clang-format

Windows · Mac · Linux · Extension

Freedom report

Two barsScore 5.6

Free tierNo free tier on record
Open codeNo open-source code on record
Runs widely3 of 6 device platforms
DocumentedPlans, terms and facts published

clang-format is ranked #14 of 34 in code formatting tools on Freedom251. It runs on Browser extension, Linux, macOS, Windows.

Compared on code formatting tools

Free plan: Yes
Supported languages: C, C++, Java, JavaScript, JSON, Objective-C, Protocol Buffers, C#, TableGen, TextProto, Verilog
Supported platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
Editor integration: Yes
Ignore files: Yes
Changed-lines formatting: Yes
Library API: Yes
License model: open_source

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The record

Purpose: ClangFormat is a set of tools built on LibFormat for formatting source code, available as a standalone tool and through editor integrations.
Languages: The standalone tool formats C, C++, Java, JavaScript, JSON, Objective-C, Protobuf, and C# code.
Configuration: Formatting styles can be set with command-line options or project-level .clang-format or _clang-format files.
Style presets: Built-in style presets include LLVM, GNU, Google, Chromium, Microsoft, Mozilla, and WebKit.
Editor integrations: The documentation describes integrations for Vim, Emacs, BBEdit, CLion, Visual Studio, and Visual Studio Code.
Git workflow: The git-clang-format script can format lines changed in commits or staged changes.
Patch workflow: The clang-format-diff.py script reads unified diff output and reformats the changed lines.
Selective formatting: The command-line tool can format specified line or byte ranges in a single input file.
Ignore rules: A .clang-format-ignore file can contain path patterns for files that clang-format should skip.
Windows availability: The Clang build guide documents building Clang on Windows using Visual Studio.
Linux and macOS availability: The Clang guide describes building on Unix-like systems and says Clang is provided by major BSD and GNU/Linux distributions and is the default compiler for Mac OS X from Xcode 4.2.
License: The LLVM Project states that its code is licensed under the Apache 2.0 License with LLVM exceptions.
Support: The Clang guide directs users who encounter problems to file bugs on the LLVM bug tracker.
Style configuration: Users can select built-in LLVM, GNU, Google, Chromium, Microsoft, Mozilla, and WebKit styles or configure formatting in a .clang-format file.

Where it ranks on Freedom251

Best Code Formatting Tools in 2026#14 of 34

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Sources

clang.llvm.org/docs/ClangFormat.html· checked 30 Sept 2026
clang.llvm.org/get_started.html· checked 30 Sept 2026
llvm.org· checked 30 Sept 2026
releases.llvm.org· checked 30 Sept 2026
releases.llvm.org/download.html· checked 30 Sept 2026