Git Branching Strategies for Teams: Git Flow vs Trunk-Based Development

Table of Contents

• Why Branching Strategy Matters
• Git Flow
• Trunk-Based Development
• Comparison Table
• Which One Should You Pick?

Why Branching Strategy Matters

A branching strategy is the agreement your team makes about how code moves from developer laptops to production. Without one, you'll face merge conflicts, deployment confusion, and hotfix nightmares.

Git Flow

Git Flow uses multiple long-lived branches:

main        ← production-ready code only
develop     ← integration branch
feature/*   ← one per feature, branched from develop
release/*   ← stabilization before merge to main
hotfix/*    ← emergency fixes, branched from main

# Start a feature
git checkout -b feature/user-auth develop

# Finish a feature
git checkout develop
git merge --no-ff feature/user-auth
git branch -d feature/user-auth

# Create a release
git checkout -b release/1.2.0 develop
# ... fix bugs, bump version ...
git checkout main && git merge --no-ff release/1.2.0
git tag -a v1.2.0

Best for: Scheduled releases, open-source projects, teams with QA gates.

Trunk-Based Development

Everyone commits to one branch (main or trunk), with small short-lived feature branches (max 1–2 days).

# Short-lived branch
git checkout -b feat/add-dark-mode
# ... small change, tested ...
git push && open pull-request
# Merge within 24 hours

Feature flags hide incomplete work from users while keeping the branch clean:

if (featureFlags.darkMode) {
  renderDarkMode();
}

Best for: Continuous deployment, CI/CD pipelines, high-frequency releases (SaaS, startups).

Comparison Table

Which One Should You Pick?

• Startup / SaaS / deploy daily → Trunk-Based Development
• Versioned software / open-source / mobile apps → Git Flow
• Large team, slow review cycles → Git Flow (gives review time)
• Small team, strong CI → Trunk-Based Development

Most modern cloud teams default to trunk-based. Git Flow shines when you can't deploy continuously.