Compare software

ydiff vs colordiff: catalog facts
ydiff	colordiff
Best for: Developers reviewing diffs in a terminal	Best for: People who review diffs and patches in a terminal
Free Free and open source under the BSD-3-Clause license.	Free Free and open source under the GPL license.
Command line	Command line
Shows side-by-side or unified diffs Supports colored themes and automatic paging All 3 strengths for ydiff Shows side-by-side or unified diffs Supports colored themes and automatic paging Reads diffs from a workspace or standard input	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
Requires Python and the less pager	Requires a terminal that supports ANSI colors
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: BSD-3-Clause	License: GPL-2.0-or-later
Not stated if an account is needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for ydiff github.com/ymattw/ydiff Catalog checked October 8, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for colordiff colordiff.org Catalog checked October 8, 2026

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