Does a trailing slash actually matter?

It can, to both servers and search engines. `/about` and `/about/` are different paths; most sites redirect one to the other, but when both resolve and there is no canonical, a search engine may treat them as duplicate content. That is why this is a switch rather than something ignored by default.

Does sorting query parameters change the meaning?

Usually not — most backends treat the query as an unordered set. But a few APIs and signing schemes compute a signature over the parameters in order, and sorting breaks them. Turn sorting off when diagnosing that kind of problem.

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URL Comparison Tool

Normalise two URLs, check whether they are equivalent, and see exactly where they differ.

Input

First URL

Second URL

Equivalent after normalisation

Normalised

https://example.com/products?a=1&b=2

https://example.com/products?a=1&b=2

About this tool

Paste two URLs to find out whether they are equivalent and which part differs. Equivalence really depends on what you care about, so every normalisation rule is a switch: lowercase the host, drop a default port, drop a trailing slash, sort query parameters, ignore the fragment, ignore tracking parameters. With everything on, `https://a.com/x/` and `https://A.com:443/x?utm_source=n` are equivalent — but when chasing a caching or canonical problem, some of those rules need turning off.

How it works

Paste the two URLs to compare.
Switch normalisation rules on or off to choose what to ignore.
Read the verdict and the per-part differences.

Limits and rules

Normalisation rules are individually switchable, so the verdict depends on which differences you chose to ignore.

Privacy

URLs are parsed inside this browser only. A URL often carries tokens, internal paths, and personal data in its query, so nothing is uploaded, stored, or logged.

Frequently asked questions

Does a trailing slash actually matter?: It can, to both servers and search engines. `/about` and `/about/` are different paths; most sites redirect one to the other, but when both resolve and there is no canonical, a search engine may treat them as duplicate content. That is why this is a switch rather than something ignored by default.
Does sorting query parameters change the meaning?: Usually not — most backends treat the query as an unordered set. But a few APIs and signing schemes compute a signature over the parameters in order, and sorting breaks them. Turn sorting off when diagnosing that kind of problem.

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