| Tool | License | Price (Sept 2026) | Platforms | Best at |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Git CLI 2.55 | GPL-2.0 | Free | All | Everything, scripting, servers |
| VS Code 1.139 550 | MIT source, free binary | Free | Windows, macOS, Linux | Staging, merge editor, WSL 6 |
| lazygit 0.65 82,729 | MIT | Free | Linux, macOS, Windows | Fast keyboard workflow, rebases |
| tig 2.6 13,352 | GPL-2.0 | Free | Linux, macOS, WSL | Browsing history and blame |
| GitKraken 19,546 Desktop | Proprietary | Free for public repositories; from $120 a year | Windows, macOS, Linux | Commit graph, host integrations |
| Sourcetree 72,657 | Proprietary | Free, Atlassian account | Windows, macOS | Free GUI, Bitbucket 2,046 teams |
Feature depth runs the other way from convenience. The command line does everything; lazygit and VS Code cover the daily cycle (stage, commit, branch, rebase, push, resolve conflicts); tig mostly reads. GitKraken and Sourcetree add graphical history and account integrations, but none of the clients exposes plumbing, git bisect run, filter-repo rewrites or maintenance tuning. Price matters less than it seems: a paid GUI costs a few hours of a developer's time a year, and a client that hides what it runs costs more.