Bitbucket Server vs GitHub comparison

Read 94 GitHub reviews

3,809 Views
1,524 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Bitbucket Server

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 13, 2025

GitHub and Bitbucket Server are leading solutions in software development. GitHub appears to have the upper hand due to its superior features and flexible pricing considered worth the cost.

Features: GitHub offers extensive integration capabilities, strong version control, and advanced security features. Notable features include GitHub Actions for automation, robust pull request strategies, and a comprehensive collaboration platform. Bitbucket Server integrates seamlessly with Atlassian products like Jira and Bamboo, excels in CI/CD pipelines, and offers customizable server management with the Atlassian Plugin Framework.

Room for Improvement: GitHub can improve its search functionality, markdown support, and integration with Jenkins. There is a need for better project management and DevOps tools integration. Bitbucket Server requires easier navigation, enhanced code collaboration tools, and more efficient real-time synchronization. Improvements in its Jira integration and support system are also suggested.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Bitbucket Server primarily targets on-premises deployments with mixed customer service reviews. GitHub offers a variety of deployment options, including public and hybrid cloud solutions, and generally received favorable customer support feedback, though enhancements in technical support are recommended.

Pricing and ROI: GitHub provides attractive pricing, especially for open-source projects, with options supporting scalability. Bitbucket Server, while perceived as costly, offers valuable secure collaboration features and is beneficial for cloud solutions. Both platforms align their pricing models with user scaling needs, each offering distinct advantages.

To learn more, read our detailed Bitbucket Server vs. GitHub Report (Updated: July 2025).

Bitbucket Server vs. GitHub

Download the complete report

Helped 861,524 peers since 2012

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Bitbucket Server

Ranking in Version Control

2nd

Average Rating

8.2

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

GitHub

Ranking in Version Control

3rd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Security Tools (7th)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Version Control category, the mindshare of Bitbucket Server is 23.6%, down from 26.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of GitHub is 6.9%, up from 6.4% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Version Control

Featured Reviews

Dileep DK

Head of Engineering - Consumer Finance at DBS Bank

Facilitates efficient branching and integration with flexible workflow management

Bitbucket Server excels as a versioning system, effectively managing branching and code integration. It provides flexibility, allowing teams to customize workflows according to their specific needs. We maintain a master branch for production and separate branches for different features, which makes it easier to manage code changes. Additionally, its integration with Jenkins pipelines for automating builds and performing various checks enhances its utility.

Read full review

Pervez Roy

Solutions Architect at Small Systems LTD

Very good for collaboration on software projects

We use GitHub for code repository alongside Bitbucket GitHub is very good for collaboration on software projects. We prefer Bitbucket for commercial use, while GitHub is used for open source. You can get the differences, history of changes, and version control for various pull requests. You can…

Read full review

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Our code is secure."

"It is an amazingly stable solution."

"It has consistently performed well without major issues, providing a reliable code management and collaboration environment."

"The most valuable feature of the Bitbucket Server is its ease of management. The solution is easy to manage once we migrate and set up the data. The solution offers a fast code push feature."

"In terms of benefits, I feel that many companies are moving to Bitbucket Server since it can be deployed on an on-premises model at a time when everything is being moved to the cloud."

"It is an easily scalable solution."

"I believe it's user-friendly for our developers, and it's effective in terms of traceability for tracking our actions."

"Bitbucket Server integrates well with other products."

More Bitbucket Server pros

"You can write the code with AI. But when it comes to implementation, you must upgrade the bits of code that will support this and generate solutions based on that architecture. Then, you need comparable code bits. Therefore, AI can propose how much a specific function can be better optimized. So, AI can help stakeholders reach tasks quicker."

"The most valuable aspects of GitHub are version control and parallel development. I also appreciate the forking part, which allows us to release a specific set of features to the environment."

"The most important feature of GitHub is the maintainability of the versions of the code."

"GitHub is good for collaboration because everyone can access it or we can restrict access to a few users. If I upload a file and share the URL, it's not restricted to a set number of users. Everyone with the link can download the files."

"The initial setup was straightforward."

"The solution provides good customization and support."

"GitHub's version control is valuable."

"I like the CI/CD features."

More GitHub pros

Cons

"The product requires patching and version improvements. Some functions do not work properly when we move from one version to another. We need a technical improvement. Also, communicating with other Atlassian products becomes cumbersome when we move from one version to another. I want Bitbucket Server to include a dashboard similar to Jira's. Atlassian must also develop a tool to scan our complete base for vulnerabilities."

"Enhancing the real-time reflection of changes online is an area that could benefit from improvement."

"The product interface consists of multiple features that are complicated to navigate for new users."

"The improvements in the product could be made to expand third-party integrations and enhance support for open-source projects."

"The response time of the product's support team may not be good enough to meet the expectations of users, making it an area where improvements are required."

"The tasks on Bitbucket must be automatically integrated into Jira."

"Bitbucket Server has limited user support for its free version. It is expensive."

"At the moment, there are not many details on how to proceed with the troubleshooting if one of the users faces an issue with the product."

More Bitbucket Server cons

"From the recruiting standpoint, I would like to see email IDs and phone numbers and a brief introduction about their profile."

"GitHub should provide more integration in their next release, including integrating with Jenkins, CI/CD and Jira."

"It would be beneficial if GitHub provided some security scanning for new libraries to ensure that there are no viruses in it."

"Though I haven't done much research, GitHub lacks in providing more functions like GitLab."

"If you are uploading or cloning a large file, with more than 25 megs, it's pretty slow."

"Lacks sufficient support in terms of professional services that could be provided."

"I would like to see some AI functionality included in GitHub, similar to the features seen in GitLab, to enhance productivity."

"I think one area where GitHub could improve is its search and navigation functionality within repositories. For example, we use IDEs like IntelliJ or Visual Studio Code when developing code. These IDEs allow us to easily navigate from one piece of code to another file where a method is being called. It would be really helpful if the solution could add this navigation feature."

More GitHub cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution comes as a part of the suite."

"There is a cost to use this solution but it is based on how many users are using it. If you have 50 users or 1,000 users the price will be very different."

"The platform offers a free version for public repositories, which benefits open-source projects."

"We pay around $6 per user."

"The tool's licensing costs are yearly. Prices can become expensive if you have a lot of users."

"As for licensing, Bitbucket is one of the more affordable options."

"We opted for the on-premises solution, and while it's quite expensive, I believe there's room for improvement in terms of pricing. The licensing is based on the number of users, but I'm not entirely certain about the details."

"Bitbucket Server is quite expensive compared to other products."

More Bitbucket Server pricing and cost advice

"We pay a subscription-based yearly licensing fee for the solution."

"GitHub is a cost-effective solution."

"It is open-source. There is no license for GitHub."

"The product is reasonably priced."

"If there are only 10 people using a particular repository, then GitHub is free. But if we increase the number of users, we need to pay the normal charge for GitHub."

"We are currently paying nothing for GitHub."

"The price of this solution is reasonable."

"GitHub is an open-source product, but when using the free-to-use version, anyone can see the code we're working on."

More GitHub pricing and cost advice

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Version Control solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Comparison Review

it_user185772

Senior Software Architect with 5,001-10,000 employees

Oct 27, 2015

GitHub vs. GitLab vs. BitBucket Server (Formerly Stash)

Originally posted at http://technologyconversations.com/2015/10/16/github-vs-gitlabs-vs-bitbucket-server-formerly-stash/ This article will try to compare GitHub, GitLab and BitBucket Server (previously called Stash) installed on your own servers. Similar comparison of cloud offerings is outside…

Read full review

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

17%

Financial Services Firm

16%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Bitbucket Server?

The product is easy to maintain.

What needs improvement with Bitbucket Server?

While Bitbucket Server performs well, the improvement lies not in the tool itself yet in the discipline of the team using it. The tool does not impose restrictions, allowing for flexibility in work...

What is your primary use case for Bitbucket Server?

Bitbucket Server is used for private code management and source code management. It facilitates versioning, allowing us to maintain a master branch which reflects the code in production, and manage...

What do you like most about GitHub?

The control is the most valuable feature as developers can work on a single code.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for GitHub?

I am not aware about the pricing, so I will not be able to give feedback.

What needs improvement with GitHub?

Sometimes we do not get the exact solution, and the suggested solution does not work, so GitHub could improve in that area. We have used GitHub mainly for the code generation part. That is the only...

Bitbucket vs Bitbucket Server

Comparisons

Compared 92% of the time

Atlassian SourceTree vs Bitbucket Server

Compared 6% of the time

Liquibase vs Bitbucket Server

Compared 2% of the time

More Bitbucket Server Competitors

Bitbucket vs GitHub

Compared 16% of the time

Snyk vs GitHub

Compared 12% of the time

OpenText Core Application Security vs GitHub

Compared 10% of the time

AWS CodeCommit vs GitHub

Compared 8% of the time

Atlassian SourceTree vs GitHub

Compared 8% of the time

More GitHub Competitors

Product Reports

Bitbucket Server

Download Bitbucket Server product report

Download GitHub product report

Also Known As

Stash

No data available

Overview

Bitbucket Server is a preferred choice for managing source code and version control, facilitating development workflows like CI/CD, task tracking, and collaboration among teams.

Organizations use Bitbucket Server to handle multiple repositories, manage code pipelines, and support various development workflows including CI/CD deployment. Integration with Jenkins and Jira enhances the software development lifecycle, meeting specific project requirements. Key features include user-friendly management, ease of use, and private repositories, fostering efficient code promotion and collaboration. However, improvements are needed in command-line functionality, UI, log handling, and integration with third-party tools.

What are Bitbucket Server's key features?

User-friendly management: Simplifies source code and repository management.
Version control: Effective tool for tracking and managing code changes.
Code collaboration: Facilitates teamwork and peer reviews.
CI/CD pipeline support: Enables automated deployment processes.
Seamless integration: Works well with tools like Jenkins and Jira.
Private repositories: Secure storage for project code bases.

What benefits should users expect?

Performance: Reliable and stable performance for development tasks.
Task tracking: Efficient management of development workflows.
Code promotion: Smooth transition of code across environments.
Enhanced collaboration: Improved teamwork and communication.

In industries like software development and IT services, Bitbucket Server implementation varies. Companies may integrate it into DevOps workflows for continuous integration and deployment. It's also used in sectors requiring stringent version control and collaboration, ensuring efficient project management and delivery.

Atlassian

GitHub is a web-based Git repository hosting service. It offers all of the distributed revision control and source code management (SCM) functionality of Git as well as adding its own features. Unlike Git, which is strictly a command-line tool, GitHub provides a Web-based graphical interface and desktop as well as mobile integration. It also provides access control and several collaboration features such as bug tracking, feature requests, task management, and wikis for every project.

Sample Customers

Netflix, Nasa, Rakuten, Best Buy, Philips, Nordstrom, Intuit, Zillow, Citi.

Dominion Enterprises, NASA, Braintree, SAP, CyberAgent

Bitbucket Server vs. GitHub