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Technology · head to head

GitHub Desktop vs ProofHub

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
ProofHub logo

ProofHub

Project Management

All-in-one project management and team collaboration

From
$45/month
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: 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.; ProofHub the Ultimate Control plan advertises $89 a month for the first 3 months and then charges $135, so the headline is an introductory rate
  • They diverge on capability: GitHub Desktop covers Line-level staging, ProofHub covers Tasks.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where GitHub Desktop and ProofHub differ
AttributeGitHub DesktopProofHub
Starting priceFree$45/month
Pricing modelfreesubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, MacosWeb, Ios, Android
CategoryTechnologyProject Management
Founded20082011

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 ProofHub

  • Tasks
  • Discussions
  • Proofing
  • Time tracking
  • Gantt charts
  • Slack
  • Google Drive
  • Dropbox

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

ProofHub

  • Project management for teamsnot GitHub Desktop
  • Resource planning and reportingnot GitHub Desktop
  • Collaborative workflow managementnot 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.

ProofHub

  • The Ultimate Control plan advertises $89 a month for the first 3 months and then charges $135, so the headline is an introductory rate
  • The Essential plan caps projects at 40 and storage at 15 GB
  • Storage is 100 GB even on the higher plan, which is low for a tool holding project files
  • There is no free tier, and the entry price is a flat $45 a month billed annually

Pricing, plan by plan

GitHub Desktop

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

ProofHub

$45/month
  • Essential$45/month
    • 40 projects
    • Unlimited users
    • 15GB storage
  • Ultimate Control$89/month
    • Unlimited projects
    • Unlimited users
    • 100GB storage

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 ProofHub if

  • You need tasks.
  • You work on Web, Ios, Android.
  • You also want discussions.
ProofHub review

Questions people ask

Is GitHub Desktop or ProofHub better?
Neither clearly leads. GitHub Desktop starts at Free and ProofHub at $45/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GitHub Desktop or ProofHub?
GitHub Desktop has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for GitHub Desktop and $45/month for ProofHub.
Does GitHub Desktop or ProofHub run on more platforms?
GitHub Desktop runs on Windows, Macos. ProofHub runs on Web, Ios, Android.
Can I use GitHub Desktop for free?
Yes. GitHub Desktop has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. ProofHub starts at $45/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 ProofHub is typically brought in for.
What can GitHub Desktop do that ProofHub cannot?
GitHub Desktop covers Line-level staging, Branch and merge UI, Pull request integration, Enterprise authentication. ProofHub covers Tasks, Discussions, Proofing, Time tracking.

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.

ProofHub: How much does ProofHub cost?

ProofHub offers two plans: Essential at $45/month (annual) or $50/month (monthly), and Ultimate Control at $89/month (first 3 months) or $135/month thereafter (annual billing).

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.

ProofHub: Are per-user fees required with ProofHub?

No. ProofHub includes unlimited users in both Essential and Ultimate Control plans. There are no per-user fees regardless of team size.

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.

ProofHub: Does ProofHub offer a free trial?

Yes, ProofHub provides a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. You can explore all features before committing.

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.

ProofHub: Can I cancel ProofHub anytime?

Yes. ProofHub has no long-term contracts. You can cancel anytime and switch billing between annual and monthly plans.

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.

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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