SourceTree for Mac

(Updated for 4.15) SourceTree is my favorite git GUI, especially for viewing history and changes (my main use for a GUI; I use the command line for most other things). I own Fork and have tried Tower and Sublime Merge. For me, the standout feature for SourceTree is that it treats the current uncommitted state as just another node in the history, allowing you to easily compare uncomitted changes to any other commit. No other git GUI I have tried does this; the others only show the diff between the uncommitted state and HEAD, and you have to change views to see it. I find the history layout very efficient: a single window shows commits, uncommitted changes and the diff between any two commits (or your uncommitted changes and any commit). SourceTree and Fork can both show the annotation for a tag. Last time I tried Tower and Sublime Merge they could not. One weakness is resolving merge conflicts using "Theirs" or "Mine". Its merge conflict support is just fine for working through a file line by line: you can use any 3-way merge tool, such as Apple's FileMerge. But occasionally I just want to say "use my local copy" or "use the remote version" and in that situation I find it difficult to know which is which. I think Fork handles that a bit better. I have found SourceTree to be the best git GUI for me, at any price. But they each have their strengths and weaknesses. If you spend a lot of time coding then it's worth trying several.

SourceTree continues to be my favorite GIT GUI, especially for viewing history and changes (which is my main use for a git GUI; I use the command line for most other things). I have tried Tower, Fork, Sublime Merge, and several others. SourceTree is the only GUI I have found that can show the difference between uncommitted changes and any commit. And it does this in a very natural way: the current state is a node, just like each commit. SourceTree can also show the text of an annotated tag -- and that is another thing that few, if any, other GIT GUIs can do. Also I find the history layout very efficient: a single window shows commits, uncommitted changes and the diff between any two commits (or your uncommitted changes and any commit). One weakness is resolving merge conflicts using "Theirs" or "Mine". Its merge conflict support is just fine for working through a file line by line: you can use any 3-way merge tool, such as Apple's FileMerge. But occasionally I just want to say "use my local copy" or "use the remote version" and in that situation I find it difficult to know which is which. I think Fork handles that a bit better. Overall I have found it to be quite robust. It has occasional cosmetic bugs, and Atlassian can be slow to fix those. The one bug I currently know about is that if one selects text from the commit info pane and types ctrl-C, it ignores the selection. Fortunately the contextual menu has a Copy command that does the job. And there's also a "copy commit hash" menu item, which is useful for starting an interactive rebase on the command line. I have found SourceTree to be the best GIT GUI for me, at any price. But they each have their strengths and weaknesses. If you spend a lot of time coding then it's worth trying several.

In order to use the app you are required to setup an account with Atlassian. This will set you up with an account with Bitbucket - and getting you signed up to Bitbucket is undoubtedly the main reason for Atlassian to make this app free. Offering a meagre 1Gb of storage, Bitbucket is among the most expensive git repository hosts around, and therefore has never enjoyed wide adoption among small developers. Its arch-nemesis is GitLab: a service that offers unlimited, free private repositories to all - with just about every feature available in Bitbucket, and then some. But once you get through your Bitbucket registration, you will be greeted by an interface which looks very much like a java app that has received some polish. The 'native' feel of a MacOS app is certainly not there, windows look odd, navigation is clumsy and unintuitive. But worse still: the app will only help you automatically connect to accounts in Bitbucket or GitHub - no GitLab, nor any of its other competitors. I'm guessing it may be possible to connect to these other services (just as you can connect to GitLab repos from GitHub's own desktop app), but that is certainly not the way the app was meant to be used. All in all: pass. Straight to the trash, and back to using Tower, until I find a reasonable substitute that won't charge me a subscription fee.

SourceTree is an outstanding GIT client for viewing history and changes. The layout is very efficient and powerful: a single window shows commits, uncommitted changes and the diff between any two commits (or your uncommitted changes and any commit). SourceTree can do much more, of course, but I personally find that viewing history is where git GUI clients really shine compared to the command line. I have tried other git GUI clients, including Tower, GitKraken and GitUp. But I find SourceTree far more comfortable and efficient than the others -- especially for viewing history and changes. Still, it is worth trying a few to see what works for you. Having to register in order to use the program is a minor nuisance, but once done it's done. Personally I think it is very generous of Atlassian to make such an outstanding program available for free. I'd be lost without it.

I'm using 2.7.4 and there is no requirement to login to Atlassian that I can see. The app works really well, not only for Git, but Mercurial as well.