Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Magit VS lazygit

Compare Magit VS lazygit and see what are their differences

Magit logo Magit

Front-end to the git revision control system for emacs.

lazygit logo lazygit

Simple terminal UI for git commands.
  • Magit Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-13
  • lazygit Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-17

Magit features and specs

  • Integration
    Seamless integration with Emacs, making it convenient for Emacs users to use Git without leaving their text editor.
  • Efficiency
    Highly efficient as it provides numerous keybindings and shortcuts that allow for rapid Git operations.
  • Interactive Interface
    Interactive and intuitive visual interface for performing Git tasks, which helps with a better understanding of Git operations.
  • Documentation
    Excellent documentation and tutorials are available, making it easier for new users to learn and use the tool effectively.
  • Customizability
    Highly customizable, allowing users to tailor the workflow and functionality to fit their individual needs.
  • Community Support
    Strong community support, providing numerous plugins and extensions to enhance functionality.

Possible disadvantages of Magit

  • Learning Curve
    Steeper learning curve for users who are not already familiar with Emacs, which can be a barrier to entry.
  • Dependency
    Requires knowledge and use of Emacs, which may not be appealing or feasible for all users.
  • Complexity
    The extensive feature set and configurability can be overwhelming for beginners.
  • Speed
    May not be as fast as command-line Git for certain operations, especially in very large repositories.
  • Platform Limitation
    Primarily designed for Emacs, thus limiting its use to environments where Emacs is available and optimal.

lazygit features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Lazygit provides an intuitive terminal user interface (TUI) for managing git repositories. It simplifies complex git tasks and makes them more accessible for users who are not comfortable with the command line.
  • Speed and Efficiency
    With keybindings and an efficient layout, lazygit can significantly speed up git workflows. Common tasks like staging, committing, and switching branches can be performed more quickly.
  • Cross-Platform Compatibility
    Lazygit is available for multiple operating systems, including Windows, macOS, and Linux, making it versatile for users across different platforms.
  • Interactive UI
    The interactive UI of lazygit allows users to visualize changes, diffs, and logs in a more comprehensible way compared to traditional command-line interfaces.
  • Ease of Installation
    Lazygit is straightforward to install, often requiring just a few commands, making it accessible even for those with limited technical knowledge.

Possible disadvantages of lazygit

  • Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly design, lazygit introduces a new set of keybindings and interfaces that users must learn, which could be a barrier for some.
  • Limited Customization
    Lazygit may lack the deep customization options available in other git clients or command-line tools, potentially limiting power users who need highly specific configurations.
  • Dependent on Terminal
    Since lazygit operates within a terminal, it might not fully integrate with other graphical development tools some users prefer, reducing its appeal for those who favor all-in-one solutions.
  • Feature Parity
    Lazygit might not support all the advanced features found in more comprehensive GUI-based git clients, potentially requiring users to fall back to command-line git for specific tasks.
  • Resource Consumption
    As a terminal-based tool, lazygit might consume more system resources compared to purely CLI-based git operations, which could be a concern for users on less powerful machines.

Magit videos

Magit Introduction and Demonstration

More videos:

  • Review - Emacs Magit - The Git Commit Flow in More Detail - Emacs Doom 19
  • Review - Git in Spacemacs/Emacs with Magit

lazygit videos

15 Lazygit Features In Under 15 Minutes

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Magit and lazygit)
Git
26 26%
74% 74
Git Tools
26 26%
74% 74
Code Collaboration
24 24%
76% 76
Git Client
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Magit and lazygit

Magit Reviews

Best Git GUI Clients for Windows
Magit is not a separate Git desktop client – it is a free plugin with an original text-based interface. It is implemented as a GNU Emacs package to use on Windows, Mac, and Linux. The plugin allows the developers to perform the necessary version control tasks directly in the Emacs window.
Source: blog.devart.com

lazygit Reviews

We have no reviews of lazygit yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, lazygit seems to be a lot more popular than Magit. While we know about 100 links to lazygit, we've tracked only 6 mentions of Magit. 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.

Magit mentions (6)

  • Tig: Text-Mode Interface for Git
    There're multiple solutions like this and I've used some of them over the past years. - There's obviously the fantastic Magit (https://github.com/magit/magit) I did use this for a long time but recently switched over to LazyGit for the better Vim bindings and having more features - LazyGit (https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit). One thing that I added that (as far as I know) none of the others have and I... - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • What is the best possible solution for file history?
    If you use magit, it has magit-wip-mode to automatically commit changes to tracked files in working and index trees into wip refs per branch. Source: over 2 years ago
  • What does your workflow look like on Linux?
    Magit because it's a great git frontend. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Let's share your top 3 packages that you can't live without.
    Without any order magit, lispy and minions. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Link to a git commit from Org mode using Magit | THIS IS EMACS
    Do you believe me if I tell you that with Org mode the data we refer To in a link can be a buffer in magit-revision-mode (from magit Package) showing us a specific commit of some git repository? Source: about 3 years ago
View more

lazygit mentions (100)

  • LazyJournal: A Terminal User Interface for Logs
    LazyJournal is a terminal user interface (TUI) written in Go, designed for easy analysis of system and application logs. It is inspired by tools like lazydocker and lazygit, providing interactive access to search, view, and filter logs from various sources in the local system. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Switching Fully to Neovim
    Additionally, I integrate several CLI tools into my work flow, such as lazygit for streamlined Git operations, yazi as a terminal file manager, tmux for session management, and lazydocker for handling Docker containers efficiently. - Source: dev.to / 3 months ago
  • TIL: Ghostty — a new and quite promising terminal emulator
    While design is an important part to some degree, there is something more that I've become observing and, therefore, liking lately: the reasonable default configs of the apps, which mean that the majority of the users will never need to mess with configs at all. Here is a great post by Arne about this trend which lists such tools like Fish (mentioned above), Helix, Lazygit, Zellij, k9s, etc. And that a very... - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Tig: Text-Mode Interface for Git
    There're multiple solutions like this and I've used some of them over the past years. - There's obviously the fantastic Magit (https://github.com/magit/magit) I did use this for a long time but recently switched over to LazyGit for the better Vim bindings and having more features - LazyGit (https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit). One thing that I added that (as far as I know) none of the others have and I... - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Lazy Docker: The lazier way to manage everything Docker
    If you like lazydocker also check out lazygit by the same author: https://github.com/jesseduffield/lazygit. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Magit and lazygit, you can also consider the following products

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

CodeHub - CodeHub is the most complete, unofficial, client for GitHub on the iOS platform.

tig - TIG Software Updates & Expansions. Download the most up-to-date, innovative software solutions for your TIG welder instantly to a memory card for enhanced performance.

Fork - Fast and Friendly Git Client for Mac

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

fugitive (via vim) - Free - VIM license