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I am looking for a free, quality tool to compare two pieces of text. Either to compare the files themselves or just in two buffers. I would like it to be nice an easy to read.

I currently use WinDiff, but I don't find it very easy on the eyes.

What would you recommend?

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See also the long list in Best Diff Tool? on Stack Overflow. – Arjan Jun 2 '10 at 18:15

4 Answers

up vote 24 down vote accepted

You should look at WinMerge. It's free, and open source under the GNU General Public License (GPL).

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It can also compare folders. And has a nice shell integration / context menu (but: only if advanced shortcuts are enabled in its settings) to easily select two items:

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Very nice. I like this. – Geoffrey Chetwood Oct 17 '09 at 15:17
I recommend WinMerge as well, particuarly for large file support. I previously used TortoiseSVN and it would either slow to a crawl or choke once files got bigger than 2MB. I've found its directory compare to be a little awkward to read. – mindless.panda Jun 2 '10 at 18:03
up vote 4 down vote

ExamDiff Pro and Beyond Compare are two popular and highly regarded diff apps.

ExamDiff (not Pro) is free. I started with it and then purchased the Pro version because I was so happy with it.

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Neither are free. But, I agree they are worth considering if a few $ isn't an issue. In terms of non-free diffs, I like CompareIt! and the companion SynchronizeIt! for folder comparison. See grigsoft.com/wincmp3.htm – Chris W. Rea Oct 17 '09 at 15:24
But I'll +1 you anyway for mentioning good tools ;-) – Chris W. Rea Oct 17 '09 at 15:25
Too bad the free version of ExamDiff no longer includes the "Select First Item to Compare" and "Compare to [first item]" context menus, and cannot compare directories. – Arjan Jun 2 '10 at 17:53
up vote 4 down vote

As a software developer, I really enjoy DiffMerge.

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up vote 2 down vote

For completeness there is TortoiseMerge (a part of TortoiseSVN). It marks intra line differences (an essential feature for me). The link to download just the diff program is here. And it's GPLed (I think).

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