Capabilities
Compare code, structured data, spreadsheets, folders, archives, documents, images, APIs, and binaries locally—with a view built for each.
Spot meaningful code changes with Smart Diff across 117 editor languages. Switch to Line Diff whenever you want an exact line-by-line review. Both views keep syntax highlighting and editing close at hand.
Switch between Smart Diff and the conventional Line Diff while keeping normal syntax highlighting, exact source text, editing, moved blocks, wrapping, and compact context visible. Detection uses filenames, extensions, shebangs, and pasted content.
Read the complete feature guideCompare JSON, YAML, XML, CSV, OpenAPI, and JSON Schema by parsed keys, paths, rows, values, and compatibility rather than line position alone. JSON and YAML lists of records are matched by an id, _id, uuid, or key field automatically, numbers compare by value, and XML elements are matched by a key attribute such as id or name, with readable XPath locations. API mode also provides explicitly limited contract review for GraphQL types and SQL CREATE TABLE definitions.
Read the complete feature guideCompare stored cell values by sheet and coordinate across Excel (XLS, XLA, XLT, XLSX, XLSM, XLTX, XLTM, XLAM, and XLSB), OpenDocument (ODS and OTS), and Apple Numbers workbooks—even when the two formats differ. Open a CSV or TSV file beside a workbook to check an export against the sheet it came from: the first sheet is used by default, and Compare with sheet picks another. The sheet-aware grid links changed cells to the Differences pane and virtualizes populated rows and columns. Formulas, formatting, charts, macros, and workbook layout are not compared.
Read the complete feature guideUse side-by-side or inline text views and apply selected changes. Pro adds a three-way workspace for Base, Ours, and Theirs with focused Ours-against-Base and Theirs-against-Base diffs, conflict navigation, bulk Ours or Theirs choices, reset, automatic merging of independent lines and of edits to separate words of the same line, ordered conflict choices, and an editable merged result.
Read the complete feature guideCompare folders in two-pane tree or table layouts with global search, filtering, progressive loading, semantic nested-file comparison, moved-file detection, ignore patterns, and direct opening of nested pairs. Archive mode compares normalized paths, types, sizes, link targets, and streamed SHA-256 hashes across ZIP/ZIP64/ZIPX and ZIP-based packages, 7z, RAR, TAR variants, Gzip, Bzip2, XZ, and Zstandard. It supports encrypted ZIP, 7z, and RAR archives plus multipart numbered 7z and common RAR volume sets, with separate in-memory passwords for each side, cancellation, and expansion safety limits; open changed text entries or extract them explicitly. Pro folder synchronization applies reviewed create, update, delete, and move plans transactionally with stale-result protection, progress, cancellation, metadata preservation, durable recovery, restart-safe rollback, and one-click undo.
Read the complete feature guideInspect images with thresholds, overlay, swipe, blink, heatmap, changed-pixel masks, true-pixel zoom, dimension alignment, and detailed error metrics.
Read the complete feature guideReview rendered PDF pages, move between them, zoom the originals, or switch to extracted text. Visual diff compares page pixels, highlights changed regions, and reports a per-page visual-match percentage; selecting a wording difference keeps Extracted text active. Free shows the first 3 rendered page previews; Pro removes that preview cap.
Read the complete feature guideCompare .env keys with values masked, flag malformed or duplicate variables, and compare raw or JSON-shaped HTTP responses by HTTP version, status code, and reason phrase, case-insensitive headers, and semantic JSON bodies.
Read the complete feature guideCompare PDF pages visually or by extracted text, extract comparable text from Word (DOCX, DOCM, DOTX, DOTM), PowerPoint (PPTX and related formats), OpenDocument text and presentations (ODT, ODP), and RTF, or inspect binary format, size, image dimensions, colour-profile label, SHA-256 hash, and supported image previews. Presentation differences are named by slide; other document differences are listed by line, with the changed words marked.
Read the complete feature guideJSON and YAML share the same semantic rules: ignored paths, keyed or unordered arrays, case behavior, and numeric tolerances. Pro saves them in profiles with reviewed states, notes, and live watch.
Read the complete feature guidePro exports self-contained HTML, JSON, or Markdown review reports, unified diffs for text, and changed-row CSV for CSV comparisons. It can also run an explicitly confirmed local executable directly—without a shell—on two text sources before comparison.
Read the complete feature guideThe free CLI compares text and JSON with terminal, summary, or JSON output. Pro unlocks every documented mode and YAML/JSON batches that emit summary, JSON, JUnit, or SARIF, and --fail-on breaking fails an API schema check only on breaking or unclassified changes. Both tiers support colour, language, context, opt-in difference exit codes, Git difftool integration, and a Git diff driver assigned to file types in .gitattributes.
Read the complete feature guideStart each new comparison with the collapsible Differences pane visible, then work across in-memory tabs with search and filters, reviewed or ignored states, notes, a command palette, cancellable comparisons, diagnostics, density controls, and display scaling. Pro adds saved profiles and local history snapshots.
Read the complete feature guideSettings → Difference colors switches added and removed content from red and green to Blue and yellow, an alternative palette intended for red-green color blindness. The palette applies in light and dark themes across the text and code editor, three-way merge (Pro), structured trees, tables, folders, and documents. It is included in the free plan.
Read the complete feature guidePress Command-Shift-A on a Mac or Control-Shift-A on Windows to turn a comparison into one ordered page: the sources, a summary, and every difference in words with its location, the change, and the original and updated values. Step through differences, search them, mark them reviewed or ignored, add notes, and apply supported changes from the keyboard. On a Mac it opens automatically when VoiceOver is running. It is included in the free plan; three-way merge is not part of it.
Read the complete feature guideTools by task
Choose a task to see how Diff Anything handles it, with practical steps, examples, and the relevant guide.
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Explore Diff Anything use casesAvailable on the Mac App Store and Microsoft Store. Free desktop use lets you try every comparison engine for files up to 5 MiB per side and 10 new comparison sessions per local day; collection previews show the first 100 items and PDF previews show the first 3 pages. The free CLI supports text and JSON. A one-time Pro purchase removes the preview and session limits and unlocks larger sources within technical limits, saved profiles and history, report export, three-way merge, folder synchronization, batch manifests, trusted preprocessors, and every CLI mode.