Windows · macOS · Linux · v0.1.0

Rift See what really changed.

Most diff tools tell you which lines changed. Rift tells you what changed — the setting that moved, the price that went up, the file that was renamed, the pixels that are different. Across files, folders, spreadsheets, data and images.

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Your files never leave your machine
No account needed
CLI for scripts & CI

Rift comparing two versions of a project: modified, added, removed and moved files at a glance

Files compared: 100k in ~1s
1 GB vs 1 GB: 13 s
Working memory: 46 MB
Bytes uploaded: 0

Stop reading noise

Half of every diff doesn't matter. Rift sets it aside.

Reordered keys, Windows vs Unix line endings, a timestamp in a log, a list sorted differently. Rift recognises the differences that don't matter, so the ones that do stand out.

Line endings & encodings

A file that only went from LF to CRLF, or UTF-8 to UTF-16, is marked "same content" — with a note saying why.

Whitespace & case

Ignore trailing spaces, extra spaces, all whitespace or letter case, with one click.

Timestamps, GUIDs & versions

Built-in ignore patterns for the values that always differ — or write your own.

Team-wide rules

Commit a .riftrules file and everyone compares the same way: same patterns, same excluded folders, same settings.

One tool, every kind of file

It understands what it's comparing.

Folders, config, spreadsheets, images and merges — each compared the way a person would read it.

Folders

Find what moved — not just what's missing.

Other tools show a moved file as one deleted and another added. Rift recognises the same file in a new place and says so: src/util.ts → lib/helpers.ts.

One tree of every file, marked modified, added, removed or moved
Filter to just the changes, or search by name
Respects your .gitignore, plus your own include and exclude patterns
Compare by size and date, by content, or byte by byte
Double-click any file to see its changes side by side

Rift folder comparison listing every file with its status and quick filters

JSON · YAML · TOML · XML

Data files, compared by meaning.

Rift reads configuration as data, not text. Keys that moved around, or 1.0 becoming 1, are not changes. The settings that actually changed are — and nothing else.

Lists of records matched by their id, key or name — reordering is not a change
A renamed role is one line, not buried in a hundred lines of shuffled JSON
Built for config, API responses, Kubernetes and Docker files, translations, .csproj and pom.xml

~ server.port: 8080 → 8443
~ users[id=1].role: "admin" → "owner"
- users[id=2]
+ logging: {"level": "info"}

Rift structure view showing the exact settings that changed between two JSON files

Excel · OpenDocument · CSV

Spreadsheets, row by row.

Compare XLSX, XLS, ODS and CSV the way you think about them: as rows of records. A sorted or reordered sheet is no longer "everything changed".

Rows matched on a key column — Rift finds one like sku or id, or you choose
The exact cells that changed, old value next to new
Added and removed columns at a glance
Pick the sheet to compare in multi-sheet workbooks

sku=A-100: price 2.50 → 2.75; stock 120 → 110

Rift table view with rows matched by SKU and changed, added and removed rows highlighted

Images

Images, pixel by pixel.

For UI screenshots, design exports, icons and visual regression checks — see exactly what moved on screen, and how much.

Side by side, a before/after slider, or a difference heatmap
The number of changed pixels, and the exact area that changed
A tolerance setting that ignores re-compression noise
PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, BMP, TIFF and ICO

Rift before/after slider comparing two versions of a dashboard

Git & merge

Merge conflicts, resolved calmly.

Rift merges everything it safely can, then walks you through each real conflict — ours and theirs side by side, and the original if you want it. Take one side, both, or edit by hand.

Compare any file or folder with any commit, branch or tag
Or compare two versions from history with each other
Use Rift as your git difftool and git mergetool

Rift three-way merge showing automatic changes from both sides and conflicts to resolve

Gigabyte files, no problem

Fast enough that you'll stop waiting for diffs.

Rift reads large files straight from disk and only draws what's on screen, so a huge log or data dump scrolls as smoothly as a small one — without eating your RAM.

A hex view for binary files, with every differing byte highlighted
Compare again in about half the time

Benchmarks · Windows 11, SSD

Comparison	Time	Memory
Two 1 GB text files50 million lines each	13 s	46 MB
Two 100 MB text files5 million lines each	1.3 s	11 MB
Two folders100,000 files each	1.0 s	—

Memory is Rift's own working memory; the operating system may also cache the files it reads.

Archives open like folders

"Did this release package contain what's in my build folder?" is now one comparison.

Compare ZIP, JAR, WAR, NuGet, wheel, TAR and TAR.GZ files as if they were folders — against each other, or against a real folder. Opened safely: entries that try to write outside their folder are refused, and archives that would expand to an unreasonable size are stopped.

ZIP
JAR
WAR
NuGet
wheel
TAR
TAR.GZ

For scripts and CI

Everything in the app works in your terminal.

Clear exit codes — 0 same, 1 different, 2 error — and JSON output for automation. Check that a build matches what was released, that a config change touches only what it should, or that two data exports agree.

terminal

$ rift diff old/ new/ --exclude node_modules/
$ rift diff prices-may.xlsx prices-june.xlsx --key sku
$ rift diff src/app.ts --rev HEAD~3
$ rift merge base.txt ours.txt theirs.txt -o merged.txt

Made to be pleasant to use

The diff tool you'll actually enjoy opening.

01
Keyboard first

Every action is in the command palette (Ctrl/⌘ K), with shortcuts to jump between changes and copy them across.
02
Edit in place

Double-click a line to change it, copy changes left or right, undo, and save — without leaving the comparison.
03
Light & dark

Themes that follow your system, so Rift looks at home at 9am and at midnight.
04
Native everywhere

Windows, macOS (Apple silicon and Intel) and Linux — not a web page in a wrapper.

Your files stay on your computer

No account. No cloud upload. Ever.

Rift runs entirely on your machine. Your source code, customer data and contracts are never sent anywhere — the only network request it makes is to check for updates. Safe to use on the files you can't share.

Who uses Rift

Anyone who has to answer "what changed?"

DevelopersReview changes, compare branches, resolve merges.
QA & testCompare test outputs, screenshots and data exports.
Data & financeReconcile spreadsheets and CSV exports by key.
DevOps & releaseVerify builds, archives and configuration across environments.
Support & opsCompare logs and configs without the noise.

Coming next

Built in the open, with our customers.

Code-aware comparison
Understands functions and classes, so a moved or renamed function is one change, not hundreds of lines.
Change grouping
See "the same edit in 200 files" once, instead of 200 times.
Plain-English summaries
A readable summary of what changed — with an option to keep everything on your own machine.

Want a say in what comes first? Tell us.

Rift vs a typical diff tool

Same job. A very different answer.

Capability	Typical diff tool	Rift
Text files side by side	Yes	With word-level highlights
Moved & renamed files	Shown as deleted + added	Recognised as moved
Line-ending or encoding-only changes	Shown as changed	Marked "same content", with the reason
JSON / YAML / TOML / XML	Line by line	By meaning, key order ignored
Excel and CSV	Often not supported	Row by row, matched on a key
Images	Rarely	Slider, heatmap, changed area
ZIP / JAR / TAR	Sometimes	As folders — even against a real folder
Git history for any file or folder	Separate tool	Built in
Three-way merge	Sometimes	Guided, conflict by conflict
Gigabyte files	Often slow	1 GB in 13 s, 46 MB of memory
Shared team rules	No	.riftrules in your project

Get Rift 0.1.0

Installed in a minute.

Pick the file for your system. We'll email you a one-time code, and the download starts as soon as you enter it.

Windows

Windows 10 and 11

macOS

macOS 11 Big Sur or later

Linux

64-bit

Command line

Put rift on your PATH

Verify your download (optional): each file's SHA-256 checksum is in SHA256SUMS.txt.

FAQ

Questions, answered.

Something else? Email jamal@unravelers.tech.

Which systems does Rift run on?

Windows 10 and 11, macOS 11 Big Sur or later on Apple silicon and Intel, and 64-bit Linux (.deb, .rpm or AppImage).

Can it compare really large files?

Yes. Two 1 GB files compare in about 13 seconds using under 50 MB of working memory, and they scroll as smoothly as small ones.

Does Rift upload my files?

No. Every comparison happens on your computer — no account, no cloud. The only network request Rift makes is to check for updates.

Can I use it with git?

Yes, as both git difftool and git mergetool. It can also compare any file or folder with any commit, branch or tag.

Can my team share the same settings?

Yes. Save ignore patterns, excluded folders and comparison options to a .riftrules file in your project, and everyone who compares that project gets them.

Is there a command-line version?

Yes. rift works on its own, with exit codes (0 same, 1 different, 2 error) and JSON output for scripts and CI pipelines.

Are team licences available?

Yes — write to jamal@unravelers.tech for team licences, volume pricing or a demo.