Text Compare: Find the Difference
Free, no sign-up: paste two versions of a text and see what was added, removed and changed — by line, word or single character, side by side or inline, with a similarity score and jump-to-next-change navigation. The comparison runs in your browser: your text never leaves it and is not sent to any server. You can also compare two web pages by URL and download the result as HTML or a patch.
Your text never leaves your browser: the comparison runs on your device, and we neither receive nor store it.
Result
Key facts
- Price
- Free
- Sign-up
- Not required
- Processing
- The comparison runs in your browser and pasted text is never sent to our server; in “two pages by URL” mode our server only downloads those pages
- Input
- Two texts (pasted, or .txt, .md, .csv and code files up to 10 MB each); the “two pages by URL” mode fetches public pages on our server (SSRF-protected) and extracts their main text
- Limits
- Text comparison is unlimited; URL mode: 6 per minute, 30 page pairs a day without an account, 90 with one, unlimited with Pro
- Output
- Line, word or character differences side by side or inline; added / removed / changed counts and similarity %; change navigation; copy, HTML report and unified patch
- Last updated
Alternatives
Other tools for the same job, and what each one does well:
- Diffchecker — A popular online diff for text, code and files; it says comparisons run in the browser, offers a desktop app for Windows, Mac and Linux, and puts merging and some features in paid Pro.
- Text Compare! — A simple two-text comparison with no sign-up; the text is sent to their server for comparison (they say it is not stored).
- WinMerge — A free open-source Windows program that compares and merges files and whole folders — good for offline work and large projects.
When to choose this tool: When you need a quick, private comparison of two versions without installing anything — by line, word or character, with patch export — or want to compare the main text of two web pages by URL.
Descriptions checked against each tool's own site in October 2026.
Free Online Text Compare (Diff Checker)
A text compare (diff) shows how two versions differ: which lines, words or characters were removed, added or changed. Use it to review an editor’s or copywriter’s changes, check contract and article versions, or see what changed in a config file, code or an export. The tool finds differences with the Myers algorithm — the same approach git diff uses — right in your browser, so your text is never sent anywhere. Long unchanged parts are collapsed, buttons jump from one change to the next, and the result downloads as an HTML report or a patch for git. For SEO there is a “two pages by URL” mode: our server fetches both pages and extracts the main text without menus and footer, and the comparison itself again runs on your device.
How to Use
- Paste the original text into A and the changed text into B (or open files)
- Choose line, word or character mode and what to ignore
- Click Compare and step through the changes with the arrows
- Copy the result or download an HTML report or a patch
FAQ
Which mode fits your task
| Task | Mode | What to turn on |
|---|---|---|
| An editor’s changes to an article, a new contract version | word | “ignore whitespace”, so extra spaces don’t count as edits |
| Code, config files, robots.txt, lists and CSV exports | line | “collapse unchanged”; with different indentation, “ignore whitespace” |
| Typos, quotes, dashes, double spaces | character | ignore nothing — or you will hide what you are looking for |
| Keyword or URL lists from different sources | line | “ignore case” and “ignore blank lines” |
How to read the result
- Red is what exists only in text A (removed); green exists only in B (added). In line mode a changed line is also highlighted word by word, so you see exactly which word was replaced.
- Changed counts lines that stayed in place but were edited. If more than about two thirds of a line was rewritten, it is shown as removed and added instead.
- Similarity is the share of matching text across both versions: 100% means identical, 0% means nothing in common. It describes these two versions — it is not an originality score.
- The ↑ ↓ buttons (or the
nandpkeys) jump between changes; collapsed unchanged parts expand on click.
Comparing pages by URL for SEO
The “two pages by URL” mode extracts the main text without menus, header and footer. Use it to:
- see what a competitor changed on a page that overtook yours — save the text now and compare again in a month;
- make sure page copy survived a redesign or a move to a new CMS;
- find near-duplicate pages on your own site that compete for the same query (see the keyword cannibalization checker).
Honest limitations
- It compares only the two texts you provide. Finding matches on the web is a job for a plagiarism checker.
- It compares text, not formatting: bold, colours, Word tables and PDF layout are ignored — copy the text out first.
- It does not merge changes — use WinMerge, Meld or git for that.
- For huge texts that are almost entirely different, some changes are shown as larger blocks to keep the browser responsive; you will see a notice.
- URL mode does not run page JavaScript: if a site is rendered by scripts, copy the text from the page by hand.
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