Compare software

ack vs igrep: catalog facts
ack	igrep
Best for: Programmers searching large source trees from the terminal	Best for: Developers searching code from the terminal who want to jump to matches
Free Free and open source.	Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.
Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line	Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
Built for searching source code rather than general text Full Perl regular expressions All 3 strengths for ack Built for searching source code rather than general text Full Perl regular expressions Boolean --and, --or and --not options	Interactive list of search matches in the terminal Opens the selected match in the editor of your choice All 3 strengths for igrep Interactive list of search matches in the terminal Opens the selected match in the editor of your choice Uses ripgrep's search library
Needs a Perl interpreter Newer tools such as ripgrep are typically faster on very large trees	Windows support is unofficial Terminal only
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: Artistic-2.0	License: MIT
No account needed	No account needed
Offline features available	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for ack beyondgrep.com Catalog checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for igrep github.com/konradsz/igrep Catalog checked October 2, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.