Git is a Version Control System that works to track file changes. Commonly used in team settings and especially among programmers, its basic functions include cloning, fetching, pulling, pushing, merging, and staging.
Although many users are comfortable working with git from the command line, there are several GUI clients which will considerably speed up your workflow especially if you are new to the platform.
There are several GUI Git clients available to users and if you’re searching for the ideal one to manage your repositories on a Mac then you are in luck because here is a list of the best GUI Git clients for Mac OS X.
1. Fork
Fork is an advanced GUI git client for Mac and Windows with an emphasis on speed, user-friendliness, and efficiency. Its features include a themeable layout with quick action buttons, a built-in merge-conflict helper and resolver, a repository manager, GitHub notifications, etc.
Fork has the most features in a GUI Git client that I know about including an interactive rebase, Git-flow, GIT LFS, cherry-pick, revert, sub-modules, etc. all in a beautiful UI.
2. GitHub Desktop
GitHub Desktop is a completely free and open-source customizable Electron-based Git client app developed by GitHub for you to interact with GitHub as well as other Git platforms including Bitbucket and GitLab.
Its features include a beautiful minimalist approach to sectioning which makes it easy to check out branches with pull requests, check the differences between images and code blocks, and even use drag and drop to add projects in order to manage them from the app.
3. Sourcetree
Sourcetree is a free GUI Git client for macOS and Windows that simplifies the version control process in order to allow you to focus on what matters – coding.
It features a beautiful UI for performing Git tasks as well as visualizing and managing your repositories by giving you access to Git-flow right out of the box, submodules, a remote repo manager, local commit search, support for Git Large File, etc.
Sourcetree is developed by Atlassian for Bitbucket but it is not limited to it and can be used with other Git platforms coupled with built-in support for Mercurial repositories.
4. Tower
Tower is a paid GUI Git client for macOS and Windows and is currently one of the leading client apps among professionals. It lets you learn more about version control by enabling you to perform all the Git actions with a visual representation of all instances including sorting merge conflicts and collaborating on projects.
You can enjoy its free trial for 30 days without restrictions after which you are to make an annual payment of $69/user or $99/user for a Basic or Pro subscription respectively.
5. GitKraken
GitKraken is a freemium cross-platform GUI Git client for working with Version Control Systems including GitHub, Bitbucket, and GitLab, among other platforms.
It aims to make you a productive Git user by providing you with an intuitive UI, task tracking, a built-in code editor, a merge conflict editor, support for integration with other platforms, etc.
For commercial purposes + other features packed in a Pro version such as a merge conflict editor, multiple profiles, and self-hosted repositories, GitKraken costs $4.95/month and more for enterprise versions.
6. Sublime Merge
Sublime Merge is a Git client for Mac, Windows, and Linux created by the same developer behind the much-loved Sublime Text source code editor.
It includes all the qualities Sublime Text users happily swear by and more including a speedy performance, an integrated merge tool, a powerful search tool, an advanced difference checker, etc. It is free to use but just like with Sublime Text, you’ll need to shell out $99 for an extended-use license.
7. SmartGit
SmartGit is a feature-rich Git client for Mac, Linux, and Windows with support for SVN and Pull Requests for GitHub and Bitbucket. Its features include a CLI for Git, graphical merge and commit history, an SSH client, Git-Flow, file merge, conflict solver, etc.
SmartGit is free to use for non-commercial projects and charges for licenses starting at $59/year all the way to a single lifetime fee of $182 with varying costs depending on the duration of the support you choose.
8. GitUp
GitUp is a free and open-source Git client for Mac users with an emphasis on speed, simplicity, efficiency, and ease of use.
It bypasses the Git binary tool to interact with the repo database directly which makes it a lot faster than other Git clients e.g. it loads and renders the graph of 40,000 commits of the GitUp repo in under a second.
GitUp features GUI alternatives for all Git functions coupled with a visual realization of commands entered and changes made in real time.
9. GitFox
GitFox is a robust and user-friendly version control system designed to streamline collaboration and code management for software development teams.
With an intuitive interface and powerful features, Gitfox simplifies the process of tracking changes, managing branches, and merging code contributions. Its flexibility allows developers to work seamlessly across distributed environments, ensuring efficient collaboration.
Gitfox supports both small-scale projects and large, complex codebases, providing a scalable solution for diverse development needs. The platform’s emphasis on transparency and traceability enhances project visibility, making it an invaluable tool for teams aiming to achieve optimal productivity and maintain code integrity throughout the software development lifecycle.
10. GitBlade
GitBlade is a beautiful Git client for Mac, Windows, and Linux platforms that provides users with the everyday features required to operate Git projects.
It comes with a merge tool, a visual graph for displaying linked branches and commits, combined diff checking for viewing the difference between multiple files at once, a blame/annotate tool for visualizing file history.
GitBlade is free to use with all the basic Git features + 14 days of Pro features for free. A pro version costs $19.99/year/user and it contains a license that can be used on up to 3 machines, repository tabs, blame tool, merge tool, etc.
Conclusion
While all these applications offer similar features for working with Git projects, they have unique extras that make them stand out in areas.
Did I mention the GUI Git client that you use on your system? Feel free to add your comments in the discussion section.
sourcetree is horrible
One additional note, I have used Tower for a while, and if you stop paying the yearly fee, the application will still continue to work, like perpetual license, only issue is if you need to reinstall it, then you’ll need to fork out for the fee or find alternative. the problem with source tree is it doesn’t support self hosted gitlab repos, but you can work around it with git clone command line and then import the folder to source tree for GUI work flow.
Good, the plagiary’s article on Medium is taken down. Don’t know why my comment here needs to be deleted though.
Looks like someone liked it so much that he copied it?
While Tower is paid, they do offer a free pro version for students as well as teachers, schools, and universities (education)
I like Tower, I would prefer a lifetime payment though, since I don’t see why I need to pay Yearly, when there is no new features that I use, and the payments are not maintaining any Server or hosting. so it seems more of a money focused application than a tool driven development. Kraken model where premium features on a yearly fee would be better.
Fork it seems is no longer free. They want $50
Sad. It’s only an evaluation package that is free now
I’ve been using GitKraken and it works well but a bit slow.
Beautiful article!! Very straight to the point and great recommendations! Thanks!