Text Compare Tool
Paste two versions of any text and see exactly what changed between them — additions and removals are highlighted line by line, word by word, or character by character, entirely in your browser.
Differences
The text has changed since this comparison — click Compare to update it.
Copies as text: +/- line prefixes, or [-removed-]{+added+} markers.
Why This Tool Matters
Spotting changes by eye is slow and unreliable. An editor gets a revised draft back and needs to know what the writer actually changed, not reread both versions side by side hoping to catch it. A developer has two versions of a function or a config block — one that works and one that doesn't — and needs to see whether they really differ, and where. Someone pastes a paragraph between apps and wants to confirm that nothing got silently mangled on the way: a curly quote swapped in, a line dropped, a number mistyped. A side-by-side comparison with the differences highlighted answers all of these in seconds.
Choosing the right granularity makes the result far easier to read. Word mode suits prose, showing a changed word in the middle of a sentence rather than flagging the whole line. Line mode suits code and lists, with line numbers from both versions. Character mode catches the smallest slips — a transposed digit in an invoice number or a missing comma — that coarser views would bury inside a larger change.
How to Use
- 01
Paste both versions
Original on the left, changed text on the right.
- 02
Pick a granularity
Compare by line, word, or character, then click Compare.
- 03
Review the changes
Additions are green, removals red — copy the diff if needed.
More Text Tools
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between line, word, and character comparison?
They set how finely the two texts are compared. Line mode treats each line as a unit and marks whole lines as added or removed — best for code, lists, and config files, and it shows line numbers from both versions. Word mode highlights just the words that changed within a sentence, which reads best for prose and documents. Character mode goes letter by letter, which is ideal for spotting a single typo, a swapped digit in an ID, or a changed punctuation mark that the other modes would flag as a whole word or line.
Does this ignore whitespace differences?
Only if you ask it to. By default every difference is shown, including extra spaces and changed indentation. Tick "Ignore whitespace" and Line mode ignores leading and trailing spaces on each line, while Word mode ignores changes in spacing between words. Character mode always compares every character, so the option is disabled there. Windows versus Unix line endings and a missing newline at the very end are always ignored, since they're invisible in the text boxes.
Can I compare two very long documents?
Yes — there's no size limit, and comparing mostly similar documents is fast even at many thousands of lines. What slows a comparison down is a very large number of differences, especially in Character mode. If a comparison takes longer than two seconds, the tool stops and suggests switching to Line mode (or comparing smaller sections) rather than freezing your browser.
Is my text sent anywhere when I compare it?
No. The comparison runs entirely in your browser using JavaScript on your own device. Neither version of your text is uploaded, logged, or stored, so it's safe to compare contracts, private drafts, or code that isn't public yet.
What does the copied diff look like?
In Line mode, each line is copied with a prefix — "+ " for added lines, "- " for removed lines, and two spaces for unchanged ones — similar to a unified diff. In Word and Character modes, the full text is copied with changes marked inline as [-removed-] and {+added+}, the same notation git uses for word diffs, so the result stays readable as plain text in an email, ticket, or chat message.