List of build automation software

Below lists notable build automation tools.

Make
Tools similar to the original Unix make one of the earliest build automation tools:


 * GNU make, extends original Unix version
 * mk, developed originally for Version 10 Unix and Plan 9, and ported to Unix as part of plan9port
 * Microsoft nmake
 * PVCS-make, based on Unix Make with additional features
 * PVCS-make, based on Unix Make with additional features

Other

 * Apache Ant, popular for Java platform development and uses an XML file format
 * Apache Buildr, historic open-source build system, Rake-based, gives the full power of scripting in Ruby with integral support for most abilities wanted in a build system
 * Apache Maven, a Java platform tool for dependency management and automated software build
 * ASDF LISP build system for building LISP projects
 * A-A-P, a Python-based build tool
 * Bazel, a portion of Blaze (Google's own build tool) written in Java, using Starlark (BUILD file syntax) to build projects in Java, C, C++, Go, Python, Objective-C, and others
 * BitBake, a Python-based tool with the special focus of distributions and packages for embedded Linux cross-compilation
 * Boot, a Java build and dependency management tool written in Clojure
 * boost.build For C++ projects, cross-platform, based on Perforce Jam
 * Buck, a build system developed and used by Facebook, written in Rust, using Starlark (BUILD file syntax) as Bazel
 * Buildout, a Python-based build system for creating, assembling and deploying applications from multiple parts
 * Cabal, a common architecture for building applications and libraries in the language Haskell
 * Dub, the official package and build manager of the D Language
 * dale, a D build tool
 * FinalBuilder, for Windows software developers. FinalBuilder provides a graphical IDE to both create and run build projects in a single application. The final builder also includes the ability the execute the unit test, deploy web projects or install and test applications.
 * Flowtracer, a build management tool
 * Gradle, an open-source build and automation system with an Apache Groovy-based domain specific language (DSL), combining features of Apache Ant and Apache Maven with more features like a reliable incremental build
 * Grunt, a build tool for front-end web development
 * Gulp, a build tool for front-end web development
 * IncrediBuild, a suite of grid computing software for compiling and building software
 * Leiningen, a tool providing commonly performed tasks in Clojure projects, including build automation
 * Mix, the Elixir build tool
 * MSBuild, the Microsoft build engine
 * NAnt, a tool similar to Ant for the .NET Framework
 * Ninja, a small build system focused on speed by using build scripts generated by higher-level build systems
 * Perforce Jam, a build tool by Perforce, inspired by Make
 * Qt Build System
 * Rake, a Ruby-based build tool
 * rez, a C/C++ build tool
 * sbt, a build tool built on a Scala-based DSL
 * SCons, Python-based, with integrated functionality similar to autoconf/automake
 * Stack, a tool to build Haskell projects, manage their dependencies (compilers and libraries), and to test and benchmark.
 * tinyrick, a Rust build tool
 * vast, a shell build tool
 * Visual Build, a graphical user interface software for software builds
 * Waf, a Python-based tool for configuring, compiling and installing applications. It is a replacement for other tools such as Autotools, Scons, CMake or Ant

Build script generation
These  generator tools do not build directly, but rather generate files to be used by a native build tool (as the ones listed in the previous two sections).


 * BuildAMation, a multi-platform tool, using a declarative syntax in C# scripts, that builds C/C++ code in a terminal using multiple threads, or generates project files for Microsoft Visual Studio, Xcode or MakeFiles.
 * CMake generates files for various build tools, such as make, ninja, Apple's Xcode, and Microsoft Visual Studio. CMake is also directly used by some IDE as Qt Creator, KDevelop and GNOME Builder.
 * GNU Build System (aka autotools), a collection of tools for portable builds. These in particular include Autoconf and Automake, cross-unix-platform tools that together generate appropriate localized makefiles.
 * GYP (Generate Your Projects) - Created for Chromium; it is another tool that generates files for the native build environment. It has been superseded by GN which generates files for ninja and other build systems.
 * imake
 * Meson, a build system optimized for performance and usability is based on ninja on Linux, Visual Studio on Windows and Xcode on macOS. Meson is also directly used by GNOME Builder.
 * OpenMake Software Meister
 * Premake, a Lua-based tool for making makefiles, Visual Studio files, Xcode projects, and more
 * qmake

Continuous integration

 * AnthillPro, build automation with pipeline support for deployment automation and testing. Cross-platform, cross-language
 * Apache Continuum - discontinued
 * Bamboo, continuous-integration software
 * Bitbucket Pipelines and Deployments, continuous integration for Bitbucket hosted repositories
 * Buildbot, a Python-based software development continuous-integration tool which automates the compile/test cycle
 * CruiseControl, for Java and .NET
 * Go continuous delivery, open source, cross-platform
 * GitLab (GitLab Runner), continuous integration and git server
 * GitHub (GitHub Actions), free continuous integration service for open-source projects and git server
 * Hudson, an extensible continuous-integration engine
 * Jenkins, an extensible continuous-integration engine, forked from Hudson
 * Spinnaker, open source multi-cloud continuous delivery service from Netflix and Google
 * TeamCity
 * Travis CI, a hosted continuous-integration service

Configuration management

 * Ansible (Python-based)
 * CFEngine
 * Chef (Ruby-based)
 * LCFG
 * NixOS Declarative configuration model
 * OpenMake Software Release Engineer
 * Otter
 * Puppet (Ruby-based)
 * Salt (Python-based)
 * Rex (Perl-based)

Package managers
A package manager is a meta-build tool capable of building many different projects using a subset of existing build tools, generally using a list or repository of build scripts called "packages".


 * Pkgsrc, Portage, MacPorts and other package managers derived from the BSD Ports Collection.
 * Nix, functional package manager for Linux and macOS focusing on reproducible builds, used for the NixOS Linux distribution.
 * Guix, functional package manager based on Nix, used for the GuixSD Linux distribution.
 * Collective Knowledge, cross-platform package manager to rebuild software environment for research workflows
 * Homebrew, package manager for macOS

Others

 * checkinstall, checkinstall is a program that monitors an installation procedure and creates a standard package for your distribution.
 * Open Build Service, a hosted service to help build packages for various Linux distributions