Diffinity vs Diffract

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.

Diffract is a desktop tool for comparing code, folders, documents and binary files on Linux, macOS and Windows. Text and code comparisons include syntax highlighting for more than 30 languages, word-level changes, moved-block detection and collapsible unchanged regions. Folder comparisons traverse directory trees, show added, removed and modified files, and allow inspection of file contents. The command-line interface supports standard, Myers and patience diff algorithms for scripts, Git hooks and CI pipelines. Pro adds three-way Git merge conflict resolution, document comparisons for PDF, Word and Excel, semantic code comparison, and Git history and commit browsing. The Free tier includes unlimited file and directory comparisons, desktop and CLI tools, three algorithms, and hex or binary comparison. The maker says comparisons run locally and files stay on the computer. Free is $0 forever and permits commercial use, but not redistribution. Pro costs $34, paid once per seat; its license key specifies a seat count and version ceiling, and includes all v1.x updates. A full refund can be requested within 30 days of purchase.