diff --git a/src/python/pants/backend/project_info/cloc.py b/src/python/pants/backend/project_info/cloc.py
deleted file mode 100644
index d9477b99dc5..00000000000
--- a/src/python/pants/backend/project_info/cloc.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,140 +0,0 @@
-# Copyright 2019 Pants project contributors (see CONTRIBUTORS.md).
-# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (see LICENSE).
-
-from typing import cast
-
-from pants.core.util_rules.external_tool import (
-    DownloadedExternalTool,
-    ExternalTool,
-    ExternalToolRequest,
-)
-from pants.engine.console import Console
-from pants.engine.fs import (
-    CreateDigest,
-    Digest,
-    DigestContents,
-    FileContent,
-    MergeDigests,
-    SourcesSnapshot,
-)
-from pants.engine.goal import Goal, GoalSubsystem
-from pants.engine.platform import Platform
-from pants.engine.process import Process, ProcessResult
-from pants.engine.rules import Get, collect_rules, goal_rule
-from pants.util.logging import LogLevel
-from pants.util.strutil import pluralize
-
-
-class ClocBinary(ExternalTool):
-    """The cloc lines-of-code counter (https://github.com/AlDanial/cloc)."""
-
-    options_scope = "cloc-binary"
-    name = "cloc"
-    default_version = "1.80"
-    default_known_versions = [
-        "1.80|darwin|2b23012b1c3c53bd6b9dd43cd6aa75715eed4feb2cb6db56ac3fbbd2dffeac9d|546279",
-        "1.80|linux |2b23012b1c3c53bd6b9dd43cd6aa75715eed4feb2cb6db56ac3fbbd2dffeac9d|546279",
-    ]
-
-    def generate_url(self, _: Platform) -> str:
-        return (
-            f"https://github.com/AlDanial/cloc/releases/download/{self.version}/"
-            f"cloc-{self.version}.pl"
-        )
-
-    def generate_exe(self, _: Platform) -> str:
-        return f"./cloc-{self.version}.pl"
-
-
-class CountLinesOfCodeSubsystem(GoalSubsystem):
-    """Count lines of code."""
-
-    name = "cloc"
-
-    @classmethod
-    def register_options(cls, register) -> None:
-        super().register_options(register)
-        register(
-            "--ignored",
-            type=bool,
-            default=False,
-            help="Show information about files ignored by cloc.",
-        )
-
-    @property
-    def ignored(self) -> bool:
-        return cast(bool, self.options.ignored)
-
-
-class CountLinesOfCode(Goal):
-    subsystem_cls = CountLinesOfCodeSubsystem
-
-
-@goal_rule
-async def run_cloc(
-    console: Console,
-    cloc_subsystem: CountLinesOfCodeSubsystem,
-    cloc_binary: ClocBinary,
-    sources_snapshot: SourcesSnapshot,
-) -> CountLinesOfCode:
-    """Runs the cloc Perl script."""
-    if not sources_snapshot.snapshot.files:
-        return CountLinesOfCode(exit_code=0)
-
-    input_files_filename = "input_files.txt"
-    input_file_digest = await Get(
-        Digest,
-        CreateDigest(
-            [FileContent(input_files_filename, "\n".join(sources_snapshot.snapshot.files).encode())]
-        ),
-    )
-    downloaded_cloc_binary = await Get(
-        DownloadedExternalTool, ExternalToolRequest, cloc_binary.get_request(Platform.current)
-    )
-    digest = await Get(
-        Digest,
-        MergeDigests(
-            (input_file_digest, downloaded_cloc_binary.digest, sources_snapshot.snapshot.digest)
-        ),
-    )
-
-    report_filename = "report.txt"
-    ignore_filename = "ignored.txt"
-
-    cmd = (
-        "/usr/bin/perl",
-        downloaded_cloc_binary.exe,
-        "--skip-uniqueness",  # Skip the file uniqueness check.
-        f"--ignored={ignore_filename}",  # Write the names and reasons of ignored files to this file.
-        f"--report-file={report_filename}",  # Write the output to this file rather than stdout.
-        f"--list-file={input_files_filename}",  # Read an exhaustive list of files to process from this file.
-    )
-    req = Process(
-        argv=cmd,
-        input_digest=digest,
-        output_files=(report_filename, ignore_filename),
-        description=(
-            f"Count lines of code for {pluralize(len(sources_snapshot.snapshot.files), 'file')}"
-        ),
-        level=LogLevel.DEBUG,
-    )
-    exec_result = await Get(ProcessResult, Process, req)
-
-    report_digest_contents = await Get(DigestContents, Digest, exec_result.output_digest)
-    reports = {
-        file_content.path: file_content.content.decode() for file_content in report_digest_contents
-    }
-
-    for line in reports[report_filename].splitlines():
-        console.print_stdout(line)
-
-    if cloc_subsystem.ignored:
-        console.print_stderr("\nIgnored the following files:")
-        for line in reports[ignore_filename].splitlines():
-            console.print_stderr(line)
-
-    return CountLinesOfCode(exit_code=0)
-
-
-def rules():
-    return collect_rules()
diff --git a/src/python/pants/backend/project_info/count_loc.py b/src/python/pants/backend/project_info/count_loc.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cbb5d9a26c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/python/pants/backend/project_info/count_loc.py
@@ -0,0 +1,105 @@
+# Copyright 2019 Pants project contributors (see CONTRIBUTORS.md).
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (see LICENSE).
+
+from typing import Tuple
+
+from pants.core.util_rules.external_tool import (
+    DownloadedExternalTool,
+    ExternalTool,
+    ExternalToolRequest,
+)
+from pants.engine.console import Console
+from pants.engine.fs import Digest, MergeDigests, SourcesSnapshot
+from pants.engine.goal import Goal, GoalSubsystem
+from pants.engine.platform import Platform
+from pants.engine.process import Process, ProcessResult
+from pants.engine.rules import Get, collect_rules, goal_rule
+from pants.option.custom_types import shell_str
+from pants.util.enums import match
+from pants.util.logging import LogLevel
+from pants.util.strutil import pluralize
+
+
+class SuccinctCodeCounter(ExternalTool):
+    """The Succinct Code Counter, aka `scc` (https://github.com/boyter/scc)."""
+
+    options_scope = "scc"
+    default_version = "2.12.0"
+    default_known_versions = [
+        "2.12.0|darwin|70b7002cd1e4541cb37b7b9cbc0eeedd13ceacb49628e82ab46332bb2e65a5a6|1842530",
+        "2.12.0|linux|8eca3e98fe8a78d417d3779a51724515ac4459760d3ec256295f80954a0da044|1753059",
+    ]
+
+    @classmethod
+    def register_options(cls, register) -> None:
+        super().register_options(register)
+        register(
+            "--args",
+            type=list,
+            member_type=shell_str,
+            passthrough=True,
+            help=(
+                'Arguments to pass directly to SCC, e.g. `--count-loc-args="--no-cocomo"`. Refer '
+                "to https://github.com/boyter/scc."
+            ),
+        )
+
+    @property
+    def args(self) -> Tuple[str, ...]:
+        return tuple(self.options.args)
+
+    def generate_url(self, plat: Platform) -> str:
+        plat_str = match(plat, {Platform.darwin: "apple-darwin", Platform.linux: "unknown-linux"})
+        return (
+            f"https://github.com/boyter/scc/releases/download/v{self.version}/scc-{self.version}-"
+            f"x86_64-{plat_str}.zip"
+        )
+
+    def generate_exe(self, _: Platform) -> str:
+        return "./scc"
+
+
+class CountLinesOfCodeSubsystem(GoalSubsystem):
+    """Count lines of code using `scc` (Succinct Code Counter, https://github.com/boyter/scc)."""
+
+    name = "count-loc"
+
+
+class CountLinesOfCode(Goal):
+    subsystem_cls = CountLinesOfCodeSubsystem
+
+
+@goal_rule
+async def count_loc(
+    console: Console,
+    succinct_code_counter: SuccinctCodeCounter,
+    sources_snapshot: SourcesSnapshot,
+) -> CountLinesOfCode:
+    if not sources_snapshot.snapshot.files:
+        return CountLinesOfCode(exit_code=0)
+
+    scc_program = await Get(
+        DownloadedExternalTool,
+        ExternalToolRequest,
+        succinct_code_counter.get_request(Platform.current),
+    )
+    input_digest = await Get(
+        Digest, MergeDigests((scc_program.digest, sources_snapshot.snapshot.digest))
+    )
+    result = await Get(
+        ProcessResult,
+        Process(
+            argv=(scc_program.exe, *succinct_code_counter.args),
+            input_digest=input_digest,
+            description=(
+                f"Count lines of code for {pluralize(len(sources_snapshot.snapshot.files), 'file')}"
+            ),
+            level=LogLevel.DEBUG,
+        ),
+    )
+    console.print_stdout(result.stdout.decode())
+    return CountLinesOfCode(exit_code=0)
+
+
+def rules():
+    return collect_rules()
diff --git a/src/python/pants/backend/project_info/cloc_test.py b/src/python/pants/backend/project_info/count_loc_test.py
similarity index 59%
rename from src/python/pants/backend/project_info/cloc_test.py
rename to src/python/pants/backend/project_info/count_loc_test.py
index e373fce4e89..400c66d4a49 100644
--- a/src/python/pants/backend/project_info/cloc_test.py
+++ b/src/python/pants/backend/project_info/count_loc_test.py
@@ -3,8 +3,8 @@
 
 import pytest
 
-from pants.backend.project_info import cloc
-from pants.backend.project_info.cloc import CountLinesOfCode
+from pants.backend.project_info import count_loc
+from pants.backend.project_info.count_loc import CountLinesOfCode
 from pants.backend.python.target_types import PythonLibrary
 from pants.core.util_rules import external_tool
 from pants.engine.target import Sources, Target
@@ -23,7 +23,8 @@ class ElixirTarget(Target):
 @pytest.fixture
 def rule_runner() -> RuleRunner:
     return RuleRunner(
-        rules=[*cloc.rules(), *external_tool.rules()], target_types=[PythonLibrary, ElixirTarget]
+        rules=[*count_loc.rules(), *external_tool.rules()],
+        target_types=[PythonLibrary, ElixirTarget],
     )
 
 
@@ -34,19 +35,19 @@ def assert_counts(
         (
             line
             for line in stdout.splitlines()
-            if len(line.split()) == 5 and line.split()[0] == lang
+            if len(line.split()) in (6, 7) and line.split()[0] == lang
         ),
         None,
     )
-    assert summary_line is not None, f"Found no output line for {lang}"
+    assert summary_line is not None, f"Found no output line for {lang} given stdout:\n {stdout}"
     fields = summary_line.split()
     assert num_files == int(fields[1])
-    assert blank == int(fields[2])
-    assert comment == int(fields[3])
-    assert code == int(fields[4])
+    assert blank == int(fields[3])
+    assert comment == int(fields[4])
+    assert code == int(fields[5])
 
 
-def test_cloc(rule_runner: RuleRunner) -> None:
+def test_count_loc(rule_runner: RuleRunner) -> None:
     py_dir = "src/py/foo"
     rule_runner.create_file(
         f"{py_dir}/foo.py", '# A comment.\n\nprint("some code")\n# Another comment.'
@@ -67,33 +68,18 @@ def test_cloc(rule_runner: RuleRunner) -> None:
     assert_counts(result.stdout, "Elixir", comment=1, code=1)
 
 
-def test_ignored(rule_runner: RuleRunner) -> None:
-    py_dir = "src/py/foo"
-    rule_runner.create_file(f"{py_dir}/foo.py", "print('some code')")
-    rule_runner.create_file(f"{py_dir}/empty.py", "")
-    rule_runner.add_to_build_file(py_dir, "python_library()")
-
-    result = rule_runner.run_goal_rule(CountLinesOfCode, args=[py_dir, "--cloc-ignored"])
-    assert result.exit_code == 0
-    assert "Ignored the following files:" in result.stderr
-    assert "empty.py: zero sized file" in result.stderr
-
-
-def test_filesystem_specs_with_owners(rule_runner: RuleRunner) -> None:
-    """Even if a file belongs to a target which has multiple sources, we should only run over the
-    specified file."""
-    py_dir = "src/py/foo"
-    rule_runner.create_file(f"{py_dir}/foo.py", "print('some code')")
-    rule_runner.create_file(f"{py_dir}/bar.py", "print('some code')\nprint('more code')")
-    rule_runner.add_to_build_file(py_dir, "python_library()")
-    result = rule_runner.run_goal_rule(CountLinesOfCode, args=[f"{py_dir}/foo.py"])
+def test_passthrough_args(rule_runner: RuleRunner) -> None:
+    rule_runner.create_file("foo.py", "print('hello world!')\n")
+    rule_runner.add_to_build_file("", "python_library(name='foo')")
+    result = rule_runner.run_goal_rule(CountLinesOfCode, args=["//:foo", "--", "--no-cocomo"])
     assert result.exit_code == 0
-    assert_counts(result.stdout, "Python", num_files=1, code=1)
+    assert_counts(result.stdout, "Python", code=1)
+    assert "Estimated Cost to Develop" not in result.stdout
 
 
-def test_filesystem_specs_without_owners(rule_runner: RuleRunner) -> None:
-    """Unlike most goals, cloc works on any readable file in the build root, regardless of whether
-    it's declared in a BUILD file."""
+def test_files_without_owners(rule_runner: RuleRunner) -> None:
+    """cloc works on any readable file in the build root, regardless of whether it's declared in a
+    BUILD file."""
     rule_runner.create_file("test/foo.ex", 'IO.puts("im a free thinker!")')
     rule_runner.create_file("test/foo.hs", 'main = putStrLn "Whats Pants, precious?"')
     result = rule_runner.run_goal_rule(CountLinesOfCode, args=["test/foo.*"])
diff --git a/src/python/pants/backend/project_info/register.py b/src/python/pants/backend/project_info/register.py
index fd7d6ab7a24..54c6889fe46 100644
--- a/src/python/pants/backend/project_info/register.py
+++ b/src/python/pants/backend/project_info/register.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 """Information on your project, such as listing the targets in your project."""
 
 from pants.backend.project_info import (
-    cloc,
+    count_loc,
     dependees,
     dependencies,
     filedeps,
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
 
 def rules():
     return [
-        *cloc.rules(),
+        *count_loc.rules(),
         *dependees.rules(),
         *dependencies.rules(),
         *filedeps.rules(),