Comparison of file comparison tools

! Creator

! FOSS

! Free

! First public release date

! Year of latest stable version

! Windows

! Macintosh

! Linux

! Other platforms

! Max supported file size

| Scooter Software[http://www.scootersoftware.com/ Scooter Software]

| {{no}}; Proprietary

| {{no}}

| 1996

| 2025-06-04 (v5.1.0)

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| > 2GB (64 bits)

| Coode Software{{Cite web |url=http://www.coodesoft.com/ |title=Coode Software |access-date=2020-12-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181221013311/http://coodesoft.com/ |archive-date=2018-12-21 |url-status=dead }}

| {{no}}; Proprietary

| {{no}}

| 2010

| 2016-7-17 (3.0.1.0b)

| {{Yes}}[http://download.cnet.com/Compare/3000-2229_4-75206501.html?tag=mncol Compare++ Operating system information]

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

|

| AT&T

| {{yes}}; BSD 3-clause, BSD 4-clause, CDDL, GPL, Proprietary

| {{yes}}

| 1974

|

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}} (Mac OS X)

| {{Yes}}

| ported to most platforms as part of SCCS

| > 2GB but less than 64 bits

|

| {{yes}}; Eclipse Public License

| {{yes}}

| 2004-07-21

| 2016-09-28 (4.6.1 (Neon.1))

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| Anything with Java

|

| Michael Kifer[http://www.delorie.com/gnu/docs/emacs/ediff_toc.html Michael Kifer]

| {{yes}}; GPL

| {{yes}}

| 1994

| 2.81.4

| {{Yes}}{{efn|Ediff requires a diff utility to function. As of December 2017, diff is not bundled with Emacs or Windows, so use of Ediff in a Windows environment requires installation of both Emacs and a diff implementation like GNU diff.}}

| {{Yes}} (Mac OS X)

| {{Yes}}

| Anything with Emacs and diff

|

| PrestoSoft[http://www.prestosoft.com PrestoSoft]

| {{no}}; Proprietary

| {{no}}

| 1998

| 2025-06-04 (Build 16.0.1.3)

| {{Yes}} (WinXP and up)

| {{Yes}} (in Wine)

| {{Yes}} (in Wine)

|

|

| Eugene Roshal (original); FAR Group

| {{yes}}; Revised BSD license

| {{yes}}

| 1996

| 2022-02-02 (v3.0 build 5959)

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| There's a beta-version of far2l,{{cite web | url=https://github.com/elfmz/far2l | title=Far2l | website=GitHub | date=26 July 2022 }} a Linux fork of FAR Manager v2 which also works on OSX/MacOS and BSD.

|

| Microsoft[http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/proddocs/en-us/fc.mspx Microsoft]

| {{no}}; Proprietary

| {{yes}}; Part of OS

| 1987

|

| {{Yes}} (DOS)

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

|

| Apple Inc.

| {{no}}; Proprietary

| {{yes}}; (part of Apple Developer Tools)

| 1993 (part of NEXTSTEP 3.2{{cite journal|author1=NeXT Product Marketing|title=What's New in Release 3.2?|journal=NEXTSTEP in Focus|date=Fall 1993|volume=3|issue=4|url=http://cdn.preterhuman.net/texts/computing/nextstep-openstep/NEXTSTEP_In_Focus/InFocusFall1993/1489_Whats_New_in_Release_3.2.rtf|accessdate=18 July 2014|publisher=NeXT Computer, Inc.}})

| 2014 (v2.8)

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}} (Mac OS X)

| {{No}}

|

|

| Zenju

| {{yes}}; GPLv3

| {{yes}}

| 2008

| 2023-10-23 (v13.2)

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

| Guiffy Software[https://www.guiffy.com/ Guiffy Software]

| {{no}}; Proprietary

| {{no}}

| 2000

| 2025-05-06 (v12.4)

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| Anything with Java

| > 2GB

| JetBrains[http://www.jetbrains.com/ JetBrains]

| {{no}}; Proprietary

| {{no}}

| 2001

| 2019-08-20 (2019.2.1)

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

| Various[http://www.jedit.org jedit.org]

| {{yes}}; GPL

| {{yes}}

| 1998

| 2020-09-03 (5.6.0)

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| Anything with Java

|

| Lazarus (software)

| {{yes}}; GPL

| {{yes}}

| 2000

| 2020-07-11 (2.0.10)

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| FreeBSD

|

| Stephen Kennedy[http://meld.sourceforge.net/ Stephen Kennedy]

| {{yes}}; GPLv2+

| {{yes}}

| 2002

| 2024-03-24 (3.22.2)

| {{Yes}}[https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Meld/Windows Meld/Windows]

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| BSD, Solaris

|

| Various

| {{yes}}; GPLv3

| {{yes}}

| 2009

| 2015-01-06 (1.5.6.6)

| {{Yes}}[https://bitbucket.org/uph0/compare Notepad++ compare plugin]

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

|

| Perforce

| {{no}}; Proprietary

| {{yes}}

|

| 2019 (2019.1/1815056)

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| Sun Solaris

|

| Austin Cheney[http://prettydiff.com/ Pretty Diff]

| {{yes}}; MIT-compatible

| {{yes}}

| 2009

| 2019-09-02 (101.2.6)

| {{Yes}} (Web)

| {{Yes}} (Web)

| {{Yes}} (Web)

| Node.js

|

| Tkdiff[http://tkdiff.sourceforge.net/ tkdiff]

| {{yes}}; GPLv2+

| {{yes}}

| 2003 (or before)

| 2021-03-24 (v5.2.1)

| {{Yes}} (Tcl)

| {{Yes}} (Tcl)

| {{Yes}} (Tcl)

| Anything with Tcl

|

| Christian Ghisler[http://www.ghisler.com/ Christian Ghisler]

| {{no}}; Proprietary

| {{no}}

|

| 2020-03-25 (v9.51)

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

|

| Bare Bones Software, Inc.[http://www.barebones.com/ Bare Bones Software, Inc.]

| {{no}}; Proprietary

| {{yes}}; with TextWrangler

|

| 2012 (1.0 (v22))

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

| Bram Moolenaar et al.

| {{yes}}; GPL-compatible[http://vimdoc.sourceforge.net/htmldoc/uganda.html#license vim license]

| {{yes}}

| 2001

| 2016-10-03 (v8.0.0022)

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| Anything with vim

|

| Microsoft[http://support.microsoft.com/kb/159214 Microsoft]

| {{no}}; Proprietary

| {{yes}}; Part of Platform SDK

| 1992

| 2010-05-14 (v6.1.7716.0)

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

| Dean Grimm[http://winmerge.org/ Dean Grimm]

| {{yes}}; GPL

| {{yes}}

| 1998

| 2025-04-27 (v2.16.48)https://github.com/WinMerge/winmerge/releases/tag/v2.16.42.1

| {{Yes}} (Win95 and up)

| {{Yes}} (in wine[https://appdb.winehq.org/objectManager.php?sClass=application&iId=1755 WinMerge in Wine])

| {{Yes}} (in wine)

|

| 2 GB

| Joachim Eibl and KDE SDK KDiff3 Team{{Cite web |url=https://invent.kde.org/sdk/kdiff3 |title=KDE KDiff3 |access-date=2023-03-09 }}

| {{yes}} GPL v2

| {{yes}}

| <2004 (v0.9.86)

| 2023-01-13 (v1.10)

| {{Yes}} as part of KDevelop [https://kdevelop.org/get-it/ KDE SDK download site] or from [https://apps.microsoft.com/store/detail/kdiff-3-diff-utility/9NDVVX243RFH?hl=en-sg&gl=sg Windows store] or [https://download.kde.org/stable/kdiff3/ KDE download] site (most recent version) as separate application.

| {{Yes}} Can be downloaded from [https://kdevelop.org/get-it/ KDE SDK download site] or as separate stand-alone application from [https://download.kde.org/stable/kdiff3/ KDE download site]

| {{Yes}} Install from your Linux distribution repositories, or as AppStream, from [https://flathub.org/apps/details/org.kde.kdiff3|FlatHub], or as GIT project [https://invent.kde.org/sdk/kdiff3|Invent KDE Gitlab]{{Cite web |title=KDevelop / KDevelop · GitLab (full KDevelop project)|url=https://invent.kde.org/kdevelop/kdevelop |access-date=2023-03-09 |website=GitLab |language=en}} or from/on [https://github.com/KDE/kdiff3|Github].{{Cite web |title=Using KDiff3 as a Git Diff and Merging Tool |url=https://docs.kde.org/trunk5/en/kdiff3/kdiff3/git.html |access-date=2023-03-09 |website=docs.kde.org}}

| Any other Unix with KDE/KF5, Qt5 and CMake, e.g. FreeBSD{{Cite web |title=FreeBSD/Setup/Ports - KDE Community Wiki |url=https://community.kde.org/FreeBSD/Setup/Ports |access-date=2023-03-09 |website=community.kde.org}} & NetBSD{{Cite web |title=pkgsrc.se {{!}} The NetBSD package collection |url=https://pkgsrc.se/devel/kdiff3 |access-date=2023-03-09 |website=pkgsrc.se}}

| ?

! Creator

! FOSS

! Free

! First public release date

! Year of latest stable version

! Windows

! Macintosh

! Linux

! Other platforms

! Max supported file size

! Show
in-line
changes

! Directory comparison

! {{verth|va=middle|Binary
comparison}}

! Moved lines

! 3-way comparison

! Merge

! Structured comparison{{efn|name="LogicalSections"|Compare logical sections (class, methods).}}

! Manual compare alignment

! {{verth|va=middle|Image
compare}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}} (Files and Folders)

| {{Yes}} (Pro only)

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}} (C/C++, C#, Java, JavaScript, CSS3)

|

|

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{partial|partly}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

|

|

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

|

| {{Yes}} (non-optional)

|

|

|

|

| {{Yes}}

|

|

|

| {{No}} (only ancestor)

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{No}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}[http://blog.prestosoft.com/2008/09/moved-blocks.html Examdiff]

| {{Yes}} (ExamDiff Pro Master only)[http://www.prestosoft.com/edp_features.asp Examdiff]

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes |manual synchronization}}

|

| {{Yes}} (Via plugin)[http://forum.farmanager.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5193 Visual Compare]

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}} (Via plugin)

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

|

|

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

|

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}} (optional ancestor)

| {{Yes}}

|

|

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

|

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes| line alignment, unlink scroll}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

|

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes| resync comparison}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}} (via DirDiff plugin)

|

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

|

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}} (via Options)

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

! GUI

! CLI

! Scripting

! Horizontal / vertical

! Syntax highlighting

! Reports

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes|Both}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes|XML, HTML, CSV, Text, Unix Patch}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes|Both}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes|HTML, Text(combined or side-by-side) }}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{No|Horizontal}}

| {{yes}} pipe to diff-highlight{{Cite web|url=https://github.com/git/git/tree/master/contrib/diff-highlight|title = Git/Contrib/Diff-highlight at master · git/Git| website=GitHub }}

|

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{No|Horizontal}}

|

|

| {{Yes}}

|

|

| {{No|Vertical}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes|elisp}}

| {{Yes|Both}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| optional

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes|UNIX, HTML, Diff}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{No|Horizontal}}

|

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{No|Vertical}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes|Java API}}

| {{Yes|Both}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes|HTML, Text, Unix Patch}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{No|Vertical}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}}

|

|

| {{Yes|Both}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}}

|

|

|

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

|

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes|Both}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{No|Vertical}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes|JavaScript}}

| {{Yes|Both}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes| XHTML}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

|

|

|

| {{Yes}}

|

|

| {{Yes|Both}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes|vim script}}

| {{Yes|Both}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes|HTML}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{No|Horizontal}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes|Text}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes|Both}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes|CSV, Tab-delimited, HTML, XML}}

! ZIP support

! FTP support

! SFTP support

! Version control browsing

! Patch creation

! Patch application

! Patch preview

! Unicode support

! XML-aware

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes|SVN}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

|

|

| {{Yes|SVN, CVS, Git, Microsoft TFS, Perforce, VSS using command line}}

|

|

|

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}} with patch

| {{Yes}} with patch

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

| {{No}}

|

|

|

| {{Yes}} CVS, Subversion, Git, Mercurial, Baazar

|

|

|

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes|RCS, CVS, SVN, Mercurial, git (anything supported by Emacs' VC-mode)}}[https://www.gnu.org/software/emacs/manual/html_node/ediff/Support-for-Version-Control.html gnu.org Support-for-Version-Control]

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

| {{Yes}}[http://www.prestosoft.com/ps.asp?page=edp_plugins#9 through a plug-in]

| {{Yes}}[http://www.prestosoft.com/ps.asp?page=edp_plugins#10 through a plug-in]

|

|

| {{Yes|normal diff only}}

|

|

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

|

| {{No}}

|

|

|

|

| {{No}}

| {{Yes|supported by OS}}

|

|

| {{No}}

|

|

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}{{efn|UTF8, UTF16, MBCS, SJIS, over 150 file encoding and character set formats.}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

| {{Yes|CVS, Subversion, Git, Mercurial, Baazar}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{No}}

| {{Yes|Yes[https://sourceforge.net/projects/nppftp Notepad++ FTP plugin]}}

|

| {{Yes|Git, Subversion (compare against base)}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

|

|

|

| {{No}}

|

|

|

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

| {{Yes|CVS, RCS, Subversion}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

| {{Yes}}

|

|

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

|

| {{No}}

|

|

| {{No}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

|

| {{Yes| Mercurial,{{Cite web |url=http://bitbucket.org/tortoisehg/stable/wiki/FAQ#how-can-i-use-winmerge-as-my-visual-diff-tool |title=tortoisehg / stable / wiki / FAQ — |publisher=Bitbucket.org |accessdate=2010-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100715205329/http://bitbucket.org/tortoisehg/stable/wiki/FAQ#how-can-i-use-winmerge-as-my-visual-diff-tool |archive-date=2010-07-15 |url-status=dead }} Subversion,{{Cite web |url=http://winmerge.org/docs/manual/VersionControl.html |title=Using WinMerge with other tools – WinMerge 2.12 Manual |publisher=Winmerge.org |date= |accessdate=2010-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100710012031/http://winmerge.org/docs/manual/VersionControl.html |archive-date=2010-07-10 |url-status=dead }} Visual Source Safe, Rational ClearCase{{Cite web |url=http://winmerge.org/about/ |title=About |publisher=WinMerge |date= |accessdate=2010-07-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100703223053/http://winmerge.org/about/ |archive-date=2010-07-03 |url-status=dead }}}}

| {{Yes}}

|

|

| {{Yes}}

|

! Filename casing

! CRC

! Filedate

! Daylight saving

! Character casing

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{optional}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

|

|

|

| {{optional}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

| {{optional}}

| {{optional|filesystem dependent}}

|

| {{Yes}}

|

| {{Yes}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

|

| {{Yes}}

| {{n/a}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{n/a}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Optional}}

|

|

|

|

|

|

|

| {{optional}}

| {{yes}} (in synchronize only)

| {{optional}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{optional|when different}}

| {{Yes}}

| {{optional}}

| {{No}}

| {{No}}

| {{optional}}

|

| {{optional}}