Compare software

ack vs ugrep: catalog facts
ack	ugrep
Best for: Programmers searching large source trees from the terminal	Best for: People who search code and files with grep and want archive search and an interactive mode
Free Free and open source.	Free Free and open source.
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	Compatible with grep options Interactive text interface for building queries All 4 strengths for ugrep Compatible with grep options Interactive text interface for building queries Searches inside nested archives and compressed files Boolean and fuzzy search
Needs a Perl interpreter Newer tools such as ripgrep are typically faster on very large trees	Large option set takes time to learn Interactive interface is terminal-only
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: Artistic-2.0	License: BSD-3-Clause
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 ugrep github.com/Genivia/ugrep Catalog checked September 23, 2026

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