saasrankedSoftware, ranked on the facts

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Best git clients

Browse history, stage changes, resolve conflicts and push to your Git host without typing every command. 11 Git clients, ranked by points out of 100.

Facts checked 8 Oct 2026 · How we score Git clients

Not scored yet: GitButler.

In short

  1. 1
    GitKraken DesktopDevelopers who work across several Git hosts and will pay for private repositories
    74/100
    $10/mocheapest way to use it for work
  2. 2
    SmartGitDevelopers who use several Git hosts and want a free licence for personal projects
    72/100
    $5/mocheapest way to use it for work
  3. 3
    TowerDevelopers who want one undo command and pull requests inside a paid client
    71/100
    $5.75/mocheapest way to use it for work
  4. 4
    SourcetreeDevelopers on Windows or Mac who want a free client with Git-flow and Bitbucket support
    70/100
    $0cheapest way to use it for work
  5. 5
    GitHub DesktopDevelopers who host their code on GitHub and want a free client
    68/100
    $0cheapest way to use it for work
  6. 6
    SourceGitDevelopers who want a free open-source client with rebase, LFS and Git-flow
    62/100
    $0cheapest way to use it for work
  7. 7
    ForkDevelopers who want to pay once instead of subscribing
    62/100
    $1.67/mocheapest way to use it for work
  8. 8
    Git ExtensionsWindows developers who want a free client with line staging and GitHub pull requests
    61/100
    $0cheapest way to use it for work
  9. 9
    TortoiseGitWindows developers who like Git inside File Explorer's right-click menu
    47/100
    $0cheapest way to use it for work
  10. 10
    GitnuroDevelopers who want a free open-source client with interactive rebase and hunk staging
    46/100
    $0cheapest way to use it for work
  11. 11
    Sublime MergeDevelopers who want a Git client with a built-in merge tool and prefer to buy a licence once
    42/100
    $2.75/mocheapest way to use it for work

How the points add up

Points earned out of the points available in each part of the method.

ProductGit features
of 29		Hosts and review
of 26		Systems and upkeep
of 16		Licence
of 15		Price
of 14		Total
GitKraken Desktop2926160374
SmartGit2326160772
Tower2626120771
Sourcetree16201281470
GitHub Desktop161112151468
SourceGit17016151462
Fork23171201062
Git Extensions13118151461
TortoiseGit1008151447
Gitnuro908151446
Sublime Merge1601601042

Each Git client in brief

1. GitKraken Desktop

GitKraken Desktop suits developers who use several Git hosts and want undo, worktrees, Gitflow and a merge tool in one app. Pro at $10 a month is the entry price for private work. The catch: the free plan covers only local and public repositories, and the source code is proprietary.

Best for: Developers who work across several Git hosts and will pay for private repositories. Prices, facts and sources

2. SmartGit

SmartGit suits developers who want one client for four Git hosts, worktrees, Git-flow and a built-in conflict solver on any desktop system. Commercial licences start from $5 a user per month. The catch: free licences are non-commercial only, and the docs describe only an Undo Last Commit command.

Best for: Developers who use several Git hosts and want a free licence for personal projects. Prices, facts and sources

3. Tower

Tower suits developers who want undo, worktrees, Git-flow, signing and in-app pull requests on Windows or macOS. Basic at $69 a year, billed annually, is the entry price. The catch: there is no free plan for work, and its Conflict Wizard hands combined edits to an external merge tool.

Best for: Developers who want one undo command and pull requests inside a paid client. Prices, facts and sources

4. Sourcetree

Sourcetree suits Windows and Mac developers who want a free client with Git-flow, interactive rebase and Bitbucket support. Updates have continued through 2026. The catch: conflicts go to an external merge tool, and the product page and release notes do not describe undo or worktrees.

Best for: Developers on Windows or Mac who want a free client with Git-flow and Bitbucket support. Prices, facts and sources

5. GitHub Desktop

GitHub Desktop suits developers who work on GitHub and want a free client with no licence limits on private or commercial work. It handles LFS, worktrees and viewing pull requests in the app. The catch: it connects only to GitHub, does not document commit signing, opens the browser to create a pull request, and leaves merge conflicts to an outside editor.

Best for: Developers who host their code on GitHub and want a free client. Prices, facts and sources

6. SourceGit

SourceGit suits developers who want a free, open-source client for paid work, with interactive rebase, Git LFS, worktrees and Git-flow named in its feature list. Stable releases are frequent and the licence is MIT. The catch: the project page does not document a visual merge conflict editor, undo, line staging, commit signing or host sign-in.

Best for: Developers who want a free open-source client with rebase, LFS and Git-flow. Prices, facts and sources

7. Fork

Fork suits developers who want a one-time purchase for commercial work and a client with rebase, worktrees and Git-flow. We count $59.99 over 36 months, so $1.67 a month. The catch: it is closed source, free only as an evaluation, and its pages describe no undo command and no commit signing.

Best for: Developers who want to pay once instead of subscribing. Prices, facts and sources

8. Git Extensions

Git Extensions suits Windows developers who want a free GPL-3.0 client with line staging, worktrees, submodules and GitHub pull requests. The catch: it is Windows only, documents only GitHub as a host, and hands conflict content to an external merge tool.

Best for: Windows developers who want a free client with line staging and GitHub pull requests. Prices, facts and sources

9. TortoiseGit

TortoiseGit suits Windows developers who want a free, GPL-licensed Git tool built into File Explorer, with no restriction on commercial use. It covers rebase, submodules and worktrees. The catch: it is Windows only, lists no host sign-in, creates pull requests only as text to send on, and opens conflicts in an external editor.

Best for: Windows developers who like Git inside File Explorer's right-click menu. Prices, facts and sources

10. Gitnuro

Gitnuro suits developers who want a free, open-source client with interactive rebase, submodules and line-level staging. The catch: the last stable release is more than a year old, the 2.0.0 line is still in beta, and the project page does not document LFS, worktrees, Git-flow, host sign-in or commit signing.

Best for: Developers who want a free open-source client with interactive rebase and hunk staging. Prices, facts and sources

11. Sublime Merge

Sublime Merge suits developers who want a Git client with line-level staging and a built-in merge tool, and who accept paying for it. The personal licence is $99 for 3 years of updates, about $2.75 a month, and nothing is free after the evaluation. The catch: the docs name no pull request features, host sign-in, worktrees or commit signing, and the source is not public.

Best for: Developers who want a Git client with a built-in merge tool and prefer to buy a licence once. Prices, facts and sources

Every fact, side by side

Each row is one rule of the method and the points it is worth. "–" means the vendor does not publish it, which earns nothing.

Rule (points)GitKraken DesktopSmartGitTowerSourcetreeGitHub DesktopSourceGitForkGit ExtensionsTortoiseGitGitnuroSublime Merge
Core Git features (15)5 of 55 of 54 of 54 of 54 of 53 of 55 of 53 of 52 of 53 of 54 of 5
Undo for Git actions (6)Yes–Yes–No––––––
Worktrees (4)YesYesYes–YesYesYesYesYes––
Git-flow built in (4)YesYesYesYes–YesYes–––Yes
Hosts with built-in sign-in (12)4 of 44 of 44 of 44 of 41 of 4–3 of 41 of 40 of 4–0 of 4
Pull requests in the app (8)YesYesYesYesYes–YesYesNo––
Signed commits (6)YesYesYes––––––––
Other systems (8)2 of 22 of 21 of 21 of 21 of 22 of 21 of 20 of 20 of 22 of 22 of 2
Release in the last 12 months (8)YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoYes
Open source (7)NoNoNo–YesYesNoYesYesYesNo
Free for commercial work on private repos (8)NoNoNoYesYesYesNoYesYesYesNo
Cheapest way to use it for work (14)$10/mo$5/mo$5.75/mo$0$0$0$1.67/mo$0$0$0$2.75/mo

Head to head

We read each vendor's own pages, record every fact with its source and date, and score it by the rules on how we score Git clients. A tie goes to the lower price. Graphical Git clients that run on Windows, for one developer. Terminal-only tools, editor extensions, Git hosting services and discontinued clients are left out. A line that reads "on at least one plan" counts any plan for one person; trials, indefinite evaluations and student or non-profit programmes do not count as plans. Vendor claims about speed or quality are shown on product pages but never scored. Prices are in US dollars before tax.