# Build Serial Studio From Source (GPLv3) > How to compile the free, open-source GPLv3 edition of Serial Studio on Windows, macOS and Linux: the Qt and CMake requirements, dependencies, and build steps. > > Open Source · July 2, 2026 · by Alex Spataru · https://serial-studio.com/blog/build-serial-studio-from-source Serial Studio's core is free and open source under the GPLv3, and building it yourself is straightforward. You might do it to run the fully open edition, to audit what the app does, or to contribute a fix. This walks through the requirements and the build on each platform. It follows the instructions in the project's repository, which is the source of truth if anything here drifts. ## What the GPL build includes Compiling from source produces the GPLv3 edition. That is the full core: - **Drivers:** Serial/UART, TCP/UDP, and Bluetooth LE. - **Modes:** the Project Editor, Quick Plot, and Console. - **Widgets:** line plot, gauge, bar, GPS map, FFT, accelerometer, gyroscope, compass, data grid, LED panel, terminal, and multi-plot. - **Data handling:** the built-in, JavaScript, and Lua frame parsers, per-dataset transforms, and CSV export. - **Integration:** the local TCP and MCP APIs. The Pro-only modules are not part of this build: - **Drivers:** MQTT, Modbus, CAN Bus, audio, USB, HID, and Process I/O. - **Projects and widgets:** multi-source projects, the 3D Plot, XY Plot, Waterfall, Image View, and Painter widgets, and the output widgets. - **Data and workflow:** MDF4, the session database and reports, file transfer, the importers, and the AI Assistant. Some of those depend on proprietary Qt modules; others are commercial-licensed code. ## Requirements You need three things regardless of platform: - **Qt 6.9 or later** (6.11.1 is recommended). - **A C++20 compiler:** GCC 10+ on Linux, Clang 12+ on macOS, or MSVC 2019+ on Windows. - **CMake 3.20 or later.** All the C/C++ dependencies (zlib, expat, OpenSSL, KissFFT, and the rest) are either vendored in the repository or fetched automatically by CMake, so there is no package manager step for them. ## Platform setup **Linux** (Debian/Ubuntu shown; install Qt 6 from your distribution or the official installer): ```bash sudo apt install libgl1-mesa-dev build-essential ``` **macOS:** ```bash xcode-select --install brew install qt@6 ``` **Windows:** install Visual Studio 2019 or later with the C++ workload, and Qt 6 from the official Qt installer. ### Raspberry Pi and other ARM boards The CMake build is not x86-specific. The project's official Linux release also ships an ARM64 AppImage for Raspberry Pi, built from the same `CMakeLists.txt` on an ARM64 runner, no separate build system or patched sources. Building on a Raspberry Pi 4, 5, or another 64-bit ARM board follows the same Linux steps above: install the same packages, then run the same `cmake` and `cmake --build` commands. Expect a longer configure and compile time on-device; if that matters, cross-compiling from a faster x86 machine or using Qt's ARM64 cross-compilation kit is the usual workaround, though this post only covers the native path. ## Building Serial Studio from source Clone the repository, then configure and build with CMake: ```bash git clone https://github.com/Serial-Studio/Serial-Studio.git cd Serial-Studio cmake -B build -DPRODUCTION_OPTIMIZATION=ON -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release cmake --build build --config Release -j ``` That is the whole process. If you prefer an IDE, you can open `CMakeLists.txt` directly in Qt Creator or any CMake-aware editor with no extra setup, and build from there. When it finishes, you have a working GPLv3 build of Serial Studio. On Windows the `--config Release` argument matters. The default CMake generator there is Visual Studio, which is a multi-config generator: it ignores `-DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release` at configure time and decides the configuration when you build. Without `--config Release`, that build step defaults to the Debug configuration, which combines MSVC's `/RTC1` runtime checks with the production `/O2` optimization flags and stops with `'/O2' and '/RTC1' command-line options are incompatible`. Passing `--config Release` is harmless on Linux and macOS, so the command above is safe everywhere. If you would rather use a single-config generator that honors `CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE`, add `-G Ninja` to the first command instead. ### Run it The executable lands inside `build/app` (multi-config generators such as Visual Studio add a per-configuration subfolder like `Release`). It is named `Serial-Studio-GPL3` on Windows, `serial-studio-gpl3` on Linux, and on macOS the build produces a `Serial-Studio-GPL3.app` bundle. Launch it directly; no install step is required. On Linux and macOS this local build runs as-is: it links against the Qt you installed and finds those libraries at launch. The deployment tools on those platforms (`macdeployqt`, `linuxdeploy`) only matter when you want to hand the app to a machine that has no Qt installed, which is what packaging a DMG or AppImage is for. Windows is the exception. The freshly built `.exe` cannot locate its Qt DLLs on its own, so launching it directly reports missing libraries such as `Qt6Widgets.dll` or `Qt6Svg.dll`. Running it from inside Qt Creator works because Qt Creator adds Qt's `bin` folder to the environment for you. To run it standalone, either add `C:\Qt\6.x.x\\bin` to your `PATH`, or run `windeployqt` once to copy the Qt runtime and QML plugins next to the executable: ```bash cd build/app windeployqt Serial-Studio-GPL3.exe -qmldir=../../app/qml ``` Multi-config generators place the binary in a per-configuration subfolder like `Release`, so adjust the relative paths if your `.exe` sits in `build/app/Release`. After `windeployqt` finishes, the app launches by double-click like any installed program. ### If CMake cannot find Qt The most common configure failure is CMake not locating your Qt kit. Point it there explicitly by adding `-DCMAKE_PREFIX_PATH=/path/to/Qt/6.x.x/` to the first `cmake` command. On macOS with Homebrew, `brew --prefix qt@6` prints that path. ### Other common build errors A few other failures show up often enough to call out directly: - **A missing Qt module.** The build looks for Qt's WebEngine module by default, since it powers the in-app markdown viewers and PDF reports. If your Qt installation doesn't include it, `find_package` fails to locate `Qt6WebEngineQuick`. Either add WebEngine through the Qt Maintenance Tool, or configure with `-DWITH_WEBENGINE=OFF`, which falls back to Qt rich text for viewers and HTML-only reports. - **A missing system library on Linux.** Skipping a package from the `apt install` line above usually surfaces as a configure-time "could not find" error or a linker error late in the build. Reinstall the full package list and reconfigure from a clean `build` directory. - **A compiler standard mismatch.** Serial Studio requires C++20. If your compiler defaults to an older standard, the build does not fail at link time; it fails early, at a template or concept error in the first files that use C++20 syntax. Updating the compiler or pointing CMake at a newer one clears it. ## What a source build does and doesn't grant This part matters and is easy to miss. Building from source gives you the GPLv3 edition, which is intended for personal, educational, and open-source use. Commercial use of Serial Studio requires a Pro license even if you compiled it yourself. Seeing the source does not by itself grant commercial rights; each file carries an SPDX license header that says how it may be used. If you are using it at work or in a product, that is what the [Pro license](https://serial-studio.com/pricing) is for, and it also unlocks the modules the GPL build leaves out. [Why Serial Studio Has a Pro License](https://serial-studio.com/blog/why-serial-studio-has-a-pro-license) explains the reasoning behind that split. For a first run once it is built, the [getting-started guide](https://serial-studio.com/help/getting-started) covers connecting a device, and [What Is Serial Studio?](https://serial-studio.com/blog/what-is-serial-studio) is the wider tour of what you just compiled.