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Construction · head to head

Egnyte vs GitHub Desktop

Egnyte logo

Egnyte

Construction

Cloud-based file management and collaboration platform

From
$60/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
GitHub Desktop logo

GitHub Desktop

Technology

A free, open source Git client from GitHub for Windows and macOS that covers common workflows rather than all of Git.

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only GitHub Desktop has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Egnyte storage is allocated per plan rather than per user, at 100 GB on Business and 150 GB on every tier above it; GitHub Desktop there is no official Linux build; the application ships for Windows and macOS only, and the community fork at shiftkey/desktop that packages it for Linux is maintained separately and lags official releases, so a mixed-OS team cannot standardise on one client.
  • They diverge on capability: Egnyte covers File sync and sharing, GitHub Desktop covers Line-level staging.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Egnyte and GitHub Desktop actually diverge.

Attributes where Egnyte and GitHub Desktop differ
AttributeEgnyteGitHub Desktop
Starting price$60/monthFree
Pricing modelsubscriptionfree
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, Ios, Android, WindowsWindows, Macos
CategoryConstructionTechnology
Founded20072008

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Egnyte

  • File sync and sharing
  • Team collaboration
  • Mobile access
  • Version control
  • Access controls
  • Microsoft 365
  • Slack
  • Box

Only in GitHub Desktop

  • Line-level staging
  • Branch and merge UI
  • Pull request integration
  • Enterprise authentication
  • Squash and reorder
  • Drag cherry-pick
  • Co-author attribution
  • Editor and shell handoff

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Egnyte

  • Managing and syncing files across an organisation with governance controlsnot GitHub Desktop
  • Sharing large project files with external collaboratorsnot GitHub Desktop

GitHub Desktop

  • Onboarding designers or technical writers who need to commit to a docs or assets repository without learning the command linenot Egnyte
  • A new engineer's first weeks, where seeing the diff and the branch state visually prevents the common early mistakesnot Egnyte
  • Reviewing a colleague's pull request branch locally with a readable diff before approving itnot Egnyte
  • Small teams standardised entirely on GitHub who want SSO-backed authentication to work without managing personal access tokens by handnot Egnyte

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Egnyte

  • Storage is allocated per plan rather than per user, at 100 GB on Business and 150 GB on every tier above it
  • That means Elite at $48 per user per month carries the same 150 GB as Enterprise Lite at $39
  • The Business plan caps the account at 100 power users, so growth past that forces a jump to $39 per user
  • Every published price requires annual payment
  • The Ultimate tier is quoted rather than listed

GitHub Desktop

  • There is no official Linux build; the application ships for Windows and macOS only, and the community fork at shiftkey/desktop that packages it for Linux is maintained separately and lags official releases, so a mixed-OS team cannot standardise on one client.
  • Submodules are effectively unsupported: the app shows a submodule change as an opaque single line and gives you no way to initialise, update or navigate into it, so any repository using them needs the terminal anyway.
  • History rewriting is limited to squashing and reordering local commits by drag and drop; interactive rebase, fixup chains, editing an old commit's contents and bisect are all absent, which is exactly the set of operations a beginner needs help with most.
  • Pull request features only exist for GitHub remotes, so a team on GitLab or Bitbucket gets a plain Git client with an empty pull request pane and no review or checks view at all.
  • Commit signing with a key that requires a passphrase generally fails, because the app cannot surface the pinentry prompt, and the resulting error message does not say that is the cause.
  • GitHub staffs it lightly compared with its web and CI products, so long-standing feature requests and bugs sit open for years; if you file an issue you should plan around it rather than expect a fix.

Pricing, plan by plan

Egnyte

$60/month
  • Team Collaboration$60/month
    • File sync and sharing
    • Team collaboration
    • Mobile access
  • EnterpriseFree
    • Advanced governance
    • Compliance controls
    • API access

GitHub Desktop

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Git repository management
    • GitHub integration
    • Visual diff tools

Which should you pick?

Choose Egnyte if

  • You need file sync and sharing.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android, Windows.
  • You also want team collaboration.
Egnyte review

Choose GitHub Desktop if

  • You need line-level staging.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, Macos.
  • You also want branch and merge ui.
GitHub Desktop review

Questions people ask

Is Egnyte or GitHub Desktop better?
Neither clearly leads. Egnyte starts at $60/month and GitHub Desktop at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Egnyte or GitHub Desktop?
GitHub Desktop has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $60/month for Egnyte and Free for GitHub Desktop.
Does Egnyte or GitHub Desktop run on more platforms?
Egnyte runs on Web, Ios, Android, Windows. GitHub Desktop runs on Windows, Macos.
Can I use GitHub Desktop for free?
Yes. GitHub Desktop has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Egnyte starts at $60/month.
What is Egnyte best used for?
Egnyte is most often used for managing and syncing files across an organisation with governance controls, sharing large project files with external collaborators. Of those, managing and syncing files across an organisation with governance controls and sharing large project files with external collaborators are not what GitHub Desktop is typically brought in for.
What can Egnyte do that GitHub Desktop cannot?
Egnyte covers File sync and sharing, Team collaboration, Mobile access, Version control. GitHub Desktop covers Line-level staging, Branch and merge UI, Pull request integration, Enterprise authentication.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Egnyte: How much does Egnyte cost per user?

Egnyte pricing ranges from $22 per user per month (Business plan, paid annually) to $48 per user per month (Elite plan, paid annually). The Ultimate plan requires a custom quote. Enterprise Lite is $39 per user per month.

Source
GitHub Desktop: Is there a Linux version?

Not an official one. GitHub ships Windows and macOS builds only. A community fork, shiftkey/desktop, produces Linux packages, but it is maintained by volunteers and trails the official releases.

Egnyte: What storage limits apply to each Egnyte plan?

Business plan includes 100 GB per account and supports up to 100 users. Enterprise Lite, Elite, and Ultimate plans include 150 GB per account each with support for unlimited users.

Source
GitHub Desktop: Does it work with GitLab or Bitbucket?

For plain Git operations, yes: you can clone, commit, push and pull against any remote. The pull request, review and checks features only work against GitHub.com and GitHub Enterprise.

Egnyte: Are there additional costs for Egnyte add-ons?

Yes. Project Hub costs $6 per user per month, Specialized File Handler costs $6 per user per month, and Snapshot & Recovery costs $10 per user per month.

Source
GitHub Desktop: What does it cost?

Nothing. It is free and the source is published under the MIT licence, and it is separate from any GitHub plan you may or may not pay for.

Egnyte: Does Egnyte offer a free trial?

Egnyte offers a free trial for all tiers except Ultimate. The Ultimate tier requires contacting sales. Multi-year discounts are available but specific terms are not detailed on the pricing page.

Source
GitHub Desktop: Will it handle submodules?

No. Submodule changes appear as an unreadable single-line diff and there are no controls for initialising or updating them. Repositories that use submodules need the command line.

GitHub Desktop: Do I still need to learn Git?

For everyday work, no. For recovery, yes. Anything beyond the curated set of operations, including interactive rebase and reflog recovery, happens in the terminal, so a team using it should have at least one person who knows Git properly.

GitHub Desktop: Does it work with GitHub Enterprise Server?

Yes. It signs in to GitHub Enterprise Server and GitHub Enterprise Cloud as well as GitHub.com, and it honours organisations that enforce SAML single sign-on.

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