StackShareStackShare
Follow on
StackShare

Discover and share technology stacks from companies around the world.

Follow on

© 2025 StackShare. All rights reserved.

Product

  • Stacks
  • Tools
  • Feed

Company

  • About
  • Contact

Legal

  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Service
  1. Stackups
  2. DevOps
  3. Version Control
  4. Version Control System
  5. SVN (Subversion) vs SourceTree

SVN (Subversion) vs SourceTree

OverviewDecisionsComparisonAlternatives

Overview

SVN (Subversion)
SVN (Subversion)
Stacks791
Followers629
Votes43
GitHub Stars614
Forks188
SourceTree
SourceTree
Stacks10.6K
Followers8.1K
Votes727

SVN (Subversion) vs SourceTree: What are the differences?

Introduction

In this article, we will explore the key differences between SVN (Subversion) and SourceTree.

  1. Collaboration and Version Control: SVN is a centralized version control system, where all the codebase and history are stored in a central repository. It allows multiple users to collaborate and synchronize their work. On the other hand, SourceTree is a graphical user interface (GUI) that can be used with both centralized (like SVN) and distributed version control systems (like Git). It provides an easy way to manage and visualize the repository, branches, and commits.

  2. Workflow and Branching: SVN uses a branch-based workflow, where branches are created to work on specific features or bug fixes. These branches are merged back to the main trunk once the work is completed. SourceTree supports various branching workflows, including both centralized (like SVN) and distributed workflows. It provides a visual representation of branches and makes it easier to create, merge, and switch between branches.

  3. Integration with other tools: SVN integrates well with other software development tools like bug trackers and continuous integration systems. It allows developers to link their commits with specific issues and track their progress. SourceTree also provides integration with popular development tools and services, allowing seamless integration and enhanced workflow.

  4. Graphical User Interface: SVN primarily uses a command-line interface, where developers need to run commands manually to perform various version control operations. SourceTree, on the other hand, provides a user-friendly graphical user interface that simplifies the version control operations. It allows developers to perform operations like commit, merge, and revert through a visual interface, reducing the need for remembering complex commands.

  5. Support for Distributed Version Control Systems: While SVN is a centralized version control system, SourceTree also supports distributed version control systems like Git and Mercurial. It allows developers to work with multiple repositories, collaborate with others, and easily switch between different version control systems.

  6. Platform Compatibility: SVN is available on various platforms including Windows, macOS, and Linux. SourceTree, being a desktop application, is available for both Windows and macOS, providing a consistent experience across different platforms.

In summary, SVN is a centralized version control system with a command-line interface, while SourceTree is a versatile graphical user interface that supports both centralized and distributed version control systems. SourceTree simplifies collaboration, branch management, and integration with other tools, making the version control workflow more efficient.

Share your Stack

Help developers discover the tools you use. Get visibility for your team's tech choices and contribute to the community's knowledge.

View Docs
CLI (Node.js)
or
Manual

Advice on SVN (Subversion), SourceTree

Stefan
Stefan

Jan 19, 2020

Decided

I explored many Git Desktop tools for the Mac and my final decision was to use Fork. What I love about for that it contains three features, I like about a Git Client tool.

It allows

  • to handle day to day git operations (least important for me as I am cli junkie)
  • it helps to investigate the history
  • most important of all, it has a repo manager which many other tools are missing.
198k views198k
Comments

Detailed Comparison

SVN (Subversion)
SVN (Subversion)
SourceTree
SourceTree

Subversion exists to be universally recognized and adopted as an open-source, centralized version control system characterized by its reliability as a safe haven for valuable data; the simplicity of its model and usage; and its ability to support the needs of a wide variety of users and projects, from individuals to large-scale enterprise operations.

Use the full capability of Git and Mercurial in the SourceTree desktop app. Manage all your repositories, hosted or local, through SourceTree's simple interface.

-
Full-powered DVCS;Create, clone, commit, push, pull, merge, and more are all just a click away.;Review your outgoing and incoming changesets, cherry-pick between branches, patch handling, rebase, stash, shelve, and much more.;Use Git-flow and Hg-flow with ease. Keep your repositories cleaner and your development more efficient with SourceTree's intuitive interface to Git and Hg's 'branchy' development model.
Statistics
GitHub Stars
614
GitHub Stars
-
GitHub Forks
188
GitHub Forks
-
Stacks
791
Stacks
10.6K
Followers
629
Followers
8.1K
Votes
43
Votes
727
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 20
    Easy to use
  • 13
    Simple code versioning
  • 5
    User/Access Management
  • 3
    Complicated code versionioning by Subversion
  • 2
    Free
Cons
  • 7
    Branching and tagging use tons of disk space
Pros
  • 205
    Visual history and branch view
  • 164
    Beautiful UI
  • 134
    Easy repository browsing
  • 87
    Gitflow support
  • 75
    Interactive stage or discard by hunks or lines
Cons
  • 12
    Crashes often
  • 8
    So many bugs
  • 7
    Fetching is slow sometimes
  • 5
    No dark theme (Windows)
  • 5
    Extremely slow
Integrations
No integrations available
GitHub
GitHub
Git
Git
Bitbucket
Bitbucket
Windows
Windows
macOS
macOS
Mercurial
Mercurial

What are some alternatives to SVN (Subversion), SourceTree?

Git

Git

Git is a free and open source distributed version control system designed to handle everything from small to very large projects with speed and efficiency.

GitKraken

GitKraken

The downright luxurious Git client for Windows, Mac and Linux. Cross-platform, 100% standalone, and free.

Fork

Fork

Manage your repositories without leaving the application. Organize the repositores into categories. Fork's Diff Viewer provides a clear view to spot the changes in your source code quickly.

Mercurial

Mercurial

Mercurial is dedicated to speed and efficiency with a sane user interface. It is written in Python. Mercurial's implementation and data structures are designed to be fast. You can generate diffs between revisions, or jump back in time within seconds.

Tower

Tower

Use all of Git's powerful feature set - in a GUI that makes you more productive.

Sublime Merge

Sublime Merge

A snappy UI, three-way merge tool, side-by-side diffs, syntax highlighting, and more. Evaluate for free – no account, tracking, or time limits.

GitUp

GitUp

GitUp lets you see your entire labyrinth of branches and merges with perfect clarity. Any change you make, large or small, even outside GitUp, is immediately reflected in GitUp's graph. No refreshing, no waiting.

Plastic SCM

Plastic SCM

Plastic SCM is a distributed version control designed for big projects. It excels on branching and merging, graphical user interfaces, and can also deal with large files and even file-locking (great for game devs). It includes "semantic" features like refactor detection to ease diffing complex refactors.

Pijul

Pijul

Pijul is a free and open source (AGPL 3) distributed version control system. Its distinctive feature is to be based on a sound theory of patches, which makes it easy to learn and use, and really distributed.

DVC

DVC

It is an open-source Version Control System for data science and machine learning projects. It is designed to handle large files, data sets, machine learning models, and metrics as well as code.

Related Comparisons

GitHub
Bitbucket

Bitbucket vs GitHub vs GitLab

GitHub
Bitbucket

AWS CodeCommit vs Bitbucket vs GitHub

Kubernetes
Rancher

Docker Swarm vs Kubernetes vs Rancher

gulp
Grunt

Grunt vs Webpack vs gulp

Graphite
Kibana

Grafana vs Graphite vs Kibana