macOS How to diff? Kaleidoscope is going subscription...

[Analog Kid]

Anyone have a good diff app to recommend?

I've used Kaleidoscope 2 for years. 3 is priced at $150, and now 4 is going subscription. So it's pretty much out of the question. I can get a discount upgrade to 3 for $65 before 4 ships, but it means leaving the App Store which I do as little as possible. I can probably keep going with 2 for a while, but it's probably best to start getting familiar with another before I'm forced to.

 

[Nermal]

I think we might need to know what features you need. A plain diff tool is easy enough, but I suspect there's something else you need from it otherwise you wouldn't be spending so much in the first place.

 

[Analog Kid]

I think we might need to know what features you need. A plain diff tool is easy enough, but I suspect there's something else you need from it otherwise you wouldn't be spending so much in the first place.

I'm not a particularly heavy user but when I need to compare code files I really appreciate the clean visuals of Kaleidoscope. It feels fluid and flexible.

At the moment I need to compare two Python libraries, one that I have local on my Mac and one that I have on an iCloud drive to access from my iPad. Because it's been long enough I'm not sure if they've diverged. I can dump the two directories into the tool and get a clear, easy to navigate comparison first at the folder level, then file, then an easy to view and merge view of the text within the file.

What I see with a quick scan of the AppStore is utilitarian but just lacks the refinement that Kaleidoscope has. I love the app, but not $150 love it, and certainly not $14 a month/$96 a year love it.

So I guess I'm just looking for another developer that cares enough to make a decent app doing a straight forward thing with a great experience who doesn't think it should be priced comparably to Final Cut Pro...

 

[casperes1996]

Honestly I just use the command line diff tool as well as the diff views in VS Code for larger scale git merges.

 

[chown33]

BBEdit still offers a free mode, and Find Differences seems to be available in that mode.

Bare Bones Software | BBEdit Comparison Chart

Here's what it looked like in 2018:

Comparing files: FileMerge, opendiff, and BBEdit

How would you compare two text files to see what differences are between them? It’s still a common task, for which FileMerge and BBEdit can be excellent solutions.

eclecticlight.co

If you decide to purchase, BBEdit's price appears to be lower than Kaleidoscope's.

 

[Analog Kid]

Honestly I just use the command line diff tool as well as the diff views in VS Code for larger scale git merges.

Yeah, it’s entirely possible that I’m stuck with less enjoyable tools because it’s not worth the cost to use the pretty ones…

BBEdit still offers a free mode, and Find Differences seems to be available in that mode.

Bare Bones Software | BBEdit Comparison Chart

Here's what it looked like in 2018:

Comparing files: FileMerge, opendiff, and BBEdit

How would you compare two text files to see what differences are between them? It’s still a common task, for which FileMerge and BBEdit can be excellent solutions.

eclecticlight.co

If you decide to purchase, BBEdit's price appears to be lower than Kaleidoscope's.

Thanks for the link. I dont know why I didn’t go digging for direct access to FileMerge, but it never felt worth launching Xcode just to run a diff. Linking directly to that executable might be worth trying for a while.

 

[Nermal]

Thanks for the link. I dont know why I didn’t go digging for direct access to FileMerge, but it never felt worth launching Xcode just to run a diff. Linking directly to that executable might be worth trying for a while.

I always just launch it from Cmd-Space.

 

[ZZ9pluralZalpha]

I’m in the same boat as you; my MAS license for Kaleidoscope 2 lasted years (although updates were so infrequent that it really had to) and the price tag is now astronomical in comparison.

Panic’s Nova text editor ($50/year and no MAS option) has a comparison view, although it’s primarily targeted at diffing Git revisions and the process of loading a different file seems almost intentionally obtuse. FileMerge is free, but Apple ought to be ashamed of that interface. I’m thinking of just shelling out the $100 for Kaleidoscope 3 now, counting on their promise that 2023 customers will get the first year of 4 for free, and hoping that there are better options around by fall of 2024.

 

[eludwig]

Sorry about being so late to the thread, but if anyone is still looking, I have used Beyond Compare for a couple of decades and it's great, if a little homely (https://www.scootersoftware.com). Version 5 is recent and has Apple Silicon support. Pricing is done the old fashioned way. Pay once and only buy upgrades if you feel like it. No git support, but for one-off diffs it really is nice. Just a satisfied customer.

One nice thing is that BC supports diffing 2 pasted in things. Sometimes you don't want to bother with figuring out where files are and just want to see the diff between 2 pastes. BC does this very nicely.

 

[Loge]

I would agree with Beyond Compare. It's particularly good with folder comparisons. As well as code very good when your program's output is hundreds of text files and you want to check those very quickly from one version to the next.