icdiff
improved colored diff
Decision gist · record as of 2026-08-14
Yes. Icdiff is a low-friction, dependency-free utility with no security vulnerabilities, permissive licensing, and strong adoption (top 5000 PyPI packages). Install it if you prefer side-by-side diffs over unified format—it integrates seamlessly with Git and other VCS tools and costs nothing to try.AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying
Before you install
- Installation is straightforward with no runtime dependencies.
- The package is aging (last release 187 days ago) but remains actively maintained with a stable repository and strong community adoption.
License · maintenance · safety
permissive license (permissive) — Licensed under the Python Software Foundation License (permissive), which is GPL-compatible and poses no restrictions on use or redistribution.
last release 2026-02-08 (187 days) · last repo commit 2026-02-08 · 4,386 stars
0 known vulnerabilities (OSV.dev, 2026-08-14) · 10,340,806 downloads/mo, #1,458 on PyPI
Alternatives
Verify before relying
pip install icdiff
icdiff left_file right_file
# Or use with git:
git difftool --extcmd icdiff- Whether Python version support is truly unspecified or if there are practical constraints based on the codebase
What it is and what it does
Icdiff is a command-line tool that compares two files and displays their differences in a side-by-side colored format instead of the traditional unified diff. It runs as a standalone executable with no runtime dependencies, making it lightweight and easy to deploy. The tool supports recursive directory comparison, custom line filtering, context control, and integrates directly with Git, Subversion, and Mercurial as an external diff viewer.
The package is designed for developers and system administrators who need clearer visual feedback when reviewing file changes. It offers numerous display options including line numbering, background highlighting, whitespace visualization, and customizable color schemes. You can use it standalone or configure it as your version control system's default diff tool.
Use it for
- Review code changes in Git by running `git difftool --extcmd icdiff` to see diffs side-by-side instead of unified format
- Compare configuration files across environments to spot differences in settings or deployments
- Recursively diff entire directory trees with `--recursive` to identify all changes between versions
- Integrate with Mercurial or Subversion as a custom diff viewer for consistent visual comparison across VCS tools
- Highlight specific line changes with `--line-numbers` and context control for focused code review
Worth the install?
AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page. Verify before relying on it.
Yes.
Icdiff is a low-friction, dependency-free utility with no security vulnerabilities, permissive licensing, and strong adoption (top 5000 PyPI packages). Install it if you prefer side-by-side diffs over unified format—it integrates seamlessly with Git and other VCS tools and costs nothing to try.
Install
icdiff on PyPI
Before you install
Installation is straightforward with no runtime dependencies. The package is aging (last release 187 days ago) but remains actively maintained with a stable repository and strong community adoption.
License in practice
Licensed under the Python Software Foundation License (permissive), which is GPL-compatible and poses no restrictions on use or redistribution.
Quickstart
pip install icdiff
icdiff left_file right_file
# Or use with git:
git difftool --extcmd icdiffVerify before relying
- Whether Python version support is truly unspecified or if there are practical constraints based on the codebase
Package facts
| License | permissive license permissive |
| Python support | Not specified |
| Install friction | Low. Pure-Python wheel |
| Runtime dependencies | None |
| Maintenance | Aging 187 days since the last release |
| Last repo commit | |
| First released | |
| Downloads | 10,340,806 / month, #1,458 on PyPI 30-day window, as of 2026-08-14 |
| Known vulnerabilities | None known OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14 |
| Classifiers | License :: OSI Approved :: Python Software Foundation License |
Evidence: icdiff-2.0.10-py3-none-any.whl
Tags
Let your AI agent find packages like this
Example. Real query, live index.
You found this page by searching. An agent finds it by wishing: SkillFed indexes 14,416 PyPI packages by what they can do, searchable in plain language.
wish › “side-by-side diff viewer”
- icdiffIcdiff displays file differences in a side-by-side colored format,…
- ydiffYdiff displays colored, incremental diffs in a terminal with…
- gradio-imagesliderA Gradio component that displays two images side-by-side with an…
Give your agent the search over MCP, or paste the wish link into any chat.
More Utilities packages
Converts domain names between Unicode and ASCII-compatible encoding (Punycode) according to IDNA 2008 and Unicode Technical Standard 46, with security validation and broader script coverage than the standard library.
Install it if you work with internationalized domain names, need to validate domains, or use HTTP clients that depend on it transitively.
Detects and normalizes text encoding from unknown or ambiguous sources, supporting all IANA character sets that Python's core library provides codecs for, with the ability to register custom codecs.
Setuptools is a Python build backend and package management tool that handles building, distributing, and installing Python packages, including support for C/C++ extension modules.
Pluggy provides a plugin system that lets you define hook specifications and register implementations to be called in sequence, enabling extensible Python applications without tight coupling.
Install it if you're building an extensible application or framework.
Pygments is a syntax highlighter that colorizes source code and text in over 500 languages and formats, outputting to HTML, LaTeX, RTF, SVG, images, or ANSI terminal sequences.
Install it if you need to display or transform source code.
Six provides utility functions to write Python code that runs on both Python 2.7 and Python 3.3+, smoothing over language differences between the two versions.
See also ydiff · pytest-icdiff · unidiff2 · unidiff · daff · pytest-clarity · moreorless · simple-colors · patch