Best File and Document Comparison Software for Linux

Compare files and folders using simple, powerful commands that focus on the differences you're interested in and ignore those you're not. Merge changes, synchronize files, and generate reports. Directly access FTP sites, media devices, WebDAV resources, svn repositories and cloud storage. All from your Windows, macOS or Linux workstation. Beyond Compare includes built-in comparison viewers for a variety of data types. In addition to text, compare tables, images, binary files, registry hives, and much more. Beyond Compare allows you to quickly and easily compare your files and folders. By using simple, powerful commands you can focus on the differences you're interested in and ignore those you're not. You can then merge the changes, synchronize your files, and generate reports for your records. You can compare entire drives and folders at high speed, checking just sizes and modified times.

Draftable is an Enterprise-Grade Document Comparison Software that lets users easily spot changes between documents. Draftable’s product suite includes Draftable Online for browser-based comparisons, Draftable Desktop for secure computer-based comparisons, and Draftable API for integrating our dynamic technology into your app. The software features synchronized side-by-side view and a change list that presents all modifications in one place. Users can also export comparisons to a PDF, view text style changes, and compare different file types such as PDF, Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. Draftable is easy to use, completely secure, and enterprise-ready. Having been used to compare over 10 million documents, it has been perfected and honed for heavy-duty use.

Diffchecker is a file and document comparison tool for text, code, PDFs, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoints, images, and folders. Diffchecker's free online tool is built for collaboration. It runs in any browser with no sign-up and lets users save diffs online, share them by link, and leave line-by-line comments. Diffchecker Desktop is built for confidential work and is the stronger choice for compliance-sensitive workflows. It runs fully offline on Windows, Mac, and Linux, so files never leave the device. That makes it a private, secure choice for redlining legal contracts and other confidential documents. Diffchecker shows precise changes down to the word and character, with professional legal redlining, PDF and Word export, OCR for scanned documents, and pixel-by-pixel image differences. The Legal plan adds iManage integration, and the Enterprise plan adds SAML single sign-on and SCIM provisioning. Plans start free, with Pro+Desktop from $15 per user per month.

DiffMerge is an application to visually compare and merge files on Windows, OS X and Linux. Graphically shows the changes between two files. Includes intra-line highlighting and full support for editing. Graphically shows the changes between 3 files. Allows automatic merging (when safe to do so) and full control over editing the resulting file. Performs a side-by-side comparison of 2 folders, showing which files are only present in one file or the other, as well as file pairs which are identical or different. Right-click on any two files in Windows Explorer to diff them immediately. Rulesets and options provide for customized appearance and behavior. Identical feature set on Windows, OS X, and Linux. Graphically shows the changes between two files. Includes intra-line highlighting and full support for editing. DiffMerge is a UNICODE-based application and can import files in a wide range of character encodings.

Kompare is a free software graphical computer application that helps the user to compare two different text files or two directories. Kompare does not actually compute the differences between the compared files itself, but is merely a graphical front end to the command line interface diff utility. However, the colour coding of changed lines makes them very easy to spot. Comparison of files or directories via a graphical interface. Bezier-based connection widget lets you see both source and destination as they really appear. Graphical viewing of patch files in normal, context, unified and diff formats. Graphical interface to commonly used diff command-line options. Easy navigation of multiple-file diffs with the dockable navigation tree. Ability to view plain-text diff output in the embedded viewer. Interactive application of differences. Provides full network transparency.

UltraCompare rapidly compares 2 or 3 files from multiple locations at once, and merge conflicts and differences visually. Quickly launch a compare by drag-and-drop into the application, from the File Explorer context menu, or even via the command line. Whether you prefer a darker look, or a more classic white-based skin, UltraCompare's interface is completely themeable, and comes with several themes hand crafted at IDM. If you design a theme you'd like to share with the rest of our users, send us a pull request on GitHub, or simply email it to our support team. UltraCompare's powerful compare functions work just as well over FTP, and even network shares and connected drives. Simply click to open from FTP, choose your connection or create a new one to save for future use. It's perfect for quickly checking local files and folders against what's already on the server. UltraCompare's special document handling makes it easy to compare Word and PDF files.

Comparing directories the smart way. SmartSynchronize is an advanced file and directory comparison tool. SmartSynchronize is a multi-platform file and directory compare tool. It allows you to compare files or perform a 3-way-merges, both with the ability to edit the file contents. SmartSynchronize is optimized for comparing directory structures (for example, of software projects), and can keep them synchronized. Comfortable editing and transfer of changes from one file to the other. Configurable filter for customized directory scanning (inclusion and exclusion). Easy transfer of changes from one directory structure to another. Automatic synchronization depending on file times and previous synchronization time. Ability to edit each of the three files. Command-line interface for easy invocation from other applications. Configurable font, colors and accelerators. Support for all major text file encodings.

TextCompare is a fast, secure, and browser-based file comparison tool designed for professionals, developers, content creators, and businesses. Instantly compare text, code, documents (Word, PDF), spreadsheets (Excel, CSV), and images with advanced diff algorithms and syntax highlighting. All processing happens locally in your browser—no data is uploaded unless you choose to share—ensuring privacy and security. Features include PDF export, public sharing, cloud integration (Google Drive, OneDrive), and support for multiple languages and file formats. Trusted by major companies worldwide, TextCompare is ideal for anyone needing reliable, efficient, and private file comparison.

Diffract is a purpose-built desktop diff tool that handles far more than plain text. A single app compares text, binary (hex view), images, PDFs, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, ZIP/tar archives, and Git commits - all in a multi-tab interface. On top of the standard Myers diff, it offers Patience and Histogram algorithms per comparison, AST-based semantic diff that understands code structure (not just line changes), and automatic moved-block detection. It also runs fully headless as a CLI tool for use in CI pipelines. Licensing is a one-time purchase with no subscription, and validation happens entirely offline.