SmarterDiff vs UltraCompare
SmarterDiff
smarterdiff.comUltraCompare
ultraedit.comSide by side
| Figure | SmarterDiff | UltraCompare |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $8.33/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | Yes | — |
| Android | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 4 |
| Spec score · Document Comparison Software | 8.3 (#8) | 8.3 (#9) |
| Intended users | The About page identifies legal professionals, financial analysts and auditors, journalists and fact-checkers, and software developers as users. | The maker lists developers and engineers, IT and system administrators, QA and technical writers, and legal, compliance, and business teams as users. |
| Purpose | SmarterDiff compares text, Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, folders, and images in a browser without uploading files. | UltraCompare compares and merges text files, folders, and documents including Word, Excel, and PDF. |
| Support | Bug reports and feature requests are handled through a contact form requesting browser, format and problem details. | The maker offers an AI assistant for feature, setup, workflow, or licensing help, support cases, FAQs, documentation, and a community run forum. |
Plans
UltraCompare
- UltraEdit Core Subscription$99.95 a year
- UltraEdit Enterprise Subscription$119.95 a year
- UltraEdit Core Perpetual$179.95, paid once
- UltraEdit Enterprise Perpetual$249.95, paid once
In their own words
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.
UltraCompare
UltraCompare compares and merges files, folders, and documents, including Word, Excel, and PDF. It can show two or three files side by side and lets users merge differences visually. Folder tools compare, merge, and synchronize directory structures, with rule-based automation available. For spreadsheets and other tabular data, it can compare and merge cells, rows, or columns, including across multiple Excel sheets. UltraCompare works as a diff and merge tool with Git, Subversion, and CVS. It can compare remote files over FTP or SFTP and by URL, and folders over FTP and network shares. ZIP, RAR, and JAR contents can be compared without extraction. Additional tools include highlighting for characters, words, or lines; options to ignore whitespace or case; editable comparisons; saved sessions; and HTML or text reports. The maker lists Windows, macOS, and Linux, while a fully functional Windows trial includes all features for 30 days. There is no free plan. Subscriptions start at $99.95 a year for Core or $119.95 a year for Enterprise; perpetual options cost 179.95 USD or 249.95 USD once.