---
title: "Diffoscope: recursive diffs"
url: https://perrotta.dev/2024/08/diffoscope-recursive-diffs/
last_updated: 2025-09-05
---


There are many ways to `diff` two individual files:

- `diff`
- [`colordiff`](https://www.colordiff.org/)
- [`icdiff`](https://github.com/jeffkaufman/icdiff)
- [`delta`](https://github.com/dandavison/delta)

But how can you `diff` two individual directories?

Enter [`diffoscope`](https://diffoscope.org/).

Install it with your favorite package manager. Usage is as simple as:

```shell
diffoscope /path/to/dir1 /path/to/dir2
```

There's also a webapp: https://try.diffoscope.org/

It is particularly handy in the context of [Reproducible
Builds](https://reproducible-builds.org/).