Show IH: Compare Text – Instantly spot text differences, character by character with color-coded highlights
I’m a QA tester and a beginner programmer to the side and I built Compare Text as a side project to scratch one of my persistent itches at work: quickly comparing two versions of text — logs, outputs, or content.
Most diff tools feel too heavy or requires file uploads or even account creation. I just wanted something fast kind of use-and-go tool.
So I made this:
- Instantly shows character-by-character differences
- Uses color coding (green = removed, red = added, and yellow = modified/different)
- Runs completely in-browser on your computer or phone – no login, no upload, no tracking - just paste your text and hit "Compare."
It’s great for:
QA testers like me reviewing before/after outputs,
Students, writers or editors comparing content edits,
Developers checking copy, responses, or logs,
Everyone working with texts or numbers!
I would love to hear your feedback and suggestions.
In the future, I might expand this into a mini suite or simple tools. If you have something in mind, please feel free to suggest.
I might not reply quickly (day job and other personal responsibilities), but I'll read every comment and take all feedback seriously. Thanks in advance for trying it out 🙏
#show-ih#productivity#tools#side-project#qa#writing#programming#microstartup#bootstrapping
I've been using WinMerge for more than 15 years. What's the difference with it?
It's not much compared to WinMerge and is purely text based. Definitely, WinMerge is one of the inspirations with how robust it is. Maybe it's just easier to access without downloading. I would like to personally look at this side project to be more of getting my foot into programming.
At least in my use case, I prefer to have a downloadable version due to the files that I compare from time to time are on my computer. I drag and drop, and that's it. With your tool, I have to copy and paste several dozen lines of code, and I can't upload files.
BTW if you look at this as to learn to code, as you said, this is great and I fully support it. You are not only learning to code, you've just launched something! That's FAR BEYOND millions of people that dream and never launch.
Thank you very much!
Hey David, congrats on launching Compare Text! This is one of those simple, useful tools that everyone needs at some point. I really appreciate that it's 100% client-side that's a huge plus for privacy and speed.
I noticed the tool itself is the landing page, which is great for getting straight to the action. When I was at this stage with my own project, I found it really valuable to create a simple "front page" to explain the benefits before users jump into the tool. Just opening a doc and brainstorming ten different headlines around the privacy/speed benefit was the first step, and it made a big difference.
Awesome little project. Looking forward to seeing where you take it!
Thank you very much for the insight! A simple front page is indeed a good way to explain what the tool brings to the table (although it's not really much). Definitely will keep this in mind for future improvements.
Love the no-login simplicity..
Simple and straightforward functions. What is the maximum number of text entries it can support?
There is currently no hard limit set on the number of text entries. It can support as many entries as the browser can handle. If you're working with large amounts of text and notice performance issues or the page becomes unresponsive, consider breaking the content into smaller chunks.