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GitHub Desktop vs JetBrains Rider

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
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
JetBrains Rider logo

JetBrains Rider

Developer Tools

Cross-platform .NET IDE from JetBrains for C#, F#, VB.NET and Unity

From
$18.25/month
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only GitHub Desktop has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; JetBrains Rider requires a paid subscription with no permanently free commercial tier.
  • They diverge on capability: GitHub Desktop covers Line-level staging, JetBrains Rider covers Cross-platform .NET Development.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which GitHub Desktop and JetBrains Rider actually diverge.

Attributes where GitHub Desktop and JetBrains Rider differ
AttributeGitHub DesktopJetBrains Rider
Starting priceFree$18.25/month
Pricing modelfreesubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, Macoswindows, mac, linux
CategoryTechnologyDeveloper Tools
Founded20082000

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 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

Only in JetBrains Rider

  • Cross-platform .NET Development
  • ReSharper-powered Code Analysis
  • Integrated Debugger and Profiler
  • Version Control Integration
  • Unity Support

What people use each for

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

GitHub Desktop

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

JetBrains Rider

  • Cross-platform .NET and ASP.NET Core developmentnot GitHub Desktop
  • Unity game development and debuggingnot GitHub Desktop
  • Large-scale C# refactoring with ReSharper-grade analysisnot GitHub Desktop
  • Teams standardizing on JetBrains tooling across languagesnot GitHub Desktop

Where each one falls short

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

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.

JetBrains Rider

  • Requires a paid subscription with no permanently free commercial tier.
  • Heavier resource usage than lightweight editors like VS Code for small projects.
  • Some advanced features overlap with a separate ReSharper Visual Studio plugin, causing licensing confusion.
  • First-year pricing increased in late 2025, raising the cost of entry versus prior years.

Pricing, plan by plan

GitHub Desktop

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

JetBrains Rider

$18.25/month
  • Individual - Year 1$219/year
    • Full Rider IDE license
    • Free minor and major updates during subscription
  • Individual - Year 2$175/year
    • Continuity discount after first year
  • Individual - Year 3+$131/year
    • Further continuity discount from third year onward

Which should you pick?

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

Choose JetBrains Rider if

  • You need cross-platform .net development.
  • You work on windows, mac, linux.
  • You also want resharper-powered code analysis.
JetBrains Rider review

Questions people ask

Is GitHub Desktop or JetBrains Rider better?
Neither clearly leads. GitHub Desktop starts at Free and JetBrains Rider at $18.25/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GitHub Desktop or JetBrains Rider?
GitHub Desktop has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for GitHub Desktop and $18.25/month for JetBrains Rider.
Does GitHub Desktop or JetBrains Rider run on more platforms?
GitHub Desktop runs on Windows, Macos. JetBrains Rider runs on windows, mac, linux.
Can I use GitHub Desktop for free?
Yes. GitHub Desktop has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. JetBrains Rider starts at $18.25/month.
What is GitHub Desktop best used for?
GitHub Desktop is most often used for onboarding designers or technical writers who need to commit to a docs or assets repository without learning the command line, a new engineer's first weeks, where seeing the diff and the branch state visually prevents the common early mistakes, reviewing a colleague's pull request branch locally with a readable diff before approving it, small teams standardised entirely on github who want sso-backed authentication to work without managing personal access tokens by hand. Of those, onboarding designers or technical writers who need to commit to a docs or assets repository without learning the command line and a new engineer's first weeks, where seeing the diff and the branch state visually prevents the common early mistakes are not what JetBrains Rider is typically brought in for.
What can GitHub Desktop do that JetBrains Rider cannot?
GitHub Desktop covers Line-level staging, Branch and merge UI, Pull request integration, Enterprise authentication. JetBrains Rider covers Cross-platform .NET Development, ReSharper-powered Code Analysis, Integrated Debugger and Profiler, Version Control Integration.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

JetBrains Rider: Does Rider have a free version?

JetBrains offers a free non-commercial license for Rider for personal, non-commercial use, alongside paid commercial subscriptions with continuity discounts after the first year.

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.

JetBrains Rider: What counts as non-commercial use under the free license?

Learning, open-source contributions without commercial benefit, content creation like monetized tutorials, and hobby projects qualify; any paid work or commercial release does not.

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.

JetBrains Rider: Does the free non-commercial license include all Rider features?

Yes, it is a full-featured IDE identical to the paid version, with one exception: Code With Me is limited to the Community tier instead of the premium tier.

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.

JetBrains Rider: How often does the non-commercial license renew?

It issues a one-year license that renews automatically each year, provided Rider was opened at least once during the preceding six months.

Source
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.

JetBrains Rider: What support do non-commercial license holders get?

Non-commercial users get community forums and public bug trackers rather than private support tickets, which are reserved for paid subscribers.

Source
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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