Compare software

hgrep vs ack: catalog facts
hgrep	ack
Free Free to use; the source is published on GitHub.	Free Free and open source.
Command line	Windows, macOS, Linux, Command line
Shows surrounding code for each match Syntax highlighting in search results	Built for searching source code rather than general text Full Perl regular expressions
Output is longer than plain grep, less suited to piping Command line only	Needs a Perl interpreter Newer tools such as ripgrep are typically faster on very large trees
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License: Artistic-2.0
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.