Free Text Compare Tool
A text compare tool finds the differences between two versions of a text. Paste the original in the first box and the changed version in the second, and this free tool lists every line (or word) that was added or removed, with a similarity score. It suits editors checking a rewrite, developers comparing code and SEOs checking a page change.
Text Compare
Text and Content
About this tool
The tool compares the two texts with a longest-common-subsequence method, the same idea behind the diff tool used in version control. Lines that appear in both texts in the same order are treated as unchanged and only counted. Lines that exist in the first text but not the second are marked as removed, and lines that exist only in the second are marked as added. A line that was edited shows up as one removal and one addition next to each other.
Choose line mode for code, lists and paragraphs, and word mode for prose where a sentence was lightly edited and a whole-line comparison would flag the entire sentence. The options let you ignore upper and lower case differences and ignore extra spaces at the ends of lines and between words, which removes noise from text that was re-indented or copied through an editor.
Typical uses are checking what a client changed in copy you delivered, reviewing a rewrite against the first draft, spotting an unexpected edit in a robots.txt, sitemap or meta tags file, and comparing two versions of a policy page. For very long documents, compare one section at a time. The tool handles up to 1,500 differing lines in one run and tells you when the limit is reached.
Frequently asked questions
How does the text compare tool find differences?
It splits both texts into lines (or words), finds the longest run of items that appear in both in the same order, and treats everything else as a change. Items only in the first text are marked removed, and items only in the second are marked added. Identical lines are counted but not repeated in the list.
What is the difference between line mode and word mode?
Line mode compares whole lines, which suits code, lists and short lines. Word mode compares single words, which suits paragraphs where only a few words changed. In word mode an edited sentence shows just the words that were replaced, instead of marking the entire line as different.
Can I ignore case and spacing differences?
Yes. Tick the options to ignore upper and lower case, and to ignore extra spaces at line ends and repeated spaces inside lines. This is useful when text was copied from a document, reformatted or re-indented and you only want to see real changes in wording.
Is the text I paste stored anywhere?
No. The comparison happens while the page loads and the texts are not saved or logged. They appear again in the boxes after you submit so you can adjust them, but once you leave the page nothing is kept on our side.
What does the similarity score mean?
It is the share of items that the two texts have in common: twice the number of unchanged lines (or words) divided by the total items in both texts. 100% means the texts are identical for the chosen options, and 0% means they share nothing. It describes order and wording, not meaning.