Wordpress - When to use is_home() vs is_front_page()?

is_front_page() returns true if the user is on the page or page of posts that is set to the front page on Settings->Reading->Your homepage displays

So if you set about us as the front page then this conditional will only be true if showing the about us page.

is_home() return true when on the posts list page, This is usually the page that shows the latest 10 posts.

If the settings under Your homepage displays are left at default then the home page will return true for both is_front_page() and is_home()

An example of using is_home():

• You have set your posts page to a page called News.
• A user navigates there and in the header you want to show additional navigation
• You could use is_home() to do this.

I've discovered that is_home() and is_front_page() don't deliver what's expected for multisites. My workaround using built in PHP goodies:

if($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] == '/') {
    // you must be on the home page
}

As mentioned in the comments, this approach will not work for WP instances installed in subdirectories of the web root. Use at your discretion.