Git comes with built-in GUI tools for committing (git-gui) and browsing (gitk), but there are several third-party tools for users looking for platform-specific experience.
Mac Git Gui Client
Github Desktop is so far the best GUI Git client for Windows. It is built by Github.This is the first tool to use if you use Github to host your projects and because it is designed by Github, it contains loads of features especially for their VCS.
If you want to add another GUI tool to this list, just follow the instructions.
SourceTree
Platforms: Mac, Windows Price: Free License: Proprietary
GitHub Desktop
Platforms: Mac, Windows Price: Free License: MIT
TortoiseGit
Platforms: Windows Price: Free License: GNU GPL Directx for mac download.
Git Extensions
Platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows Price: Free License: GNU GPL Best encryption software for mac and pc.
Noted user of auto tune. Xbox one controller for mac. Platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows Price: $79/user / Free for non-commercial use License: Proprietary
Tower
Platforms: Mac, Windows Price: $79/user (Free 30 day trial) License: Proprietary Mac book pro for sale.
GitUp
Platforms: Mac Price: Free License: GNU GPL
GitEye
Platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows Price: Free License: Proprietary
gitg
Platforms: Linux, Windows Price: Free License: GNU GPL
ungit
Platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows Price: Free License: MIT
git-cola
Platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows Price: Free License: GNU GPL
Cycligent Git Tool
Platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows Price: Free License: Proprietary
giggle
Platforms: Linux Price: Free License: GNU GPL
Gitbox
Platforms: Mac Price: $14.99 License: Proprietary
Aurees
Platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows Price: Free License: Proprietary Cleaners for mac os x.
Fork
Platforms: Mac, Windows Price: Free License: Proprietary
Working Copy
Platforms: iOS Price: Free with in-app purchases License: Proprietary
CodeReview
Platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows Price: Free License: GNU GPL
gmaster
Platforms: Windows Price: Beta / Free for non-commercial use License: Proprietary
Git2Go
Platforms: iOS Price: Free with in-app purchases License: Proprietary
GitAhead
Platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows Price: Free License: MIT
Platforms: iOS Price: Free with in-app purchases License: Proprietary
GitX-dev
Platforms: Mac Price: Free License: GNU GPL
GitBlade
Platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows Price: Free Lite version, $59.99/user/year for PRO version License: Proprietary
Guitar
Platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows Price: Free License: GNU GPL
RepoZ
Mac microsoft au daemon. Platforms: Mac, Windows Price: Free License: MIT
GitAtomic
Platforms: Windows Price: 15.00€ License: Proprietary
Sublime Merge
Platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows Price: $99/user, $75 annual business sub, free eval License: Proprietary
SnailGit
Platforms: Mac Price: $9.99 / Lite version License: Proprietary
GitFinder
Platforms: Mac Price: $24.95 License: Proprietary
Gitfox
Platforms: Mac Price: 29€/user License: Proprietary
NitroGit
Platforms: Windows Price: 20€/user / Free for non-commercial use License: Proprietary
GitFiend
Platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows Price: Free License: Proprietary
There are other great GUI tools available as well. Alarm clock for macbook pro. Have a look at the list of interfaces, frontends and tools in the Git Wiki.
Learning how and why to use version control can be rough. Just as those of you transitioning from a graphical user interface (GUI) statistical software like Stata or SPSS will discover, adapting to a command line interface is difficult. Using a GUI interface, rather than the command line, will be extremely helpful when getting started. Essentially, this is a helper client because it helps you interface with Git and GitHub but still uses the same underlying Git commands.
Git for Mac Installer. The easiest way to install Git on a Mac is via the stand-alone installer: Download the latest Git for Mac installer. Follow the prompts to install Git. Open a terminal and verify the installation was successful by typing git -version: $ git -version git version 2.9.2.
Unfortunately, you can not download TortoiseGit for Mac, but luckily there are other solutions available on the Internet. So, if you are looking for an alternative to TortoiseGit for Mac, then the Git clients from this list might help you out.
Git and a Git client are not the same thing, just like R and RStudio are not the same thing. A Git client and the RStudio IDE are not necessary to use Git or R, but they make the experience more pleasant by reducing the steep learning curve.
RStudio incorporates a basic Git client. For simple operations such as committing and pushing changes to GitHub, this will be sufficient. Once you start collaborating with other users, managing multiple branches in the same project, and performing complex merges, you will want another, more powerful Git client.
It is helpful, and sometimes still necessary, to know how to use the command line. But the more powerful your Git client, the less often this will happen.
Because all Git clients are just forming and executing Git commands on your behalf, you don’t have to pick a specific one. You can literally do one operation from the command line, do another from RStudio, and another from your Git client, one after the other, and it just works. Very rarely, both clients will scan the repo at the same time and you’ll get an error message about .git/index.lock. Try the operation again at least once before doing any further troubleshooting.
Recommendations for Git clients
I admit that until recently I relied on the free GitHub client for Windows and Mac. However in researching recommended Git clients, I have heardnegativereviews about this client. Specifically, the GitHub client offers lots of hand-holding. Perhaps too much. It also cannot handle complex Git operations, and installation of the GitHub client also includes a version of Git that does not play nicely with default settings. In addition, because it is intended to work with Git repositories hosted on GitHub, if you ever decide to share your repositories using an alternative hoster the GitHub client does not play nicely with outsiders.
If you want to use a Git client, here are a couple of recommendations I’ve found online.
SourceTree - the pros are that it is free, multi-platform (Mac and Windows only, sorry Linux), powerful, and has a great GUI design. Some would complain that it is perhaps too powerful and its interface is overly complicated.
GitKraken - this is the Git client to which I am transitioning. Like SourceTree, GitKraken is free, powerful, and gets kudos for a great GUI layout. Unlike SourceTree, GitKraken is available across all major operating systems (Windows, Mac, and Linux).
Other Git clients
TortoiseGit (Windows)
SmartGit (Windows, Mac, and Linux - free for non-commercial use only)
GitUp (Mac only)
Git Software For Mac
Acknowledgments
This page is derived in part from “UBC STAT 545A and 547M”, licensed under the CC BY-NC 3.0 Creative Commons License.