Side by side

Changes vs Mercurial

Both stand on version control software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Changes

Free plan Mac

Changes brings a broad set of Git operations into a Mac-native graphical client. Its usefulness depends on whether the macOS version requirement for the release you want fits your system.

Visit Changes

Choose Mercurial if you want free, open source distributed source control that lets developers work without a central server. Its extension system and broad installation options give teams room to adapt it. Review the documented Git subrepository security limitation if your workflow involves those repositories.

Visit Mercurial

The facts

	Changes	Mercurial
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	Mac	Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Windows
Lowest paid plan	Free or on request	Free or on request
Plans published	1	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	github.com	mercurial-scm.org
On version control software	#18 of 62	#22 of 62

Changes: what it does well

Free and open source, with an MIT license.
Stages individual hunks and supports key Git operations.
Searches commits by message, files, author, and revision range.
Apple Intelligence can draft commit messages and stash summaries.

What to know first

Version 2.0 and later requires macOS 26.0 or later.
Version 1.18 and earlier requires macOS 14.6 or later.

Mercurial: what it does well

Developers can work from complete local project histories.
Supports fast diffs, commits, branching, and merging.
Python extensions can add or modify commands.
Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and self-hosted use.
Sparse checkout and nested repositories are supported.

What to know first

Large-file handling requires an extension.
Git subrepositories are disabled by default because of a documented clone-time code-execution risk.

Alternatives to Changes Alternatives to Mercurial The whole list