Free Mercurial alternatives: 6 apps ranked by verified data

Facts checked Nov 8, 2026AppBreakup editorialHow we rank

6 of the 6 Mercurial alternatives we track can be used for free (free, open source, or with a free plan). Fossil, Perforce P4 and Jujutsu (jj) rank highest, with facts last verified Nov 8, 2026.

Quick comparison

#	App	Pricing	Verified price	Open source	Platforms	Verified facts	Score
1	FoFossil	Open source	—	Yes	Windows, macOS, Linux +1	5 of 5	74.3
2	Perforce P4	Free plan + paid	$39 per user/month (Cloud, billed monthly)	No	Windows, macOS, Linux +1	6 of 6	61.8
3	Jujutsu (jj)	Open source	—	Yes	Windows, macOS, Linux	5 of 5	57.3
4	Sapling SCM	Open source	—	Yes	macOS, Linux, Windows	5 of 5	51.7
5	PiPijul	Open source	—	Yes	Linux, macOS, Windows	5 of 5	42.3
6	Darcs	Open source	—	Yes	Windows, macOS, Linux	5 of 5	42.3

Fo
1. FossilTop pick
Best for: Small teams and solo developers who want code, tickets and wiki in one self-hosted file
Open sourceSelf-hostableWindows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted
74.3
score / 100
Why switch from Mercurial
Also distributed and simple, plus a built-in bug tracker, wiki and web interface in one binary.
Pros
Bug tracker, wiki, forum and web UI built into the repository
Single executable and SQLite storage make install and backup easy
Light enough to self-host on a cheap VPS or Raspberry Pi
Permissive 2-clause BSD licence
Cons
Small community and few third-party tools or integrations
Mainstream code hosts only support it through a Git mirror
Deliberately limits history rewriting, which Git users may miss
Visit Fossil Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.387
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.1563
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Fossil a good Mercurial alternative?
Verified facts
5 of 5 verified
License
2-clause BSD
Checked Nov 8, 2026fossil-scm.org(opens source in a new tab)
Built-in tools
Bug tracking, wiki, forum, chat
Checked Nov 8, 2026fossil-scm.org(opens source in a new tab)
Install
Single executable
Checked Nov 8, 2026fossil-scm.org(opens source in a new tab)
Storage
SQLite database
Checked Nov 8, 2026fossil-scm.org(opens source in a new tab)
Platforms
Linux, Mac, Windows
Checked Nov 8, 2026fossil-scm.org(opens source in a new tab)
2. Perforce P4
Best for: Game and media studios versioning large binary assets with locking and fine-grained access control
Free plan + paidWindows, macOS, Linux, Self-hosted
61.8
score / 100
Why switch from Mercurial
Centralised version control built for huge monorepos and binary assets, with file locking, for teams that outgrew Mercurial at scale.
Pros
Handles very large repos and binary files well
Exclusive file locking prevents asset overwrites
Native integrations with Unreal Engine, Unity and Visual Studio
Cons
Paid licences beyond five users, priced through sales
Needs a central server to run or a paid hosted plan
Workflow and tooling differ from the Git ecosystem most developers know
Visit Perforce P4 Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.377
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Perforce P4 a good Mercurial alternative?
Verified facts
6 of 6 verified
Free plan
Yes, up to 5 users
Checked Nov 8, 2026perforce.com(opens source in a new tab)
File locking
Yes
Checked Nov 8, 2026perforce.com(opens source in a new tab)
Unreal Engine integration
Yes
Checked Nov 8, 2026perforce.com(opens source in a new tab)
Deployment
On-premises or cloud
Checked Nov 8, 2026perforce.com(opens source in a new tab)
Starting price
$39 per user/month (Cloud, billed monthly)
Checked Nov 8, 2026perforce.com(opens source in a new tab)
Scale plan
Custom quote, billed annually
Checked Nov 8, 2026perforce.com(opens source in a new tab)
3. Jujutsu (jj)
Best for: Developers who want a simpler, safer workflow while still pushing to Git hosts
Open sourceWindows, macOS, Linux
57.3
score / 100
Why switch from Mercurial
Brings Mercurial-style ideas like revsets and easy history editing to Git-backed repos you can push anywhere.
Pros
Works on existing Git repos, so teammates don't have to switch
Operation log makes any command undoable
Conflicts can be recorded and resolved later instead of blocking a rebase
Free and Apache 2.0 licensed
Cons
Command-line only, with GUI support coming from third-party tools
No Git submodule or Git LFS support yet
New concepts take time to learn for long-time Git users
Visit Jujutsu (jj) Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.312
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.15100
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Jujutsu (jj) a good Mercurial alternative?
Verified facts
5 of 5 verified
License
Apache-2.0
Checked Nov 2, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
Git compatible
Yes, uses a Git repo backend
Checked Nov 8, 2026jj-vcs.github.io(opens source in a new tab)
Platforms
Windows, Mac, Linux
Checked Nov 8, 2026jj-vcs.github.io(opens source in a new tab)
Git LFS
Not supported
Checked Nov 8, 2026jj-vcs.github.io(opens source in a new tab)
Submodules
Not supported
Checked Nov 8, 2026jj-vcs.github.io(opens source in a new tab)
4. Sapling SCM
Best for: Git users who work with stacks of small commits and want easier amend, undo and review flows
Open sourcemacOS, Linux, Windows
51.7
score / 100
Why switch from Mercurial
Grew out of Mercurial and adds stacked commits, smartlog and Git interop.
Pros
Works with existing Git repositories and GitHub
Stacked commits restack automatically after amends
Undo, unamend and hide make mistakes easy to recover from
Local web UI with drag-and-drop rebasing
Cons
Server and virtual filesystem for huge repos are not public
Git support may still have rough edges, per its own docs
Design favours rebase-based, always-online workflows
Visit Sapling SCM Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.312
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.1563
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Sapling SCM a good Mercurial alternative?
Verified facts
5 of 5 verified
License
GPL-2.0
Checked Nov 8, 2026github.com(opens source in a new tab)
Git support
Yes
Checked Nov 8, 2026sapling-scm.com(opens source in a new tab)
Developer
Meta
Checked Nov 8, 2026sapling-scm.com(opens source in a new tab)
Install on macOS
Homebrew
Checked Nov 8, 2026sapling-scm.com(opens source in a new tab)
Web UI
Interactive Smartlog (sl web)
Checked Nov 8, 2026sapling-scm.com(opens source in a new tab)
Pi
5. Pijul
Best for: Developers curious about patch-based version control with cleaner merges than three-way merge
Open sourceLinux, macOS, Windows
42.3
score / 100
Why switch from Mercurial
Patch-based alternative with commuting changes and more predictable merges.
Pros
Changes commute, so cherry-picks and merges stay consistent
Resolved conflicts stay resolved across branches
Partial clones of large repositories
Free software under GPL 2.0 or later
Cons
Still a 1.0 beta release
Small ecosystem: few GUIs, hosts or CI integrations compared with Git
No official Windows binaries; installation is mainly through Cargo
Visit Pijul Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.312
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Pijul a good Mercurial alternative?
Verified facts
5 of 5 verified
License
GPL 2.0 or later
Checked Nov 8, 2026pijul.org(opens source in a new tab)
Model
Patch-based
Checked Nov 8, 2026pijul.org(opens source in a new tab)
Partial clones
Yes
Checked Nov 8, 2026pijul.org(opens source in a new tab)
Install
cargo install (1.0 beta)
Checked Nov 8, 2026pijul.org(opens source in a new tab)
Hosting
The Nest
Checked Nov 8, 2026pijul.org(opens source in a new tab)
6. Darcs
Best for: Developers who want patch-based, cherry-pick-friendly version control with a simple CLI
Open sourceWindows, macOS, Linux
42.3
score / 100
Why switch from Mercurial
Distributed and offline like Mercurial, but tracks individual patches you can cherry-pick.
Pros
Interactive commands make picking individual changes easy
No central server needed; full offline work
Free and open source under a non-profit umbrella
Cons
Small ecosystem: few hosting services and tool integrations compared with Git
Prebuilt binaries lag behind; building usually needs Haskell tooling
Slow release pace and small contributor base
Visit Darcs Details and reviews
How this score is calculated
Editorial fit ×0.312
Reviews ×0.363
Clicks (90 days) ×0.150
Freshness ×0.15100
Votes ×0.150
0 counted reviews, 0 up and 0 down votes. Full formula
Is Darcs a good Mercurial alternative?
Verified facts
5 of 5 verified
Open source
Yes
Checked Nov 8, 2026darcs.net(opens source in a new tab)
Model
Change (patch) based
Checked Nov 8, 2026darcs.net(opens source in a new tab)
Offline mode
Yes, no central server
Checked Nov 8, 2026darcs.net(opens source in a new tab)
Latest release
2.18.5 (Jan 2025)
Checked Nov 8, 2026darcs.net(opens source in a new tab)
Fiscal host
Software Freedom Conservancy
Checked Nov 8, 2026darcs.net(opens source in a new tab)

Quick comparison

1. FossilTop pick

Pros

Cons

Verified facts

2. Perforce P4

Pros

Cons

Verified facts

3. Jujutsu (jj)

Pros

Cons

Verified facts

4. Sapling SCM

Pros

Cons

Verified facts

5. Pijul

Pros

Cons

Verified facts

6. Darcs

Pros

Cons

Verified facts