Introduction
If you're tired of writing the same pull request descriptions over and over, or watching your team struggle to understand what changed in the latest code update, you're not alone.
Code reviews eat up hours of developer time, and keeping everyone on the same page feels like a never-ending battle. WhatTheDiff steps in as your AI-powered code review assistant, automatically generating clear PR descriptions and turning technical changes into plain English summaries that your whole team can understand.
Whether you're managing a small development team or trying to keep non-technical stakeholders in the loop, this tool promises to cut through the confusion and get everyone speaking the same language about your code changes.
Key Features
Automated PR Descriptions: Creates detailed pull request descriptions automatically by analyzing your code changes. This saves hours of writing time and helps reviewers understand changes faster, making code reviews more efficient.
Rich Summary Notifications: Sends simple summaries of code changes to Slack, email, or webhooks in plain language. Your marketing team, project managers, and other non-technical folks stay in the loop without needing to understand code.
Beautiful Changelogs: Generates public changelogs or JSON feeds that explain project updates in everyday language. You can share progress with clients or stakeholders without technical jargon getting in the way.
Weekly Progress Reports: Delivers AI-generated summaries of what your team accomplished each week. These reports go straight to your team channels or managers, keeping everyone aligned on progress without extra meetings.
Inline AI Refactoring: Lets reviewers suggest code improvements right in the pull request by typing /wtd. Small code fixes happen instantly without switching between tools or waiting for developers to make changes manually.
Fine-Grained Settings: Gives you control over when and how the tool works, like skipping automated pull requests or managing token usage. You can customize it to fit your team’s exact workflow and budget needs.
Our Take
If you’re running a small development team or managing tech projects, WhatTheDiff could save you real time on code reviews. The automated PR descriptions mean your developers spend less time writing up what they changed and more time actually coding. That’s money back in your pocket.
The fact that non-technical team members can get plain English summaries is pretty useful too. Your project managers or clients can stay in the loop without needing to understand code. This beats having developers spend 30 minutes explaining technical changes in meetings.
The token system might trip you up if you’re not careful though. With 25,000 free tokens monthly, you’ll need to watch your usage. Bigger teams or projects with lots of pull requests could blow through that fast. You’ll want to do the math on whether the paid plans make sense for your volume.
The full repository access requirement is something to think about. Some companies get nervous about giving third-party tools complete access to their code. WhatTheDiff says they don’t store your code, just read the diffs through the APIs, but you’ll need to decide if that works for your security policies.
For the price point and features, it’s competitive with similar tools. The inline refactoring feature where reviewers can suggest code improvements right in the PR is particularly handy. If your team struggles with lengthy code review processes or communication gaps between technical and non-technical folks, this tool addresses those pain points directly.
Pricing
What-the-Diff offers usage-based pricing with two main tiers.
The Free plan includes 25,000 tokens per month (approximately 10 pull requests) with unlimited repositories, inline code refactoring, and no credit card required, though it is rate limited.
The Pro plan at $19 per month provides 200,000 tokens (approximately 40 pull requests), instant code refactoring, Slack/Webhook/Email notifications, and priority email support.
Both plans include unlimited repositories. Tokens are used to process git diffs, with average pull requests consuming around 2,300 tokens.
Unused tokens do not roll over to the next month. Users can start free and upgrade when needed, with no automatic plan upgrades when token limits are reached.
Final Thoughts
WhatTheDiff tackles a real pain point that costs development teams hours every week. If you’re watching your developers spend more time explaining code changes than writing them, or if your non-technical team members feel left out of the loop, this tool deserves a serious look. The free tier gives you enough tokens to test it out properly with your team’s actual workflow.
Before jumping in, think about your current PR volume and how much time your team spends on code review communication. Calculate whether the token limits work for your needs and if your security policies allow the repository access it requires. The weekly summaries and changelog features alone could transform how your team communicates progress to stakeholders.
Ready to see if WhatTheDiff can speed up your code reviews and get everyone on the same page? Click the button below to try it out with your team.
FAQs
