Git Tower
Hacker ApprovedShares rank 5 of 18 git clients by recommenders
Native Mac Git client people prefer over Fork and SourceTree for its friendly interface, though critics note newer versions need a paid subscription.
Native Mac Git client people prefer over Fork and SourceTree for its friendly interface, though critics note newer versions need a paid subscription.
16 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 75%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Owned for 8 years
Median of the 3 owners who said how long they have had it.
Each square is one year.
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 3 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Preferred over Fork and SourceTree
“Tower is also very good. Probably just due to having used it more, I prefer it over Fork”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “The lazy Git UI you didn't know you need” “I find both Fork and Tower to be much better than SourceTree”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “The lazy Git UI you didn't know you need” “Git Tower is the best native UI client”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “The lazy Git UI you didn't know you need” Native macOS Git client
“We need to advocate and evangelize for native apps, like RapidApi on macOS and also Tower.”
Comment from 3 May 2026 in “Why TUIs Are Back” “Those apps all run on current Macs today”
Comment from 1 Dec 2025 in “Apple and Intel Rumored to Partner on Mac Chips” “Git Tower is the best native UI client”
Comment from 10 Nov 2025 in “The lazy Git UI you didn't know you need” Easy and fun to use
“I just click on tower and open it, much better”
Comment from 30 Aug 2026 on Hacker News “Try it out, it's pretty fun”
Comment from 10 Aug 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you working on? (August 2026)”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Newer versions need paid subscription
“refusing to pay a subscription for the newer versions”
Comment from 12 Aug 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you working on? (August 2026)” “it kind of just makes it impossible to progress at a satisfying pace without payment”
Comment from 2 Sep 2026 in “Dwarf Fortress' creator says the industry's in shambles over AI” “refusing the monthly subscription to upgrade to a fresher version”
Comment from 14 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you working on? (September 2026)” - Comment from 28 Jan 2026 on Hacker News
Other git clients people recommend
The four most recommended other git clients, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magit | 120 | 20 | 86% | 12 | 10 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| Sublime Merge | 22 | 1 | 96% | 10 | — | Approved |
| GitButler | 21 | 19 | 53% | 6 | — | — |
| Fork git client | 17 | 2 | 89% | 7 | — | Approved |
| Git TowerThis page | 12 | 4 | 75% | 7 | 8 yrs3 owners | Approved |
What people said
19 of the 20 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“refusing the monthly subscription to upgrade to a fresher version”
“it kind of just makes it impossible to progress at a satisfying pace without payment”
“I just click on tower and open it, much better”
“it was clear at that point (and still is) that the tower ecosystem is not really gonna change any time soon”
“refusing to pay a subscription for the newer versions”
“Try it out, it's pretty fun”
“all those new commits will be automatically “restacked” on descended branch”
“There's no clusters to manage, no YAML to write, no pipelines to rewrite to fit someone else's engine.”
“This book, although history, reads like an outdoor adventure mystery thriller.”
“We need to advocate and evangelize for native apps, like RapidApi on macOS and also Tower.”
“We're a Python-native serverless platform built on Apache Iceberg with powerful ETL and Lakehouse management tools.”
“I was tired of having to pay for GitTower”
“Those apps all run on current Macs today”
“BBEdit and Sublime and Git Tower and dozens of other Mac apps I paid for and can't easily use anymore”
“GUIs were invented for a reason and the git CLI has terrible ergonomics and many ways to make costly mistakes.”
“There are several really good Git clients for macOS”
“Git Tower is the best native UI client”
“Tower is also very good. Probably just due to having used it more, I prefer it over Fork”
“I find both Fork and Tower to be much better than SourceTree”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.