XML Document A (Left)

XML Document B (Right)

Diff Result

Enter XML in both panels and click Compare

What is XML Diff Tool?

This tool compares two XML documents side by side and highlights the differences. It recursively walks both XML trees and identifies added elements, removed elements, and changed text content or attributes. Results are color-coded: green for additions, red for removals, and yellow for changes.

Comparing XML documents is a common task in software development — reviewing configuration changes, comparing API responses, auditing XML data exports, or verifying that an XML transformation produced the expected output. The diff uses the browser's native DOMParser API. All processing is client-side — your XML never leaves your device.

How to Compare XML Documents

Follow these steps to diff two XML documents.

Paste XML into Both Panels

Paste the first XML into the XML Document A panel and the second into XML Document B. Click Sample to load example documents.

Click Compare

Click the Compare button. The Diff Result panel shows all differences with color-coded labels: green for added nodes, red for removed nodes, yellow for changed content.

Review and Copy

Review the highlighted differences. Click Copy to copy the diff summary to your clipboard.

When You'd Actually Use This

Config Change Review

Before deploying, compare the new XML config with the old one. Instantly see what changed, what was added, and what was removed.

API Response Auditing

Compare XML API responses from different environments (dev vs prod) or across API versions to verify consistency.

XML Transformation Verification

After applying an XSLT or other XML transformation, diff the input and output to verify the changes are correct.

Data Export Validation

Compare XML data exports from two different systems or time periods to find discrepancies in the data.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is my XML data stored?

No. Everything happens in your browser using the native DOMParser API. Your XML never leaves your device.

What differences does the tool detect?

The tool detects added elements, removed elements, changed text content, and changed attribute values.

Does it handle large XML documents?

Yes — performance depends on your device. Large documents (hundreds of KB) may take a second or two to process.

Does it support XML namespaces?

Yes — namespace-qualified element names are compared as-is, including the namespace prefix.

What if one of the XML documents is invalid?

The tool shows a parse error message for the invalid document and does not proceed with the comparison.

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