When comparing Hex Fiend vs HexEd.it, the Slant community recommends HexEd.it for most people. In the question“What are the best hex editors for Mac?” HexEd.it is ranked 2nd while Hex Fiend is ranked 3rd. The most important reason people chose HexEd.it is:
HexEdit.js is web-based. If you find yourself working from someone else's machine or in a web cafe this is a useful backup option, as you can access it from anywhere without installing anything, and run it regardless of that machine's OS.
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Pros
Pro Small memory footprint
Hex Fiend does not keep your files in memory. You won’t dread launching or working with Hex Fiend even on low-RAM machines.
Pro Works with huge files
Hex Fiend can handle as big a file as you’re able to create. It’s been tested on files as large as 118 GB.
Pro Binary compare / diff
Hex Fiend can show the differences between files, taking into account insertions or deletions.
Pro Fast & efficient saving
Hex Fiend knows not to waste time overwriting the parts of your files that haven’t changed, and never needs temporary disk space.
Pro Insert, delete, rearrange
Hex Fiend does not limit you to in-place changes like some hex editors.
Pro Fast
Open a huge file, scroll around, copy and paste, all instantly. Find what you’re looking for with fast searching.
Pro Free and open source
Hex Fiend is licensed under a permissive BSD-style license.
Pro Data Inspector
Interpret data as integer or floating point, signed or unsigned, big or little endian...
Pro Embeddable
It’s really easy to incorporate Hex Fiend’s hex or data views into your app. Its permissive BSD-style license won’t burden you.
Pro No installation required
HexEdit.js is web-based. If you find yourself working from someone else's machine or in a web cafe this is a useful backup option, as you can access it from anywhere without installing anything, and run it regardless of that machine's OS.
Cons
Con Files can't be saved with a .dat extension
Trying to save files with .dat extension gives the following error:
You cannot save this document with extension “.dat” at the end of the name. The required extension is “.(null)”.
Con Depends on having a stable Internet connection
Since HexEd.it is only available online, a poor Internet connection can make this tool unusable.