Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

GitHub Desktop VS GTK

Compare GitHub Desktop VS GTK and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

GitHub Desktop logo GitHub Desktop

GitHub Desktop is a seamless way to contribute to projects on GitHub and GitHub Enterprise.

GTK logo GTK

GTK+ is a multi-platform toolkit for creating graphical user interfaces.
  • GitHub Desktop Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-02
  • GTK Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-17

GitHub Desktop features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    GitHub Desktop offers a clean, intuitive GUI that simplifies the Git process, making it accessible for beginners and less technical users.
  • Seamless GitHub Integration
    The application is tightly integrated with GitHub, allowing users to easily clone repositories, create branches, and submit pull requests directly through the desktop interface.
  • Cross-Platform Support
    GitHub Desktop is available on both Windows and macOS, offering a consistent experience across these major operating systems.
  • Simplifies Workflow
    Features like drag-and-drop to add files, visual diff tools, and easy branching help streamline the workflow for users.
  • Collaborative Features
    The app provides useful collaborative tools such as reviewing changes, creating requests, and viewing history, enhancing team productivity.

Possible disadvantages of GitHub Desktop

  • Limited Advanced Features
    While GitHub Desktop is great for basic tasks, it lacks advanced features found in other Git clients like GitKraken or the command line.
  • Dependency on GitHub
    The app is deeply integrated with GitHub, which can be limiting for users who want to interact with repositories hosted on other platforms like GitLab or Bitbucket.
  • Performance Issues
    Some users report performance issues when dealing with large repositories or a significant number of files, which can hinder productivity.
  • Customization Limitations
    GitHub Desktop offers limited customization options compared to other Git clients or the command line, which may be a drawback for power users.
  • Offline Limitations
    Certain features of GitHub Desktop require an internet connection to interact with GitHub, limiting its usability in offline scenarios.

GTK features and specs

  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    GTK supports multiple platforms including Linux, Windows, and macOS, making it versatile for developing applications across different operating systems.
  • Rich Widget Set
    GTK provides a comprehensive set of widgets for GUIs, allowing developers to create complex and highly functional user interfaces.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, GTK offers developers the ability to inspect, modify, and distribute their modifications, fostering a community of collaboration and innovation.
  • Language Bindings
    GTK supports multiple programming languages through various bindings, including C, Python, and JavaScript, thereby offering flexibility to developers.
  • Consistent Look and Feel
    GTK strives to maintain a consistent look and feel across applications and platforms, providing a unified user experience.

Possible disadvantages of GTK

  • Steep Learning Curve
    For beginners, GTK can present a steep learning curve due to its comprehensive nature and the depth of its APIs.
  • Performance Overhead
    GTK applications can sometimes exhibit performance issues, especially on less powerful hardware, due to the extensive features and capabilities it includes.
  • Limited Native Support on macOS
    Although GTK is cross-platform, native support and integration on macOS can be limited compared to its support on Linux and Windows.
  • Heavy Dependencies
    GTK applications often require a significant amount of dependencies, which can lead to larger application sizes and more complex installation processes.
  • Documentation Quality
    While GTK has extensive documentation, the quality and depth can sometimes be inconsistent, which may hinder learning and troubleshooting for developers.

GitHub Desktop videos

GitHub Desktop 2.0 -- Easy Mode Version Control

More videos:

  • Review - GitHub Desktop Quick Intro For Windows
  • Tutorial - Git and GitHub for Beginners: GitHub basics, and how to use GitHub Desktop

GTK videos

GTK4 Is Here: Why You Should Even Care

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GitHub Desktop and GTK)
Git
100 100%
0% 0
Development Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Code Collaboration
100 100%
0% 0
Rapid Application Development

User comments

Share your experience with using GitHub Desktop and GTK. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare GitHub Desktop and GTK

GitHub Desktop Reviews

Best Git GUI Clients of 2022: All Platforms Included
Creating branches and switching to existing ones isn’t a hassle, so is merging code with the master branch. Furthermore, you can track your changes with GitHub Desktop. Check out our detailed guide on how to use GitHub for more detailed information.
Boost Development Productivity With These 14 Git Clients for Windows and Mac
GitHub Desktop is the global standard for working with Git-related tasks in a graphical user interface (GUI). It is an open-source tool and hence completely free to use for all sorts of projects. It is available for both Windows and macOS desktops and laptops.
Source: geekflare.com
Best Git GUI Clients for Windows
GitHub Desktop is, perhaps, the most famous solution for working with Git in a visual interface. It is familiar to all developers keeping their repositories on GitHub (Git repository hosting service used for version-controlling IT projects). This free Git GUI is open-source, transparent, and functional. When you consider the Git graphical interface for Windows, GitHub...
Source: blog.devart.com

GTK Reviews

Best GUI frameworks for Go
The go-gtk package is a Go binding for the GTK toolkit. The package enables Go developers to use the GTK library in Go with similar features as the GTK library. The package is performant, well-documented, and actively maintained. The go-gtk package depends on the GTK library to function, and you’ll need to have GTK installed on your machine to build GUI applications in Go....

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, GitHub Desktop seems to be a lot more popular than GTK. While we know about 135 links to GitHub Desktop, we've tracked only 6 mentions of GTK. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

GitHub Desktop mentions (135)

  • How to Fix the Issue of Not Being Able to View Your GitHub Account on Other Devices
    Download the latest version from the GitHub Desktop website. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • 12 Steps to Organize and Maintain Your Python Codebase for Beginners
    I’m not going to dive into Git commands here — you can find plenty of tutorials online. If you’re not a fan of using the plain terminal CLI, you can also manage repositories with tools like GitHub Desktop or SourceTree, which provide a more visual, intuitive interface. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • File Governance and Versioning in Corticon BRMS
    Using terminal commands isn’t necessary for basic adoption of Git with Corticon Studio files, though. There are various tools that will allow us to bypass the command line when defining rules, including the built-in Eclipse plugin for Git version control. If you’ll be storing your assets on GitHub, though, an even easier solution is GitHub Desktop, a free desktop software that GitHub offers. It can be used in... - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • An Introduction to Nix for Ruby Developers
    Nix currently is akin to git's "porcelain": powerful but esoteric. However, much like git evolved into exoteric, user-friendly tools such as git-flow, GitHub Desktop, and Tower to become user-friendly, many developers are building abstractions, wrappers, and utilities to simplify Nix usage. Let's briefly look at a few of these tools now. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Make your first contribution on github easily
    1.Download the github desktop. 2.Open the first contribution repository. 3.Open the github app and clone the repository. - Source: dev.to / 11 months ago
View more

GTK mentions (6)

  • What GNOME needs to progress faster? (More contributors, money, better docs etc.)
    Wha? An example of a barebones GTK JavaScript app is right there on the front page. One click on the bindings link, will send you to the official GNOME-hosted GitLab repo for gjs, which in-turn, has links to official API documentation. Source: over 2 years ago
  • GTK 4 & JavaScript - how to start?
    I think what is lacking is a kind of introduction similar to what you have written in your post now. Myself, I am totally new to GTK. I come as a user of Gnome. All I knew until today was that to develop applications for Gnome, preferably I should use something called GTK. And I heard so much about the recent version that came out - GTK 4. So I started to look for a Getting Started tutorial for GTK 4, to build... Source: about 3 years ago
  • GTK 4 & JavaScript - how to start?
    BTW, I think the GTK team should really step up their game in terms of how to encourage new people into their ecosystem. Seeing that windows screenshot in the official tutorial makes me think I'm dealing with some old technology. Also, the official gtk.org has two separate tutorials that show very similar applications being built. Source: about 3 years ago
  • CTA: We need Web Developers to Contribute to GNOME!
    Faces of GNOME Faces of GNOME is an initiative to create something similar to People of Mozilla / Mozillians which is a directory of active, current or past GNOME Contributors. Faces of GNOME (Current Demo HERE) aims to give a space for every GNOME Contributor, GNOME Foundation Member and more. It is being designed to showcase the list of current Maintainers, People that spoke at GNOME Conferences/Events, GNOME... Source: over 3 years ago
  • Software Engineering student looking to get started developing apps on the pinephone
    My advice is to basically learn how to write GTK apps using Python. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing GitHub Desktop and GTK, you can also consider the following products

GitKraken - The intuitive, fast, and beautiful cross-platform Git client.

Qt - Powerful, flexible and easy to use, Qt will help you not only meet your tight deadline, but also reduce the maintainable code by an astonishing percentage.

SourceTree - Mac and Windows client for Mercurial and Git.

wxWidgets - wxWidgets: Cross-Platform GUI Library

SmartGit - SmartGit is a front-end for the distributed version control system Git and runs on Windows, Mac OS...

PyQt - Riverbank | Software | PyQt | What is PyQt?