Every difference will appear herePut a version in each box on the left. Removed words are struck through in red, added words are highlighted in green, and anything you simply moved is marked as a move rather than counted twice.
Compared in this browser — nothing is uploaded.
Alt + ↓ next difference
Free text compare and diff checker
Text Compare Online: Find the Differences Between Two Texts
Paste two versions of a text, or open two Word or PDF files, and see exactly what changed. Removed words are struck through in red, added words are green, and a paragraph you only moved is marked as a move. It's free, there's no sign-up, and your text stays in your browser.
PriceFree, with no account and no daily limit. It doesn't use AI, so there's nothing to meter.
What it comparesPasted text, Word .docx files, PDFs with real text, and plain text files such as .txt, .md, .csv, .json, subtitles and code.
How closelyBy word, by character or by whole line. You also get a similarity percentage and a count of words added, removed and moved.
SwitchesIgnore case, ignore spacing (which also ignores re-wrapped lines) and ignore punctuation.
ViewsCompare text side by side, or inline in one column. Step through the changes with Alt + Down and Alt + Up.
Merge and exportCopy any change from one side to the other with one click, and undo it. Save the result as a coloured PDF report or a plain-text report.
CodeTurn on Code colours to colour keywords, strings, numbers and comments. It switches on by itself when you open a code file.
SizeUp to 400,000 characters in each box. Files up to 4 MB for text, 25 MB for Word and PDF.
PrivacyEverything is compared on your own device. Nothing you paste or open is uploaded.
The first result shows up while you're still pasting.
1
Put the original in box A
Paste it, click File, or drag a file onto the box. Word, PDF and plain text files all open here, and they're read by your own browser.
2
Put the new version in box B
The comparison updates as you type, so there's no button to press. If you put them the wrong way round, Swap flips them.
3
Read the differences
Each change is coloured and counted, with a similarity score at the top. Jump between changes with Alt + ↓, then copy the report or download it as a text file.
Compare by word, character or line
Pick the level that fits what you're checking.
Word is the default and the best fit for writing. Only the words that changed are marked, so the sentence still reads normally.
Character finds the small things word view treats as one change, like a changed digit in an invoice number or a curly quote that replaced a straight one.
Line suits code, CSV rows and settings files, where the whole line is what matters.
The similarity score follows the level you pick. ABC-1042 against ABC-1043 scores 50% by word, because one of its two words changed. By character it scores 87.5%, because seven of the eight characters match. Both numbers are right. They answer different questions.
Word view: 89.5% word match, 6 words added, 2 removed, 2 differences.
Ignore the changes that don't matter
Three switches that hide the noise and leave the real edits.
Ignore case when headings went from Title Case to sentence case but the words are the same.
Ignore spacing when text came out of a PDF or an email with double spaces and line breaks in different places. With it on, a paragraph that only wraps differently counts as the same paragraph.
Ignore punctuation when a proofreader changed commas and quote marks and you only want to know if the wording changed.
The switches only change what counts as a match. Your text itself is never changed, so what you copy back out is what you put in.
Same two emails: 5 differences with spacing counted, 1 with Ignore spacing on (five changed to seven).
When everything looks changed
If a comparison shows far more differences than you expected, it's usually one of these.
The lines wrap in different placesCommon with text copied from a PDF or an email. Turn on Ignore spacing and each paragraph is compared as a whole, so only the real edits stay marked.
Different quote marks or dashesOne version has curly quotes and the other straight ones, or a dash became a hyphen. Turn on Ignore punctuation, or pick Character view to see exactly which marks changed.
Headings changed caseTitle Case became sentence case. Ignore case hides that and keeps the wording changes.
Text that movedA section in a new place shows in amber as a moved block. It isn't counted as removed and added.
Something you can't seeA zero-width space or byte order mark from a web page makes two words differ. Inside a change it shows as a small labelled tag, so delete it in the box and the difference goes away.
A long file with a few changesUse Next or Alt + ↓ to jump straight from one change to the next instead of scrolling.
A moved paragraph counts as one change
Most free diff checkers show a move as a deletion plus an addition.
Move a section from one place to another and a simple diff reports it twice: removed here, added there. The similarity score drops as if you rewrote it, even though you didn't change a word.
This tool checks whether a removed block turns up unchanged somewhere else. If it does, both places are marked in amber and counted once, as a moved block. Its words aren't counted as added or removed, and they still count as shared text in the score.
In the refund policy on the right, two sections swapped places and two numbers changed. The result reads 2 words added, 2 removed and 1 moved block of 11 words, with a 97.7% word match.
The amber rows are the same section in its old and new place.
Compare two Word documents or PDF files
Open one file in each box. The text is pulled out in your browser and compared like any other text.
Word documents
Click File and pick a .docx. Each paragraph becomes its own block, so two versions of a report line up neatly. Bold, fonts, comments and tracked changes aren't compared, only the words. Save old .doc files as .docx first.
PDF files
The text is read page by page, up to 300 pages, and lines are joined back into paragraphs. Turn on Ignore spacing, because two PDFs of the same text often break their lines in different places. A scanned PDF has no text to read until it's been through OCR.
Mixed formats
You can compare a Word file against a PDF, or a PDF against text you pasted from an email. That's handy for checking that the signed PDF says the same as the draft you agreed.
Need tracked changes back in Word itself? Word has its own Review > Compare, which also compares formatting. This page is quicker when you only care about the words, or when one version isn't a Word file.
Merge changes, colour code and save a PDF
Three things you'd usually need a desktop diff tool for.
1
Copy a change across
Point at a changed row and use the arrows. → copies that line from A into B, and ← copies it from B into A. Use it to accept some edits and reject others, then copy the finished text out of the box. Undo puts back the last one.
2
Colour the code
Turn on Code colours and keywords, strings, numbers and comments get their own colours, under the red and green change marks. It works for JavaScript, Python, PHP, SQL, JSON, HTML, CSS and most other languages, and switches on by itself when you open a code file.
3
Save a PDF report
Click PDF to download the comparison with the score, the counts and every line, removed words in red and added words in green. It's made in your browser, so the text still never leaves your device. Handy for sending to a client or keeping on file.
Example: a contract clause that came back "with a few small tweaks"
The kind of change that's easy to miss when you read both versions by eye.
Version A, what you sent
4.1 The Supplier shall deliver the Goods within 30 days of the Order Date.
4.2 Payment falls due 30 days after delivery.
4.3 Either party may terminate on 60 days' written notice.
Version B, what came back
4.1 The Supplier shall use reasonable endeavours to deliver the Goods within 45 days of the Order Date.
4.2 Payment falls due 30 days after delivery.
4.3 Either party may terminate on 30 days' written notice.
Word view marks 30 to 45, 60 to 30 and the added words use reasonable endeavours to. That last phrase turns a firm promise to deliver into a promise to try. The result: 89.5% word match, 6 words added, 2 removed, 2 differences.
What people use a text compare tool for
It works on any text. These are the most common jobs.
Contracts and policies
Find what the other side changed before you sign, and check a new policy says what the summary email claims.
A file comes back "lightly edited". Word view shows you in seconds whether that's true.
Code, JSON and CSV
Two config files, two API responses or two exports of a table. Line view keeps the structure. Character view finds the one changed value.
Translations and subtitles
Check a reviewer's corrections to a translation, or two versions of an .srt file, without scrolling both.
AI-written text
See how far two answers differ, or what a second pass through an AI writer changed.
Online diff checker, Notepad++, VS Code or Word: which to use
Sometimes an installed tool is the better choice. Here's when.
Option
Best when
What it takes
Watch out for
This page
You want an answer now, on any device, for pasted text, Word or PDF files, with merge and a PDF report
Nothing. No account, no limit
Needs the page to load once. Not built for whole code repositories
Notepad++ with ComparePlus
You're on Windows, work with saved files all day, and need it fully offline
Installing a plugin, Windows only
Compares saved files, so pasted text has to be saved first
VS Code (Compare Active Editor With)
The files are already open in a project
A code editor
A lot of tool for two paragraphs of an email
The diff command
You're scripting it or comparing many files at once
A terminal
Line-based. For word-level output you need wdiff or git diff --word-diff
Microsoft Word Review > Compare
Both versions are .docx and you want tracked changes in Word
Microsoft Word
Compares formatting too, which can bury the wording changes
How similar are two texts? What the percentage means
The similarity score turns "quite a lot changed" into a number. Read it for what it is.
How it's worked outTwice the shared words divided by the total words on both sides. Two texts that share 90 of their 100 words score 90%. A moved paragraph still counts as shared.
It follows the level you pickBy character it counts characters, which is why one changed digit barely moves the score. Switch the level and the number changes, because the question changed.
It never says 100% beside a changeIf anything differs, even a single space, the score stops at 99.9% and the change is listed.
It isn't a plagiarism scoreIt only compares the two texts you gave it. It doesn't search the web or any database, and it says nothing about who wrote what. Our academic integrity guide covers that question, and the AI detector answers a different one.
Your text stays in your browser
Nothing is uploaded. The comparison runs on your own device. What you paste isn't sent to us or anyone else.
Files are opened on your device too. Word and PDF files are read by a file reader that runs in this tab. The file itself never leaves your computer or phone.
Nothing is saved. Close the tab and the text is gone. There's no history and no copy on a server.
It keeps working if your connection drops. Once the page has loaded, pasted text compares without the internet.
Why this matters. People compare contracts, medical letters and unreleased work. Our privacy policy explains which of our tools send text to an AI model. This one doesn't.
How do I compare two texts and find the differences?
Paste the original into box A and the changed version into box B. The comparison runs as you type. Removed words are struck through in red, added words are highlighted in green, and each changed line number carries a minus or a plus, so you can still read it if the colours look alike to you.
Is this text compare tool free?
Yes. There is no account, no sign-in and no daily limit. The comparison is plain arithmetic rather than AI, so it costs us nothing to run. It's free on every plan on our pricing page, including as a guest.
What is a diff checker?
A diff checker takes two versions of a text and shows what changed between them: what was added, what was removed and what stayed the same. "Diff" is short for difference. This page is a diff checker for writing, documents and code.
How do I compare two Word documents?
Click File on box A and pick the first .docx, then do the same on box B with the second one. The text is read in your browser and compared word by word. Formatting such as bold, fonts and tracked changes isn't compared, only the words. Old .doc files need saving as .docx first.
Can I compare two PDF files?
Yes, as long as the PDF has real text in it. Open one PDF in each box and the text is pulled out page by page and compared. A scanned PDF is just a picture of text, so there is nothing to compare until it has been run through OCR. Turn on Ignore spacing for PDFs, because line breaks often fall in different places.
Is there a size limit?
Each box compares up to 400,000 characters, which is roughly 60,000 words. Text files can be up to 4 MB and Word or PDF files up to 25 MB. Anything past 400,000 characters is left out, and the page tells you when that happens.
Do I need to download or install anything?
No. The comparison runs in your browser on your own device. Opening a Word or PDF file loads a small file reader from our site the first time you use it, and that's all.
Can I compare two files offline?
Once the page has loaded, pasted text keeps comparing even if your connection drops, because nothing is sent anywhere. Opening a Word or PDF file needs the reader to load once, so do that while you're online.
Why does it show a difference I can't see?
Usually because of a character you can't see. Zero-width spaces, word joiners and byte order marks often come along when text is copied from web pages or PDFs. Inside a change they are shown as a small labelled tag, so you can tell what it is. Spaces and tabs count too, unless you turn on Ignore spacing.
What does the similarity percentage measure?
The share of words the two texts have in common, or characters or lines if you compare by those instead. A moved paragraph still counts as shared. It's a measure of overlap between your two texts and nothing more. It isn't a plagiarism score.
Is my text stored or sent anywhere?
No. What you paste or open is compared on your own device and is gone when you close the tab. Nothing is uploaded or logged. Our privacy policy explains how the rest of the site handles text.
Is the comparison case-sensitive?
Yes, by default. "Hello" and "hello" count as different words. Turn on Ignore case and they match. The text you see is never changed, only what counts as a match.
What is the difference between side by side and inline view?
Side by side puts the original on the left and the new version on the right, lined up row by row. Inline puts everything in one column and shows each changed line twice, removed first and added second. Side by side is easier for long documents. Inline is easier on a narrow window. On a phone you always get one column.
How do I check how similar two texts are?
Paste both texts and read the similarity percentage at the top. It shows how much of the two texts is the same, by word, character or line. 100% means they're identical. Below that, the counts tell you how many words were added, removed and moved.
Does this tool use AI to compare text?
No. The comparison is a fixed method, so the same two texts always give the same result and nothing is sent to an AI model. It works well for comparing two AI answers, or an AI rewrite with your original. If you want to know whether text was written by AI, that's a different question for our AI detector.
Can I compare more than two texts at once?
Not in one view. It compares two texts at a time. To check three versions, compare version 1 with version 2, then version 2 with version 3.
Can I share or save a comparison?
Yes, as a file. Click PDF for a report with the changes coloured in, or Download for a plain-text report with every removed line marked with a minus and every added line with a plus. There's no share link, because nothing is stored on a server.
Can I merge two texts or copy changes across?
Yes. Point at a changed row and use the arrows between the two sides. The right arrow copies that line from box A into box B, and the left arrow copies it from B into A. Undo puts it back. Merging works line by line, so it's switched off while Ignore spacing compares whole paragraphs.
Can I export the comparison as a PDF?
Yes. Click PDF and a report downloads with the similarity score, the counts, and every line, with removed words in red and added words in green. It's made in your browser. For Urdu, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese and other scripts the PDF writer can't draw, your browser's print window opens instead, and you choose Save as PDF.
How do I compare two files in Notepad++?
Install the ComparePlus plugin from Plugins, then Plugins Admin. Open both files, then choose Plugins, ComparePlus, Compare. It works offline but only on Windows. If you don't want to install anything, drop the two files onto this page instead.
Can I compare two columns from Excel?
Yes. Copy one column into box A and the other into box B, then pick Line. Each cell becomes a line, so you'll see which values were added, removed or changed. Character view helps when the change is a single digit.
Can it compare code, JSON or CSV?
Yes. Pick Line for code and data, because it keeps the structure clear, and turn on Code colours to colour keywords, strings, numbers and comments. Pick Character to find a single changed digit in an ID or a missing comma in a CSV row.
Does it work on a phone?
Yes. On a phone the two boxes stack, and the tabs at the top switch between your text and the differences. The Example button under box A loads a sample so you can see how it works.
The rest of the workspace
More free tools for checking and editing your writing.
Saved work lives in your drafts, and what each plan includes is on the pricing page. Text Compare needs neither. It's free on every plan, even without an account.
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