Microsoft’s acquisition of GitHub for a whopping 7.5 billion USD is not going well with many of GitHub’s users. While Microsoft is not that bad of a company and certainly not as big a disaster as Facebook, having your data owned by yet another tech giant is not something that every GitHub user was looking forward to. So, if you are one of those GitHub users or just someone who is shopping around to see what the market has to offer, here are the 7 best GitHub alternatives that you should check out in 2019.
GitHub is the world’s largest, and most popular code hosting site. Its users have a choice of using either Git or Subversion as their VCS (Version Control System), to manage, maintain and deploy software projects. It allows for free unlimited public code repositories to all users. To maintain private repos, a monthly subscription is required. GitHub lets you create ‘organizations’ which basically function as regular accounts except that they always have at least one user account listed as their owner.
1. Bitbucket
Bitbucket is second only to GitHub in terms of popularity and usage. The service is free for individuals and organizations with 5 users or lesser, and it lets you have unlimited public and private repositories. Bitbucket allows you to push files using any Git client, or the Git command line. Made by Atlassian, Bitbucket also has its own Git and Mercurial client Source Tree which is available for free on Windows and Mac. It can also be controlled through its web interface.
Bitbucket, like GitHub, lets you host a website for free at accountname.bitbucket.org and project pages at accountname.bitbucket.org/project. You can also use your own domain name for your Bitbucket website. It lets you make teams at bitbucket.org/team-name. As mentioned before, Bitbucket lets you have unlimited public and private repos for teams with up to 5 users for free.
GitLab is one of the best GitHub alternatives on the market right now. The software is designed to support the entire DevOps cycle. That means from software development to deployment to monitoring and updates, everything can be handled with GitLab. One if its unique features is that you can install GitLab onto your own server. This gives you the option of using GitLab on a custom domain as well as with a custom host. GitLab also claims to handle large files and repositories better than GitHub. It also lets users have unlimited public AND private repos for free.
Binstalk is a powerful and robust Git and SVN hosting platform that is one of the best GitHub alternatives that you can choose right now. One of the best features of Beanstalk is that you don’t require a client to edit your code as the service allows you to do it in the browser itself. When it comes to features Beanstalk is second to none. You get all the features that you expect from a powerful Git hosting platform. The features list include support for repository and branch level permissions, detailed history of commits and files, a fluid code review system, instant code deployment, and more.
Beanstalk is again a paid alternative to GitHub. It lets you try it out for 2 weeks free of cost, after which you need to pay. Its cheapest package “Bronze” costs $15 and allows up to 5 users, 3 GB storage and a maximum of 10 repositories. Subversion and Git Version Control Systems are supported by Beanstalk.
Sourceforge has been around longer than most, and it has the projects to prove it. Lots of open source Linux, Windows and Mac projects are hosted on SF. It has a totally different project structure when compared with GitHub. You can only create projects with a unique name. SF unlike others, also lets you host both static and dynamic pages, with the option of integrating a CMS too. Sourceforge lets you create a website for each of your projects, at proj.sourceforge.net.
Visit: Website (Free)
GitKraken is not necessarily a GitHub alternative as it doesn’t offer its own Git and SVN hosting platform. That being said, it is much more than just your average GitHub client as not only it supports GitHub but it also supports other services such as GitLab, Microsoft Azure, BitBucket, and more. It even allows you to create and open your own local repo if that’s what you are looking for. What makes GitKraken to stand out from the rest of GitHub clients is its fast and reliable performance and exceptional appearance.
6. AWS CodeCommit
The AWS CodeCommit is a great service to host your Git-based repositories. It brings a secure control service makes it easy for teams to collaborate on code in a secure and highly scalable ecosystem. The biggest feature of AWS CodeCommit is its scalibility as it eliminates the need to operate your own source control system or worry about scaling its infrastructure. The service can automatically scale to meet the growing needs of your project and company.
The last GitHub alternative on our list is from Google. Dubbed as the Cloud Source Repositories the service provides you with a single place where you can your team can track, manage, and store your code. Teams can easily collaborate on their code on a fully featured, scalable, and private Git repository. You can also extend Git workflow by connecting to other GCP tools, including Cloud Build, App Engine, Stackdriver, and more.
