EZ ROM Patcher vs Floating IPS (Flips)

EZ ROM Patcher is a free browser tool for applying patch files to game ROMs, producing modified games such as fan translations, ROM hacks, bug fixes, and restoration patches. The maker says patching runs on the user’s device and that ROMs and patches are not transmitted to a server. It supports IPS, BPS, UPS, APS, RUP, PPF, BSDiff, xdelta/VCDIFF, EBP, and Star Rod .mod patches. A patch creator compares an original ROM with an edited copy and can create IPS, BPS, UPS, APS, RUP, PPF, and EBP patches. A separate checksum tool calculates CRC32, MD5, and SHA-1 hashes and compares them with entered values or .sfv, .md5, and .sha1 files. ZIP archives can be unpacked, with a choice of patch when an archive contains several; RAR and 7z archives must be extracted first. The site says it works in mobile Safari and Chrome, although large disc images may exceed a phone browser’s available memory. Some patch formats include checksums the tool checks, while IPS, PPF, xdelta, and BSDiff do not record one. No account is required, and users supply their own ROM files.

Floating IPS (Flips) patches IPS and BPS files. It provides Windows and GTK+ graphical interfaces, command-line support, and a command-line-only build, and is listed for Linux, macOS, and Windows. The GUI can apply multiple patches to the same ROM and create multiple resulting ROMs. For BPS patches, it can remember earlier ROM choices and reuse one when it determines that it matches. The GUI can also launch another program after patching, allowing an emulator to start after a BPS file is patched. The project says Flips creates very small IPS patches and the smallest BPS patches of any known tool, and that it is faster than comparable creators. It is free and licensed under GNU General Public License version 3.0 or higher. The project is in maintenance mode: bug reports and pull requests will be read, but feature requests are unlikely to be implemented. GitHub marks the repository archived and read-only since May 21, 2025. Releases are automated for each commit, with an erratic schedule that can include identical releases.