Altova DiffDog vs cwdiff
Altova DiffDog
altova.comcwdiff
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Altova DiffDog | cwdiff |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · File Comparison Software | 8.3 (#4) | 7.6 (#19) |
| Purpose | DiffDog compares and merges text and source-code files, XML and JSON files, Word documents, directories, and database schemas and content. | cwdiff is a wrapper for wdiff that supports directories and colorizes output. |
Plans
Altova DiffDog
- DiffDog 2026 Professional Edition$189, paid once
- DiffDog 2026 Enterprise Edition$269, paid once
In their own words
Altova DiffDog
Altova DiffDog has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
cwdiff
cwdiff is a free Linux command-line wrapper for wdiff. It adds directory comparison support and colorizes differences in the output. The README describes configuring it as a Mercurial extdiff command, then running comparisons with hg wdiff. Users can disable colors by adding --no-color to the wdiff options. The project is presented as a shell-language repository. Listed acquisition options include a tarball, MacPorts, Arch Linux AUR, NetBSD, and Gentoo packages. A NetBSD package page provides a NetBSD 10.0 binary for cwdiff 0.4.0 and lists no runtime dependencies. Documentation is hosted on junghans.github.io, and bug reports go to GitHub Issues. The associated maintainer account identifies Christoph Junghans, whose profile lists Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA. The NetBSD package page lists GNU GPL version 2. The plan is free.