Item: Beyond Compare
Rating: 10
Author: Verified User

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

Beyond Compare is used within our development teams to provide a robust comparison solution amongst text files as well as for use in recursively comparing directory structures on disk. Not only does Beyond Compare highlight differences between files, it also provides easy to understand merging capabilities, making it very simple to merge differing files into a single file.

Pros and Cons

Text File Comparisons - Beyond Compare provides multiple views into comparing files against each other, and can even do 3-way comparisons.
Text File Merging - Beyond Compare can help the user merge two differing files into a single cohesive file encompassing all changes. It also does a good job of highlighting merge conflicts before a user conducts a merge.
File structure comparison - Beyond Compare can compare two directory structures on disk and identify the differences in the file lists between them. This is incredibly handy for installer development.

Outdated user interface - Beyond Compare's interface looks relatively old - with low-res icons and text defaults that remind you it was probably written 15 years ago.
Beyond Compare integrates with version control systems on the command line, but I'd like the ability to invoke version control from within the GUI as well.
This is going to be a silly complaint - but I'm having a hard time coming up with any other "cons" for Beyond Compare - I've never liked its icon. Why is there a tire in it?

Return on Investment

Beyond Compare easily accelerates development, especially when compared with not using a different tool. It reduces the amount of time developers spend hunting for minute differences in files. This is a huge benefit in saving developer time.
Beyond Compare also accelerates installer development by having folder comparisons, where you can understand if any files or folders are different between two directory structures. This makes it very easy to identify gaps in installer development.
Finally, Beyond Compare's folder synchronization functionality helps keep an occasional working copy backup in sync with a remote backup by enabling a quick folder sync between the local and remote copy. This simplifies the backup process and eliminates risk by having multiple redundant copies.

Alternatives Considered

Code Compare

When Beyond Compare 4 came out, we briefly considered looking at other tools, like Code Compare, but in all reality, we never really considered it a viable option. Beyond Compare offers such a comprehensive solution, especially with its Pro License (and 3-way merging functionality.). Our development team is so comfortable with Beyond Compare at this point that it would represent a learning curve to shift off of it.

Support Rating

I've only contacted Beyond Compare support for one issue ever, and that was an issue we had because we didn't track our license properly. Their support staff was friendly and helpful, quickly identifying the lost license key and helping us understand what our current license terms. We couldn't be happier with the responsiveness of their support.

Key Insights

Do you think Beyond Compare delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Beyond Compare's feature set?

Yes

Did Beyond Compare live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Beyond Compare go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Beyond Compare again?

Yes

Other Software Used

Pivotal Tracker, Dropbox, Bitbucket

Likelihood to Recommend

Beyond Compare is extremely good at the task of comparisons, whether that is text file comparisons or folder comparisons. It does a great job of easily highlighting the differences for users, and giving them the option of merging (in the case of text files) or synchronizing (in the case of folders.) In either case, no one on my team has ever had any reason to reach for another different tool.

Merge Conflicts? Beyond Compare is the last tool you'll ever need.

Overall Satisfaction with Beyond Compare