Compare · GitHub Desktop
Nori vs GitHub Desktop: for when Git gets harder.
GitHub Desktop is free, open source and made for GitHub, and keeps Git simple on purpose. Nori is for the day that is not enough: a full commit graph, interactive rebase, conflicts resolved in the app, GitLab, and pull requests reviewed without the browser.
Price
GitHub Desktop is free under the MIT licence. Nori is US$40 once after a 14-day trial.
History and rebase
GitHub Desktop reorders and squashes commits by drag and drop. Nori adds a branch graph, a full rebase plan, blame, file history and search across every commit.
Pull requests
GitHub Desktop opens pull requests in the browser and shows their checks. Nori reviews them in the app, comments, approves and merges, on GitHub and on GitLab.
Measured side by side
GitHub Desktop is an Electron app; Nori is written in Swift. On the same Mac, GitHub Desktop held 297 to 336 MB at rest and Nori 83 to 99 MB; installed, 682 MB against 31 MB.
Feature by feature
| Nori | GitHub Desktop | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | US$40 once for 2 Macs, every update included. 14-day free trial. | Free and open source (MIT). |
| Platforms | Mac only: macOS 26 or later, Apple silicon. | Mac (macOS 12 or later) and Windows. |
| Built with | Swift, SwiftUI and AppKit. Diffs render in the system’s WebKit; no bundled browser engine. | Electron and TypeScript. |
| Staging | Files, folders, hunks and single lines. | Files and lines. |
| Interactive rebase | Yes, with a plan editor: pick, reword, edit, squash, fixup, drop. | Reorder and squash commits by drag and drop; no rebase plan editor documented. |
| Merge conflicts | Built-in three-way resolver with the result in view, and AI suggestions per conflict. | Lists conflicted files and opens them in your editor; Copilot can help resolve them. |
| Undo | ⌘Z after a commit, a branch deletion, a stash drop or a discard, with a 30-day operations log. | Undo the last commit. |
| Blame and file history | Yes, blame and file history that follows renames. | Commit history of the current branch. |
| Worktrees | Lists, opens, finishes and removes worktrees, and shows the agent working in each. Creating one is not offered yet. | Yes, since 3.6. |
| Submodules | No. | Shows and commits submodule changes; no init or update. |
| Git LFS | No dedicated support. | Yes. |
| Pull requests | Reviewed in the app: read the conversation, comment on lines, approve or request changes, follow and re-run CI checks, merge. | Create pull requests in the browser; check out a pull request and view or re-run its checks. |
| Forges | GitHub, GitHub Enterprise and GitLab. | GitHub and GitHub Enterprise. |
| AI | Commit messages, explanations, conflict suggestions and pull request descriptions through the agent CLI you already use (Claude Code, Codex, Gemini CLI, Cursor). No API key. | Commit messages with GitHub Copilot, for accounts with Copilot access. |
| Analytics | No product analytics in the app; it contacts Nori only for trial and licence checks. | Sends usage metrics by default; a setting turns them off. |
| Account | None. An email starts the trial and holds the licence. | Optional: sign-in can be skipped, and is needed for GitHub features. |
Nori vs GitHub Desktop, measured
Same Mac, same repositories, median of three runs, measured on 7 October 2026. How it was measured
GitHub Desktop opens a repository on its Changes tab, without the history list, so its time to load covers less work. It was measured in a second session the same day, with Nori measured again as a control.
git/git
- Nori99 MB
- GitHub Desktop297 MB
microsoft/vscode
- Nori83 MB
- GitHub Desktop336 MB
git/git
- Nori1.7 s
- GitHub Desktop2.5 s
microsoft/vscode
- Nori1.7 s
- GitHub Desktop2.5 s
git/git
- Nori0.1 %
- GitHub Desktop2.3 %
microsoft/vscode
- Nori0.1 %
- GitHub Desktop2.6 %
- Nori31 MB
- GitHub Desktop682 MB
Choose GitHub Desktop if
- You want a free, open source client.
- Your work is on GitHub and simple branching is enough.
- You need Windows, an Intel Mac or a macOS older than 26.
- You already pay for Copilot and want it in your Git client.
Choose Nori if
- You rebase interactively, cherry-pick or merge by dragging branches in a graph.
- You resolve merge conflicts in the app rather than in your editor.
- You review pull requests in the app, or your code lives on GitLab.
- You want undo for more than the last commit.
Switching from GitHub Desktop
Nothing to import or convert. Nori opens the repositories already on your Mac with your own Git, its configuration, hooks and SSH keys, so you can keep both apps on the same folders while you try it. Sign in to GitHub through the gh command-line tool and Nori lists your pull requests next to each repository.
Sources
GitHub Desktop facts come from its own website and documentation, checked on 7 October 2026. Nori facts are for Nori 1.8.0.
GitHub Desktop is a trademark of its owner. Nori is not affiliated with GitHub Desktop or its owner. Something out of date or unfair? Write to [email protected] and we will correct it.