What is it
Text Comparator is a free online tool that compares two versions of the same content and shows exactly what was added, removed or kept between them. It's the same logic used in code version control tools, applied to any type of text: contracts, essays, scripts, articles or programming snippets.
When pasting the original text into one field and the updated version into the other, the tool calculates a similarity index from 0% to 100%, displayed in a bar that changes color: green when the texts are very similar, yellow for moderate changes and red when the differences are large. Along with the bar, a panel shows the exact numbers of rows added, removed and equal, giving a quick summary before even reading the result line by line.
The result of the comparison appears in the unified diff format, similar to that used in code platforms: each line has double numbering (position in the original text and in the new text), removed lines appear highlighted in red and added lines in green, on a dark background that makes long reviews easier to read.
How to use
- Paste the original text in the left field.
- Paste the updated version in the field on the right.
- Click the Compare Texts button to generate the result.
- See the similarity index and added, removed and equal rows counters in the statistics panel.
- Scroll through the result in diff format to review, line by line, what changed between the two versions.
- Click Copy to save the comparison result in another document.
Tips
- A similarity index below 50% usually indicates that the texts were extensively rewritten, and not just adjusted.
- The comparison works line by line, so it is also useful for reviewing small changes to code, configuration files, and scripts.
- For very long texts, scroll the page slowly so as not to miss any highlighted sections.
- All processing happens in your browser, so contracts and internal documents are not sent to any external server.