In 2002, Tim Kemp found that Subversion was a very good version control system, but it lacked a good GUI client. The idea for a Subversion client as a Windows shell integration was inspired by the similar client for CVS named TortoiseCVS. Tim studied the source code of TortoiseCVS and used it as a base for TortoiseSVN. He then started the project, registered the domain tortoisesvn.org and put the source code online.

Around that time, Stefan Kng was looking for a good and free version control system and found Subversion and the source for TortoiseSVN. Since TortoiseSVN was still not ready for use, he joined the project and started programming. He soon rewrote most of the existing code and started adding commands and features, up to a point where nothing of the original code remained.

As Subversion became more stable it attracted more and more users who also started using TortoiseSVN as their Subversion client. The user base grew quickly (and is still growing every day). That's when Lbbe Onken offered to help out with some nice icons and a logo for TortoiseSVN. He now takes care of the website and manages the many translations.