What is the difference between Schematic and Text Overlay?

Schematic shows the versions next to each other with removed words in red and added words in green. Text Overlay stacks the pages so differences appear red or blue against gray shared content.

A page was inserted in the new version. Will everything after it show as changed?

No. Pages are matched by content, so the new page is reported as added and the following pages keep their match.

Does it notice a replaced image or a different font?

Yes. Pages whose text is unchanged are also compared by how they look: a replaced image, drawing, colour or layout shift is listed as a “Visual change” and framed in amber on the page. On pages where the text changed, the report shows the word differences.

Can I compare two scanned contracts?

Yes, by how they look. A scan has no text to read, so the pages are compared as pictures and the areas that look different are framed in amber. To see which words changed as well, make both files searchable with the OCR tool first, then compare them.

I uploaded the files in the wrong order. Do I have to start over?

No. Press the swap button before comparing and the sides change places.

Are both versions kept after the comparison?

No. They are processed on vupdf’s servers only to build the comparison and deleted once the result is returned.

All Tools

Compare PDF

Compare two PDFs and see what was added, removed, or changed.

Choose PDF files

or drop it here

Drag the old version first, then the new one

Up to 50 MB per file

Completely free
No sign-up
Files are deleted right after processing

What Compare PDF does

Compare PDF answers the question that comes up whenever a document goes back and forth: what exactly changed since the last version? You upload an old and a new PDF, and vupdf reads the text of both, lines the pages up and marks every word that was removed, added or replaced. It is made for contracts, policies, manuscripts and price lists, where a quiet edit can matter.

Pages are matched by their content, so a page inserted in the middle shows up as one added page instead of making everything after it look changed. You get both a visual view, with changed words highlighted on the page previews, and a written Comparison Report that lists each change page by page and jumps straight to it.

How to use Compare PDF

Add the two PDFs, dragging the old version first and then the new one.
Check the Old and New labels and use the swap button if they ended up the wrong way round.
Click Compare PDFs and read the summary of changed, added and removed pages.
Choose Schematic for a side-by-side view or Text Overlay to stack the versions.
Work through the Comparison Report, using Show in preview to find each change on the page.

Features and options

Schematic view: Old and new pages sit side by side, with removed text highlighted in red on the old page and added text in green on the new one. Consecutive changes merge into one bar per line.
Text Overlay view: Both versions are stacked: content only in the old file is tinted red, only in the new file blue, shared content gray. A layer balance slider fades between them, handy for spotting moved paragraphs or logos.
Smart page matching: Pages with identical text are paired first, so every page gets an accurate status: Same, Changed, Added or Removed.
Comparison Report: Each changed page lists what was taken out and what was put in, with change and word counts. Show in preview scrolls to the exact spot.
Synchronized scrolling: Both documents scroll and zoom together so the same passage stays in view; switch it off to inspect one file alone.

When it helps

A client returns a contract “with a few small edits”, and you want every wording change before signing.
An author reviews which sentences an editor cut or rewrote in a returned chapter.
A purchasing team checks a supplier’s new price list against the previous one.
A compliance officer confirms an updated policy contains only the approved changes.

Tips and limits

The comparison uses the text inside the PDFs. Scanned pages without a text layer look identical, so run them through OCR - Convert to Text first.
Image, color and font changes are not listed in the report; check them by eye in Text Overlay.
Each file can be up to 50 MB, and exactly two PDFs are compared.
Upload the older file first, since the colors and the words removed and added depend on which side is old.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Schematic and Text Overlay?: Schematic shows the versions next to each other with removed words in red and added words in green. Text Overlay stacks the pages so differences appear red or blue against gray shared content.
A page was inserted in the new version. Will everything after it show as changed?: No. Pages are matched by content, so the new page is reported as added and the following pages keep their match.
Does it notice a replaced image or a different font?: Yes. Pages whose text is unchanged are also compared by how they look: a replaced image, drawing, colour or layout shift is listed as a “Visual change” and framed in amber on the page. On pages where the text changed, the report shows the word differences.
Can I compare two scanned contracts?: Yes, by how they look. A scan has no text to read, so the pages are compared as pictures and the areas that look different are framed in amber. To see which words changed as well, make both files searchable with the OCR tool first, then compare them.
I uploaded the files in the wrong order. Do I have to start over?: No. Press the swap button before comparing and the sides change places.
Are both versions kept after the comparison?: No. They are processed on vupdf’s servers only to build the comparison and deleted once the result is returned.