Tower vs GitHub Desktop

Clear branch switching and history for common GitHub workflows, but less automation around detecting squash-merged leftovers across hosting providers. For everyday GitHub branches the history view is clear, though you will manually check if a squashed branch is safe to delete.

File and hunk staging cover everyday cases; line-level precision still trails Tower and many power users keep a CLI or editor handy. Everyday file and hunk staging is fine, for line edits many people keep a CLI handy.

Solid OAuth/services support for GitHub plus other hosts; PR-aware merge detection improved in Tower 17. OAuth for multiple hosts lives in one place, and PR-aware detection got better in 17.

Optimized for GitHub and GitHub Enterprise; other hosts work more awkwardly if at all for full feature parity. Non-GitHub hosts work, but you feel the GitHub-first assumptions quickly.

Polished UI, but density of power features can overwhelm first-week Git learners. The density that helps later can overwhelm on day one.

Desktop itself is not the AI surface, GitHub steers heavy AI work toward Copilot and related apps rather than Desktop feature parity. Heavy AI work in GitHub's world lives in Copilot and editor agents, not in Desktop.

Basic $69, Pro $129, Enterprise $149 per user/year (billed annually); free for qualified students/educators; 30-day Pro trial. Trial is 30 days on Pro, education seats are free where you qualify, and billing is per user per year.

Flags conflicts clearly but often defers complex merges to external editors or CLI. The app flags conflicts and often hands the hard ones to your editor.