Free File Comparison and Differencing Tools (Diff Utilities)
Compare differences between two text/binary files visually
Free File Comparison Utilities
The tools on this page allow you to compare the differences between two files (like the well-known diff utility found on Unix systems). Some of these tools are GUI based, and will display the differences side by side in a Window, or perhaps even highlight the difference. Others are command line based (like diff). Some tools only support text files while others may be able to compare binary files.
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Disclaimer
The information provided on this page comes without any warranty whatsoever. Use it at your own risk. Just because a program, book, document or service is listed here or has a good review does not mean that I endorse or approve of the program or of any of its contents. All the other standard disclaimers also apply.
Free File Comparison Utilities (diff tools)
- P4Merge -- Perforce Visual Merge Tool
P4Merge lets you compare different file versions and depicts the differences between the files visually. The lines that are different or that have changed are colour-coded. It also has automatic merge facility that can handle non-conflicting changes between the files. Line endings and whitespace differences can be ignored if you wish, and the tool supports the selection of an appropriate character encoding. The program can be run standalone or along with other applications. The tool runs under Windows, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, Linux and Solaris. It is part of the Perforce SCM Server package (see the Free Source Code Version Control Management Software page for more information).
- WinMerge
WinMerge is a Windows file differencing and merging tool. It has a Windows frontend over the GNU diff and merge utilities. It includes Visual SourceSafe integration, visual differencing of text files, the ability to diff entire directories, multiple level undos, an integrated editor,
- xdelta Open Source Binary Diff, Delta / Differential Compression Tool
xdelta allows you to make binary diffs of two binary files. Actually, xdelta is apparently more than that - it is, according to their web page, "a complete system for managing delta-compressed storage and network transport". The latest version supports VDIFF / RFC 3284 encoding and decoding.
- Java xdelta
This is a Java version of xdelta, a program that can make binary diffs of two files.
- GNU Diff Utilities
Need to compare two text files and get a report of which lines have changed? The GNU diff utilities can show you the changes, the context surrounding the change, etc. While a standard part of Unix system, the diff utilities are useful for operating systems that do not come with a useful file or text comparison utility. Note that the utilities are command-line based and come with full source code. If you need an MSDOS or Windows 95/98/ME port of diff, check out the DJGPP system, listed on the Free C/C++ Compilers page. I'm not sure, but I suspect the Cygwin compiler system also includes diff for Windows systems (also listed on the Free C/C++ Compilers page).
- KDiff3
KDiff3 compares two or three text files and shows the differences between them line by line and even character by character. It also has a merge capability, an integrated editor and the ability to diff/merge directories as well. KDiff3 works on Unix systems like Linux as well as Windows.
- xxdiff
xxdiff is a graphical file and directory comparison and merging tool. You can compare two or three files with the differences highlighted. You can also compare two directories (useful if you are trying to synchronise two directories/disks). It also has the ability to merge files, unmerge CVS conflicts into two separate files so that you can resolve the conflicts, etc. It uses an external diff program that is compatible with GNU diff (presumably in its interface). xxdiff is released under the GNU GPL and runs on IRIX, Linux, HP/UX, and DEC Tru64.
- ExamDiff
ExamDiff shows you the difference between two ASCII text files (Unicode not supported) by displaying the two files side by side with the changes in different colours. You can configure the colours used.
- SourceGear DiffMerge: Diff / Merge utility
DiffMerge allows you to visually compare and merge files by graphically showing you the differences between them. Intra-line highlighting of differences is supported along with support for editing the files. You can also perform a side-by-side comparison of 2 folders; the folder diff facility will show you the files that are only present in one folder as well as distinguish between those that are identical and those that are different. It's Merge facility allows you to see the changes between 3 files, automatic merging when safe, and the ability to edit the resulting file. The program supports international character encoding, and works on Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. The Windows version features Windows Explorer integration.
- Diffuse
Diffuse can compare an arbitrary number of files side by side. You can manually correct the output so that the matching lines are aligned as well as edit the files directly from the utility. It can retrieve files from a variety of source code version control management systems including Bazaar, CVS, SVN, Darcs, Git, Mercurial, Monotone, etc, for comparison and merging. Other features include syntax highlighting, Unicode (UTF-8) support, unlimited undo, etc. The program requires that you have Python and PyGTK installed.
- CSDiff
CSDiff allows you to compare folders (directories) as well as ASCII text files, Microsoft Word files and RTF files.
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