RegexPilot vs Retest

RegexPilot is a Mac-native visual regular-expression builder with AI for composing, inspecting and testing patterns. Users assemble expressions from categorized drag-and-drop blocks, inspect them in a panel and follow a plain-English breakdown tree linked to the pattern. Sample text shows highlighted matches and capture groups, and replacements can be assembled from blocks. The product supports 21 regex flavors and routes patterns to the corresponding language engines. Users can provide API keys for listed AI providers or run AI offline with LM Studio, Ollama, llama.cpp or LocalAI. Its library includes 50 curated patterns and supports folders, tags and JSON import/export. A VS Code extension synchronizes changes between the app and regex literals in the editor. Users can export code for 21 languages, create SVG or PNG railroad diagrams and make browser-openable share links. The desktop app says it sends no usage statistics, telemetry or analytics to a server on its own; patterns and settings remain on-device unless a share link is created. It requires macOS 14 or newer. The free plan covers JavaScript and TypeScript engines; the one-time license costs 19.00 EUR.

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.