# Text Compare > Compare two texts or files and see every change highlighted side by side. Ignore whitespace, case or line order. Free, no sign-up, runs in your browser. Source: https://www.revquix.com/tools/text-compare Cost: free tier with no signup, AI tier 1 credit --- Compare text, code and data side by side. Cosmetic changes are labelled and dimmed, JSON and YAML can be compared as data, and every change can be copied across with undo. The comparison runs in your browser. ## At a glance - Takes: Two texts, files, code or data - JSON, YAML, XML, CSV and more - Returns: Every change, labelled: meaningful, cosmetic, moved, renamed or noise - Handles: Merges in either direction with undo, and an optional AI explanation - Privacy: Compared on this device. Nothing is sent unless you press Explain ## How to compare two texts Paste the original on the left and the changed version on the right, or drop a file on either side. The comparison starts as you type. Once both sides have text the inputs shrink to one line each, so the result takes the page; press Edit to open them again. - Side by side or unified, with the changed characters marked inside each line - N and P, or F7, move between changes; Alt and an arrow copies the current one across - Unchanged stretches fold away, and open again with one click ## Every change gets a label Before anything is highlighted, each change is classified. Whitespace, letter case, invisible characters such as a no-break space, and formatting-only edits are marked cosmetic and dimmed. Timestamps, UUIDs, hashes and request IDs that differ on every run are marked as noise and counted apart. Blocks that moved are linked to where they came from, and the same identifier renamed in many places becomes one row. The rules respect the language. Indentation is meaningful in Python and YAML, and letter case is meaningful in code and data, so neither is ever dismissed there as cosmetic. ## Options you can change The Ignore menu decides what counts: whitespace (trailing, leading and trailing, or all), letter case, blank lines, line endings, line order, each kind of noise separately, or a pattern of your own as a regular expression. Format both sides re-indents code or data first, so a file that was only reformatted stops looking rewritten. ## Data compared as data When both sides are JSON, YAML, XML or CSV, the tool offers to compare them as data instead of line by line. Key order, spacing and trailing commas stop counting, array items are matched by an id field when one exists, and each change is shown with its path and its before and after values. The whole difference can be copied as a JSON Patch. ## Where it helps Two drafts of a resume, to see exactly which lines changed. A staging and a production API response, or two Spring profiles, to find the one setting that differs. Two `.env` files, to spot a key that went missing. Configuration files hold secrets. Comparing them here is safe because nothing leaves your browser. If you press Explain, keys, tokens and passwords are masked before anything is sent, but the surest choice is to leave those lines unticked. ## Explain with AI, on your terms The AI explains the changes; it does not find them. It receives only the meaningful changes you tick, with secrets, email addresses and phone numbers masked, and you can read the exact text before it is sent. Every claim it makes must cite a change that exists, or it is dropped. Small explanations are free each day, larger ones cost one or two credits, and the price is shown before you press the button. ## What it will not do It will not decide which version is right, and it does not understand a program the way a compiler does: formatting-only is judged on tokens, not on behaviour. Each side can be up to 5 MB, and an AI explanation covers up to 60,000 characters of changes. In our tests, two 1 MB files with about 300 differences compared in under a second on a laptop. When a comparison would take too long, the tool says so and shows an approximate result rather than freezing the page. ## Questions people ask ### Is my text uploaded to compare it? No. Both sides stay in your browser and the comparison runs there, in a background worker. Nothing leaves the page unless you press Explain with AI, and even then only the changes you tick are sent, after you have seen them. ### Why are some changes greyed out? Those are cosmetic or noise: whitespace, letter case, invisible characters, formatting only, or values like timestamps that change on every run. They stay visible so nothing is hidden from you, and one toggle hides them when you only want the changes that matter. ### Can it compare JSON regardless of key order? Yes. When both sides are valid JSON the tool offers to compare them as data. Key order and formatting then stop counting as changes, arrays are matched by an id field where one exists, and every difference is listed by its path. ### Can I copy changes from one side to the other? Yes. Each change has arrows to copy it left or right, you can tick individual lines to copy only those, and Alt keeps both versions instead of replacing. Every merge can be undone, and the edited side can be copied or downloaded. ### What does the AI explanation cost? Small explanations are free each day, with more free ones when you are signed in. Larger selections cost one or two credits. The price is shown before you press the button, you are never charged more than that, and a failed explanation costs nothing. ### How large can the two sides be? Up to 5 MB each, read in your browser. In our tests, two 1 MB files with about 300 differences compared in under a second on a laptop. Very large or very different inputs may be shown as an approximate alignment, which the page labels clearly, rather than locking up the tab while it searches for a perfect one.