Is there a difference between PhoneGap and Cordova commands?

http://phonegap.com/blog/2012/03/19/phonegap-cordova-and-whate28099s-in-a-name/

I think this url explains what you need. Phonegap is built on Apache Cordova nothing else. You can think of Apache Cordova as the engine that powers PhoneGap. Over time, the PhoneGap distribution may contain additional tools and thats why they differ in command But they do same thing.

EDIT: Extra info added as its about command difference and what phonegap can do while apache cordova can't or viceversa

First of command line option of PhoneGap

http://docs.phonegap.com/en/edge/guide_cli_index.md.html

Apache Cordova Options http://cordova.apache.org/docs/en/3.0.0/guide_cli_index.md.html#The%20Command-line%20Interface

1. As almost most of commands are similar. There are few differences (Note: No difference in Codebase)

2. Adobe can add additional features to PhoneGap so that will not be in Cordova ,Eg: Building applications remotely for that you need to have account on https://build.phonegap.com

3. Though For local builds phonegap cli uses cordova cli (Link to check: https://github.com/phonegap/phonegap-cli/blob/master/lib/phonegap/util/platform.js)

   Platform Environment Names. Mapping:

   'local' => cordova-cli

   'remote' => PhoneGap/Build

Also from following repository: Modules which requires cordova are:

build
create
install
local install
local plugin add , list , remove
run
mode
platform update
run

Which dont include cordova:

remote build
remote install
remote login,logout
remote run
serve

Late answer but I think this might be useful.

There are differences between the two cli, phonegapis a command that encapsulates cordova. In the create case the only difference is an overriden default app

In some other cases the difference is much more significant. For instance phonegap build comes with a remote build functionality while cordova build only supports local builds.

A big limitation I found to PhoneGap is that, AFAIK, you can only build a release APK using the PhoneGap Build service. On Cordova you can build with cordova build android --release.

From what I've read (and please correct me if Im wrong):

Phonegap claim that they started trying to make this but couldn't, so they passed it to the Apache Software Foundation.

Apache in their awesomeness (Long live Apache) fixed it, developed it, and made it supremely awesome.

Now Phonegap are trying to maintain and enhance a copy they took back, but keep stuffing it up.

So, by my thinking, I want a solid and trustworthy dev platform made by seasoned professionals that I can trust, rather than a patched upon sub-version of said. Therefore Id say I am a Cordova developer NOT a Phonegap developer.

Iv also read that in a second desperate attempt to gain popularity and control over the great works of Apache, Phonegap has now been sold under the Adobe flag. You know Adobe, they are the guys who do nothing for free and are so bad at maintaining software life-cycles that their apps need to perform updates every time you blink, and for some reason each of their apps are about 100 times the size you would expect.

I guess that is the summary of my research if I didn't read it wrongly.

And if true, then lets all drop this whole Phonegap nonsense and just stick with Cordova.

Here are differences that I have discovered:

I am comparing the phonegap 3.3.0-0.18.0 CLI to the functionality described in the cordova 3.3.0 documentation for that CLI.

1. "ls" is an option for "cordova plugin" but not for "phonegap plugin". You must use "list" instead. e.g.: "phonegap plugin list"

2. "serve" is not documented in "phonegap -help" but it does exist and it does work. It will not find and load phonegap.js so the pages never fully load but it still does provide some value. I'm not sure if this is different than the behavior cordova.

3. "phonegap platform add " does not work in phonegap. You must do a "phonegap build " to add support for a platform.

Note that you may also experience some confusing error messages in phonegap where the suggested solution refers to using the cordova command.

I have also noticed that cordova has a "serve" command that Phonegap doesn't. This command launches a local server on port 8000. This is handy for running your app in Chrome and using the Ripple emulator.