Install with Homebrew
brew install --cask towerQuick Take: Tower
Tower in August 2026 is still a paid Mac Git client for people who live in branches and pull requests. The new Fully Merged checks in Tower 17 and the AI Commits from Tower 16 are genuine time savers if you clean up after squash and rebase merges. The trade is cost. Basic at $69 and Pro at $129 per user per year are well above free options such as GitHub Desktop or Sourcetree and above many indie licences. If you rebase, cherry pick and manage PRs every day, Tower pays for itself. If you commit once a week on one branch, a free client such as Fork is the better value.
Best For
- •Professional Software Developers
- •Designers working with code repositories
- •Teams needing Pull Request workflows
- •Git learners who want visual clarity
What is Tower?
Tower is a Git client for Mac and Windows from fournova Software at git-tower.com. In August 2026 the Mac line is on Tower 17.x with 17.1 noted in mid 2026. It builds on Tower 16 which added AI Commits and Tower 15 which added Automatic Branch Management. The headline in Tower 17 is smarter Fully Merged detection. The app checks local branches against merged pull requests on GitHub, GitLab and other hosts, so work merged with squash or rebase that plain Git often cannot verify gets a clear Fully Merged badge. Each badge comes with a hint view that explains the checks and links to the pull request or merge commit. Pricing on the official site is a yearly plan that covers Mac and Windows. Basic is $69 per user per year, about $5.75 per month. Pro is $129 per user per year, about $10.75 per month with 10 percent off for 10 or more seats. Enterprise is $149 per user per year, about $12.42 per month and adds SAML SSO and admin controls. You can try Pro free for 30 days with a 30 day money-back guarantee. Students, teachers and schools use Tower free through the education program and the GitHub Student Developer Pack. Older writeups from May 2026 that quote Pro at about $99 are out of date. The public pricing page shows Pro at $129 per user per year. Tower started in 2011 with Tobias Günther and the fournova team. It is aimed at people who want Git without living in Terminal, but it does not hide advanced work such as interactive rebase, conflict handling and submodules. The Mac build is native and stays fast with large histories. It works with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps and Gitea, and it can undo most Git actions so you can try things without fear of losing work. The pricing covers both platforms under one licence and the trial starts on Pro so you see the full set before you pay.
Under the Hood: Design and Technical Architecture
Tower tries to make Git clearer without dumbing it down, and it leans on native code to stay fast.
Key Features
Fully Merged Detection (Tower 17)
Tower 17 helps you clean up branches after pull requests. It combines Git's own merge check, merged PR data from the host, merge commit inspection and deleted remote tracking branches. For squash and rebase merges that Git alone cannot confirm, Tower shows a Fully Merged badge plus a hint view that explains which checks passed and links to the pull request or merge commit. It pairs with Automatic Branch Management so safe branches can be archived without digging through the log. That transparency matters when you are deciding whether a branch is safe to delete after a busy sprint.
Pull Requests Integration
You can create, review, merge and handle pull requests without leaving Tower. The app shows status, reviewers, comments and conflicts in one view and it works with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and Azure DevOps. You get notifications when a PR changes and you can check out the remote branch to test locally before you approve. Keeping review in the same window reduces the tab switching that breaks focus during a review session.
Interactive Rebase
Rebase is easier when you can see it. Drag commits to reorder them, squash several into one, edit a message or drop a commit entirely. Tower shows how history will look before you apply the change so you can spot mistakes early. That makes it simple to tidy a messy feature branch or combine work in progress into clean commits before you merge to main. Conflict handling is built into the flow so you can fix issues without switching tools.
Image Diffing
Modern work is not only code. Tower can compare images side by side or with an onion skin overlay that blends both versions. Toggle between them, zoom in and check metadata. It handles PNG, JPG, GIF, SVG and PSD, so designers and developers can review visual changes commit by commit without opening another app.
Undo Everything
You can undo most actions in Tower with a shortcut or menu item. Commits, merges, rebases, cherry picks and resets can be stepped back. Tower keeps an internal history so you can reverse a sequence and leave the repo clean. The log survives restarts, so a mistake from yesterday is still recoverable. That safety net encourages people to use rebase and cherry pick instead of avoiding them.
Quick Actions
Quick Actions is a command palette that shows what makes sense for the current selection. Select a remote branch and you might see pull, fetch, track or delete. You can trigger it with a shortcut and you can add your own actions and global hotkeys. It removes menu hunting and gives you a keyboard driven flow with visual confirmation.
Conflict Resolution
When a merge conflicts, Tower shows your change, the incoming change and the common ancestor in three panes. Syntax colors make markers clear and buttons let you accept a hunk with one click. For tougher cases you can open your external merge tool from Tower. The app tracks which files are still conflicted and blocks a commit until they are resolved, so the process stays orderly.
Submodule Management
Submodules are awkward on the command line. Tower shows submodule state inline with the parent repo, lets you init and update with clicks and flags when a submodule has uncommitted changes or is out of sync. You can open a submodule in its own window and commits that touch submodules make the link clear. That helps teams on microservices, shared libraries or other multi repo setups.
AI Commits
AI Commits arrived on the Tower 16 Mac line and carries into 17. It drafts a commit subject and body from the staged diff inside Tower. You review and edit the suggestion before you commit. It helps with wording without replacing code review or your signing policy.
Who Should Use Tower?
1The Senior Software Engineer
Sarah maintains several microservices and keeps history tidy. She uses interactive rebase to squash fixups before merging so the main branch stays readable. For releases she cherry picks hotfixes to maintenance branches without copying by hand. Pull request review happens inside Tower so she does not context switch to the browser. Submodule handling lets her keep service repos in sync. When a three way merge gets messy the conflict view and Undo mean she can work through it without worry.
2The UX/UI Designer
Marcus works with developers on a React app and lives in Figma exports and SVG assets. Image diffing lets him compare two commits of a graphic side by side or blended and zoom to see details. He commits visual versions with clear messages and walks stakeholders through changes commit by commit. Quick Actions help him jump between design branches and the code. The branch graph shows how design iterations relate to feature work even though Git is not his specialty.
3The Technical Lead
Priya leads eight developers and wants visibility without micromanaging. The repo overview shows branch activity at a glance, where work is happening and which branches have gone stale. She sets up Quick Actions for the team's review flow and uses pull request checks to keep standards. New joiners learn Git faster because they can see what an action does and undo it if needed. The fact that Tower looks and works the same on Mac and Windows keeps her mixed platform team aligned.
How to Install Tower on Mac
Tower is a direct download from git-tower.com. It needs macOS 12 Monterey or later and that includes Sonoma, Sequoia and Tahoe. You get 30 days of Pro without a credit card.
Download the App
Go to https://www.git-tower.com and click Download for Mac. The DMG is about 50 MB and lands in Downloads.
Install Tower
Open the DMG and drag Tower to Applications. You can also use the installer alias in the window.
Launch and Activate Trial
Open Tower from Applications. On first launch start the 30 day trial. No account or payment needed. Allow system permissions when asked.
Pro Tips
- • You can add command line help by letting Tower install its tower command. Then tower . opens the current repo from Terminal.
- • Set up SSH keys in Preferences > Accounts for GitHub, GitLab and other hosts so private repos just work.
- • Tower reads your existing Git config or helps you set name and email if you are new to Git.
Configuration Tips
Connect Code Hosting Accounts
Open Preferences > Accounts and add GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket or Azure DevOps. That turns on pull request handling, repo discovery and OAuth so you do not manage tokens by hand.
Customize Diff and Merge Tools
Tower has solid built-in diffs, but you can also point it at Kaleidoscope, Beyond Compare or FileMerge for certain file types. Set that in Preferences > Git and trigger the external tool with a right click or shortcut.
Configure Global Ignore Patterns
Tower respects your global Git ignore and also lets you manage per repo ignores in the UI. Use Preferences > Git to keep IDE files, OS metadata and build artefacts out of commits.
Alternatives to Tower
Tower is at the paid end of Git clients. These alternatives suit different budgets and habits.
Fork
Native Mac Git client often chosen as a lower-cost Tower alternative. Strong rebase tools and snappy UI; fewer enterprise admin features. Choose Fork if you want a polished Mac GUI without Tower’s annual Pro price.
GitHub Desktop
Free first-party client ideal for straightforward GitHub.com workflows. Lacks Tower’s interactive rebase depth and multi-host power tools. Choose it for simple clone/commit/PR loops.
Sourcetree
Atlassian’s free Git GUI with Bitbucket affinity. Heavier UI and slower iteration perception among many Mac developers. Choose Sourcetree when license cost must be zero inside Atlassian shops.
Sublime Merge / GitKraken
Sublime Merge emphasizes speed and precise diffs; GitKraken offers cross-platform graphs and free/paid tiers. Tower differentiates with Mac polish plus PR-aware Fully Merged cleanup in v17.
Pricing
As of August 2026 on git-tower.com/pricing: Basic is $69 per user per year, about $5.75 per month and covers Mac and Windows builds, unlimited updates and Pull Requests and Services Manager for cloud hosts. Pro is $129 per user per year, about $10.75 per month with 10 percent off for 10 or more seats, and adds Pro-only features plus basic team management and dedicated billing roles. Enterprise is $149 per user per year, about $12.42 per month and adds team management, invoicing and wire transfer, priority support, deployment options and SAML SSO. The 30 day trial starts on Pro with a 30 day money-back guarantee. Verified students, teachers and schools get free access. Old perpetual Mac v1 and v2 licences can still run old builds and the site documents a first-year upgrade path.
Pros
- ✓Native Mac build that launches fast and stays light on battery unlike Electron wrappers
- ✓Undo for most Git actions so you can step back after a mistake
- ✓Visual rebase and submodule handling that is hard to match at the command line
- ✓Pull request support for GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and Azure DevOps in one place
- ✓Image diffs for visual assets without extra tools
Cons
- ✗Current line needs a yearly plan after the trial
- ✗Pro at $129 per user per year costs more than free clients and many indie licences, and some long time users question the price rises
- ✗Even with visuals you still need to understand branches, rebases and remotes
- ✗Small single-branch hobby repos rarely need this much tooling
Community & Support
Tower is used by more than 100,000 developers and designers, including teams at Apple, Google and Shopify. The fournova team posts tutorials, workflow guides and videos and keeps docs up to date. Support is by email and Pro users usually get faster replies. The blog's Git guides help the wider community even if you use another client. The team also answers questions on X and folds frequent requests into the product. Features such as Undo and Quick Actions started as user requests. Release notes list Mac and Windows changes side by side and call out fixes for worktree, submodule and diff handling. If you hit an edge case, the Git guides and help articles usually cover the underlying Git concept, not just the button.
Frequently Asked Questions about Tower
About the Author
Expert Tips for Tower
Long-time Tower users on X still describe multi-year dependence on its Git abstraction, while a vocal subset criticizes subscription price increases, price sensitivity is the main public churn narrative.
Developer write-ups of Tower 17 focus on safer branch deletion after squash/rebase merges, a genuine CLI Git pain point the PR-aware checks address.
Related Technologies & Concepts
Related Topics
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Sources & References
Fact-CheckedLast verified: Aug 9, 2026
Key Verified Facts
- Tower Basic costs $69/user/year and Pro costs $129/user/year as of August 2026.[cite-1]
- Tower Enterprise costs $149/user/year with SAML SSO options.[cite-1]
- Tower 17 for Mac improves Fully Merged detection using merged pull requests from hosts like GitHub and GitLab.[cite-2]
- Tower Pro is available free to students via the Tower students / GitHub Education program.[cite-5]
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- 3Git Tower 17 - Michael Tsai
Accessed Aug 9, 2026
"Independent coverage of Tower 17 Fully Merged improvements."
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Research queries: Tower git pricing 2026; Tower 17 Mac Fully Merged; git-tower Pro $129