Meld
Hacker ApprovedRanked 5 of 13 diff tools by recommenders
Free visual tool for merging files and comparing folders, recommended for working through tricky merge conflicts.
Free visual tool for merging files and comparing folders, recommended for working through tricky merge conflicts.
14 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 86%
Recommended in 5 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 6 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 5 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Simple, flexible visual file merging
“I remember enjoying https://meldmerge.org/ in the past for interactive visual file merging.”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: Which merge tool do you use?” “Meld looks simple. I mostly use macos and they seem to have good approach to support it.”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: Which merge tool do you use?” “It's dead simple, flexible, and easier to sandbox and eventually nuke.”
Comment from 17 Jun 2026 in “Git worktrees – why should I use them?” - Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “Ask HN: Which merge tool do you use?”
Resolves tricky merge conflicts
“Huge meld fan here, recommended by a professor about a year ago. Game changer”
Comment from 23 Mar 2026 in “A Coherent Vision for the Future of Version Control” “This has helped me in a pinch to work out some confusing merge conflicts.”
Comment from 22 Mar 2026 in “A Coherent Vision for the Future of Version Control”
Other diff tools people recommend
The four most recommended other diff tools, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| difftastic | 23 | 1 | 96% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Weave merge tool | 20 | 11 | 65% | 6 | — | — |
| Mergiraf | 19 | 4 | 83% | 5 | 6 mo3 owners | Approved |
| sem | 19 | 7 | 73% | 5 | — | Approved |
| MeldThis page | 12 | 2 | 86% | 5 | — | Approved |
What people said
14 of the 16 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“it's not nice to use apps like Meld and Remmina”
“you should warn about it like meld does”
“super early on in the development but I feel this approach has promise for some marginal gains”
“It's dead simple, flexible, and easier to sandbox and eventually nuke.”
“I believe that Meld can do that.”
“Huge meld fan here, recommended by a professor about a year ago. Game changer”
“This has helped me in a pinch to work out some confusing merge conflicts.”
“they tend to be much better than a jack of all trades editor”
“All weren't remotely close to what I wanted.”
“also great to diff folders”
“Meld looks simple. I mostly use macos and they seem to have good approach to support it.”
“Meld is still pretty great of you like standalone tools”
“They are like mental glue.”
“I remember enjoying https://meldmerge.org/ in the past for interactive visual file merging.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.