Git vs GitHub: What’s the Difference?

Git vs GitHub: What’s the Difference?

People mix these up because the names are similar. They’re different layers:

Mental model

• Use Git to manage the history of your code.
• Use GitHub to share that history with other humans (and automate checks).

The relationship in 4 steps

1. Initialize a repo locally with git init.
2. Create commits locally with git commit.
3. Add a remote pointing to GitHub with git remote add origin ....
4. Push commits with git push and collaborate via PRs.

Copy/paste: connect to GitHub

git remote add origin https://github.com/<you>/<repo>.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main

When you’re ready to go all-in on collaboration, continue with:

• Git & GitHub: From Zero to Collaborating Like a Pro