Overview

GitKraken Client

GitKraken Desktop

Simplifying Git for any OS

Countless developers and teams worldwide use GitKraken Desktop for its intuitive GUI, powerful terminal, and cross-platform support for Windows, Mac, and Linux.
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I’d recommend GitKraken instead of GitHub Desktop, both for learning and for senior level.

@Wollantine

Highly recommend GitKraken. It’s the best git gui that I’ve found and could not be without it now.

@char_bone

May I humbly recommend our lord and savior GitKraken.

@gravShark

Visualize Git, Minimize Mistakes

GitKraken Desktop turns the complex web of Git commands into a clear, navigable map of your project’s history. This visual approach not only demystifies version control, but also makes tracking changes and understanding the impact of each commit a breeze.

Easy-to-read commit history

The Commit Graph provides an easy-to-use interface to address common Git challenges. Feel more confident about managing version control and get a clear view of who changed what and when.

GitKraken commit graph showing merge history for the ‘actions/staging’ and ‘development’ branches, including labeled pull requests, work-in-progress tag, and multiple colored branches converging with detailed commit messages.”
Open any repo in GitKraken Desktop to visualize the commit history.

Understand any change

With the flexible Diff View you can review past changes, explore File Blame or File History, and even edit code directly, enabling you to stay on top of your project development with ease.
Side-by-side code diff view showing a change to the .alert-info class in a LESS file, with the color property updated from #0D1017 to #d9edf7. UI includes file path, staging status, and diff navigation options.
Review the change set for any file in hunk, split, or inline view.

Speed Up Your Workflow with AI

Automate repetitive tasks and stay focused on what matters. GitKraken Desktop offers built-in AI capabilities to fast track your workflow—no extra tools, no switching interfaces. 

Compose Commits with AI

Skip the rebase stress and let GitKraken AI help you tell a cleaner story. Whether you’re sitting on a pile of uncommitted WIP or reviewing a mess of past commits, Commit Composer can restructure your history into something logical, readable, and easy to review.
Context menu in a Git visual history interface with the option ‘Recompose 7 commits with AI’ selected. The interface shows a branch graph and commit messages under the ‘11-2-feature’ branch.
Generate a plain language explanation of one or more commits.

Summarize past changes with AI

Looking through diffs can take a while. Instead, let GitKraken AI generate natural language explanations of your commits, right from the UI.
Commit explanation panel displaying a summary of three commits. Each commit is listed with its message, hash, timestamp, and author. The bottom section provides a combined explanation with details on changes and impact.
GitKraken suggests a summary and description, which you can review and edit.

Unblock PR & Code Reviews

Traditional code collaboration relies heavily on pull requests, which forces devs to wait for valuable feedback. GitKraken Desktop expedites feedback and fills in the missing context you need for swifter code reviews.

Know what’s next 

Use the Launchpad to see and prioritize all of your issues, pull requests, and WIPs. Start your day in the Launchpad and take action on your most important work without second-guessing or juggling apps. 

Pull request dashboard displaying pinned and ready-to-merge items. Each item shows status indicators for build checks, review approvals, file changes, and time since submission. Labels include unassigned, CI failing, and merge conflicts.
Pin to the top or Snooze for later.

See pull requests by status

Which PRs need attention? With the Launchpad, your PRs and issues are organized by status so you can unblock your team and keep your project moving.

Pull request dashboard categorized into Pinned, Ready to Merge, Unassigned, CI Failing, and Merge Conflicts. Each item shows time since update, review and CI status, file change counts, and pull request titles with linked issue numbers.
See which PRs are unassigned, ready to merge, and more.

Suggest code changes internally

Take action on GitHub Pull Requests directly from GitKraken Desktop! Review the code in-app, and send suggestions to other GitKraken users on your team.
GitHub pull request interface showing PR #212 titled ‘PMM-272 GitKon Product Commercials’. The view includes branch merge details, a link to the Jira issue, comments, reviewer assignments, and buttons to review code and submit a review for 13 changed files.

Resolve Merge Conflicts with Ease

Resolving merge conflicts can be a tedious process. But with GitKraken Desktop’s conflict detection and merge tool,  you can tackle merge conflicts with confidence and ease. 

Detect conflicts early

Intervene before any conflicts happen. When your other teammates use GitKraken, you can get potential conflict warnings when another team member is editing in the same area of the codebase as you.

GitKraken interface showing a conflict detection warning. A tooltip notifies the user that Trevor Polidore has changes on the same branch that may conflict, with options to send changes as a Cloud Patch, push changes, or ignore the warning.
GitKraken Desktop alerts you about merge conflicts.

Knock out conflicting code​

Resolve merge conflicts faster with a built-in merge tool and AI-powered auto-resolution. GitKraken AI suggests context-aware fixes with explanations and confidence levels, so you can review and stay in control.
GitKraken interface displaying a YAML file merge conflict. Two versions of the plugins section are shown side by side with differing entries. A highlighted AI Merge Summary offers confidence scores and rationale for each merge decision, alongside an ‘Auto-resolve with AI’ option.
Use the Merge Tool to resolve conflicts with ease and style.

Deploy GitKraken Inside Your Firewall

GitKraken Desktop On-Premise brings the full GitKraken experience inside your own infrastructure. Choose Self-Hosted Server, deployed with full admin control over upgrades and users, or go Serverless with a simple license file and no server required. Either way, your code never leaves the firewall.

Plug Into Your Existing Identity Stack

Connect Self-Hosted GitKraken directly to your LDAP directory with group mapping, attribute configuration, and optional automatic syncing. Teams without LDAP can use built-in email and password authentication instead.

LDAP is available with GitKraken Self-Hosted edition.

Same GitKraken, Fully Self-Hosted

Developers get the same core Git experience they rely on daily, including the Commit Graph, diff view, merge tools, and AI workflows connected to an approved internal LLM. Integrations with GitHub Enterprise, GitLab Self-Managed, Bitbucket Data Center, and Azure DevOps are fully supported.

The same GitKraken features your developers already know, deployed entirely on your terms.

GitKraken Desktop FAQs

GitKraken Desktop does not include built-in support or integration for GitHub Copilot or other AI code suggestion tools. GitKraken Desktop focuses on managing Git repositories, branches, and pull requests with your Git providers.

If you want to use GitHub Copilot, it typically works within code editors like Visual Studio Code separately from GitKraken Desktop. You can use both tools side-by-side to enhance your development workflow.

GitKraken AI brings smart automation to your Git workflow, exactly where you need it. It helps you write better commit messages, summarize pull requests, explain confusing commits, and even resolve merge conflicts with AI-assisted suggestions. No extra tools, no copy-paste. It’s all built into GitKraken Desktop. Just look for the ✨ icon next to commit, PR, or merge actions to start using it.

GitKraken AI includes:

  • Commit Composer
  • AI Commit Message Generation
  • AI Merge Conflict Resolution
  • AI PR Title and Description Generation
  • AI Stash Messages
  • AI Commit Explanation

AI token usage resets weekly on Sundays (UTC). Each Sunday marks the beginning of a new reporting week. If your organization upgrades to a paid plan, usage resets immediately, and the new plan limits apply. Note: unused tokens do not roll over.

With GitKraken Pro, you gain access to a range of advanced features designed to enhance your development workflow. Here are some key features included in the Pro plan:

  1. Private Repository Access: Work with privately-hosted remote repositories.
  2. Cloud Issue Tracker Integrations: Integrate with issue trackers like Jira Cloud and Trello.
  3. Conflict Prevention: Get notified of potential conflicts and options to resolve them proactively.
  4. Launchpad: A centralized hub for managing pull requests and issues.
  5. Cloud Patches: Securely store and share Git patches without needing a pull request.
  6. Multiple Profiles: Switch between different sets of Git configurations and app settings.
  7. Timely Email Support : Receive support directly from GitKraken’s team.


To use these features, you can explore the following resources:

  • For private repository access, simply open a repo in GitKraken Desktop.
  • To integrate with issue trackers, check the Integrations section in the Help Center.
  • Use the Launchpad tab to manage your pull requests and issues effectively.
  • For Cloud Patches, refer to the Cloud Patches documentation for guidance on creating and sharing patches.

With an Advanced subscription or higher, GitKraken Desktop integrates with GitHub Enterprise, GitLab Self-Managed, Bitbucket Server, and Azure DevOps.

To connect GitKraken Desktop with your self-hosted Git service, you’ll need to generate a Personal Access Token (PAT) on your Git server with the required permissions (for example, api and read_user scopes for GitLab Self-Managed).

Then, in GitKraken Desktop, go to Preferences > Integrations, select your self-hosted service, enter your host domain, and paste the token when prompted

Get step by step instructions by visiting our Integrations with Git Providers documentation.

If you’re the owner of an organization and want to assign ownership to someone else:

  1. Make sure the new owner is already added to the organization
  2. Go to Settings > Transfer ownership
  3. Select the user and confirm their email
  4. Click Transfer Ownership to finalize the change


Note: Ownership transfers are final unless the new owner reassigns it.

Owners, Admins, and Billing Contacts can remove existing users to free up licenses, then add new users in their place by navigating to https://gitkraken.dev/users.

If you’re seeing a message to “upgrade your plan” even after activating your GitKraken Pro access, it could be due to a few reasons:

  1. Account Verification: If you are using the GitHub Student Pack, ensure that your GitHub account is properly linked and verified with the GitHub Student Pack. If there’s an issue with the verification, it may prompt you to upgrade.
  2. Plan Limitations: The Pro plan has certain limitations, such as the number of users or features available. If you are trying to access features that are only available in the Advanced or Business plans, you may see this message. Visit https://gitkraken.com/pricing to see the full feature breakdown.
  3. Session Issues: Sometimes, logging out and back into your GitKraken account can resolve session-related issues that might cause this message to appear.

Make sure you sign into GitKraken Desktop using the “Sign in with GitHub” option to connect your GitHub Student Developer Pack to your GitKraken account, which will enable Pro access.

If you don’t see the Pro flag in the bottom right corner, you might consider:

  1. Signing out of GitHub in your web browser.
  2. Signing back into GitKraken Desktop via File > Sign into a Different Account > Sign in with GitHub.
  3. Confirming that your GitHub Student Pack is active and linked to the email you use for GitKraken.
  4. Restarting GitKraken Desktop after signing in.

Accordion Content

Yes. GitKraken Desktop On-Premise is available as a Self-Hosted Server (Docker on Linux) or a Serverless option activated via license file, both designed for teams that need to keep their Git workflows fully inside their own infrastructure. Both options are sold separately from standard subscriptions.

Visit the On-Premise Pricing page to learn more.

Yes. AI-powered workflows including commit message generation, PR descriptions, and merge conflict resolution are available On-Prem when connected to an approved internal LLM such as Azure OpenAI, Anthropic, or a locally hosted model like Ollama.

No code or metadata leaves your network.

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Use GitKraken Desktop for Free

GitKraken Desktop is always free to use with local and public cloud-hosted repos. It includes a Pro trial to work with private repos and access to premium features. There’s no risk in giving it a try!

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