Bitbucket vs GitHub: What Is the Best Code Repository for Development Projects?

When it comes to website development, your productivity is highly influenced by the repository hosting that you’re using.

Technically, a repository hosting service is a kind of management tool that gives a transparent view of the software development cycle and its processes. In simpler English, you can define repository hosting as a service where you can host your website’s code.

By reading this, you can clearly tell that choosing the right type of repository hosting is crucial. Mainly there are two major options that you can choose from – Bitbucket or GitHub.

When we talk about bitbucket vs GitHub, the primary difference between both is that bitbucket is used for private repositories, while GitHub is the go-to option for public repositories.

Although these are the individual specialties of both platforms this doesn’t mean that you can’t use bitbucket for public repositories and vice versa.

Apart from this, there are a few major and minor differences in bitbucket vs GitHub which we’ll talk about in this article to help you make an informed decision.

So, let’s start with a basic overview of both repositories hosting services.

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Bitbucket vs GitHub: An Overview

Bitbucket

Owned by a credible source such as Atlassian, Bitbucket is a repository hosting service launched in 2008.

While it is mainly used for creating private repositories for businesses and enterprises, it can also be used for creating open-source repositories.

However, the main advantage of Bitbucket lies in its flexibility in VCS support.

It is built using the Django framework and is entirely written in Python.

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Here are some additional features offered by Bitbucket

• It is directly integrated with platforms like Jira, Jenkins, and Bamboo, etc.
• It provides unlimited private code repositories for Git and Mercurial.
• It provides heavy integration with Trello.
• It offers services for Mac, Windows, and Android.

GitHub

With over 100 million repositories and more than 40 million users worldwide, GitHub is arguably one of the largest and most popular development platforms out there.

To sum it up, you can say that it is the largest host of source code. It was created back in 2004.

Since it is an open-source repository, its primary function is to host public repositories where you can easily review code, and manage your development projects.

Here are the main features of GitHub.

• Its built-in support for over 200 programming languages makes it quite a popular choice for programmers.
• It offers direct integration with platforms like Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud, Amazon, and Heroku, etc.
• It is completely free to use for unlimited public repositories.
• Offered services for Windows and Mac.

Bitbucket vs GitHub: Extensions And Integrations

For any development or management platform, integration with third-party and native extensions is crucial.

This is to ensure the seamless usability of the repository hosting and to extend its functionality.

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When you talk about Bitbucket vs GitHub in terms of the extensions and integrations, Bitbucket takes a clear lead.

With over 2300 apps in the Atlassian marketplace, there’s an extension for almost every function that you want to have in your code repository.

Also, for the enterprise-level repositories, they can make good use of the cross-platform compatibilities.

Even though bitbucket has the lead in terms of quantity, GitHub is also great in terms of the integrations and extensions with the GitHub marketplace.

There are multiple tools available that you can leverage to extend your functionality and automate your development workflow.

Bitbucket vs GitHub:Wikis And Boards

Wiki is an incredibly important function and it is a difference worth noting when talking about Bitbucket vs GitHub.

When it comes to collaborating with your team for the project, Wiki is functionality that comes in handy.

Again, Bitbucket here takes the lead because you can enable a wiki for each repository and it’s your choice to keep it private or public.

In contrast, if you’re creating a private repository in GitHub, you can’t enable a wiki as you can only do that for the free public repositories.

In terms of the projects tab, GitHub is a better option because, in Bitbucket, you have to link your repositories to Trello in order to achieve this functionality.

Bitbucket vs GitHub: User Interface

The user interface is an essential element for any platform or tool, let alone a repository hosting service.

When we talk about Bitbucket vs GitHub, the User interface is an important factor that makes both the platforms quite contrasting to each other.

Starting with the bitbucket, it is highly popular for its organized and clean user interface which makes your project management easier and highly navigable.

You can say the same for GitHub but when compared with bitbucket, it tends to be a bit cluttered and complex – which might become a problem for some people, especially if you’re not familiar with its dashboard.

Again, in the area of the user interface, Bitbucket has a leg up.

Bitbucket vs GitHub: Branch Access Permissions

For those who don’t know what branch access permissions are, it is a feature that allows you to restrict access to the users in certain areas or branches of your repository or projects.

Suppose you don’t want certain members of your team to have full access to the project, both Bitbucket and GitHub allow you to limit their access using branch access permissions.

However, the problem with GitHub here is that it only allows you to enforce restrictions on private repositories with a paid plan.

In contrast, Bitbucket lets you do that free of charge.

Bitbucket vs GitHub: Community And Support

When it comes to the Community and support, GitHub is way ahead of Bitbucket.

This is because GitHub is open-source and the largest host of public code.

Therefore, it is a better option for those who’re looking to reach as many developers as possible.

Moreover, if you’re stuck with something, you’ll always find easy solutions out due to the support available from these communities.

Even though Bitbucket doesn’t have a massive community like GitHub, it still has a quality support system that offers online tutorials, webinars, and documentation, etc.

Bitbucket vs GitHub: Pricing

Here comes the most important part – the pricing.

Starting with a free cloud plan, Bitbucket offers unlimited private and public repositories with 1GB of storage.

Note that the package is free for up to 5 users only.

After that, it charges you $3 per user. As for the enterprise-level hosting, pricing starts at $1,980 for 25 users per month.

As for GitHub, it is completely free to use for both public and private repositories with no limitations on the number of users.

Moreover, it comes with 500MB of storage.

For paid plans, it starts at $4 per month.

This paid plan includes perks like unlimited collaborators, unlimited public and private repositories, more storage, reminders, and wikis, and pages for private repositories, etc.

Some Important FAQs

1. What Is The Difference Between Bitbucket And GitHub?

The major difference between Bitbucket and GitHub is that Bitbucket is mainly used for creating private hosting repositories while GitHub is mainly focused on creating public or open-source repositories.

Refer to this table below for major differences in Bitbucket and GitHub.

2. Which is a Better Option: Bitbucket Or GitHub?

While both repositories hosting services are great options for project management, people would generally agree that Bitbucket has a cleaner and non-cluttered user interface.

Even though GitHub is not that complex, but beginners might have to get used to it.

3. Bitbucket vs GitHub: Which One Should I Use?

Even though GitHub has a massive community and numerous features, Bitbucket is naturally a better choice due to its flexibility.

Moreover, you can leverage the Atlassian marketplace to enhance its functionality further.

It can also import from platforms like CodePlex, Google Code, SourceForge, SVN, and Git, etc.

Conclusion

A code repository plays a vital role in managing your projects and their development Workflow.

Also, it can be quite a tricky choice because you need to choose the right platform depending upon your project requirement and budget.

Our final verdict here is that if you want to host a private repository, Bitbucket should be the go-to option for you.

In contrast, GitHub is best suited for the public repository due to its open-source nature.

If you enjoyed the read, have a look at our articles like Creating A Website Maintenance Contract and Finding The Perfect Web Designer to help yourself making informed decisions.