XML Diff Checker
Compare two XML documents side by side. Highlights added, removed, and changed lines — useful for config files, API responses, Maven POMs, and data migration validation.
Compare XML Files and Documents
Paste two XML blocks to instantly see what changed. Additions highlighted in green, deletions in red, unchanged content shown in context. Runs entirely in your browser — no uploads.
- Line-by-line diff: Clear visual highlighting of every change
- Side-by-side or unified: Switch views to match your workflow
- Any XML format: Config files, API responses, Maven POMs, SOAP envelopes, SVGs
- Private: XML content never leaves your browser
Common XML Diff Use Cases
- Maven POM files: Compare
pom.xmlbetween versions to audit dependency changes, plugin upgrades, and build configuration differences - Spring/Java configs: Diff
applicationContext.xmlorweb.xmlbetween environments or before/after refactors - SOAP API responses: Validate that a refactored endpoint returns the same XML structure as the original
- Android manifests: Compare
AndroidManifest.xmlbetween app versions to review permission changes - Data migration: Verify exported XML data matches expected schema after ETL transformations
- RSS/Atom feeds: Compare feed output between deployments to catch unintended content changes
Related Tools
- JSON Diff Tool — Compare JSON objects with structured highlighting
- YAML Diff Checker — Compare Kubernetes manifests, CI configs, and Helm values
- XML to JSON Converter — Convert XML to JSON before comparing in a JSON diff tool
- Text Diff Checker — General-purpose line comparison for any text format
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the XML diff understand structure, or is it just text comparison?
This tool performs a text-level diff — it compares lines of text, not parsed XML nodes. This means it will flag formatting differences (attribute order, whitespace, self-closing vs. explicit closing tags) as changes even if the XML semantics are identical. For a semantic XML diff (where <tag attr="a" id="1"> equals <tag id="1" attr="a">), you'd need a dedicated XML-aware diff tool. For most practical purposes — comparing config files and catching unintended changes — text-level diff works well.
How should I format XML before diffing?
Pretty-print both XML documents with consistent indentation before pasting. Most editors (VS Code, IntelliJ) have an "Format Document" command for XML. You can also use an online XML formatter to normalize indentation. Without consistent formatting, a single reformatted block will appear as entirely changed even if the content is identical. Both inputs should use the same indentation style (2 spaces, 4 spaces, or tabs) for a clean diff.
Can I diff large XML files like database exports?
Yes — the text diff runs in your browser and handles files up to several MB comfortably. Very large XML exports (50+ MB) may be slow to process and display. For very large files, consider extracting the relevant section to compare rather than diffing the entire document. The diff output for large files can also be large — use the "changed sections only" view to collapse unchanged context and focus on differences.