CMake Support and Training from Kitware: What's Available on cmake.org
CMake itself is open source and free to download, but the support and training around it are offered commercially by Kitware, the company behind the tool. According to cmake.org, Kitware provides three main things: custom CMake builds, support, and training. Training comes in two formats — an on-demand course you take at your own pace, and live training led by the developers who build and maintain CMake, with summer and fall sessions listed. If none of that fits, the site points you to a Contact Us entry to discuss custom work for your team.
What Kitware offers
The site groups its commercial help into a few areas:
- Custom CMake builds — Kitware's team works with you on build setups tailored to your project.
- Support — direct help from the experts who maintain the platform, aimed at making your use of CMake more efficient.
- Training — both self-paced and instructor-led options, described below.
The framing on the page is that Kitware can "work closely with you to ensure you're efficiently leveraging our open source platform." That's the stated scope; the site doesn't publish pricing, service tiers, or response-time commitments, so treat those as things to ask about when you make contact.
Training options
| Format | Who it's for | What the site says |
|---|---|---|
| On-Demand Training | Individuals who want to learn at their own pace | A self-paced CMake course |
| Live Training | Individuals and teams | Led by the developers who build and maintain CMake; summer and fall sessions available |
| Custom courses | Teams with specific needs | Kitware runs courses through the year and can create a custom course for your team |
The distinction matters if you're deciding how to spend a training budget: on-demand is asynchronous and self-directed, while live training puts you in a room (physical or virtual) with maintainers. The site notes that live sessions are scheduled seasonally, so timing may constrain that choice. For a team with a shared gap — say, everyone needs to move off an older build system — the custom course option is the one the page explicitly calls out.
How to get started
The site doesn't spell out a multi-step signup flow, so the practical path is short:
- Go to the training page linked from cmake.org to see current course offerings and session dates.
- If you need something beyond a standard course — custom builds, ongoing support, or a team-specific curriculum — use the Contact Us entry on the site.
- Describe your situation when you reach out: what you're building, what's currently failing or slow, and whether you want training, hands-on build help, or both.
Expected result: you get routed to either a scheduled course or a conversation with Kitware's team about custom work. The main friction point is that the site gives you no pricing or availability detail up front, so you can't compare cost or lead time without contacting them.
Who this is for
The support and training described here make sense if you've hit a wall that documentation alone hasn't solved — complex multi-platform builds, packaging across systems, or a team that needs to standardize on CMake quickly. The testimonials on the page come from engineers at organizations like Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, John Deere, and national laboratories, which suggests the commercial offering is aimed at professional and enterprise settings rather than hobby projects.
If you just want to learn CMake basics, the free documentation and getting-started resources on the site are the cheaper first stop. Paid training and support are for when you need structured instruction or expert hands on your specific build.