From Seo Wiki - Search Engine Optimization and Programming Languages
General
Basic general information about file comparison software.
Name
| Creator
| Software license
| Cost
| First public release date
| Latest stable version
| Windows
| Macintosh
| Linux
| Other platforms
|
Altova DiffDog
| Altova
| Proprietary
| USD 129 pro, 189 ent (single license), with a free 30 day trial version available
|
| v2010
| Yes (Win 2000, XP, 2003 Server, Vista)
| No
| No
|
|
Aqua Data Studio
| AquaFold
| Proprietary
| USD 399 (single license), with a free 14 day trial version available
| 2002
| v8.0.4
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Anything with Java
|
Araxis Merge
| Araxis Ltd
| Proprietary
| USD 129 (std) - 269 (pro)
| 1993
| 2009.3713 (May 18, 2009)
| Yes
| Yes
| No
|
|
Beyond Compare
| Scooter Software
| Proprietary
| USD 30 (std), 50 (pro)
| 1996
| 3.1.10 (February 3, 2010)
| Yes (Win95 and up)
| No
| Yes (only 32-bit version available)
|
|
Columbo, (for tabular files)
| NobHill Software
| Proprietary
| USD 49.95,with a free 30 day trial version available
| 2009
| 0.0.0.6(August, 2009)
| Yes (Win95 and up)
| No
| No
|
Compare It!
| Grig Software
| Proprietary
| USD 29
| 1998
| 4.1 (Mar 5, 2009)
| Yes
| No
| No
|
|
csvdiff
| Roland Schmitz
| GPL
| -
| 2006
| 1.7 (February 11, 2009)
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Anything with Perl
|
DeltaWalker
| Deltopia Inc
| Proprietary
| USD 40 (std), 76 (pro)
| 2007
| 2009 (1.8.6 Jan 29, 2009)
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
|
diff, diff3
| AT&T
| BSD 3-clause, BSD 4-clause, GPL, Proprietary
| -
| 1974
|
| Yes
| Yes (Mac OS X)
| Yes
|
|
Diff Commander
| Nikeware
| Proprietary
| USD 29
| 2005
| 2.0 (Feb 26, 2007)
| Yes
| No
| No
|
|
DiffDaff
| cyberpromote
| Freeware
| -
|
| 1.0.0 (Jun 6, 2006)
| Yes
| No
| No
|
|
DiffMerge
| SourceGear
| Proprietary
| Free
| 2003
| 3.2.0 (May 29, 2008)
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
|
Diffuse
| Derrick Moser
| GPL
| -
| 2006
| 0.4.1 (Oct 12, 2009)
| Yes
| Yes (Source)
| Yes
| Anything with PyGTK
|
Eclipse Compare
| Eclipse
| EPL
| -
|
|
| Yes
| Yes (Mac OS X)
| Yes
| Anything with Java
|
ECMerge
| Ellié Computing
| Proprietary
| from USD 30 (std) / USD 50 (pro) / floating licence
| 2005
| 2.2 (Jan 28, 2010)
| Yes (Win98 and up)
| Yes (Mac OS X)
| Yes
| Sun Solaris
|
Ediff
| Michael Kifer
| GPL
| -
|
|
| Yes
| Yes (Mac OS X)
| Yes
| Anything with Emacs
|
ExamDiff Pro
| PrestoSoft
| Proprietary
| USD 35, with a free version available (ExamDiff)
| 1998
| 4.5.2.2 (July 1, 2009)
| Yes (Win98 and up)
| No
| No
|
|
fc
| Microsoft
| Proprietary
| Part of OS
|
|
| Yes (DOS)
| No
| No
|
|
FileMerge
| AppleComputer, Inc.
| Proprietary
| Free (part of Apple Developer Tools)
|
| 2.2.1 (2005)
| No
| Yes (Mac OS X)
| No
|
|
Guiffy SureMerge
| Guiffy Software
| Proprietary
| USD 59
| 2000
| 9.0 (July 29, 2009)
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Anything with Java
|
IntelliJ IDEA Compare
| JetBrains
| Proprietary
| Part of application
|
| 6.0.5 (2007)
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
|
jEdit JDiff plugin
| Various
| GPL
| Free
| 1998
| 1.9.0
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Anything with Java
|
KDiff3
| Joachim Eibl
| GPL
| -
| 2002
| 0.9.95 (2009-03-03)
| Yes
| Yes (Mac OS X)
| Yes
|
|
Kompare
| Otto Bruggeman
| GPL
| -
|
| 3.5.0 (Nov 29, 2005)
| Yes (Cygwin)
| Yes (Mac OS X)
| Yes
|
|
Lazarus Diff
| Lazarus
| GPL
| -
| 2000
| 2009
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| FreeBSD
|
LizardTF
| Ian Cornwell
| GPL
| Free - part of LizardTF
|
| 0.1.3 (Jan 10, 2008)
| Yes (Inc. 64bit)
| No
| No
|
|
MD5 File Comparison Tool
| Derek Trauger
| BSD 4-clause (equivalent)
| -
| 2009
| 1.0.0
| Yes
| No
| No
|
|
Meld
| Stephen Kennedy
| GPL
| -
|
| 1.3 (Apr 18, 2009)
| No
| Yes (Mac OS X)
| Yes
|
|
Perforce P4Merge
| Perforce
| Free for personal use
| Free for personal use
|
| 2008.1 (Aug 27, 2008)
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Sun Solaris
|
Semantic Designs SmartDifferencer
| SmartDifferencer
| Proprietary
| Varies per language
| 2009
| 1.x 2009
| Yes
| No
| No
|
|
SmartSynchronize
| SyntEvo
| Proprietary
| USD 52
|
| 2.5.1 (Mar 11, 2007)
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Anything with Java
|
Softinterface Diff Doc
| Softinterface
| Proprietary
| USD 199 (single license), with a free 30 day Doc' trial version available
| 2002
| 2007.3225 (Jun 06, 2007)
| Yes (Windows 98-Vista and up)
| No
| No
|
|
SwiftCompare lite
| Oorja Software
| Proprietary
| Freeware
|
| 1.3 (Sep 21, 2009)
| Yes (Win98 and up)
| No
| No
|
|
SwiftCompare
| Oorja Software
| Proprietary
| USD 27
|
| 1.3 (Jan 19, 2007)
| Yes (Win98 and up)
| No
| No
|
|
SyncEXPnet
| SyncEXP.net
| Proprietary
| USD 49
| 2002
| 3.7 (Feb 26, 2008)
| Yes
| No
| No
|
|
Tkdiff
| [5]
| GPL
| -
|
| 4.1.3 (Feb 20, 2006)
| Yes (Tcl)
| Yes (Tcl)
| Yes (Tcl)
| Anything with Tcl
|
TortoiseMerge
| [6]
| GPL
| Part of TortoiseSVN
|
| 1.4.8 (February 16, 2008)
| Yes (Win2k and up)
| No
| No
|
|
Total Commander Compare
| Christian Ghisler
| Proprietary
| Part of application
|
| 7.01 (Jun 21, 2007)
| Yes
| No
| No
|
|
UltraCompare
| IDM Computer Solutions
| Proprietary
| USD 29.95
|
| 5.0 (May 18, 2007)
| Yes
| No
| No
|
|
vimdiff
| Bram Moolenaar et al.
| GPL-compatible
| -
| 2001
| 7.0 (May 7, 2006)
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Anything with vim
|
Visual Comparer
| Nikeware
| Proprietary
| USD 29
|
| 1.60 (Feb 26, 2007)
| Yes
| No
| No
|
|
WinDiff
| Microsoft
| Proprietary (with source code)
| Part of Platform SDK
|
|
| Yes
| No
| No
|
|
WinMerge
| Dean Grimm
| GPL
| -
| 1998
| 2.12.0 (March 5, 2009)
| Yes (Win95 and up)
| No
| No
|
|
xxdiff
| Martin Blais
| GPL
| -
| 2000
| 3.2 (Jun 30, 2006)
| Yes (ver. 2.9)
| Yes (source)
| Yes (source)
|
|
zsCompare
| Zizasoft
| Proprietary
| USD 35 (lite) USD 99.95 (std) USD 199.95 (pro)
| 2004
| 3.03 (July 6, 2006)
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Anything with Java
|
Name
| Creator
| Software license
| Cost
| First public release date
| Latest stable version
| Windows
| Macintosh
| Linux
| Other platforms
|
Compare Features
API / Editor Features
Name
| GUI
| CLI
| Scripting
| Horizontal / Vertical
| Syntax Highlighting
| Reports
|
Altova DiffDog
| Yes
| Yes
|
| both
| Yes
| XML, UNIX Diff
|
Aqua Data Studio
| Yes
|
|
|
| No
| HTML
|
Araxis Merge
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| both
| since Araxis Merge 2007
| XML, HTML, Slideshow, diff
|
Beyond Compare
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| optional
| Yes
| XML, HTML, CSV
|
Compare It!
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| both
| Yes
| HTML, Text, diff
|
csvdiff
| No
| Yes
|
|
| No
| Yes
|
DeltaWalker
| Yes
| Yes
|
| both
| No
| HTML, XML
|
diff
| No
| Yes
|
| horizontal
|
|
|
diff3
| No
| Yes
|
| horizontal
|
|
|
Diff Commander
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DiffDaff
| Yes
| No
|
| optional
|
|
|
DiffMerge
| Yes
| No
|
| vertical
| No
| Yes
|
Diffuse
| Yes
| Yes
|
| vertical
| Yes
|
|
Eclipse Compare
| Yes
|
|
| vertical
| Yes
|
|
ECMerge
| Yes
| Yes
| ECMAScript
| optional
| Yes
| XML, HTML, CSV, Text, Diff
|
Ediff
| Yes
| No
|
| both
| Yes
|
|
ExamDiff Pro
| Yes
| Yes
|
| optional
| Yes
| UNIX, HTML, Diff
|
fc
| No
| Yes
|
| horizontal
|
|
|
FileMerge
| Yes
| Yes
|
| vertical
| Yes
| No
|
Guiffy SureMerge
| Yes
| Yes
|
| both
| Yes
| HTML
|
IntelliJ IDEA Compare
| Yes
|
|
| vertical
| Yes
|
|
jEdit JDiff plugin
| Yes
|
|
| both
| Yes
|
|
KDiff3
| Yes
| Yes
|
| both
|
|
|
Kompare
| Yes
|
|
| vertical
| No
|
|
Lazarus Diff
| Yes
|
|
|
| Yes
|
|
LizardTF
| Yes
| No
|
| both
|
|
|
Meld
| Yes
| Yes
|
| vertical
| Yes
| No
|
Perforce P4Merge
| Yes
| Yes
|
| vertical
| No
| No
|
Semantic Designs SmartDifferencer
| No
| Yes
|
|
| No
| Generalized Diff
|
SmartSynchronize
| Yes
| Yes
|
| vertical
|
|
|
Softinterface Diff Doc
| Yes
| Yes
|
| both
| Yes
| .doc, HTML, CSV
|
SwiftCompare lite
| Yes
| No
| No
| vertical
| Yes
| Yes
|
SwiftCompare
| Yes
| No
| No
| vertical
| Yes
| Yes
|
Tkdiff
| Yes
|
|
|
|
|
|
TortoiseMerge
| Yes
| Yes
|
|
| No
| No
|
Total Commander Compare
| Yes
|
|
| optional
|
|
|
UltraCompare
| Yes
| Yes
| No
| Yes
| No
| Unix diff
|
vimdiff
| Yes
| Yes
| vim script
| both
| Yes
| No
|
Visual Comparer
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
WinDiff
| Yes
| Yes
|
| horizontal
| No
|
|
WinMerge
| Yes
| Yes
|
| vertical
| Yes
| CSV, Tab-delimited, HTML, XML
|
xxdiff
| Yes
| Yes
|
| optional
|
|
|
zsCompare
| Yes
| Yes
|
| horizontal
|
|
|
Name
| GUI
| CLI
| Scripting
| Horizontal / Vertical
| Syntax Highlighting
| Reports
|
Other features
Some other features which did not fit in previous table
Name
| ZIP support
| FTP support
| Version Control browsing
| Patch creation
| Patch application
| Patch preview
| Unicode support
| XML-aware
|
Altova DiffDog
| Yes
| Yes
| CVS
| Yes
|
|
| Yes
| Yes
|
Araxis Merge
| No
| Yes
| Perforce[1], Subversion[2], Visual SourceSafe[3], AllChange[4]
| UNIX diff
|
|
| Yes[5]
| Partial[6]
|
Beyond Compare
| Yes
| Yes
|
| Yes
|
|
| Yes
|
|
Compare It!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
csvdiff
| No
| No
|
| No
|
|
|
|
|
DeltaWalker
| Yes
| Yes
|
| Yes
|
|
| Yes
|
|
diff
| No
| No
| No
| Yes
| No
| No
| No
| No
|
diff3
| No
| No
|
|
|
|
|
| No
|
Diff Commander
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DiffDaff
| No
| No
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DiffMerge
| No
| No
|
| No
|
|
| Partial[clarification needed]
|
|
Diffuse
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Yes
|
|
ECMerge
| Yes
| Yes
| CVS (1.11-, 1.12+), evolution, Perforce, Subversion, Visual SourceSafe, Mercurial
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| UTF8, UTF16 LE/BE, UTF32 LE/BE
| can reformat XML for easier handling in text diff/merge
|
Ediff
|
| Yes
|
| Yes
|
|
|
|
|
ExamDiff Pro
| Yes[7]
| Yes[8]
|
| normal diff only
|
|
| Yes
|
|
fc
| No
| No
|
| No
|
|
|
|
|
FileMerge
| No
| supported by OS
|
| No
|
|
| No
| No
|
Guiffy SureMerge
| Yes
|
|
| Yes
|
|
| Yes[9]
|
|
jEdit
| Yes
| Yes
| Subversion
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
| Yes
|
|
KDiff3
| Template:Optional
| Template:Optional
|
|
|
|
| Partial[10]
|
|
Kompare
|
|
|
| Yes
|
|
|
|
|
Lazarus Diff
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
LizardTF
|
|
| Team Foundation Server
|
|
|
| Yes
|
|
Meld
|
|
| CVS, subversion, mercurial, git, bzr, darcs, monotone
| Yes
|
|
| Yes
|
|
Perforce P4Merge
|
|
| No
|
|
|
| Yes
|
|
Semantic Designs SmartDifferencer
| No
| No
| No
| No
|
|
| Yes
|
|
SmartSynchronize
| No
| No
|
| No
|
|
| Yes
|
|
Softinterface Diff Doc
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SwiftCompare
| No
| No
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tkdiff
| No
| No
| CVS, RCS
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
|
TortoiseMerge
| No
| No
|
| No
|
|
|
|
|
Total Commander Compare
| Yes
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UltraCompare
|
| Yes
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
vimdiff
| Yes
| Yes
|
| Yes
|
|
| Yes
|
|
Visual Comparer
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
WinDiff
| No
| No
|
| No
|
|
| No
|
|
WinMerge
| Yes
| No
| Mercurial[11], SubVersion[12], Visual Source Safe, Rational ClearCase[13]
| Yes
|
|
| Yes
|
|
xxdiff
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
| No
|
zsCompare
| Yes
| No
|
| Yes
|
|
|
|
|
Name
| ZIP support
| FTP support
| Version Control browsing
| Patch creation
| Patch application
| Patch preview
| Unicode support
| XML-aware
|
Aspects
What aspects can be / are compared?
See also
References
Software libraries
- Perl (found on CPAN)
- Algorithm::Diff
- Array::Diff
- Text::Diff
- XML::Diff
↓