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Technology · head to head

GitHub Desktop vs Visual Studio Code

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
Visual Studio Code logo

Visual Studio Code

Developer Tools

Code editing. Redefined.

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • 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.; Visual Studio Code requires extension installation for language-specific features and tooling
  • They diverge on capability: GitHub Desktop covers Line-level staging, Visual Studio Code covers IntelliSense.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which GitHub Desktop and Visual Studio Code actually diverge.

Attributes where GitHub Desktop and Visual Studio Code differ
AttributeGitHub DesktopVisual Studio Code
Pricing modelfreeUnknown
PlatformsWindows, MacosWindows, macOS, Linux, Web (via GitHub Codespaces)
CategoryTechnologyDeveloper Tools
Founded20082015

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 Visual Studio Code

  • IntelliSense
  • Debugging
  • Built-in Git
  • Extensions
  • Integrated terminal
  • Syntax highlighting
  • Code refactoring
  • Snippets

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

Visual Studio Code

  • Code editingnot GitHub Desktop
  • Web developmentnot GitHub Desktop
  • Debuggingnot GitHub Desktop
  • Version controlnot GitHub Desktop
  • Remote developmentnot 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.

Visual Studio Code

  • Requires extension installation for language-specific features and tooling
  • Performance can degrade with very large codebases (100,000+ files)
  • Git integration is basic; requires extensions for advanced version control workflows

Pricing, plan by plan

GitHub Desktop

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

Visual Studio Code

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Visual Studio Code review.

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 Visual Studio Code if

  • You need intellisense.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Windows, macOS, Linux, Web (via GitHub Codespaces).
  • You also want debugging.
Visual Studio Code review

Questions people ask

Is GitHub Desktop or Visual Studio Code better?
Neither clearly leads. GitHub Desktop starts at Free and Visual Studio Code at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GitHub Desktop or Visual Studio Code?
GitHub Desktop starts at Free and Visual Studio Code at Free.
Does GitHub Desktop or Visual Studio Code run on more platforms?
GitHub Desktop runs on Windows, Macos. Visual Studio Code runs on Windows, macOS, Linux, Web (via GitHub Codespaces).
Can I use GitHub Desktop for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
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 Visual Studio Code is typically brought in for.
What can GitHub Desktop do that Visual Studio Code cannot?
GitHub Desktop covers Line-level staging, Branch and merge UI, Pull request integration, Enterprise authentication. Visual Studio Code covers IntelliSense, Debugging, Built-in Git, Extensions.

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.

Visual Studio Code: Is Visual Studio Code free?

Yes. Visual Studio Code is completely free to use under the MIT license. There are no subscription fees or paid tiers.

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.

Visual Studio Code: Can I use VS Code for remote development?

Yes. The Remote Development extension pack allows development on remote machines via SSH, in containers, or in Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) while using the full VS Code feature set.

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.

Visual Studio Code: How many extensions are available?

The VS Code Marketplace contains thousands of extensions from Microsoft and the community for language support, debuggers, themes, formatters, and productivity tools.

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.

Visual Studio Code: Does VS Code support debugging?

Yes. VS Code includes built-in debugging for JavaScript, TypeScript, and Node.js, and supports debugging for Python, C++, C#, Java, Ruby, Go, PHP, and other languages via extensions.

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.

Visual Studio Code: What operating systems does VS Code support?

VS Code runs on Windows, macOS, and Linux with identical features and keybindings across all platforms.

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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