Regex Shuttle vs Retest

Regex Shuttle is a free browser-based tool for testing, explaining, and learning regular expressions. As users type, it highlights matches and displays match details, groups, and indices. Its explainer separates expressions into tokens and gives plain-English descriptions, while a library provides ready-to-use patterns to copy or open in the tester. A cheat sheet covers regex characters, quantifiers, anchors, groups, and flags. The tool can preview find-and-replace results in real time, including capture-group references such as $1 and $2. It uses JavaScript's built-in RegExp engine, so its behavior follows JavaScript regex behavior in browsers and Node.js. The maker says it supports capturing groups, lookahead and lookbehind assertions, named groups, and Unicode patterns. Regex processing occurs locally in the browser; patterns and test strings are not uploaded, collected, or shared with third parties. The maker says it continues working offline after its first load. No signup or email is required, and the interface is available in English and Chinese. The Free plan is free, with no limits or ads.

Retest is a free, open-source terminal utility for developing and checking regular expressions on Linux. A subject string can be supplied as an argument or piped through standard input, so it can fit into shell workflows. Retest finds all non-crossing matches and highlights nested capture groups in colors distinct from the whole match. An optional formatted list shows match order and string indexes. Release 0.2.2 added a flag for reading the subject from a file. The project provides Linux release binaries, including a 64-bit Debian installer listed for release 0.2.2. Its README describes compiling from source with Cargo and installing through a Makefile. The source code and documentation are licensed under Apache License 2.0. The project presents Retest as a terminal-based alternative to regex101, for developers building and checking patterns. No paid plans or usage limits are listed.