Side by side

GNU GLOBAL vs LXR Cross Referencer

Both stand on code search tools. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

GNU GLOBAL

Free plan LinuxMacSelf-hosted+1

GNU GLOBAL provides code tagging and navigation for several languages, with search options for larger source trees. Check that its language support and platform availability fit your environment.

Visit GNU GLOBAL

LXR is a free, self-hosted option for browsing indexed code with links between identifiers and their uses. Its setup work and parser limits make it important to check the installation and language-analysis fit for your project.

Visit LXR Cross Referencer

The facts

	GNU GLOBAL	LXR Cross Referencer
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Windows	Linux, Self-hosted, Web
Lowest paid plan	Free or on request	Free or on request
Plans published	1	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	gnu.org	lxr.sourceforge.io
On code search tools	#6 of 42	#10 of 42

GNU GLOBAL: what it does well

Finds definitions and references for code objects.
Supports C, Yacc, Java, PHP, and assembly.
Searches source and library projects.
Offers multiple output formats and file selection.
Free software distributed under the GNU GPL.

What to know first

Built-in parser supports five listed languages.
Binary packages are supplied by outside projects.
Supports UNIX (POSIX) environments.

LXR Cross Referencer: what it does well

Links identifiers to definitions and uses.
Supports several database and source-storage options.
Full-text search is available for eligible repositories.
Produces HTML for web browsers.
Database browsing access is read-only.

What to know first

Requires database, source-tree, and web-server setup.
Parsers are not compiler-grade.
Full-text search excludes CVS and BitKeeper repositories.
New releases are posted only on Codeberg.

Alternatives to GNU GLOBAL Alternatives to LXR Cross Referencer The whole list