Inspectors

JSON Diff

Compare two JSON documents structurally — key order and formatting differences are ignored, so only actual value changes are shown. The tool reports added keys, removed keys, and changed values with their old and new values. Nested objects and arrays are compared recursively.

JSON Diff — Structural comparison of two JSON documents — key order and formatting ignored

What it does

  • ▸Structural comparison that ignores key order and formatting
  • ▸Reports added keys, removed keys, and changed values
  • ▸Compares nested objects and arrays recursively
  • ▸Shows old and new values for changed fields
  • ▸Handles arrays by index comparison

Use cases

  • ▸Comparing two API responses to see what changed
  • ▸Diffing two versions of a JSON configuration file
  • ▸Checking what a migration script changed in a JSON data file
  • ▸Verifying that a JSON transformation preserved the expected structure

How it works

1

Paste the original JSON in the left pane and the modified JSON in the right pane

2

The tool parses both and compares them structurally

3

Added, removed, and changed fields are listed in the output

4

Each change shows the path, old value, and new value

Frequently asked questions

1Why does it ignore key order?

In JSON, key order is semantically meaningless — {"a":1,"b":2} and {"b":2,"a":1} represent the same data. By ignoring key order, the diff focuses on actual value changes rather than formatting differences.

2How does it compare arrays?

Arrays are compared by index — element 0 with element 0, element 1 with element 1, etc. If the arrays have different lengths, the extra elements are reported as added or removed. This is index-based comparison, not set-based.

3Can it handle nested objects?

Yes. The comparison is recursive. A change in a deeply nested field like user.address.city is reported with the full path, so you can see exactly where the change occurred.

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