diff --git a/.gitmodules b/.gitmodules
deleted file mode 100644
index 3c710d61..00000000
--- a/.gitmodules
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,20 +0,0 @@
-[submodule "external/googletest"]
-	path = external/googletest
-	url = https://github.com/google/googletest
-	branch = release-1.10.0
-[submodule "external/Vulkan-Headers"]
-	path = external/Vulkan-Headers
-	url = https://github.com/KhronosGroup/Vulkan-Headers
-	branch = v1.2.158
-[submodule "external/spdlog"]
-	path = external/spdlog
-	url = https://github.com/gabime/spdlog
-	branch = v1.8.1
-[submodule "python/pybind11"]
-	path = python/pybind11
-	url = https://github.com/pybind/pybind11
-    branch = v2.6.1
-[submodule "external/fmt"]
-	path = external/fmt
-	url = https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt
-    branch = 7.1.3
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 9b014c4a..0eb8a9ac 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ set(CMAKE_EXPORT_COMPILE_COMMANDS ON)
 set(CMAKE_VERBOSE_MAKEFILE on)
 
 # Enable or disable targets
-option(KOMPUTE_OPT_BUILD_TESTS "Enable if you want to build tests" 0)
+option(KOMPUTE_OPT_BUILD_TESTS "Enable if you want to build tests" 1)
 option(KOMPUTE_OPT_CODE_COVERAGE "Enable if you want code coverage" 0)
 option(KOMPUTE_OPT_BUILD_DOCS "Enable if you want to build documentation" 0)
 option(KOMPUTE_OPT_BUILD_SHADERS "Enable if you want to re-build all shader files" 0)
@@ -18,7 +18,14 @@ option(KOMPUTE_OPT_INSTALL "Enable if you want to enable installation" 0)
 # Build options
 option(KOMPUTE_OPT_BUILD_PYTHON "Enable if you want to build python bindings" 0)
 option(KOMPUTE_OPT_ENABLE_SPDLOG "Enable to compile with spdlog as the internal logging framework" 0)
-option(KOMPUTE_OPT_REPO_SUBMODULE_BUILD "Use the submodule repos instead of external package manager" 0)
+
+# option(KOMPUTE_OPT_REPO_SUBMODULE_BUILD "Use the submodule repos instead of external package manager" 0)
+option(KOMPUTE_OPT_USE_BUILD_IN_SPDLOG "Use the build in version of Spdlog" 1)
+option(KOMPUTE_OPT_USE_BUILD_IN_FMT "Use the build in version of fmt" 1)
+option(KOMPUTE_OPT_USE_BUILD_IN_GOOGLE_TEST "Use the build in version of GoogleTest" 1)
+option(KOMPUTE_OPT_USE_BUILD_IN_PYBIND11 "Use the build in version of pybind11" 1)
+
+
 option(KOMPUTE_OPT_ANDROID_BUILD "Enable android compilation flags required" 0)
 option(KOMPUTE_OPT_DISABLE_VK_DEBUG_LAYERS "Explicitly disable debug layers even on debug" 0)
 option(KOMPUTE_OPT_DEPENDENCIES_SHARED_LIBS "Whether to use shared libraries for dependencies for install" 0)
@@ -26,22 +33,77 @@ option(KOMPUTE_OPT_BUILD_AS_SHARED_LIB "Whether to build kompute as shared libra
 # Build flags
 set(KOMPUTE_EXTRA_CXX_FLAGS "" CACHE STRING "Extra compile flags for Kompute, see docs for full list")
 
+
+###########################################################################################
+# Dependencies
+###########################################################################################
+include(FetchContent)
+
+# Vulkan
+# We don't import Vulkan library if Android build as its build dynamically
+# Otherwise it is expected that the Vulkan SDK and dependencies are installed
+if(NOT KOMPUTE_OPT_ANDROID_BUILD)
+    find_package(Vulkan REQUIRED)
+endif()
+
+# Spdlog
 if(KOMPUTE_OPT_ENABLE_SPDLOG)
-    set(KOMPUTE_EXTRA_CXX_FLAGS "${KOMPUTE_EXTRA_CXX_FLAGS} -DKOMPUTE_ENABLE_SPDLOG=1")
-    set(SPDLOG_FMT_EXTERNAL ON CACHE BOOL "Enables external fmt as its current dep" FORCE)
-    if(KOMPUTE_OPT_INSTALL)
-        # Enable install parameters for spdlog (overrides parameters passed)
-        set(SPDLOG_INSTALL ON CACHE BOOL "Enables install of spdlog" FORCE)
-
-        if(KOMPUTE_OPT_DEPENDENCIES_SHARED_LIBS)
-            set(SPDLOG_BUILD_SHARED ON CACHE BOOL "Enables build of shared libraries" FORCE)
-        endif()
+    if(KOMPUTE_OPT_USE_BUILD_IN_SPDLOG)
+        set(SPDLOG_INSTALL ${KOMPUTE_OPT_INSTALL})
+        set(SPDLOG_BUILD_SHARED ${KOMPUTE_OPT_DEPENDENCIES_SHARED_LIBS})
+
+        FetchContent_Declare(spdlog GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/gabime/spdlog.git
+                                    GIT_TAG v1.10.0) # Source: https://github.com/gabime/spdlog/releases
+        FetchContent_MakeAvailable(spdlog)
+    else()
+        find_package(spdlog REQUIRED)
     endif()
 endif()
 
-if(KOMPUTE_OPT_INSTALL)
-	# Enable install parameters for fmt (overrides parameters passed)
-	set(FMT_INSTALL ON CACHE BOOL "Enables install of fmt" FORCE)
+# fmt
+if(KOMPUTE_OPT_USE_BUILD_IN_FMT)
+    set(FMT_INSTALL ${KOMPUTE_OPT_INSTALL})
+    set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS_BKP ${KOMPUTE_OPT_DEPENDENCIES_SHARED_LIBS})
+    set(SPDLOG_BUILD_SHARED ${KOMPUTE_OPT_DEPENDENCIES_SHARED_LIBS})
+    FetchContent_Declare(fmt GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt.git
+                             GIT_TAG 8.1.1) # Source: https://github.com/fmtlib/fmt/releases
+    FetchContent_MakeAvailable(fmt)
+    set(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS ${BUILD_SHARED_LIBS_BKP})
+else()
+    find_package(fmt REQUIRED)
+endif()
+
+# GoogleTest
+if(KOMPUTE_OPT_BUILD_TESTS)
+    if(KOMPUTE_OPT_USE_BUILD_IN_GOOGLE_TEST)
+        FetchContent_Declare(googletest GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/google/googletest.git
+                                        GIT_TAG release-1.11.0) # Source: https://github.com/google/googletest/releases
+        FetchContent_MakeAvailable(googletest)
+
+        add_library(gtest_int INTERFACE)
+        target_link_libraries(gtest_int INTERFACE gtest)
+        target_include_directories(gtest_int INTERFACE ${googletest_SOURCE_DIR}/include)
+
+        add_library(GTest::GTest ALIAS gtest_int)
+       
+        # Group under the "tests/gtest" project folder in IDEs such as Visual Studio.
+        set_property(TARGET gtest PROPERTY FOLDER "tests/gtest")
+        set_property(TARGET gtest_main PROPERTY FOLDER "tests/gtest")
+    else()
+        find_package(GTest CONFIG REQUIRED)
+    endif()
+endif()
+
+# pybind11
+if(KOMPUTE_OPT_BUILD_PYTHON)
+    if(KOMPUTE_OPT_USE_BUILD_IN_PYBIND11)
+        FetchContent_Declare(pybind GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/pybind/pybind11.git
+                                    GIT_TAG v2.9.2) # Source: https://github.com/pybind/pybind11/releases
+        FetchContent_MakeAvailable(pybind)
+    else()
+        find_package(pybind11 REQUIRED)
+    endif()
+    find_package(PythonLibs REQUIRED)
 endif()
 
 if(KOMPUTE_OPT_ANDROID_BUILD)
diff --git a/external/Vulkan-Headers b/external/Vulkan-Headers
deleted file mode 160000
index 320af06c..00000000
--- a/external/Vulkan-Headers
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 320af06cbdd29848e1d7100d9b8e4e517db1dfd5
diff --git a/external/fmt b/external/fmt
deleted file mode 160000
index 7bdf0628..00000000
--- a/external/fmt
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 7bdf0628b1276379886c7f6dda2cef2b3b374f0b
diff --git a/external/googletest b/external/googletest
deleted file mode 160000
index 703bd9ca..00000000
--- a/external/googletest
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 703bd9caab50b139428cea1aaff9974ebee5742e
diff --git a/external/spdlog b/external/spdlog
deleted file mode 160000
index 01b350de..00000000
--- a/external/spdlog
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 01b350de96483cf00b267c6db4c25f3b739b3fee
diff --git a/python/CMakeLists.txt b/python/CMakeLists.txt
index 5f303698..cad7f4ff 100644
--- a/python/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/python/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,5 +1,4 @@
 
-add_subdirectory(pybind11)
 pybind11_add_module(kp src/main.cpp)
 
 include_directories(
diff --git a/python/pybind11 b/python/pybind11
deleted file mode 160000
index 06a54018..00000000
--- a/python/pybind11
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1 +0,0 @@
-Subproject commit 06a54018c8a9fd9a7be5f5b56414b5da9259f637
diff --git a/src/CMakeLists.txt b/src/CMakeLists.txt
index 9747694f..38889c33 100644
--- a/src/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/src/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -4,12 +4,6 @@ if(KOMPUTE_OPT_ANDROID_BUILD)
     find_library(android android)
 endif()
 
-# We don't import Vulkan library if Android build as its build dynamically
-# Otherwise it is expected that the Vulkan SDK and dependencies are installed
-if(NOT KOMPUTE_OPT_ANDROID_BUILD)
-    find_package(Vulkan REQUIRED)
-endif()
-
 if(KOMPUTE_OPT_BUILD_SHADERS)
 # all shaders are compiled into cpp files
     kompute_make(build_shaders
@@ -60,49 +54,20 @@ if(NOT KOMPUTE_OPT_ANDROID_BUILD)
     target_link_libraries(
         kompute
         Vulkan::Vulkan
+        fmt::fmt
     )
 else()
     target_link_libraries(
         kompute
+        fmt::fmt
     )
 endif()
 
-if(KOMPUTE_OPT_REPO_SUBMODULE_BUILD)
-# Override the default Vulkan::Vulkan headers
-# In this case we only use the build interface due to https://github.com/KhronosGroup/Vulkan-Headers/issues/157
-    add_subdirectory(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/external/Vulkan-Headers ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/kompute_vulkan_headers)
-    get_target_property(VULKAN_HEADERS_INCLUDES Vulkan-Headers INTERFACE_INCLUDE_DIRECTORIES)
-    target_include_directories(
-        kompute PUBLIC
-        $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${VULKAN_HEADERS_INCLUDES}>)
-endif()
-
-#####################################################
-#################### fmt #######################
-#####################################################
-
-if(KOMPUTE_OPT_REPO_SUBMODULE_BUILD)
-    add_subdirectory(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/external/fmt ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/kompute_fmt)
-else()
-    find_package(fmt REQUIRED)
-endif()
-
-target_link_libraries(
-    kompute
-    fmt::fmt
-)
-
 #####################################################
-#################### SPDLOG #######################
+#################### SPDLOG #########################
 #####################################################
 
 if(KOMPUTE_OPT_ENABLE_SPDLOG)
-    if(KOMPUTE_OPT_REPO_SUBMODULE_BUILD)
-        add_subdirectory(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/external/spdlog ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/kompute_spdlog)
-    else()
-        find_package(spdlog REQUIRED)
-    endif()
-
     target_link_libraries(
         kompute
         spdlog::spdlog
@@ -110,7 +75,7 @@ if(KOMPUTE_OPT_ENABLE_SPDLOG)
 endif()
 
 #####################################################
-#################### Android #######################
+#################### Android ########################
 #####################################################
 
 if(KOMPUTE_OPT_ANDROID_BUILD)
@@ -132,7 +97,7 @@ if(KOMPUTE_OPT_BUILD_SHADERS)
 endif()
 
 #####################################################
-#################### Single Header #######################
+#################### Single Header ##################
 #####################################################
 
 if(KOMPUTE_OPT_BUILD_SINGLE_HEADER)
@@ -161,9 +126,3 @@ if(KOMPUTE_OPT_INSTALL)
         NAMESPACE kompute::
         DESTINATION lib/cmake/kompute)
 endif()
-
-if(KOMPUTE_OPT_BUILD_PYTHON)
-    include_directories(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/python/pybind11/include)
-    find_package(PythonLibs REQUIRED)
-    include_directories(${PYTHON_INCLUDE_DIRS})
-endif()
diff --git a/test/CMakeLists.txt b/test/CMakeLists.txt
index 562f1890..d1d949bd 100644
--- a/test/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/test/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -1,15 +1,9 @@
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
 #####################################################
-#################### GETEST #######################
+#################### GOOGLETEST #####################
 #####################################################
 enable_testing()
-if(KOMPUTE_OPT_REPO_SUBMODULE_BUILD)
-    add_subdirectory(${PROJECT_SOURCE_DIR}/external/googletest EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL
-        ${CMAKE_CURRENT_BINARY_DIR}/kompute_googletest)
-else()
-    find_package(GTest CONFIG REQUIRED)
-endif()
 
 file(GLOB test_kompute_CPP
     "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/*.cpp"
@@ -23,20 +17,7 @@ target_include_directories(
     $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/compiled_shaders_include>
     $<BUILD_INTERFACE:${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/utils>
 )
-
-if(KOMPUTE_OPT_REPO_SUBMODULE_BUILD)
-    target_include_directories(
-        test_kompute PRIVATE
-        ${gtest_SOURCE_DIR}/include)
-
-    target_link_libraries(test_kompute
-        gtest_main)
-else()
-    target_link_libraries(test_kompute
-        GTest::gtest)
-endif()
-
-target_link_libraries(test_kompute kompute)
+target_link_libraries(test_kompute kompute GTest::GTest)
 
 add_test(NAME test_kompute COMMAND test_kompute)