GitHub Reviews, Competitors and Pricing

Vishal Bayskar

Associate Technical Manager at a computer software company with 11-50 employees

Aug 15, 2022

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A version control solution used to create websites

Pros and Cons

"If you want to share documents, you can create articles and diagrams with GitHub and share."

"GitHub uses basic configuration, but messaging is not clear."

What is our primary use case?

Our organization uses GitHub for version control.

What is most valuable?

GitHub allows you to create pages, if you want to share documents you can create articles and diagrams with GitHub and share.

On a personal level, GitHub assists you to create your own website.

What needs improvement?

GitHub uses basic configuration, but messaging is not clear. For example, when a database denies a username and password, it says "asking for person accepted".

I would like to see improvements with merging code from multiple branches. When more than one developer is working at the same time, it becomes complicated. It very much depends on the person doing the merging. There is no assistance from the tool itself. If a mistake is made, the tool will not be able to correct it. It would benefit from an automated checker.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with GitHub for five years.

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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

GitHub is scalable. Our organization has 1,000 people. Approximately 80% would be using GitHub.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of GitHub is very simple.

What other advice do I have?

I would give GitHub a nine out of ten overall.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Rene Haburai

Freelance at SÍŤ spol. s.r.o.

May 15, 2024

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Easy to use, supports collaboration, and provides a repository to store source codes

Pros and Cons

"The ease of use is valuable."

"We face issues with synchronization while working with teams."

What is our primary use case?

I use the solution as a repository to store the source codes that I create with small tools. I also use it to share codes with customers when it is impossible to directly upload them from my computer to the customer’s environment due to some network restrictions. However, it is possible to download from GitHub in such environments. So, I transfer my source codes through GitHub so that they can download and implement them.

What is most valuable?

GitHub is a simple repository of source codes. The ease of use is valuable. It supports collaboration within the team very well.

What needs improvement?

We face issues with synchronization while working with teams. It is difficult to synchronize the source code between team members.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for more than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The tool is very stable. I do not face any unavailability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I use the solution for my personal use cases.

How was the initial setup?

The setup is very easy. It is very easy to create a new repository for a new project. It is easy to create teams.

What was our ROI?

The tool is of great value. It provides space for source codes for future use. If I migrate from one computer to another, I can still use the same Git without any complications.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

We must pay the licensing fee if we want to use the tool commercially.

What other advice do I have?

I do not use any pipelines or other tools. I do not use the tool frequently. I mostly develop things on my computer and hand them over to the customers. People must start using the product. It is easy for users who have experience with other Git tools like GitLab or GitBucket. We just have to create a project and clone it. Overall, I rate the product a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

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February 2025

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Haresh Ghatala

Senior Lead Mobile App Developer at a financial services firm with 11-50 employees

Sep 29, 2022

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A stable and scalable solution with robust security and excellent logging functionality

Pros and Cons

"The code versioning is excellent, and having a detailed log, including every change made to the code by every developer, is invaluable. It makes it so that if there is a bug or problem in the product channel, we can find exactly where it happened and how to fix it."

"There can be conflict issues when two developers work on the same file or line of code, and it would be great to see that improved, possibly with an AI solution."

What is our primary use case?

We use GitHub for code versioning; with multiple developers working on the same projects. It gives us a central source for our code. We commit our code to the cloud using the API called Gita, which tracks which developers have uploaded the code, which have changed it and so on.

What is most valuable?

The code versioning is excellent, and having a detailed log, including every change made to the code by every developer, is invaluable. It makes it so that if there is a bug or problem in the product channel, we can find exactly where it happened and how to fix it.

What needs improvement?

There can be conflict issues when two developers work on the same file or line of code, and it would be great to see that improved, possibly with an AI solution.

A great feature would be the AI for code conflicts, enabling us to choose which code edit is the one we want to go with.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for about eight years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

GitHub is stable, and they are improving in terms of security.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is scalable. We have about 20 end users in total.

How are customer service and support?

The support is average; they can be inconsistent and it would be good if they were more responsive.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is a little complex because it requires some knowledge of GitHub and code versioning. Certain steps need to be taken in a specific order, and if any are skipped or done wrong, it can lead to failure. Aside from the mentioned challenges, one staff member can complete the setup.

There is sufficient documentation to help with the setup process.

What about the implementation team?

The setup was implemented in-house.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

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

If you purchase a license, there's an option to make your code private, and our organization has a license.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

Compared to the competition, I would say GitHub is the best, as it has the most robust security, and most of the developer community is familiar with it. Bitbucket is also an excellent solution with solid security, but more developers would require training.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Mykola Pelyp

Senior Azure DevOps Engineer at SoftServe Ltd.

Mar 8, 2020

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Git Hooks and SSH keys are useful, and storing projects in private repositories is free

Pros and Cons

"The Projects Tab, which shows you the todo list and the progress for projects, is very helpful."

"I would like to see integration with Slack such that all of the changes made in GitHub are reflected there."

What is our primary use case?

We use GitHub for versioning and to provide a place on the cloud to store code so that people can work on it together.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features are the Git Hooks and SSH keys.

The Projects Tab, which shows you the todo list and the progress for projects, is very helpful.

What needs improvement?

I would like to see integration with Slack such that all of the changes made in GitHub are reflected there. You would simply enter the Slack URL and the notifications about code changes would be forwarded.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using GitHub for at least a year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

There were a few cases when we were unable to reach GitHub but for the most part, it is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have different people in the company who are working on different projects on GitHub. It is safe to say that we have about 50 people in total who are using the platform.

How are customer service and technical support?

I have not been in contact with technical support. With respect to community support, I have noticed that it is pretty evolved. I have used it often and find that it is very useful.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used to use BitBucket, but when Microsoft announced that private repositories would be free on GitHub, we switched.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is super easy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The private repositories are free, which is very good.

What other advice do I have?

GitHub is definitely a platform that I recommend people use.

I would rate this solution a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user185772

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

Nov 2, 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 the scope of this article. I won’t try to go feature by feature in some kind of a table so that you can count who has more features. I find that approach often misleading even though it’s very commonly used among companies (especially where there is a software architect around). Instead, I’ll give my opinionated view.

GitHub

GitHub has a great, intuitive, informative and, to many, familiar UI. Its big advantage is that most of us already used GitHub.com (if not as a repository than at least to clone someone some code or to look at snippets). If installed on our own servers, most developers will feel at home. It features LDAP integration, integration with JIRA and many other features important to today’s companies. You’ll hardly be in need of something that GitHub doesn’t have. On top of “enterprise features”, it has Gists (a way to share code snippets), ability to edit files directly from the browser (comes in handy when taking notes during a meeting), works with almost any cloud provider, has powerful search, and so on. It comes with its own Wiki and issue tracking. In many cases it is enough for many needs. If it isn’t, it can easily be connected with Jenkins, JIRA, Confluence, BugZilla, Trello and many other products. It can be used as a full package or in conjunction with others. Simply put, GitHub is the gold standard for code repositories. Since everything is so peachy, we could just finish now so that you can go to their site and pay a huge amount of money for licences and install it. However, that’s where problems start accumulating, especially if you haven’t evaluated the alternatives.

First surprise comes when you discover that prices are nowhere to be found. You need to request a quote. In most cases, that’s a sign that prices are high (or at least higher than those of similar products). I won’t provide here the exact pricing since it depends on different variables but suffices to say that it costs more than other solutions. Is it worth it? Wait until we get to GitLab.

Another problem is installation. GitHub provides installation to various cloud providers or a VM that you can run on your own servers. I was truly surprised when I discovered this since it didn’t fit my guess of the reasons people have when considering GitHub Enterprise Edition. If I’d want it to run in one of the cloud providers, I’d simply purchase private accounts on GitHub.com. On the other hand, if I’d want to install it on my own servers, having a pre-made VM is not an option I’m comfortable with. Installation on my servers means that I (or someone from the organization) needs to be in control. Maybe I use VMWare or maybe I’d like to run it directly on the server. Maybe I’d like to know the installation steps. Maybe I would even want it to be deployed as a Docker container. No matter the choice, I need to be in control and having a pre-made VM image does not fit this need. That does not mean that the pre-made VM would not come in handy. In some cases it would and in some others it wouldn’t.

Finally, it’s not open source. I’m fully aware that most companies are never going to look at the code and even those who do will never contribute. However, this is similar to the problem I have with the installation. I like to know that I can be in control even if I will probably never have to modify anything. That would not be such a problem if closed-source provides things that open source doesn’t. However, that is not the case.

GitLab

Let’s start with the simple statement. GitLab has (almost) everything that GitHub does. Features are more or less the same (with very few exceptions) and UI is as great as the one from GitHub. If you go to GitLab’s site you’ll have a hard time not thinking that you are in GitHub. One would need to look very hard to find something meaningful that GitHub has and GitLab doesn’t so let’s skip at what distinguishes GitLab from GitHub.

GitLab Community Edition is free and open sourced. That in itself gives it a huge boost when compared to GitHub Enterprise Edition (the only version that can be installed on premises). While there are some features available only in the enterprise edition, you might not need them and even if you do, it makes the decision easier knowing that you can start with the free version and upgrade to the paid one later on. That does not mean that GitHub doesn’t have a trial. It does. But, as trials go, it is for a limited period of time that might or might not be enough. With GitLab community edition you might be fine until the end of time or you might start with the enterprise edition right away. The good thing is that you have a choice that does not expire.

Pricing for the enterprise edition is reasonable (several times lower than with GitHub). Unlike GitHub, GitLab can be installed on virtually any hardware/OS/CM combination. Cloud providers, virtual machines, directly on the server, Linux, Windows, Puppet, Chef, and so on. I dare you to find a combination you’d like to use that is not supported by GitLab. They are even maintaining Docker images. More over, installation is dead simple. It shows the power of open source with infinite combinations community came up with and wrote about.

Let’s move on and take a look at the third contestant.

BitBucket Server (Formerly Stash)

Short story is that I do not recommend it. It has no advantage over the other two (except maybe integration with other Atlassian products), its UI is horrible (for the lack of better words) and it is a huge and slow application that will eat your resources in no time. However, it has a great marketing power through the rest of Atlassian products. JIRA, Confluence, Bamboo and other Atlassian offerings are very popular and present in many companies. That makes BitBucket Server a very tempting choice. However, not all products Atlassian makes are truly good with BitBucket Server and Bamboo being in the group of those that made my life harder than it should be. UI lacks information I expected to find (actually information is there but not where it should be) and is as un-intuitive as it can get. There is no option to commit code snippets (called Gists in GitHub) and no editing in-line. That leaves us with the integration with other products as the reason to purchase it. Right? Wrong! I haven’t seen anything in Stash (I’ll use the older and shorter name from now on) that was easier to set up than in GitHub or GitLab. Integration with Jira is easy in all of them (haven’t tried the integration with the rest of Atlassian products so that’s the part I might be wrong). Of course, if you are the company doing everything Atlassian, then Stash is no brainer. Where there’s room for JIRA, Confluence, Bamboo, HipChat and what not, there is room for Stash as well. But then again, the fact you’re reading this article probably means that you are not in that group.

Good thing about Stash is the pricing. It’s a one time fee that is not much higher than the yearly subscription to GitLab (we already established that GitHub is over the top). Moreover, if you’ll have only few users (up to ten) the price is so low that it’s practically free. Then again, you’re probably not thinking to set up your own repository for only a few people. However, the price is low only if you already have a Wiki and an issue tracking system. If you don’t that will cost you extra with Stash while the other two have it incorporated.

Besides the (questionable) price advantage and the desire to have everything Atlassian, there is no real reason to choose Stash.

Final Verdict

If price is not an issue, you don’t mind closed-source, you’re OK with its installation options and you want to put your trust into the biggest and the greatest, choose GitHub Enterprise Edition.

If you must have everything Atlassian, choose BitBucket Server.

Everyone else should go with GitLab. It’s a great product, it’s open source with the enterprise offering, its pricing is reasonable and there’s nothing it lacks when compared to GitHub.

Finally, if you’d like to try it out and have Docker installed, just run the following command and you’ll see it in action in no time.

docker run -d --name gitlab-ce \
-p 8443:443 \
-p 8080:80 \
-p 2222:22 \
--volume $PWD/gitlab/config:/etc/gitlab \
--volume $PWD/gitlab/logs:/var/log/gitlab \
--volume $PWD/gitlab/data:/var/opt/gitlab \
gitlab/gitlab-ce

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

it_user648138cabinet maker/capenter/locksmith at P.A.J.Enterprises

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May 11, 2017

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Neeraj Dev

Operations Director, India at INTELLIGAIA, INC

May 16, 2024

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Provides good features, helps with task management, and enables collaboration within teams

Pros and Cons

"The product helps our team collaborate across different locations."

"The merging features can be improved."

What is our primary use case?

I'm mostly using the solution for the backup repository. We are also using it for bug tracking and Scrum management.

What is most valuable?

I like to do projects using the tool. I also like the check-in and check-out features. The product helps our team collaborate across different locations.

What needs improvement?

The merging features can be improved. The tool has plugins that allow CI/CD integration. It would be helpful if it were available out of the box.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for almost ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is very stable. I rate the stability a ten out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is scalable. We had 100 users initially. Now, we have reduced it to 50. The solution is used daily in our organization. The usage will increase as our company grows.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I used SVN before. I switched to GitHub due to SVN’s cost.

What other advice do I have?

I will recommend the tool to others. If someone is looking for a repository backup solution, they can use GitHub. It helps with task management. It is helpful in AI development projects. It is a valuable product. It does justice to the price. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Mary Kambo

Penetration tester at KNBS (Kenya National Bureau of Statistics)

Aug 17, 2022

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Offers public and private repositories and is great for collaboration but there's a learning curve

Pros and Cons

"I'm able to access any repository that I like, whether it's public or private."

"There is a bit of a learning curve."

What is our primary use case?

Basically, it's just a repository for software developers. Users are able to push their source code and share their code.

What is most valuable?

I'm able to access any repository that I like, whether it's public or private. That said, for private repositories, I'll obviously need access from the other developer. It's nice that they have the option for public or private repositories.

The collaboration is really great. It has really worked and has really helped me a lot. I find that it is a very important feature.

What needs improvement?

There is a bit of a learning curve. The very first them that I used it, my issue was understanding it. It seemed very complex to me. That said, eventually, I got the hang of it. They could make it a bit more user-friendly.

For how long have I used the solution?

When I was a software developer, I used GitHub a lot. I've used it for the last three years at this point.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution has been stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I was using the solution for my own personal projects.

It supports growth. The platform has very many developers in the world, millions and millions of developers, so it's pretty much scalable.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support could be better. You quickly realize that most of the time, it is other users that are offering new support, not the actual GitHub team.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I did not use other repositories previously.

How was the initial setup?

There's no installation. However, you'll need other tools to help you with pushing the code to GitHub. Once you create your account and log in, it gives you the steps you are meant to follow, so that's good. It helps a complete beginner get started. They'd never get stuck.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I have no visibility in relation to what the costs are surrounding this product.

What other advice do I have?

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.

Harikrishnan Ramamoorthy

Technical Lead at Netlink Software Group America Inc

Jul 13, 2022

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It's good for collaboration because everyone can access it

Pros and Cons

"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."

"GitHub could add more security features. I am not sure how secure it is. If they provide more security features, then it can be used in more official applications."

What is our primary use case?

We use Github to upload projects and share files. Github is used for personal application development and building plugins, Normally, we manipulate GitHub from the native system, so we upload the files to GitHub and get a URL. My company has more than 300 developers, and about half of them use GitHub for application storage and formatting applications.

What is most valuable?

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.

What needs improvement?

GitHub could add more security features. I am not sure how secure it is. If they provide more security features, then it can be used in more official applications.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using GitHub for the last five years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I have never tried a large-scale upload on GitHub. I create separate folders for each application. Right now, I have 15 to 20 applications uploaded and haven't faced any limitations or storage issues so far.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is a free platform we only use internally, not for official purposes.

What other advice do I have?

I rate GitHub nine out of 10. We use it to manage plugins and everything else. Even though it is a coding platform, it's useful for any technology. I would recommend using GitHub as a base for configuration and coding activities.

Once you upload something on GitHub, you can integrate it with your local repositories or other platforms. It has broad compatibility with other solutions, so you can use GitHub even if you have a different platform.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.