Subversion Client-Side application

Question

Which standalone Windows GUI application do you recommend for use for accessing a Subversion repository?

Edit: A lot of people are mentioning Tortoise, however I am looking for an application not a shell extension. Also people are questioning my reasoning behind not wanting to use a shell extension. In our environment we rather interact with the repository (when not using an IDE plugin) through a management application and not navigate the files through Windows Explorer.

Answer 1

@jwarzech:

TortoiseSVN: http://tortoisesvn.tigris.org/

From their website:

 A Subversion client, implemented as a windows shell extension.

TortoiseSVN is a really easy to use Revision control / version control / source control software for Windows.
Since it's not an integration for a specific IDE you can use it with whatever development tools you like.
TortoiseSVN is free to use. You don't need to get a loan or pay a full years salary to use it. 

Answer 2

SmartSVN - http://www.syntevo.com/smartsvn/index.html

Answer 3

As a shell extension, I guess it's not technically a stand-alone application, but +1 for TortoiseSVN, nevertheless.

Answer 4

I'd recommend TortoiseSVN to get started with (basically, it adds SVN related contextual menus to explorer), but it can be shockingly memory hungry.

I generally use it when I need to, but also make use of the very clean and usable command line tools subversion comes with and Subclipse as part of Eclipse.

Answer 5

Standalone Clients

For total stand alone Synchro SVN is a powerful and cross platform solution. It looks like the most native application on each of the platforms.

The Subversion website includes a listing of other standalone SVN Clients (most are cross platform). [Copied list below from http://subversion.tigris.org/links.html#clients]

eSvn - cross-platform QT-based GUI frontend to Subversion http://sourceforge.net/projects/esvn

FSVS - fast subversion command-line client centered around software deployment http://fsvs.tigris.org/

KDESvn - A Subversion client for KDE http://www.alwins-world.de/wiki/programs/kdesvn

QSvn - A cross-platform GUI Subversion client http://ar.oszine.de/projects/qsvn/

RapidSVN - A cross-platform GUI front-end for Subversion http://rapidsvn.tigris.org/

RSVN - Python script which allows multiple repository-side operations in a single, atomic transaction. https://opensvn.csie.org/traccgi/rsvn/trac.cgi/wiki

SmartSVN - A cross-platform GUI client for Subversion (Not open source. Available in a free and a commercial version.) http://www.syntevo.com/smartsvn/

Subcommander - A cross-platform Subversion GUI client including a visual text merge tool. http://subcommander.tigris.org/

SvnX - A Mac OS X Panther GUI client. http://www.lachoseinteractive.net/en/community/subversion/svnx/

Syncro SVN Client - Cross-platform graphical Subversion client. (Not open source. Free trial versions available for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux.) http://www.syncrosvnclient.com

WorkBench - Cross platform software development GUI built on Subversion written in Python http://pysvn.tigris.org/

Versions - A GUI Subversion client for Mac OS X. (Not open source; requires commercial license.) http://www.versionsapp.com/

ZigVersion - a Subversion Interface for Mac OS X. Aims to design an interface around the typical workflows of programmers. (Note that this is not open source.) http://zigversion.com/

Integrated Clients

TortoiseSVN is the best general use system [An integrated system is not standalone - Thanks Martin Kenny]. It integrates itself into Windows Explorer (You can use it in explorer or any shell dialog) so it works extremely well and gives you the full power of SVN.

Ankhsvn is a good solution that integrates into Visual Studios (Except Express Editions).

SVN Notifier monitors your repositories and will notify you when anything changes. It integrates with TortoiseSVN to show you diffs and commit logs. Very handy when working in a team environment.

Answer 6

For total stand alone Synchro SVN is one of the nicest looking and full featured ones. It is cross-platform (Win, Linux, OSX).

Answer 7

The one and only tortoiseSVN!

It is integrated in Windows Explorer, you invoke it with a right click. All commands are under the TortoiseSVN menu, except for frequently used commands such as update, commit or diff (it's configurable).

For some reason, the SVN proterties are located in a tab in the Properties menu, not in the TortoiseSVN menu. It makes sense, sort of, but it took some time getting used to it.

TortoiseSVN is excellent, but I only realised it was awesome when I moved to a Mac (where Tortoise is not available) and tried to find a decent tool. Nothing comes close.

Answer 8

SmartSVN is nice if you want a client that doesn't integrate with Explorer and is instead a standalone app. (Although I think later version offer an Explorer integration as well.)

Answer 9

Memory and disk IO can be a problem with TSVNCache, which manages Tortoise's icon overlays. You can fix it by putting your checkouts in one or two directories and making the cache process only look at those directories, rather than your entire drive.

See this link for instructions.

Answer 10

Can you explain why TortoiseSVN doesn't work for you? That would help us figure out what you really need in an application.

Combine TortoiseSVN with Windows Explorer and you've got a great tool, and then pickup VisualSVN if you want something to integrate with Visual Studio.

Answer 11

If you don't like shell extensions TortoiseSVN can be used as an application through its handy automation interface - one executable several command arguements.

See TortoiseSVN Manual

Each command raises a modal dialog for a specific task.