Compare two archives
See exactly what changed between two ZIP files, or two releases of a JAR, APK, 7z, RAR or tarball: which files were added, removed, moved or changed, with a line-by-line diff of the changes. Nothing is uploaded.
How to compare two ZIP files
- Drop the older archive on the left box and the newer one on the right.
- Both file lists are read and every file is matched by its path. Files are compared by their content checksum (CRC-32) and size, so a file that was only re-saved with a new date still counts as unchanged.
- Click a changed file to see what changed inside it: a line-by-line diff for text, side-by-side previews for images, and the first differing bytes for anything else.
What it shows
- Changed files: the same path in both archives, with different content.
- Added and removed files.
- Moved or renamed files: a file that disappeared from one path and appeared, byte for byte identical, at another.
- Identical files, hidden by default; click the count to list them.
When each archive holds everything in one top folder, such as project-1.0/ and project-1.1/, the comparison happens inside those folders, so the renamed folder does not make every file look new. You can turn that off.
Archives it can compare
ZIP and every ZIP-based format (JAR, WAR, APK, AAB, IPA, DOCX, XLSX, EPUB), 7z (including 7z files compressed with Zstandard, Brotli or LZ4), RAR, TAR and compressed tarballs (.tar.gz, .tar.xz, .tar.zst, .tar.bz2), ISO, DMG, CAB, RPM and DEB. The two archives do not need to be the same format: you can compare a ZIP against a tarball of the same project. Formats that store no checksums, such as TAR and ISO, are decompressed once to compute them.
For Android apps, binary XML files such as AndroidManifest.xml are decoded before the diff, so you see the real changes in permissions, activities and version numbers.
Frequently asked questions
Are my archives uploaded?
No. Both archives are opened by 7-Zip compiled to WebAssembly, inside your browser tab. Nothing is sent to a server.
Why is a file marked changed when the dates are the same?
The comparison uses the content, not the date. If the checksum or size differs, the bytes differ, even if the modification time did not change. The opposite also holds: a file with a new date but the same content counts as identical.
Can it compare password-protected archives?
Yes. If an archive is encrypted, a password field appears under it. For ZIPs with AES encryption the checksum is hidden, so without the password those files can only be compared by size, and they are marked as not checked.
How large can the archives be?
Listing is fast at any size, since only the file index is read. Formats without checksums are decompressed once, which takes longer for large tarballs. The content diff opens files up to 8 MB; larger files are compared by checksum only.
Can I compare two folders instead?
Zip both folders first with the ZIP tool, then compare the two ZIPs here. For two pieces of text, the text diff checker is quicker.