If you need file comparison on more than two distinct machines regularly, yes. The standard license allows installation on two PCs, but the Portable Exclusive shines when machines are untrusted, ephemeral, or offline.
Beyond Compare stores your sessions, customized file formats and other preferences as . xml files in its settings folder. Beyond Compare Beyond Compare 4: Introduction beyond compare portable exclusive
Beyond Compare's portable version is a specialized deployment of the standard software that allows you to carry your entire comparison environment on a USB thumb drive or other removable media without modifying the host computer's registry. It offers the exact same core functionality as the installed version but is optimized for "exclusive" use cases where system modification is prohibited or multiple environments must be managed simultaneously. Key Benefits of the Portable Version If you need file comparison on more than
While highly versatile, the portable version lacks certain "Exclusive" features of the installed version: xml files in its settings folder
is a feature of both versions, the "exclusive" advanced features depend on whether you have a Beyond Compare Standard Edition Pro Edition (Exclusive) Folder/File Compare Basic comparison/sync Advanced alignment overrides Not available 3-way Text & Folder Merge Cloud/SFTP Basic FTP only Built-in SFTP, Dropbox, OneDrive, etc. Registry Compare Not available Compare live registries (Windows only)
Choosing the portable deployment provides several unique benefits:
You can install Beyond Compare directly onto a USB flash drive or a specific local folder to keep it self-contained.