Beyond Compare vs Diffinity
Beyond Compare
scootersoftware.comDiffinity
truehumandesign.seSide by side
| Figure | Beyond Compare | Diffinity |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 6 | 1 |
| Spec score · File Comparison Software | 8.2 (#8) | 7.5 (#24) |
| Spec score · Diff and Merge Tools | 8.2 (#10) | 7.6 (#16) |
| Folder comparison | Folder comparison supports filters, recursive subfolder comparison, and criteria including modified time, size, filename case, and file content. | Diffinity can compare folders as well as files. |
| Purpose | Beyond Compare compares folders, text files, images, and tables, and helps users review differences and merge changes. | Diffinity compares and merges text files, showing differences line by line and highlighting differing characters or words. |
Plans
Beyond Compare
- Standard Edition — Per-User$35, paid once
- Pro Edition — Per-User$70, paid once
- Standard Edition — Site$5,250, paid once
- Pro Edition — Site$10,500, paid once
- Standard Edition — Enterprise$21,000, paid once
- Pro Edition — Enterprise$42,000, paid once
In their own words
Beyond Compare
Beyond Compare compares folders, text files, images, and tables so users can inspect differences and merge changes. Folder comparisons can include recursive subfolders and filters based on modified time, size, filename case, or file content. Text tools provide syntax highlighting, inline editing, and options to ignore whitespace or comments; Pro adds two-way and three-way text merge. Other supported data includes CSV, tab-delimited files, HTML tables, Excel worksheets, binary files, images, and audio tag data. Folder Sync can reconcile data with disks, FTP servers, and zip files, and command-line scripts can run scheduled syncs. Pro also includes secure FTP connections, remote Subversion repositories, and cloud storage options such as WebDAV, Amazon S3, Dropbox, and OneDrive. It runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows. The license is a one-time purchase, with Standard Edition at $35, paid once per user and Pro Edition at $70, paid once per user. Free evaluation is available, but continued use requires a license.
Diffinity
Diffinity is a free Windows utility for comparing and merging text files and folders. It shows line-level differences, highlights changed characters or words, and marks added, removed, and changed lines. A thumbnail view summarizes differences, while search can highlight every instance of a selected word. The maker emphasizes readable source-code comparisons, including improved diffing for C-style code and XML. Editing tools include syntax highlighting, customizable tabs, manual alignment markers, and inline differences that update while typing. Diffinity supports Unicode, detects encoding automatically, and warns when compared files use different encodings. It integrates with Windows Explorer, can run from an external device, and accepts file or folder paths with command-line options, including a folder-diff view. Documentation covers configuration with Git and Perforce Helix P4V. The license allows free personal and commercial use and redistribution of unmodified copies, while prohibiting modification and reverse engineering. Listed release 0.9.6, dated 2026-09-16, requires .NET 8.0.