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Developer Tools · head to head

GitHub Desktop vs Xara Designer Pro+

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
Xara Designer Pro+ logo

Xara Designer Pro+

Design

Desktop publishing, web design, photo editing and graphic design in one workspace

From
On request
Free plan
No
Visit Xara Designer Pro+Full review

The short version

  • GitHub Desktop is free; Xara Designer Pro+ prices on request.
  • Where Xara Designer Pro+ falls short: compatible with Windows only; the product page states no Mac version.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which GitHub Desktop and Xara Designer Pro+ actually diverge.

Attributes where GitHub Desktop and Xara Designer Pro+ differ
AttributeGitHub DesktopXara Designer Pro+
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelFreeOne-time
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWindows, macOSWeb
CategoryDeveloper ToolsDesign

Not yet recorded: founded for Xara Designer Pro+.

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 Xara Designer Pro+

Nothing recorded that GitHub Desktop does not also cover.

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

Xara Designer Pro+

  • Desktop publishing and professional layout workflowsnot GitHub Desktop
  • Web design and e-commerce site creation without codenot GitHub Desktop
  • Photo editing and image retouching for visual projectsnot GitHub Desktop
  • Graphic design and illustration in single workspacenot GitHub Desktop
  • Multi-discipline creative work with unlimited flexibilitynot 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

Xara Designer Pro+

  • Compatible with Windows only; the product page states no Mac version

Pricing, plan by plan

GitHub Desktop

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

Xara Designer Pro+

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the Xara Designer Pro+ 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 Xara Designer Pro+ if

Nothing in the data separates Xara Designer Pro+ from GitHub Desktop on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

Xara Designer Pro+ review

Questions people ask

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

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.

Xara Designer Pro+: Does Xara Designer Pro offer a free trial?

Yes, Xara Designer Pro offers a free trial download, allowing users to test the software before purchasing.

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.

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.

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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