverage
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Open source	Open source
Free plan	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Free trial	—	—
Support	Community, Docs	Docs, Community
Integrations	8 integrations	3 integrations
Built for	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features clang-tidy 4/4 · Clippy 3/4
Autofix	✓	✓
Custom rules	✓ (best)	—
Security rules	✓	✓
CI support	✓	✓
Specs
Languages supported	3 (best)	1
IDE support	Ide	Ide
Our review
Pros	Covers style, interface misuse, bugs, performance, portability, and maintainability. Supports autofix, custom query checks, CUDA analysis, and changed-line workflows. Integrates with clangd, CLion, Visual Studio, Qt Creator, and other IDEs.	More than 800 lints across correctness, style, performance, and more Runs with Cargo or clippy-driver for non-Cargo projects Supports configuration, workspace checks, autofix, and CI enforcement
Cons	Its main focus is C++ and Clang-based code analysis. Autofix applies only to checks with supported fixes. Configuration spans command-line globs, .clang-tidy files, and compilation databases.	Supports Rust rather than multiple programming languages Autofix applies only to supported lint suggestions Integrations focus on Rustup, Cargo, and rust-analyzer
Our verdict	clang-tidy is an open-source, Clang-based linter for C++ teams that want more than basic style checking. It diagnoses style violations, interface misuse, statically detectable bugs, performance issues, portability problems, and… Read the review →	Clippy is an open-source Rust linter for developers and teams that want automated checks for common mistakes and idiomatic improvements. It analyzes Cargo projects through the cargo clippy subcommand and can also run through clippy-driver… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• clang-tidy — where it wins

  • Covers style, interface misuse, bugs, performance, portability, and maintainability.
  • Supports autofix, custom query checks, CUDA analysis, and changed-line workflows.
  • Integrates with clangd, CLion, Visual Studio, Qt Creator, and other IDEs.

  Where it doesn't

  • Its main focus is C++ and Clang-based code analysis.
  • Autofix applies only to checks with supported fixes.
  • Configuration spans command-line globs, .clang-tidy files, and compilation databases.

• Clippy — where it wins

  • More than 800 lints across correctness, style, performance, and more
  • Runs with Cargo or clippy-driver for non-Cargo projects
  • Supports configuration, workspace checks, autofix, and CI enforcement

  Where it doesn't

  • Supports Rust rather than multiple programming languages
  • Autofix applies only to supported lint suggestions
  • Integrations focus on Rustup, Cargo, and rust-analyzer

• CTclang-tidy8.7/10 · Open source

  A deep C++ linter for style, bugs, custom checks, CUDA, and IDE workflows.

  Visit LLVM ProjectFull verdict →
• Clippy8.6/10 · Open source

  A deeply configurable Rust linter with more than 800 checks and CI support.

  Visit ClippyFull verdict →