List of file comparison programs

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This list compares software for comparing files , sometimes directory structures if the main purpose of the software is file management .

General

General and basic information about programs that compare files:

Surname Manufacturer FOSS Free Date of first issue last stable version Windows macintosh Linux Other platforms Maximum file size
Araxis merge Araxis Ltd No ; proprietary No 79/169 GBP Standard / Pro

(30 days free)

2018 (is constantly being maintained) Yes Yes No No > 2GB (64bit)
Beyond Compare Scooter software No ; proprietary No ; 30, - USD (std), 60, - (Pro) 1996 2019 (v4.2.10) Yes Yes Yes <2 GB (32 bits)
Compare ++ Coode software No ; proprietary No ; $ 29.95, 30 days free 2010 2013 (v2.15) Yes No No
Comparex Serena Software also IBM No ; proprietary No ; MIPS price 1980 2016 (v8.7) No No No Yes mainframe z / OS
diff , diff3 AT&T Yes ; BSD Clause 3 , BSD Clause 4, CDDL , GPL, proprietary Yes 1974 Yes Yes ( macOS ) Yes ported to most platforms as part of SCCS > 2 GB but less than 64 bit
SG DiffMerge SourceGear DiffMerge No ; proprietary No ; 19 USD 2003 October 2013 (4.2.0) Yes Yes Yes
DiffTool Ludwig Gruber No ; proprietary Yes ; (on Google Play Store) 2014 2015 (1.57) No No No Android
Diffuse Derrick Moser Yes ; GPL Yes 2006 June 2014 (0.4.8) Yes Yes Yes all with PyGtk +
Eclipse (compare) Yes ; Eclipse Public License Yes June 21, 2004 September 26, 2014 Yes Yes Yes everything with Java
Ediff Michael Kifer Yes ; GPL Yes 1994 2.81.4 Yes Yes ( macOS ) Yes all with emacs
ExamDiff Pro PrestoSoft No ; proprietary No ; 35 USD, only file version free 1998 2014 (v7.0.1.6) Yes ( Win98 and higher) No No
Far Manager (compare) Eugene Roshal (original); FAR Group No ; Revised BSD license Yes 1996 August 2014 (v 3.0 build 4040) Yes No No
fc Microsoft No ; proprietary Yes ; Part of the operating system 1987 Yes (DOS) No No
FileMerge Apple Inc. No ; proprietary Yes ; (part of Apple Developer Tools ) 1993 (part of NEXTSTEP 3.2) 2014 (v2.8) No Yes (Mac OS X) No
Guiffy SureMerge Guiffy software No ; proprietary No ; 37.50 USD (Pro), 75.00 (eXpert) 2000 2015 July (v11.2) Yes Yes Yes everything with Java > 2 GB
IntelliJ IDEA (compare) JetBrains No ; proprietary No 2007 (v6.0.5) Yes Yes Yes
jEdit JDiff plugin jedit.org Yes ; GPL Yes 1998 2012 (3.3.0) Yes Yes Yes everything with Java
KDiff3 Joachim Eibl Yes ; GPL Yes 2002 June 2014 (0.9.98) Yes Yes Yes Qt4 or Qt5
Extras Otto Bruggeman Yes ; GPLv2 + Yes Yes Yes (Mac OS X) Yes
Lazarus Diff Lazarus (software) Yes ; GPL Yes 2000 2009 Yes Yes Yes FreeBSD
Meld Stephen Kennedy Yes ; GPLv2 + Yes 2002 June 19, 2018 (v3.18.2) Yes Yes Yes BSD , Solaris
Notepad ++ (compare) Various Yes ; GPLv3 Yes 2009 January 6, 2015 (1.5.6.6) Yes No No
Perforce P4Merge Perforce No ; proprietary Yes 2014 (2014.3) Yes Yes Yes Sun Solaris
Pretty Diff Pretty Diff No ; MIT compatible Yes 2009 November 26, 2014 Yes ( web ) Yes ( web ) Yes ( web ) Node.js , Windows Script Host
Tkdiff tkdiff Yes ; GPLv2 + Yes 2003 (or earlier) November 27, 2011 (v4.2) Yes ( Tcl ) Yes (Tcl) Yes (Tcl) everything with Tcl
Total Commander (compare) Christian Ghisler No ; proprietary No September 29, 1993 under the name Windows Commander October 20, 2017 (v9.10) Yes No No Android , Blackberry , Windows Phone 8.1 , Windows 10 Mobile
twdiff (TextWrangler Diff Helper) Bare Bones Software, Inc. No ; proprietary Yes ; with TextWrangler 2012 (1.0 (v22)) No Yes No No
vim Bram Moolenaar, et al. Yes ; GPL compatible Yes 1991 2019 (v8.2) Yes Yes Yes many many
WinDiff Microsoft No ; proprietary Yes ; Part of Platform SDK 1992 August 16, 2002 14:36:14 (v5.00.2195.6601) Yes No No No
WinMerge Dean Grimm Yes ; GPL Yes 1998 November 22, 2018 (v2.16.0) Yes ( WinXP and higher) No No 2 GB
UCC USC CSSE No ; USC-CSSE Limited Public License Yes 2009 July 2010 Yes Yes Yes {2.6.9} Sun Solaris
UltraCompare IDM Computer Solutions, Inc. No ; proprietary No ; $ 24.95, 30 days off 2014 (v15) Yes Yes Yes
Surname Manufacturer FOSS Free Date of first issue last stable version Windows macintosh Linux other platforms

Comparison of functionality

Surname List differences Comparison of folders Binary comparison Visual comparison of images Shifted lines 3-way comparison Merge Structured comparison Manual alignment of lines
Araxis merge Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (pro version) Yes No Yes
Beyond Compare Yes Yes Yes No Yes (files and folders) Yes (only pro version) Yes
Compare ++ Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (C / C ++, C #, Java, JavaScript, CSS3)
diff No Yes part No No No
diff3 No No Yes (not optional)
SG DiffMerge Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
DiffTool Yes Yes Yes No No Yes (folders)
Diffuse Yes No No Yes Yes
Eclipse (compare) Yes Yes Yes No
Ediff Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ExamDiff Pro Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes ( ExamDiff Pro Master only ) Yes Yes
Far Manager (compare) Yes (via plugin) Yes Yes Yes (via plugin) No No
fc Yes (output as txt file possible) No Yes No No
FileMerge Yes Yes Yes Yes (optional from predecessor) Yes
Guiffy SureMerge Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
IntelliJ IDEA (compare) Yes Yes Yes
jEdit JDiff plugin Yes No Yes
KDiff3 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Extras Yes No No
Lazarus Diff
Meld Yes Yes No No Yes Yes Yes
Notepad ++ (compare) Yes No No No Yes No No No
Perforce P4Merge Yes No No Yes Yes
Pretty Diff Yes Yes No No No No Yes No
Tkdiff Yes No No No No No
Total Commander (compare) Yes Yes Yes No No Yes Yes
vim Yes Yes (with DirDiff plugin) No Yes
WinDiff Yes Yes Yes Yes No No
WinMerge Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes No
UCC Yes Yes Yes Yes No Yes
Surname List differences Comparison of folders Binary comparison Visual comparison of images Shifted lines 3-way comparison Merge Structured comparison Manual alignment of lines

API / editor features

Surname GUI CLI scriptable horizontal Vertical Syntax highlighting evaluation
Araxis merge Yes Yes Yes both Yes Yes
Beyond Compare Yes Yes Yes both Yes Yes
Compare ++ Yes Yes both Yes Yes
diff No Yes horizontal Yes Pipe for highlighting differences
diff3 No Yes horizontal
SG DiffMerge Yes Yes both No Yes
DiffTool Yes Yes Yes both Yes
Diffuse Yes Yes vertical Yes
Eclipse (compare) Yes vertical Yes
Ediff Yes Yes Yes both Yes
ExamDiff Pro Yes Yes optional Yes Yes
Far Manager (compare) Yes Yes Yes Yes No
fc No Yes horizontal
FileMerge Yes Yes vertical Yes No
Guiffy SureMerge Yes Yes Yes both Yes Yes
IntelliJ IDEA (compare) Yes vertical Yes
jEdit JDiff plugin Yes both Yes
KDiff3 Yes Yes vertical No
Extras Yes vertical No
Lazarus Diff Yes Yes
Meld Yes horizontal Yes No
Notepad ++ (compare) Yes Yes both Yes No
Perforce P4Merge Yes Yes vertical No No
Pretty Diff Yes Yes Yes both Yes Yes
Tkdiff Yes
Total Commander (compare) Yes optional
vimdiff Yes Yes Yes both Yes Yes
WinDiff Yes Yes horizontal No Yes
WinMerge Yes Yes vertical Yes Yes
UCC Yes Yes vertical Yes Yes
Surname GUI CLI scriptable horizontal Vertical Syntax highlighting evaluation

Other properties

Other properties that do not fit in the table above:

Surname ZIP supported FTP supported SFTP supported Version control overview Create a patch Apply patch Patch preview Unicode supported XML recognition
Araxis merge Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Beyond Compare Yes Yes Yes No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Compare ++ Yes Yes
diff No No No Yes Yes with a patch Yes with a patch Yes No
diff3 No No No
SG DiffMerge Yes Yes
DiffTool Yes + APK No Yes
Diffuse Yes Yes
Eclipse (compare) Yes CVS , Subversion , Git , Mercurial , Baazar Yes
Ediff Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ExamDiff Pro Yes Yes Yes Yes
Far Manager (compare) No No No No No No Yes No
fc No No No
FileMerge No Yes No No No
Guiffy SureMerge Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
IntelliJ IDEA (compare) Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
jEdit JDiff plugin Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
KDiff3 Yes Yes
Extras Yes
Lazarus Diff
Meld Yes Yes Yes
Notepad ++ (compare) No Yes Yes No No No Yes No
Perforce P4Merge No Yes
Pretty Diff No No No No No No No Yes Yes
Tkdiff No No Yes No No No No No
Total Commander (compare) Yes Yes
vimdiff Yes Yes Yes Yes
WinDiff No No No No
WinMerge Yes No Yes Yes Yes
UCC Yes No Yes
Surname ZIP supported FTP supported SFTP supported Version control overview Create a patch Apply patch Patch preview Unicode supported XML recognition

Aspects

What can be compared and how?

Surname Upper / lower case in the file name CRC File date Time change Upper / lower case in the content
Araxis merge Yes Yes Yes
Beyond Compare Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Compare ++ Yes Yes Yes Yes
diff Yes No No No Optional
diff3
SG DiffMerge
Diffuse Optional
DiffTool No Yes Yes Yes
Eclipse (compare)
Ediff
ExamDiff Pro No Yes Yes Yes Yes
Far Manager (compare) Yes No Yes No Yes
fc No Optional
FileMerge No No No Optional
Guiffy SureMerge Optional: independent of the file system Yes Yes
IntelliJ IDEA (compare)
jEdit JDiff plugin
KDiff3 Optional
Extras Yes
Lazarus Diff
Meld
Notepad ++ (compare) No No No Yes
Perforce P4Merge - No No No Yes
Pretty Diff - No No No Optional
Tkdiff
Total Commander (compare) Optional Yes (only when synchronizing ) Optional
vimdiff No No No No Yes
WinDiff No No Optional: if different Yes Optional
WinMerge No No Optional Optional
UCC No No Yes No
Surname Upper / lower case in the file name CRC File date Time change Upper / lower case in the content

Effects of different time zones

If files are transferred across time zones , a change can be displayed even though the files are identical, since the time stamp differs from Microsoft's FAT and NTFS file systems . The difference is in whole quarter hours up to the number 95 (minutes modulo 15 and plus seconds).

A deviation of one hour across the time zones is caused by the changeover to daylight saving time .

Some but not all programs for comparing and synchronizing files can be set as an option to ignore the time differences. Programs whose option is known for this are noted in the Aspects table .

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Coodesoft trial
  2. ↑ Compare ++ .
  3. ↑ Serena (TM) Comparex (R) V8.7.1 8.7.1 ( Memento from February 24, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ SourceGear - DiffMerge .
  5. ↑ DiffTool the File Compare Tool - Apps on Google Play .
  6. ↑ Diffuse .
  7. ↑ Overview - PyGObject .
  8. ↑ Help - Eclipse Platform .
  9. ↑ ExamDiff - The freeware visual file compare tool .
  10. ^ Microsoft .
  11. ↑ NeXT Product Marketing: What's New in Release 3.2? . In: NeXT Computer, Inc. (Ed.): NEXTSTEP In Focus . 3, No. 4, Case 1993. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
  12. ↑ KDiff3 - Homepage .
  13. ↑ Aekold: Heresylabs: Kompare - the only valuable diff for M $ Windows . July 9, 2009.
  14. ↑ Apps / Meld / Windows - GNOME Wiki! .
  15. ↑ Bitbucket .
  16. ↑ Contact IDM Computer Solutions Inc. .
  17. ↑ UltraCompare Downloads .
  18. ↑ a b Compare logical sections (class, methods)
  19. ↑ PrestoSoft Blog: Moved Blocks .
  20. ↑ Compare features of these powerful file and directory / folder diff tools - ExamDiff and ExamDiff Pro .
  21. ↑ a b VisualCompare - Визуальное сравнение файлов и каталогов - forum.farmanager.com .
  22. ↑ Git Source Code Mirror: This is a publish-only repository and all pull requests are ignored. Please follow Documentation / SubmittingPatches procedure for any of your improvements. - git / git . 6th July 2019.
  23. ↑ auto detection of ASC-II, Latin-1, CP1252, UTF-8, UTF-16LE, UTF-16BE, UTF-32LE, UTF-32BE, Unix, Windows and Mac; text of DOCX, XLSX, PPTX, ODT, ODS, ODP
  24. ↑ gnu.org .
  25. ↑ Compare XML, PDF, Word and Excel files with plug-ins for the visual file and directory comparison utility ExamDiff Pro .
  26. ↑ Compare XML, PDF, Word and Excel files with plug-ins for the visual file and directory comparison utility ExamDiff Pro .
  27. ↑ UTF8, UTF16, MBCS, SJIS, over 150 file encoding and character set formats
  28. ↑ Example: "Beyond Compare" help describes a user setting "timezone differences - ignores timestamp differences that are multiples of an exact hour."