The best Git GUI for Linux in 2026: Ubuntu 24.04, Debian and Linux Mint

The best Git GUI for Linux in 2026 depends on your budget and workflow. For a free, full-featured client on Ubuntu 24.04, Debian or Linux Mint, our pick, with an obvious bias, is GitTree: a native .deb with a commit graph, line staging, interactive rebase and a three-way conflict editor, free today. GitKraken Desktop, Sublime Merge and SmartGit are mature commercial options; gitg, git-cola and lazygit are the best-known open-source ones.

GitTree’s maker wrote this post, so weigh our first pick accordingly. Claims about other clients come from their developers’ own pages, checked in October 2026 and listed in the sources at the end.

Git GUI clients for Linux compared at a glance

What to look for in a Git GUI on Ubuntu and Debian

On Linux, four questions matter more than they do on a Mac:

• A real Linux build from the developer, not Windows software under Wine.
• Packaging: a .deb or signed apt repository fits apt; a tarball sits outside it.
• Git itself: some clients bundle it; others run your system git, which is too old on Ubuntu 22.04 for some.
• Price for work: some clients are free only for personal use or public repositories.

Full-featured Git clients with official Linux builds

These four ship their own Linux packages and cover the whole daily loop. We start with ours.

Free, open-source Git GUIs for Ubuntu and Debian

The Ubuntu and Debian archives already carry several open-source Git GUIs, including Git’s own gitk for history and git gui for commits. One command installs them with gitg and git-cola:

sudo apt install gitk git-gui gitg git-cola

Archive versions trail upstream, sometimes by years, but they update with the rest of your system.

Git GUI on Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 12 and Linux Mint: check your Git first

Clients that run your system git depend on your distribution’s version, and GitTree needs 2.39 or newer. GitKraken Desktop and SmartGit’s recommended download bundle their own Git.

Ubuntu 22.04 and Linux Mint 21: add the Git PPA first

Ubuntu 22.04 and Linux Mint 21 ship Git 2.34.1. The git-core PPA brings the newest stable Git, and later versions then arrive with your system updates:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:git-core/ppa
sudo apt update
sudo apt install git
git --version

Our guide to upgrading Git on Ubuntu 22.04 explains each step, whether to trust the PPA, and how to undo it.

Linux Mint, Pop!_OS and other derivatives

Linux Mint 22 is built on Ubuntu 24.04 and Linux Mint 21 on Ubuntu 22.04, so Ubuntu packages install on them. GitTree can run on derivatives with WebKitGTK 4.1, such as Linux Mint 21+ and Pop!_OS 22.04+, though only Ubuntu and Debian are tested. It keeps tokens in the system keyring, so GNOME Keyring or KeePassXC’s Secret Service must be available.

On Ubuntu 24.04 or Debian 12, the whole install fits in four commands (use the file name you saved):

git --version
cd ~/Downloads
sudo apt install ./Git-Tree-Linux.deb
gittree

Clients that do not run on Linux: Sourcetree, GitHub Desktop, Fork and Tower

Four well-known clients are built for macOS and Windows only, with no official Linux version, as of October 2026:

• Sourcetree (free): Atlassian’s main Linux request (437 votes) is closed, and a newer one is marked Future Consideration. See Sourcetree for Linux and our Sourcetree alternative comparison.
• GitHub Desktop (free, open source): GitHub’s docs say “Linux is not yet supported”; a community fork trails by about 19 months. See GitHub Desktop for Linux and the GitHub Desktop alternative page.
• Fork ($59.99 once): its Linux request has been open since 2017. Compare it on the Fork alternative page.
• Tower ($69 to $149 per user per year): its official pages list no Linux build. See the Tower alternative page.

Guides that install these on Ubuntu rely on Wine or unofficial builds, which no developer supports.

How to choose the best Git GUI for Linux

• Full-featured and free for work: GitTree. See also our list of free Git GUIs for commercial use.
• Team and enterprise features: GitKraken Desktop on a paid plan; compare it on the GitKraken alternative page.
• Speed and a signed apt repository: Sublime Merge; see the Sublime Merge alternative page.
• A perpetual licence or inline review comments: SmartGit; see the SmartGit alternative page.
• Open source: gitg, git-cola or, in the terminal, lazygit.

Torn between a GUI and commands? Read Git GUI vs command line, or our best Git GUI clients round-up for macOS, Windows and Linux.

GitTree is free today, private repositories included, on Mac, Windows and Linux. The GitTree for Linux guide covers the portable AppImage, the features page lists everything, and the support page helps if something breaks. Every installer is on the download page.