GitHub Desktop is a native Git client for Mac OS X and Windows with a graphical user interface.

GitHub Desktop vs TortoiseGit Comments

- GitHub Desktop is Free and Open Source
TortoiseGit is described as 'Windows Shell Interface to Git and based on TortoiseSVN. It's open source and can fully be build with freely available software' and is a very popular Version Control system in the development category. There are more than 50 alternatives to TortoiseGit for a variety of platforms, including Mac, Linux, Windows, Flathub and Android apps. The best TortoiseGit alternative is GitHub Desktop, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like TortoiseGit are Sourcetree, SmartGit, GitKraken and Fork.
GitHub Desktop is a native Git client for Mac OS X and Windows with a graphical user interface.


A powerful Mac and Windows client for Mercurial and Git distributed version control systems.




TortoiseGit is a lightweight shell integration, while SourceTree is a full blown GUI client. All of the same Git functionality is present, but the way it is provided is entirely different.


SmartGit is a front-end for the distributed version control system Git and runs on Windows, macOS and Linux. SmartGit is intended for developers who prefer a graphical user interface over a command line client, to be even more productive with Git.




Millions of developers and teams around the world choose GitKraken Client to make Git more visual and accessible with an intuitive UI, the flexibility to switch between a GUI or a terminal, and a seamless experience across operating systems.


Haven't integration with Nautilus, but is a very nice tool for manage git repositories with excellent interface, integration with GitHub, Bitbucket and more, very good for admin flow of git (branches, commits, 2+ remote repositories, a so on).
Missing features, like cherry pick, discard lines, blocks from staged files, etc...









Modern graphical Git client featuring advanced tooling, support for GitHub, GitLab, Codeberg, detailed project popout views, dynamic workflow automation, and extensive theme customization for enhanced adaptability and user-driven workflow management.



Ultra-fast Git terminal UI built in Zig offering line and hunk staging, interactive rebases, diff previews, DAG history, multi-selection, customizable themes, background fetch, and non-blocking operations for a streamlined, keyboard-first Git workflow.




Git Extensions is a standalone UI tool for managing git repositories. It also integrates with Windows Explorer and Microsoft Visual Studio (2015/2017/2019).



GitAhead lets you filter results and performs advanced searches. It shows you exactly what you need to see and makes navigating through thousands of commits a piece of cake.




Native Git client for macOS, Windows, and Linux featuring advanced merge conflict resolution with automated patterns, AI-powered pull request and commit message tools, visual diff and image diff viewing, hunk-level staging, integrated GitHub PR review, CLI, and VS Code extension.




Can not mimic the more advanced functionality that Tortoise or other Git client GUIs