Diffchecker vs SmarterDiff
Diffchecker
diffchecker.comSmarterDiff
smarterdiff.comSide by side
| Figure | Diffchecker | SmarterDiff |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $15/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 8 | 1 |
| Spec score · Document Comparison Software | 9.3 (#1) | 8.3 (#8) |
| Image comparison | Image comparison offers side-by-side, highlight, fade and slider modes plus pixel-level differences and automatic alignment. | PNG, JPG, WebP, GIF and BMP images can be compared pixel by pixel with overlay, side-by-side and slider views. |
| Intended users | The site describes use cases for developers and engineers, writers and editors, and data and operations teams. | The About page identifies legal professionals, financial analysts and auditors, journalists and fact-checkers, and software developers as users. |
| Limits | The pricing page lists Basic allowances such as five tries per month for unified view and real-time editing and ten tries per month for character-level differences and merge changes. | The site says file size is limited by available computer memory and browser limits; scanned PDFs without embedded text cannot be text-compared. |
| Spreadsheet comparison | Spreadsheet comparison supports XLSX, XLS, CSV, TSV and ODS files with formula-change detection and exports to PDF or Excel on paid tiers. | XLSX, XLS and CSV files are checked cell by cell for values, formulas and formatting. |
| Support | The pricing page lists priority support for Pro, Desktop, Legal, and Enterprise, with dedicated support channels and a service-level agreement for Enterprise. | Bug reports and feature requests are handled through a contact form requesting browser, format and problem details. |
| Text comparison | The web tool provides side-by-side and unified views with synchronized scrolling and colored insertions and removals. | Text can be compared by line, word or character, with ignore-case and ignore-whitespace options. |
| What it does | Diffchecker compares text, source code, documents, spreadsheets, presentations, images and folders, highlighting additions, deletions and edits. | SmarterDiff compares text, Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, folders and images inside a browser. |
Plans
Diffchecker
- API BasicFree
- BasicFree
- Pro + Desktop$15 a month
- Diffchecker Legal$20 a month
- Enterprise$40 a month
- API Standard$99 a month
- API Business$299 a month
- API EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
Diffchecker
Diffchecker compares text, code, and data in a browser or offline with its desktop app, highlighting additions, removals, and edits. Text comparisons can use side-by-side or unified views, adjustable precision, custom ignore rules, syntax highlighting, real-time editing, and change merging. Listed comparison options also include documents, images, spreadsheets, and folders, with features such as OCR, redlines, formula detection, and batch comparison. Basic is free, but some tools have monthly use limits: unified view and real-time editing each allow five tries, while character-level differences and merge changes each allow ten. Pro + Desktop costs $15 a month per user and includes offline comparisons with desktop apps for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Legal costs $20 a month per user and adds iManage integration and comparison-setting profiles. Enterprise costs $40 a month per user with annual billing, and includes SAML SSO, SCIM provisioning, and dedicated support. Browser comparisons stay in the browser unless saved and shared; Desktop comparisons run locally. The site states browser traffic is TLS-encrypted and its security program is ISO/IEC 27001 certified.
SmarterDiff
SmarterDiff is a free browser-based tool for comparing text, Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, folders, and images. Text comparisons can show line, word, or character differences, with options to ignore case and whitespace. Excel and CSV comparisons check cell values and formulas, while image comparisons use pixel differences with overlay, side-by-side, and slider views. It can compare finalized.docx text, but not Word tracked-change markup; scanned PDFs without embedded text cannot be compared as text. SmarterDiff says comparisons run in the browser and files or results are not sent to its servers or external services. Comparisons can work offline after the first page load while browser libraries remain cached. File size depends on available computer memory and browser limits. It is a manual, one-off tool without workflow automation or integrations. The Free plan costs nothing, is ad-supported, requires no account, and has no artificial limits. Google AdSense may set ad-targeting cookies.