Compare software

colordiff vs delta: catalog facts
colordiff	delta
Best for: People who review diffs and patches in a terminal	Best for: Reading git diffs and blame output without squinting
Free Free and open source under the GPL license.	Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.
Command line	Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
Works as a diff replacement or in pipelines Customizable color schemes All 3 strengths for colordiff Works as a diff replacement or in pipelines Customizable color schemes Current release and source are available	Word-level highlighting shows exactly what changed inside a line Side-by-side view with line wrapping, and line numbers All 4 strengths for delta Word-level highlighting shows exactly what changed inside a line Side-by-side view with line wrapping, and line numbers Improves merge conflict and git blame output as well as diffs Code copies cleanly because the +/- markers are stripped by default
Requires a terminal that supports ANSI colors	The package is called git-delta in most package managers while the command is delta, which confuses installs Needs configuration in ~/.gitconfig before git uses it All 4 limitations for delta The package is called git-delta in most package managers while the command is delta, which confuses installs Needs configuration in ~/.gitconfig before git uses it Very large diffs are slower than plain git output The number of style options is its own rabbit hole
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-2.0-or-later	License: MIT
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for colordiff colordiff.org Catalog checked October 8, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for delta github.com/dandavison/delta Catalog checked September 21, 2026

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