Diff Central
Diff / Merge / Sync / Match / Find Duplicates / Sync
Difference calculation matters for a variety of topics. Lets look at some of the tools. Of interest are license, features, platforms and the algorithms.
Tool | License | Type | OSX | Win | Linux | Other |
Accurev | $$ | SCM with Merge | + | + | ? | |
Alienbrain | $$ | SCM with foreign Merge | - | Araxis | - | |
Araxis Merge | $$ | Merge | + | ++ | - | |
BBEdit | $$ | TextEditor with Merge | + | - | - | |
BeeDiff | GPL | Merge | - | - | + | |
Beyond Compare | $ | Merge | - | + | + | |
bindiff | free | Diff | - | + | - | Mac OS9 |
Changes | $ | Merge | + | - | - | |
CodeCompare | free | Merge | - | + | - | |
Compare It! | $ | Merge | - | + | - | |
CompareFolders | $ | Merge | + | - | - | |
CompareFolders3 | $ | Merge | + | + | + | |
Cornerstone | $ | Svn Viewer with Merge | + | - | - | |
cs-exceldiff | $$ | Merge | - | + | - | |
cs-htmldiff | $$ | Merge | - | + | - | |
csdiff | free | Merge | - | + | - | |
diff | free | Diff | + | + | + | |
diffdoc | $$ | Merge | - | + | - | |
diffdog | $$ | Merge | - | + | - | |
diffj | LGPL | Diff for Java files | + | + | + | |
Diffly | free | SVN viewer with Diff | + | - | - | |
DiffMerge | free for 1 | Merge | + | + | + | |
Diffuse | GPL | Merge | ? | + | + | |
DirDiff | free | Diff | - | + | - | |
DirSync Pro | GPL3 | Merge | - | + | - | |
EasyDiff | GPL2 | Merge | - | - | - | OpenStep |
FileMerge | with OSX | Merge | + | - | - | |
ExamDiff | free | Diff | - | + | - | |
ExamDiff Pro | $ | Diff | - | + | - | |
fc | with Win | Diff | - | + | - | |
guiffy | $ | Merge | + | + | + | |
JFileSync | GPL | Sync | ? | + | ? | |
jMeld | LGPL | Merge | + | + | + | |
kdiff3 | GPL | Merge | + | + | + | |
meld | GPL? | Merge | + | - | + | |
P4Merge | free | Merge | + | + | + | |
smartSynchronize | $ | Merge | + | + | + | |
stroy | MPL | Merge | + | + | + | |
SwiftCompare | $ | Merge | - | + | - | |
TextMate | $ | TextEditor with Merge | + | - | - | |
TextWrangler | free | TextEditor with Merge | + | - | - | |
tkdiff | GPL | Merge | + | + | + | |
TortoiseIDiff | GPL | Diff | - | + | - | |
TortoiseMerge | GPL | Diff | - | + | - | |
Ultra Compare | $ | Merge | - | + | - | |
unison | GPL | Merge | + | + | + | |
windiff | with windows | Merge | - | + | - | |
winmerge | GPL | Merge | - | + | - | |
ws-it DirDiff | $ | Merge | - | - | - | OS/2, eCS |
xwindiff | GPL | Merge | - | - | + | |
xxdiff | GPL | Merge | - | - | + |
Text Merge Tools
Tool | As External Tool for stroy |
alienbrain | Araxis as NxNMerge |
Araxis Merge | + |
diff | linux default |
FileMerge | OSX default |
P4Merge | + |
TortoiseMerge | + |
windiff | win default |
Image Merge Tools
Tool |
TortoiseIDiff |
Details
diff
The classical diff developed for Unix and the granddaddy of all the programs. It was/is a command line tool and
is used to diff text files.
guiffy
Guiffy is a commercial xplatform diff and merge tool.
Araxis Merge
Araxis Merge is a commercial diff and merge tool.
diffj
diffj is an application that compares Java files and projects. It operates similarly to diff(1), but compares only Java tokens and types, and skips whitespace and comments.
Changes
accurev
stroy
tkdiff
unison
Ultra Compare
CompareFolders
CompareFolders3
DirSync Pro
Beyond Compare
meld
DirDiff
CodeCompare
diffly
jmeld
kdiff3
WinDiff
BBEdit
DiffMerge
SmartSynchronize
TextMate
Diffuse
winmerge
diffdog
2009.3.5
diffdoc
2009.3.5
CSDiff
2009.3.5
CS-ExcelDiff
2009.3.5
CS-HtmlDiff
2009.3.5
JFileSync
2009.3.5
ws-it DirDiff
2009.3.5
BeeDiff
2009.3.5
ExamDiff
2009.3.5
ExamDiff Pro
2009.3.5
Compare It!
2009.3.6 version 4.1
xwindiff
2009.3.6 Version 1.1
bindiff
2009.3.6
xxdiff
2009.3.6 Version 3.2
Cornerstone
2009.3.12 Version 1.1.7
fc
2009.3.13 Version
SwiftCompare
2009.3.23
[easydiff ]
EasyDiff
2009.3.24: version 0.4.0
Experiments below
Accurev -> | $$ | SCM has Merge | ||
Alienbrain -> | $$ | SCM and Merge | ||
Arxis Merge -> | $$ | MergeSync | ||
BBEdit -> | $$ | TextEditor | ||
BeeDiff -> | GPL2 | Merge | ||
Beyond Compare -> | free | Merge | ||
bindiff -> | free | |||
Changes -> | $ | Merge | ||
CodeCompare -> | free | Merge | ||
Compare It! -> | $ | Merge | ||
CompareFolders -> | $ | |||
CompareFolders3 -> | $ | Merge | ||
Cornerstone -> | $ | |||
cs-exceldiff -> | $$ | Merge | ||
cs-htmldiff -> | $$ | Merge | ||
CSDiff -> | free | Merge | ||
diff -> | free | Diff | ||
diffdoc -> | $$ | Merge | ||
diffdog -> | $$ | Merge | ||
diffj -> | LGPL | Diff | ||
Diffly -> | free | |||
DiffMerge -> | free* | |||
Diffuse -> | GPL | |||
DirDiff -> | free | |||
DirSync Pro -> | GPL3 | |||
EasyDiff -> | GPL2 | OpenStep | ||
ExamDiff -> | free | |||
ExamDiff Pro -> | $ | |||
fc -> | with win | |||
FileMerge -> | free | |||
guiffy -> | $ | Merge | ||
JFileSync -> | GPL2 | |||
jMeld -> | LGPL | |||
kdiff3 -> | GPL2 | MergeSync | ||
meld [-> | GPL2 | Merge | ||
p4merge -> | free | Merge | ||
SmartSynchronize -> | $ | Merge | ||
stroy -> | MPL1.1 | |||
SwiftCompare -> | $ | Merge | ||
TextMate -> | $ | TextEditor | ||
TextWrangler -> | $ | |||
TkDiff -> | GPL2 | Merge | ||
TortoiseIDiff -> | GPL2 | Diff | ||
TortoiseMerge -> | GPL2 | Merge | ||
Ultra Compare -> | $ | Merge | ||
Unison -> | GPL2 | Sync | ||
WinDiff -> | free | Merge | ||
WinMerge -> | GPL2 | Merge | ||
ws-it DirDiff -> | $ | Sync | ||
XWinDiff -> | GPL2 | Merge | ||
xxdiff -> | GPL2 | Merge |
Legend
Term | Explanation |
$ | under 100$ |
$$ | more than 100$ upto 1000$ |
Diff | Program shows differences between (text) files |
FolderDiff | Program shows differences between folders |
Merge | Program can merge (text) files |
Sync | Program can merge (text) files and merge folders |
MergeSync | Program can merge folders |
Texteditor | A Texteditor with the ability to merge text files |
SCM and X | An SCM tool with some diff program available independently of the SCM |
SCM has X | An SCM tool with some diff program included in the SCM |
free | free to use but with unclear licence |