Compare reconciliation tools
Do not use TidyRecon when you need a live connection to a shop or bank.
TidyRecon runs in your browser on files you already exported. Here is how it sits next to the tools people use for the same job, and when another one is the better choice.
Side by side
| Tool | Where it runs | Rerunning next month | Limits and price | Choose it when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| TidyRecon | Your browser. Files stay on your computer. | Cleaning and matching saved as one recipe; open rows carry to next period with their age. | Free to 1,000 rows. Solo 500,000, Pro 5,000,000. | You reconcile the same pair of exports every period. |
| Excel Power Query | Inside Excel on your computer. | Queries refresh on new files; carrying open rows forward is up to you. | Comes with Excel. | You already work in Excel and are at ease building queries. |
| OpenRefine | A free desktop program. | Cleaning steps can be exported and replayed; matching two exports is not its focus. | Free and open source. | The job is mostly cleaning one messy file. |
| SheetPair | Your browser. | Exact, fuzzy and tolerance matching in the browser. | Free 3 runs a month to 1,000 rows; Solo $19 a month to 25,000; Pro $49 to 200,000. | You want a mature matcher and the row limits suit you. |
| csvdiff.app | Your browser, no account. | Compares and cleans one pair at a time. | Free. | You need a quick one-off diff of two small files. |
Prices and limits of other tools as published in October 2026; check their sites before you choose.
What carrying rows forward means
A one-off diff forgets. TidyRecon keeps every row that did not match and checks it again next period. When its partner turns up, it closes with the date; until then it shows how many days it has been open.
February rerun
| Open item | Since | Age |
|---|---|---|
| SO-0998 | 2024-01-02 | 58days |
| SO-1007 | 2024-01-15 | 45days |
| SO-1009 | 2024-01-27 | closed 2024-02-03 |
| SO-1011 | 2024-01-30 | closed 2024-02-06 |
When not to use TidyRecon
- You need live data. TidyRecon never connects to a shop, a marketplace or a bank. It reads files you export.
- It is a one-off. For two small files you will never compare again, any free diff tool is enough. The free compare here works too.
- You want a guess. Matching is exact, by a fixed similarity score, within a tolerance or a date window. Nothing is inferred.
- Your team lives in Excel. If Power Query already does the job and everyone can maintain it, keep it.
