Softwr

Developer Tools · head to head

GitHub Desktop vs Ping Identity

GitHub Desktop logo

GitHub Desktop

Developer Tools

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
Visit GitHub DesktopFull review
Ping Identity logo

Ping Identity

Cybersecurity

Enterprise identity for workforce and customers, with a 5,000 user floor

From
$3/month
Free plan
No
Visit Ping IdentityFull review

The short version

  • GitHub Desktop is free; Ping Identity starts at $3/mo.
  • Only GitHub Desktop lists line-level staging; only Ping Identity lists single sign-on.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which GitHub Desktop and Ping Identity actually diverge.

Attributes where GitHub Desktop and Ping Identity differ
AttributeGitHub DesktopPing Identity
Starting priceFree$3/month
Pricing modelFreePer user per month
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, macOSWeb, Linux, Windows
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

Not yet recorded: founded for Ping Identity.

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 Ping Identity

  • Single sign-on
  • Adaptive MFA
  • Identity orchestration
  • API access management
  • Directory services
  • Flexible deployment
  • ForgeRock capabilities

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 Ping Identity
  • A new engineer's first weeks, where seeing the diff and the branch state visually prevents the common early mistakesnot Ping Identity
  • Reviewing a colleague's pull request branch locally with a readable diff before approving itnot Ping Identity
  • Small teams standardised entirely on GitHub who want SSO-backed authentication to work without managing personal access tokens by handnot Ping Identity

Ping Identity

  • A bank that must keep identity data on premises in one country while running SaaS identity elsewherenot GitHub Desktop
  • An airline or telco with tens of millions of customer identities needing a directory that holds that scalenot GitHub Desktop
  • An enterprise assembling authentication journeys that call several external verification and risk vendorsnot GitHub Desktop
  • An existing ForgeRock customer deciding what its upgrade path looks like under Ping ownershipnot 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

Ping Identity

  • Workforce pricing carries a 5,000 user annual minimum, so an organisation with 800 staff pays for 5,000 and the effective per user cost is over six times the list rate
  • Adaptive multi-factor authentication is in the Plus tier only, doubling the per user price for a capability many buyers assume is standard in a modern identity platform
  • ForgeRock no longer exists as an independent product, so customers who chose it specifically to avoid Ping now face a roadmap set by the vendor they did not pick
  • Thoma Bravo ownership across both merged companies means the commercial priority is margin, and buyers report firmer renewal negotiations than they saw before 2022
  • The portfolio has overlapping components from three product lineages, so scoping a deployment requires vendor architects and the licensing conversation is more complicated than the price list implies

Pricing, plan by plan

GitHub Desktop

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

Ping Identity

$3/month
  • PingOne for Workforce Essential$3/mo
    • Minimum 5,000 users billed annually
    • Single sign-on and directory services
    • OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, SAML and SCIM
  • PingOne for Workforce Plus$6/mo
    • Minimum 5,000 users billed annually
    • Everything in Essential
    • Adaptive multi-factor authentication
  • PingOne for Customers Essential$35,000/yr
    • Flat annual fee
    • No-code identity orchestration
    • Unified customer profiles
  • PingOne for Customers Plus$50,000/yr
    • Flat annual fee
    • Everything in Essential
    • Adaptive MFA and device management

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 Ping Identity if

  • You need single sign-on.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Windows.
  • You also want adaptive mfa.
Ping Identity review

Questions people ask

Is GitHub Desktop or Ping Identity better?
Neither clearly leads. GitHub Desktop starts at Free and Ping Identity at $3/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GitHub Desktop or Ping Identity?
GitHub Desktop has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for GitHub Desktop and $3/month for Ping Identity.
Does GitHub Desktop or Ping Identity run on more platforms?
GitHub Desktop runs on Windows, macOS. Ping Identity runs on Web, Linux, Windows.
Can I use GitHub Desktop for free?
Yes. GitHub Desktop has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Ping Identity starts at $3/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 Ping Identity is typically brought in for.
What can GitHub Desktop do that Ping Identity cannot?
GitHub Desktop covers Line-level staging, Branch and merge UI, Pull request integration, Enterprise authentication. Ping Identity covers Single sign-on, Adaptive MFA, Identity orchestration, API access management.

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.

Ping Identity: Can I still buy ForgeRock?

Not as a separate product. Ping acquired ForgeRock in 2023 and the capabilities are sold within the Ping portfolio. Existing customers should ask about the specific migration path for their components.

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.

Ping Identity: What is the real minimum spend?

PingOne for Workforce Essential is 3 USD per user per month with a 5,000 user annual minimum, so roughly 180,000 USD a year before anything else.

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.

Ping Identity: Is MFA included?

Basic authentication policies are in Essential. Adaptive MFA and passwordless require the Plus tier at 6 USD per user per month.

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.

Share

Related pages

More on GitHub Desktop

More on Ping Identity

Keep looking

Other head to heads