# ccache

7 Hacker News commenters recommended ccache and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 4 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Caches compiler output so repeat builds finish much faster, and people use it by default alongside build tools like meson.

## Why people recommend it

- Cuts rebuild times significantly (2 comments): "the 20mins are down from 50mins without ccache" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46045351)) "Every build is warm, as they share ccache and page cache." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49414925))
- Default choice with meson (3 comments): "I don't even want to imagine doing it without ccache and meson" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47292150)) "I always use it coupled with ccache." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47577027)) "agreed with ajb on "just use ccache" in practice" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47609980))
- Easy to add to builds (2 comments): "We'd have ccache built in to make" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45983501)) "Ccache would work for sure" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47328587))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [sccache](https://hackerapproved.com/p/sccache.md): 11 recommend
- [kache](https://hackerapproved.com/p/kache.md): 5 recommend

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "ccache", https://hackerapproved.com/p/ccache/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).