Git Merge vs Rebase: What Every Developer Should Know

Whether you’re collaborating on a large codebase or managing a solo project, version control is essential—and Git is the tool of choice. But once you start working with branches, two powerful commands often spark confusion: merge and rebase.

Both are used to integrate changes from one branch into another—but they work very differently.

In this post, we’ll demystify git merge and git rebase, show you when to use each, and help you avoid common pitfalls.

🧠 Quick Summary

🔀 What Is git merge?

git merge integrates changes from one branch into another. It creates a new merge commit if the branches have diverged.

✅ Pros:

• Maintains complete history

• Safer in teams

• No rewriting of commits

❌ Cons:

• History can get messy with lots of merges

• Harder to follow linear development

# You are on main
git checkout main

# Merge feature branch into main
git merge feature-branch

This creates a new commit that combines both histories.

*   Merge branch 'feature-branch'
|\
| * Feature commit A
| * Feature commit B
* | Main commit X
* | Main commit Y

📍 What Is git rebase?

git rebase reapplies commits from one branch onto another, creating a new linear history. Instead of merging, it “replays” your changes as if you started from the latest base.

✅ Pros:

• Clean, linear history

• Easier to follow changes

• Great for small, focused branches

❌ Cons:

• Rewrites history — risky on shared branches

• Can create confusion if misused

# Switch to your feature branch
git checkout feature-branch

# Rebase onto main
git rebase main

Git will replay your commits on top of main, as if you just started coding from its tip.

Before:
feature-branch: A -- B
main:           X -- Y

After:
main:           X -- Y -- A' -- B'

🛑 When to Not Rebase

Never rebase a branch that others are using.

Why? Because rebasing rewrites commit hashes, which breaks the history other developers are working with.

Use merge when:

• You're collaborating on a branch

• You want to preserve the original context

• You're preparing to merge a PR in a team setting

Use rebase when:

• You're working alone on a feature branch

• You want to clean up your commit history before merging

• You need a linear history for bisecting/debugging

⚔️ Merge vs Rebase in Pull Requests

💡 Merge PR:

• Shows all original commits

• Includes merge commit

• Useful for larger, multi-commit features

💡 Rebase + Squash:

• Shows 1 commit in history

• Keeps main branch clean

• Good for simple fixes or small feature branches

GitHub/GitLab even give options like:

• Merge

• Squash and merge

• Rebase and merge

🧪 Pro Tip: Interactive Rebase

Use this to clean up your commits before pushing:

git rebase -i HEAD~4

You can:

• Reword commit messages

• Squash multiple commits

• Delete unwanted commits