Steve

DirectCompare - Compare folders, Git repos, archives & FTP- up to 16 at once

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DirectCompare is a desktop file and folder comparison tool that goes way beyond diff. Compare local directories, Git branches, GitHub repos, ZIP/TAR/7Z/RAR archives, and FTP servers — side by side or up to 16 sources simultaneously. Includes 3-way merge, image duplicate detection, CSV/Excel comparison, and a built-in text editor. Single portable .exe, no installer, no dependencies. Free tier with no time limit.

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Steve
Maker
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Hey Product Hunt! 👋 I'm Steve, the maker of DirectCompare. I built this because every comparison tool I tried had the same limitation — they only compare two things. In the real world, I needed to compare a local folder against a Git branch, a GitHub repo, AND a backup archive, all at the same time. Nothing did that. So I built DirectCompare. Here's what makes it different: N-way comparison — Compare 2, 3, 4... up to 16 sources simultaneously. Mix and match local folders, Git branches, GitHub repos, archives (ZIP, TAR, 7Z, RAR, ISO, CAB), and FTP/SFTP servers in a single comparison. No-clone Git & GitHub — Compare branches and repos without cloning or checking out. It reads Git objects directly, so it's fast and doesn't touch your working directory. Similarity search — Find duplicate or near-duplicate files across sources using text similarity (Jaccard) or perceptual image hashing (dHash/aHash). It'll find duplicates even if they've been resized or reformatted. Single .exe, zero dependencies — Download it, run it. No installer, no DLLs, no .NET runtime. Works on Windows and Linux with 100% feature parity. Generous free tier — 2-way comparison, exports (CSV/HTML/JSON), bookmarks, sessions, themes — all free forever. No time limit, no nag screens. The paid tiers unlock N-way comparison, Git/GitHub integration, archive support, 3-way merge, image comparison, and more. I'd love to hear what you think — especially what comparison workflows frustrate you. Happy to answer any questions!
Steve
Maker

@david_firouzbakht @ryanfirouz Thanks guys. if either of you would like to send me a message via

help/submit feedback, from within the app, I'll send you guys a License Key.