I’ve been looking for a new git GUI client in 2019
Why not just learn the command line, asks the smart guy in the room? Well, I have learned the command line, and I’ve even created some of my favorite shortcuts stolen from my last job such as git new <branchname> (which creates a new branch from origin/master and checks it out), git freshen (which merges origin/master into the current branch, useful for integrating the released work of other developers), and git release which merges the current branch into master.
But I really don’t like the command line for committing changes. A git GUI will show me, at a glance, every file that has changed and what the actual changes are. It lets me enter text for a commit message without dipping into VIM. And it gives me a far better view of the graph of all commits than the command line. So I use both.
Away from SourceTree, and not Tower
I’ve been using SourceTree for Windows. It is good enough and it meets my relatively simple needs. But when I’m having a bad computer day — when I have too many programs and processes open and things are running “slower than Bela Tarr’s molasses in February,” SourceTree is usually one of the bigger CPU and memory hogs.
I have actually paid for Git Tower. I started using it on my Mac years ago. When they released a Windows version I was excited to be a beta tester. But since then they have moved from a one-time fee to a $70 per year license fee. I will not use them any more.
GitKraken turns up on many of my searches as a very good alternative. I even downloaded it once, only to find that it wouldn’t work on my office computer because you have to be logged in to their server in order to use the software (or hack a workaround). This request feels extra creepy to me, and the relative contempt shown by the founder make me just plain not want to get involved.
Two new favorites: Fork and SmartGit
I have gotten to this point in the past and given up hope.
But it’s late 2019 and I thought I’d try another search.
I have found two new favorites, and they both “feel” much faster than SourceTree: SmartGit and Fork. Both of them are cross-platform: I can use them on both Mac and Windows.
This is not a review; just a place for me to gripe about how hard it was to find a GUI that I liked. Suffice it to say that both SmartGit and Fork have all the visual assists that I was looking for — good graphs, easy commits, and not too “heavy.”
Are they free?
I have gotten past the point where every program I install has to be free. In fact, I would rather pay for a license than be subject to ads, or to worry about how my data is being used. So if you’re looking for free, don’t ask me for a recommendation.
But yes, for now, it appears that Fork can be used for free. I have downloaded and installed it. They did not ask for money. There is a “license” page on their web site that does not mention money. However, within the application there is an “activate Fork” menu item:
When I click “Buy Now” I am directed to a Buy page where they ask for $49, as a one-time fee. If I decide to use Fork over SmartGit, I will gladly pay fifty bucks, one time, for some good software that I use every day.
SmartGit has a 30-day free trial. After that there are many purchase options. The cheapest I can find is $81, for a one-year license with 90 days of support. Now, after the year is up, you can still use SmartGit. You just can’t get free updates.
Since Fork is cheaper, but especially because for now it “feels” faster, I will probably end up paying for Fork. (Also, I noticed that I made a mistake in one of my repositories when I was using SmartGit — I accidentally committed a file that I didn’t mean to commit. I was confused about what was in my git index and what was simply a changed file. I haven’t studied the interface to see exactly how I made that mistake, but it feels like one more reason to go with Fork.