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Show HN: Compare Word documents in the browser (client-side only)

nighwatch Saturday, November 22, 2025

I built this after almost losing a client because we couldn't agree on which contract version was "final."

The problem with existing tools: • Word's "Track Changes" only works if someone remembered to turn it on. • Online comparison tools often require uploading sensitive legal/financial docs to their servers. • Desktop software is often bloated, expensive, or platform-specific.

My solution: • 100% Client-Side: Your files never leave your device. No server uploads, no database storage. • Format Support: Works with Word (.docx), PDF, Excel, PPT, TXT, and CSV. • Smart Parsing: I wrote custom parsers to preserve table structures and layouts during comparison (so complex contracts don't turn into a mess). • Zero Install: Works on any device with a modern browser.

Technical stack: • Next.js & React for the frontend. • Web Workers for handling heavy parsing tasks (like PDF rendering) without freezing the UI. • Mammoth.js & PDF.js for document text extraction. • Pure client-side diffing algorithms optimized for performance.

I'd genuinely appreciate feedback on:

Parsing Accuracy: How well does it handle your complex Word tables? (I spent a lot of time on the rowspan/colspan logic!) UI/UX: Is the side-by-side comparison intuitive? Performance: How does it feel with larger documents? Happy to answer questions about the implementation or discuss the tradeoffs of building a serverless document tool!

Summary
The article compares the features and capabilities of two popular word processing applications, Microsoft Word and Google Docs, helping readers decide which tool best fits their needs and workflow.
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Summary
compare2word.com
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