Best Free GUI Diff Tools

meld-rs – visual diff and merge tool

meld-rs is a visual diff and merge application built as a complete Rust rewrite of Meld.

It uses GTK 4, gtk-rs, GtkSourceView and libadwaita to provide a native graphical interface for comparing source code, ordinary text files and directory trees. The application supports both two-way and three-way workflows and can also work with version-controlled repositories. It is still described by its developer as experimental software, so users should expect incomplete functionality and should not yet depend on it for critical merge work.

This is free and open source software.

Key Features

  • Compares two or three files side by side.
  • Provides syntax highlighting through GtkSourceView.
  • Performs recursive directory comparisons with filtering.
  • Offers three-way merging with tools for resolving conflicts.
  • Integrates with Git, Subversion and Mercurial repositories.
  • Displays a diff map for a compact visual overview of changes.
  • Provides in-file searching with a dedicated find bar.
  • Supports multiple comparisons in a tabbed session.
  • Offers dark mode support through its GTK interface.
  • Provides actions for moving, copying and deleting change chunks.
  • Supports saving, reverting and opening compared files externally.
  • Can be launched from the command line with two or three file paths.
  • Can automatically compare differing files found within directory trees.
  • Offers an auto-merge mode which can write merged output to a specified file.

Website: github.com/brandochn/meld-rs
Support:
Developer: Hildebrando Chavez
License: GNU General Public License v2.0

Meld-rs in action
Click image for full size

meld-rs is written in Rust. Learn Rust with our recommended free books and free tutorials.


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gapSimple native graphical utility for comparing text files
meld-rsVisual diff and merge tool for comparing files and directories

Read our verdict in the software roundup.


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