What is the best git merge tool for the Mac? Update Cancel. Diff Tools on Mac OS X. 24.5k Views View 7 Upvoters. Thank you for your feedback! Your feedback is private. Is this answer still relevant and up to date? What are the top three visual modeling tools that interact with Git? Guiffy eXpert Linux 10.0 - Guiffy SureMerge is a visual file compare Diff tool, Merge tool, and Folder compare tool all-in-one that makes comparing, merging, and upgrading sources as easy and reliable as possible.; Guiffy Pro Linux 10.0 - Guiffy Pro is a visual file compare and Folder compare tool.; Guiffy Pro MacOS X 10.0 - Guiffy Pro is a visual file compare and Folder compare tool.
My favorite file comparison tool was Beyond Compare but since I recently switched to OS X, i'm no longer able to use it and I'm looking for an alternative, preferably a free one.
Update: I made the mistake not to specify that I am also looking for a tool that does directory comparison, not only files. Because this could make the already answers invalid I made another question for this What directory comparison tools can I use on OS X?
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16 Answers
Beyond Compare 4 now runs also on OSX. Visit http://www.scootersoftware.com/beta.php?zz=beta4_whatsnew
This is an aggregation of the answers posted on SO's deleted clone, Graphical diff for Mac OS X. It includes links to each product, and the current price since last edit in USD.
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- Sourcegear's DiffMerge, shareware
- Joachim Eibl's KDiff3, free
- Black Pixel's Kaleidoscope, $69.99
- Bare Bones Software's TextWrangler, free
- Araxis's Merge, $129 + $29/year
- Deltopia's DeltaWalker, $39.95/$75.95
- Kai Willadsen's Meld, free
- Weipin Xia's DiffFork, $26
- Biscade's RoaringDiff, free
- tkdiff, free
There were some other suggestions, which were not diff tools in their own right, which I will list below:
- It (Beyond Compare) runs well in Wine, but I miss the shell integration. - Danyal Aytekin, May 11 '12, 13:01
- Eclipse also has a fairly decent comparison mechanism. - JeeBee, Oct 9 '08, 12:45
- P4Merge that comes with Perforce is pretty good and comes for free with perforce client. Both terminal and GUI version. - amok, Jul 7 '10, 23:19
- I had to use Vim because most of diffs mentioned here do not understand UTF-8. - user184880, Oct 6 '09, 9:56
That about wraps up that thread's merge into this one, as covered here.
FileMerge is bundled with XCode, but I prefer Kaleidoscope which is not free.
Jason SalazI use Kaleidoscope. Or just plain, old diff from the CLI
It is not great, but the FileMerge bundled with the OS can be launched from the command line as opendiff a.txt b.txt.
You can use diff if you're using the command-line.
Changes.app has a great reputation and lots of features. Kaleidoscope is great too, and has a beautifully designed UI.
It's also worth mentioning if you're doing programming that Xcode 4 has visual diff tools built in now too.
There's also DeltaWalker.
It's $40, and there's a trial available.
Nathan GreensteinHere are which I've found:
FileMerge (opendiff)
It's bundled with Xcode with Command Line Tools installed
DiffMergeIt's bundled with Xcode with Command Line Tools installed
It's free and open source. Install by:
brew install vim.Can be installed using Homebrew via command:
brew install meld, but probably it won't work.Can be installed using Homebrew via command:
brew install kdiff3Can be installed using Homebrew via command:
brew install tkdiffAvailable at App Store
Commercial with free trial.
Commercial with free trial.
Commercial with free trial.
Check also Comparison of file comparison tools at Wikipediafor the full list.
There are a great many comparison tools available. Many do directories and files. Some even perform as merge tools (2 and 3 way). Of these some have already been mentioned in other answers and your choice will depend on what features you require, and how much you are prepared to pay for the tool. There is a good Wikipedia page with a comparison of many of the better known ones.
I use Folder Sync It costs $8.99 on the Mac App Store. It works really nicely.
P4Merge is a free, very nice diff and merge tool. It can:
- Diff files
- Do 3 way merges
- Do Folder diffs
- Visually diff 2 image files!
Some screenshots:
Visual diff of an image:
This tool https://filecomparisontool.com
- Web based, so it is compatible
- Mobile friendly
- Save comparison up to 6 months
- Share comparison via URL
- It is free!
vim also has built-in support for side-by-side diff -
Here is a page describing vim diff mode in detail -
GitX-dev is a fork (variant) of GitX, a long-defunct GUI for the git version-control system. It has been maintained and enhanced with productivity and friendliness oriented changes, with effort focused on making a first-class, maintainable tool for today's active developers.
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WinMerge is an excellent and very powerful file merging tool, but as the name would imply, it's Windows only. What's a good equivalent on the Mac?
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16 Answers
You can use FileMerge, Apple's diff solution. It's free and it comes with every Mac OS X install.
The only downside is that you have to install the Developer Tools. You can find them on your DVD install that came when you bought your Mac (Snow Leopard or earlier). You can also get the developer tools from the App Store if your version of the OS supports that.
Then, you can find it at /Developer/Applications/Utilities/FileMerge.app
I've found the following applications:
FileMerge (
opendiff)It's no longer bundled with Xcode Command Line Tools, you must install Xcode from either the App Store or the Apple Developer Website.
Open sourced beautifier and language aware code comparison tool for many languages.
Can be installed using Homebrew via command:
brew install meldCan be installed using Homebrew via command:
brew install tkdiffAvailable on the App Store
Commercial with free trial.
Commercial with free trial.
No longer in Homebrew, it has not been developed/updated since 2014.
See also:
- Comparison of file comparison tools at Wikipediafor the full list.
Agree with the recommendation for FileMerge.app. You also have the free, cross-platform DiffMerge program, but I like FileMerge better.
Loïc WolffStumbled upon this thread today and thought I'd contribute this new cross-platform OSS diff tool that supports file and directory comparision. It is a good alternative to WinMerge for Mac.http://meldmerge.org/
Meld is a visual diff and merge tool targeted at developers. Meld helps you compare files, directories, and version controlled projects. It provides two- and three-way comparison of both files and directories, and has support for many popular version control systems.
Meld helps you review code changes and understand patches. It might even help you to figure out what is going on in that merge you keep avoiding.
A modern, powerful, but paid (currently Mar-2013 $69.99) file merging application for OS X is Kaleidoscope. It handles folders, files, and even images. Ad copy from the page:
Compare text in Blocks, Fluid and Unified layouts in both Two-Way and Three-Way modes. Quickly navigate and search through the most readable diff you've ever seen.
Araxis Merge (http://www.araxis.com/merge_mac/index.html) is the gold standard in this area and has a similar cost (what is the weight of bits?). There are Windows and Mac versions, and it is truly excellent if you find yourself spending a lot of time doing multiway diffs and merges (more common in these days of distributed version control systems).
The pricing starts (as of Sept 2011) at $129.
Itool For Mac
Maybe you will find the app SourceTree interesting: http://www.sourcetreeapp.com/ SourceTree is a free Mac client for Git and Mercurial version control systems. Therefor it isn't a general purpose diff or merge tool but it is worth mentioning it.
Beyond Compare is now in beta for the Mac. It's the best diff/merge program I’ve used on Windows and is definitely worth checking out.
Perforce, a source control application, has a free * diff and merge tool that is cross platform and works fine on my mac. It's called P4Merge.
It presents file-diffs very nicely and handles three-way merges like a champ. As a long-time WinMerge user I was very happy with it. Its use of little gem-like icons in a 3-way merge takes some getting used to. One icon is for my change, one for their's, and one for the common ancestor. Once you get that straight it was very helpful.
* it was free, but may now be subject to Perforce's licensing. Perforce in-general is restricted to a certain number of users and/or files unless you buy it. However, these restrictions only make sense when using their server-side software. These client-only tools can't really be licensed like that. I'll update if I ever hear back from the company on this matter.
There's an application called SemanticMerge for Mac.
SemanticMerge, as the name says :-), is a tool able to merge based on code structure instead of blocks of text. It basically means it parses the code first and then merges based on methods, classes and so on, so it is quite refactor friendly since it can match methods/functions even when they've been moved to different locations within the file.
At the time of writing this, Semantic supports .NET, C, Java, C++ and JavaScript.
Nimesh NeemaI am a Mac user attached to elegance and esthetics as a significant factor in productivity for cognitive reasons. A fully native and elegant Human Interface is for me of paramount importance.
I tried many contenders (Araxis, P4Merge and many others). I purchased several. I loved Changes for a long while. Now my favorite is Kaleidoscope. It provides 3-way merge, it can compare images in a smart way, it has a slick and elegant interface.
When an application claims to be cross-platform, that rings an alarm bell. More often than not, it means an ugly, non-native interface. Having to cringe when working is not my idea of having fun at work.
Meld is a good option..
steps to install meld on Mac :
Install MacPorts:
Installation information can be found in : MacPort installationBefore installing MacPort, you have to install Xcode and the Xcode Command Line Tools if your computer doesn't have them.
Open your terminal and execute following commands
i) Installing rarian :'sudo port install rarian'
II) Installing meld :'sued port install meld'Configure the dbus service to start at boot
I) sudo launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchDaemons/org.freedesktop.dbus-system.plist
II) launchctl load -w /Library/LaunchAgents/org.freedesktop.dbus-session.plistdfAdd LC_ALL variable to the .bash_profile file at your /home directoryexport LC_ALL=en_US
Type meld command in the terminal and the application will be launched for you.
I use VisualDiffer.
It's not as good as WinMerge, but pretty close and very cheap (only $34.99 at the moment!). It is promising.
Here's a screenshot.
JonnyJonnyWe're looking for long answers that provide some explanation and context. Don't just give a one-line answer; explain why your answer is right, ideally with citations. Answers that don't include explanations may be removed.
My favorite free solution for merging the contents of files is KDiff3. KDiff3 can do two-way and three-way merges, has a decent GUI and has some pretty powerful features to assist with the merge.
My favorite non-free, but inexpensive ($30-ish) solution for merging the contents of files is Beyond Compare 3. Yes, Beyond Compare 3 is only available as a native Windows or Linux app, but I run it in WiNE via the easy to use Wineskin Winery app.
When it comes to merging the content of directories both KDiff3 and Beyond Compare 3 can do it, but IMO KDiff3 is not very usable in this regard. Fortunately Beyond Compare 3 excels at directory merges, even on OS X.
Diff Tool For Mac
Seems like there were plans to make WinMerge 3 available for Mac too:
I haven't made my choice for Mac. But on Windows I use WinMerge, on Linux Meld (which is also available for Mac), currently using twdiff, I already tried FileMerge.app, and going to try DiffMerge.
A note about Meld:
Meld does work on OS X and Windows, but there are no all-in-one packages for those systems available at the moment. On OS X, Meld is available from MacPorts or Fink.