This is one of the most common mix-ups for beginners, so let us clear it once and for all. Git and GitHub sound similar but they are not the same thing.
The short version
- Git is the tool. It runs on your computer and tracks the history of your code.
- GitHub is a website. It stores your Git projects online so others can see them and work with you.
A simple comparison: Git is like a camera that takes snapshots of your work. GitHub is like the photo-sharing app where you upload those snapshots for everyone.
You can use one without the other
- You can use Git fully on your own laptop, with no internet and no GitHub account.
- GitHub only makes sense because Git exists underneath it.
So Git is the must-have. GitHub is the popular place to keep things, but not the only one — GitLab and Bitbucket do similar jobs.
How they work together
You write code and commit with Git on your machine. Then you push those commits to GitHub so they live online too:
git push origin mainWhen a teammate adds something, you pull it down:
git pullWhy the confusion exists
Most people learn both at the same time, on the same day, so the line between them blurs. Just remember: Git does the work, GitHub stores and shares it. Once that clicks, everything else makes more sense. For the basics of Git itself, see What is Git?.