In short
- The short answer: use the tool that matches your patch format — Delta Patcher for
.xdelta, Floating IPS for.ipsand.bps. - Floating IPS wins on batch patching and command-line use; Delta Patcher wins on XDelta support and cross-platform GUI.
- Both are free and open source. Installing both covers nearly every ROM hack you’ll ever meet.
- On macOS, also consider MultiPatch, which handles several formats in one app.
At a glance
| Delta Patcher | Floating IPS (flips) | |
|---|---|---|
| Patch formats | XDelta (.xdelta) only | IPS and BPS |
| Platforms | Windows, macOS, Linux (GUI on all three) | Windows GUI; CLI builds for other systems |
| Create patches | Yes — XDelta | Yes — IPS and BPS |
| Batch / scripted patching | No batch mode | Yes — full command-line interface |
| Checksum verification | Yes (Adler-32 per window, optional) | Yes (CRC32) |
| Modifies original file? | Patches in place (use “Backup original file”) | Never — always writes a new file |
| Price / license | Free, open source (GPL) | Free, open source |
| Still maintained? | Yes — active releases | Original in maintenance mode; community forks continue |
The table makes the decision for most people: look at your patch file’s extension. .xdelta → Delta Patcher. .ips or .bps → Floating IPS. Everything below is for the edge cases.
Where Floating IPS wins
IPS and BPS are its home turf
Floating IPS was built for the classic ROM-hacking formats. The vast majority of GBA and SNES hacks ship as .ips, .ups (via sister tools) or .bps — Delta Patcher can’t open any of them, because it only speaks XDelta. If your hack collection is mostly 16-bit era, Floating IPS is the tool you’ll reach for daily.
Batch patching and scripting
flips has a real command-line interface: point it at a patch, a ROM and an output name and it just runs. That makes it scriptable — patch a whole folder of ROMs, or wire it into a build pipeline for your own hack. Delta Patcher is GUI-only; there’s no batch mode and no CLI.
It never touches your original
Floating IPS always writes a new file and asks you to name it. Delta Patcher patches the original in place unless you tick Backup original file (a setting that resets every launch). flips’ behaviour is the safer default, especially for beginners.
Where Delta Patcher wins
XDelta is increasingly the standard
Modern hacks — NDS translations, large mods, anything where the patch would be huge in an older format — ship as .xdelta. Floating IPS can’t open those at all. As more projects move to XDelta for its efficiency with large files, Delta Patcher becomes the mandatory install.
A real GUI on every desktop OS
Delta Patcher ships native-feeling builds for Windows, macOS (universal binary) and Linux (including AppImage and Flatpak). Floating IPS’s GUI is Windows-centric; elsewhere you’re compiling the CLI yourself or relying on forks. If you patch on a Mac or Linux machine and want buttons rather than a terminal, Delta Patcher is the smoother experience.
Patch metadata and validation
Delta Patcher shows a Patch info tooltip with the patch’s description and checksums, and its per-window checksum validation catches wrong source files with a clear dialog. flips verifies CRC32 too, but Delta Patcher’s presentation of why a patch failed is friendlier for newcomers.
The macOS third option: MultiPatch
Mac users get a worthwhile third choice in MultiPatch, which applies and creates IPS, UPS, BPS, PPF, XDelta and several other formats in one native macOS app. If you patch across many formats on a Mac and want a single tool, it’s worth evaluating alongside the two above. See patching ROMs on Mac.
A practical workflow using both
-
Sort your patches by extension
.xdeltagoes to Delta Patcher;.ipsand.bpsgo to Floating IPS..upsneeds a UPS-capable tool (see alternatives). -
Verify the source first, in either tool
Both tools check checksums. Read the hack’s readme, confirm region and revision, and verify your file’s hash before patching — how to verify a source file.
-
Keep the originals
In Delta Patcher, tick Backup original file. In flips, you get a new file automatically. Either way, never patch your only copy.
The verdict
And a final honest note: neither tool here is “better” in any absolute sense. Floating IPS is the sharper tool for the classic formats and for automation; Delta Patcher is the specialist for the format modern hacks increasingly use. The ROM-hacking veterans you see answering questions in forums almost all keep both installed — that’s the real recommendation.
There’s no overall winner — they’re complementary tools. Install both. Delta Patcher for the growing world of XDelta patches, Floating IPS for the enormous back catalogue of IPS and BPS hacks, plus batch work. The download is free, the disk space is trivial, and you’ll never again wonder which tool opens a patch.