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Head-to-head · Code Formatting Tools

dprint vs clang-format

  • Updated Sep 2026
  • Both researched from official sources
  • 5 checks side by side
Higher score dprint #1 in Code Formatting Tools 9.0/10 Open source ✓ 4 of 4 features Visit dprint
clang-format #4 in Code Formatting Tools 7.4/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 4 features Visit clang-format

dprint leads on 0 checks, clang-format on 1, and 4 are even. Who comes out ahead on the 5 yes/no, price and count checks where we have data for both products. The editor score weighs everything else too.

Our verdict

  • Highest scoredprint · 9.0/10
  • Free planonly clang-format

dprint scores higher on our rubric for code formatting tools: 9.0 against 7.4 out of 10; our editors rank them #1 and #4.

clang-format offers free plan; dprint doesn't publish it.

dprint is the better fit for teams formatting many languages. clang-format is the better fit for C and C++ projects.

  • dprint fits best

    Teams formatting many languages

  • clang-format fits best

    C and C++ projects

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Side by side

Feature dprint 9.0/10 Visit ↗ clang-format 7.4/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score 9.0 7.4
Ranking #1 in Code Formatting Tools #4 in Code Formatting Tools
Best for Teams formatting many languages C and C++ projects
Pricing model Free Free
Starting price Not published Not published
Free plan Not published ✓ (best)
Free trial — —
Deployment Desktop Desktop
Platforms Windows, macOS, Linux Windows, macOS, Linux
Support Docs Docs
Integrations 6 integrations 7 integrations
Built for Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise Solo, Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features dprint 4/4 · clang-format 4/4
Editor integration ✓ ✓
Ignore files ✓ ✓
Changed-lines formatting ✓ ✓
Library API ✓ ✓
Specs
Supported languages TypeScript, JavaScript, JSX, TSX, JSON, JSONC, Markdown, TOML, CSS, SCSS, Sass, Less, Dockerfile, C#, VB, Python, Jupyter, Go, Swift, HTML, Vue, Svelte, Astro, Angular, Jinja, Twig, Nunjucks, Vento, GraphQL, YAML, PHP, Quarto, Pandoc, R Markdown, LaTeX, BibTeX, R, Julia C, C++, Java, JavaScript, JSON, Objective-C, Protocol Buffers, C#, TableGen, TextProto, Verilog
Supported platforms Windows, macOS, Linux, WSL, Node.js, Deno Windows, macOS, Linux
License model Open_source Open_source
Our review
Pros
  • Supports programming, markup, data, and documentation formats
  • Formats only changed files and respects inclusion and ignore rules
  • Works through CLI, editor integrations, and JavaScript or Deno APIs
  • Predefined LLVM, GNU, Google, Chromium, Microsoft, Mozilla, and WebKit styles
  • Changed-line formatting, ignore files, patches, and unified-diff scripts
  • Integrations for Vim, Emacs, CLion, Visual Studio, VS Code, and Git
Cons
  • Plugin-based workflows add configuration and plugin-management overhead
  • Teams must define formatting rules through configuration files
  • Its broad scope may exceed the needs of single-language projects
  • Configuration can require project-specific .clang-format files and style decisions
  • Its command-line and editor integration model may be more technical than hosted tools
  • Formatting scope and behavior vary across its supported languages
Our verdict

dprint is an open-source command-line formatting platform for developers and teams maintaining repositories with multiple languages. Its plugin architecture uses WebAssembly and process plugins to support formats including TypeScript,…

Read the review →

clang-format is an open-source source-code formatter from the LLVM Project, built on Clang and LibFormat. It formats source files or standard input from the command line and supports C, C++, Java, JavaScript, JSON, Objective-C, Protocol…

Read the review →
  1. dprintCode Formatting Tools 9.0Open source
  2. clang-formatCode Formatting Tools 7.4Free plan

Strengths and trade-offs

  • dprint — where it wins

    • Supports programming, markup, data, and documentation formats
    • Formats only changed files and respects inclusion and ignore rules
    • Works through CLI, editor integrations, and JavaScript or Deno APIs

    Where it doesn't

    • Plugin-based workflows add configuration and plugin-management overhead
    • Teams must define formatting rules through configuration files
    • Its broad scope may exceed the needs of single-language projects

  • clang-format — where it wins

    • Predefined LLVM, GNU, Google, Chromium, Microsoft, Mozilla, and WebKit styles
    • Changed-line formatting, ignore files, patches, and unified-diff scripts
    • Integrations for Vim, Emacs, CLion, Visual Studio, VS Code, and Git

    Where it doesn't

    • Configuration can require project-specific .clang-format files and style decisions
    • Its command-line and editor integration model may be more technical than hosted tools
    • Formatting scope and behavior vary across its supported languages

More comparisons

All code formatting tools comparisons → · Full ranking →

Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Sep 2026

Last updated · How we research and update