diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 7dd51eb..34491de 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ render("./output", {
 |---|---|
 | `<@if(context.x)>` | Conditional block — boolean check (must end with `<@endif>`) |
 | `<@if(eq(context.x,"value"))>` | Conditional block — string equality check |
+| `<@if(neq(context.x,"value"))>` | Conditional block — string inequality check |
 | `<@elseif(context.y)>` | Else-if branch (same forms as `@if`) |
 | `<@else>` | Else branch |
 | `<@endif>` | End conditional block |
@@ -72,6 +73,7 @@ render("./output", {
 |---|---|
 | `<@if(context.x)>dirname` | Conditionally include directory/file (boolean check) |
 | `<@if(eq(context.x,"value"))>dirname` | Conditionally include by string equality |
+| `<@if(neq(context.x,"value"))>dirname` | Conditionally include by string inequality |
 | `<@var(context.x)>` | Dynamic directory/file name |
 
 These can be combined: `<@if(context.web.create)><@var(context.web.dir)>` creates a directory named by `context.web.dir` only if `context.web.create` is true.
diff --git a/index.test.ts b/index.test.ts
index 75de98c..fd95a70 100644
--- a/index.test.ts
+++ b/index.test.ts
@@ -568,3 +568,25 @@ test("if eq in path", () => {
   render(tmp,{test:"foo"})
   expect(existsSync(join(tmp,"test"))).toBe(false)
 })
+
+test("if neq in file", () => {
+  const createRenderer = initRenderer("./testdata/neq_in_file")
+  expect(() => createRenderer(z.object({test: z.boolean()}))).toThrow(SchemaMismatchError)
+  const render = createRenderer(z.object({test: z.string()}))
+
+  render(tmp,{test:"foo"})
+  expect(readFileSync(join(tmp,"test.txt"), "utf-8")).toContain("not-test")
+
+  render(tmp,{test:"test"})
+  expect(readFileSync(join(tmp,"test.txt"), "utf-8")).toContain("test")
+  expect(readFileSync(join(tmp,"test.txt"), "utf-8")).not.toContain("not-test")
+})
+
+test("if neq in path", () => {
+  const createRenderer = initRenderer("./testdata/neq_in_path")
+  const render = createRenderer(z.object({test: z.string()}))
+  render(tmp,{test:"foo"})
+  expect(existsSync(join(tmp,"not-test"))).toBe(true)
+  render(tmp,{test:"test"})
+  expect(existsSync(join(tmp,"not-test"))).toBe(false)
+})
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 25cb3dd..fe39bcf 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 {
   "name": "@gregorlohaus/tdir",
-  "version": "0.1.7",
+  "version": "0.1.8",
   "license": "MIT",
   "type": "module",
   "main": "./dist/index.js",
diff --git a/parser.ts b/parser.ts
index 8856cd9..3a2f25a 100644
--- a/parser.ts
+++ b/parser.ts
@@ -10,14 +10,14 @@ export type TemplateVariable = {
 const IF_RE = /<@(?:if|elseif)\((.+?)\)>/g
 const VAR_RE = /<@var\(context\.(.+?)(?::(\w+))?\)>/g
 const DIRECTIVE_RE = /<@(if|elseif|else|endif)(?:\((.+?)\))?>/g
-const EQ_RE = /^eq\(context\.(.+?),\s*"(.*)"\)$/
+const STRING_COMPARE_RE = /^(?:eq|neq)\(context\.(.+?),\s*"(.*)"\)$/
 const PATH_RE = /^context\.(.+)$/
 
 function extractCondition(expr: string | undefined, vars: TemplateVariable[]) {
   if (!expr) throw new Error("Missing condition expression")
-  const eqMatch = expr.match(EQ_RE)
-  if (eqMatch) {
-    vars.push({ path: eqMatch[1]!, type: "string" })
+  const stringCompareMatch = expr.match(STRING_COMPARE_RE)
+  if (stringCompareMatch) {
+    vars.push({ path: stringCompareMatch[1]!, type: "string" })
     return
   }
   const pathMatch = expr.match(PATH_RE)
diff --git a/render.ts b/render.ts
index d032263..12cbec5 100644
--- a/render.ts
+++ b/render.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import { TextDecoder } from "node:util"
 const IF_PATH_RE = /^<@if\((.+?)\)>(.*)$/
 const VAR_RE = /<@var\(context\.(.+?)(?::(\w+))?\)>/g
 const DIRECTIVE_RE = /<@(if|elseif|else|endif)(?:\((.+?)\))?>/g
-const EQ_RE = /^eq\(context\.(.+?),\s*"(.*)"\)$/
+const STRING_COMPARE_RE = /^(eq|neq)\(context\.(.+?),\s*"(.*)"\)$/
 const PATH_RE = /^context\.(.+)$/
 
 export type ReverseMapToken = {
@@ -68,9 +68,10 @@ type RenderState = {
 
 function evalCondition(expr: string | undefined, context: Record<string, unknown>): boolean {
   if (!expr) throw new Error("Missing condition expression")
-  const eqMatch = expr.match(EQ_RE)
-  if (eqMatch) {
-    return resolveContext(context, eqMatch[1]!) === eqMatch[2]
+  const stringCompareMatch = expr.match(STRING_COMPARE_RE)
+  if (stringCompareMatch) {
+    const result = resolveContext(context, stringCompareMatch[2]!) === stringCompareMatch[3]
+    return stringCompareMatch[1] === "eq" ? result : !result
   }
   const pathMatch = expr.match(PATH_RE)
   if (pathMatch) {
diff --git a/testdata/neq_in_file/test.txt b/testdata/neq_in_file/test.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fab8ca8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/testdata/neq_in_file/test.txt
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<@if(neq(context.test,"test"))>not-test<@else>test<@endif>
diff --git "a/testdata/neq_in_path/<@if(neq(context.test,\"test\"))>not-test" "b/testdata/neq_in_path/<@if(neq(context.test,\"test\"))>not-test"
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..21b652d
--- /dev/null
+++ "b/testdata/neq_in_path/<@if(neq(context.test,\"test\"))>not-test"
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+not test