Dev Showdown: Difference Between GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps

Version control is an essential component of any software development pipeline because it enables multiple users to collaborate on the same code base at the same time. It also functions as a single source of truth and maintains an impeccable history of all the modifications made to the codebase.

Mercurial and Git are the two most popular distributed version control systems currently available on the market. However, there are many other versions of control systems available. Git has gained wider adoption in the industry due to its extensive feature set and configuration options. This is despite the fact that both of these methods of version control are effective. Git can be easily integrated into projects of any scale thanks to the configuration options that are available.

The selection of an appropriate platform for version control is one of the most important decisions that any team working on software development needs to make. Because switching to a new platform in the middle of active development can be a difficult and time-consuming process, this decision needs to be finalized before the development process can begin. Additionally, it will have a detrimental effect on the overall development process.

In this post, we will discuss how to go about selecting a version control platform that is based on git, as well as the most popular version control platforms that are currently available.

Selecting an appropriate platform for version control

When choosing a platform for version control, you need to give a lot of thought to a lot of different things. The requirements of the development team are the primary consideration, and they take precedence over all of the other aspects.

It is always best to go with a product that is aligned with the user’s requirements; this is true even if the platform in question is the standard for the industry. If the platform in question does not satisfy certain requirements, it is always best to go with the one that does.

After you’ve thought about the needs of the users, you can move on to the next set of considerations, which are as follows:

Added capabilities as well as integrations

The functionality of version control platforms has expanded far beyond that of simple source control, and they now offer a wide variety of features. These features range from robust collaboration features to automation, and some even offer complete build pipelines. As more and more businesses adopt DevOps practices, the supplementary features that are offered will become even more valuable.

Pricing

As is the case with all businesses, capital expenditures and operating expenses have an immediate effect on the bottom line. As a result, the final decision regarding the introduction of a new platform or tool is heavily influenced by the cost of doing so.

Regardless of the features that a given platform may have, the selection process will not include that platform if your organization does not have the financial means to purchase it.

The user experience and the simplicity of use

The configurations and the process of setting up the platform, as well as the flexibility offered when creating different workflows, will be factors that determine how the user experience of the platform will be. This all comes down to the usability of the platform. Even if a platform provides an excellent feature set, users will opt for a simpler platform if it has complex configuration and usage requirements. This holds true even if the platform itself provides an excellent feature set.

In addition, it is a good idea to give preference to a particular tool if the development team has previous experience using that tool. This will improve the overall experience of adopting the platform while reducing the number of complications that are involved.

Support/community

There is some form of official support included with every paid option; however, the level of support varies depending on the type of payment option chosen. On the other hand, the scope of community-based support is all that is covered by the free services. When it comes to a rule of thumb, the general rule is that support will be greater when the cost is higher.

The user community is an important component because, regardless of whether the tool is paid for or free, the users can be a source of a wealth of information. The maturity of the platform is another factor that plays a significant part in this scenario. Mature platforms will have a larger user base, which will result in increased community-based resources.

Summarize

GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, and Azure DevOps share core version control functionality. Each platform’s software development life cycle features and integrations distinguish them.

We’ll examine each platform’s features in the following sections.

♦ GitHub

Since its founding in 2007, GitHub by Github Inc. has expanded to become the largest version control platform for hobbyist, open source, and enterprise projects. It currently has over 65 million developers and has been adopted by 72% of Fortune 50 companies.

In 2018, Microsoft completed the acquisition of GitHub, and the platform is now fully supported by the software giant as part of its suite of online services. Because Microsoft has recently refocused its efforts and increased its investments in open source platforms, users now have the confidence to use GitHub for any open source project. As a result, features that were previously only available for a fee, such as private repositories, are now available for free.

GitHub is a platform that can only be accessed online; there is no option to run a self-hosted version, which would fall under the enterprise tier. Its feature set includes collaborative coding, project management, automation, and continuous integration and distribution (CI/CD), among other things. It supports Git exclusively.

GitHub Features

• Unlimited public and private repositories and collaborators for free and paid tiers.
• VSCode-backed GitHub Codepaces create a secure, high-performance development environment.
• GitHub Actions to automate development workflows. Actions can perform any task, including CI/CD, and create powerful development pipelines directly from GitHub.
• GitHub Pages to directly create a website from a repository
• 2FA, code scanning, dependency vulnerability alerts, and user and repository security features.
• Enterprise SAML/LDAP
• Many client apps (GitHub CLI, Desktop, Mobile)
• Built-in project management with GitHub Projects and Issues.
• Hundreds of GitHub Marketplace apps to extend and integrate third-party services

♦ GitLab

GitLab markets itself as a comprehensive DevOps platform that is intended to drive modern DevOps workflows. It can be found in two different forms:

• The Community Edition of GitLab
• GitLab Enterprise Edition is a version of GitLab that provides both free and paid versions of its services.

GitLab’s primary objective is to provide users with a unified platform from which they can manage all aspects of the DevOps lifecycle. This includes functionality such as project planning, code management, packaging, deployment, and monitoring, among other things.

When compared to GitHub, GitLab has a smaller community and fewer options for integrating third-party services, both of which can make the platform more difficult to use for inexperienced developers. The most significant drawback to GitLab is that the majority of its advanced features are only accessible to paid users, and the cost of the ultimate versions can be quite high.

GitLab Features

• One platform for the DevOps pipeline.
• Built-in CI/CD and AutoDevOps to build, test, and deploy apps
• Slack commands can manage GitLab ChatOps CI/CD integration.
• GitLab managed Terraform state, GitLab Terraform provider, and Terraform IaC tool integration.
• Security scanning with container support and network policies
• License Compliance to directly verify project dependency compliance.
• Dynamic Application Security Testing (DAST) of running web applications.

♦ BitBucket

BitBucket, which is owned and operated by Atlassian, was initially a platform that was based on Mercurial. Mercurial support, on the other hand, has been depreciated over time, and BitBucket has transitioned to a platform that is entirely based on Git.

It is possible to use BitBucket to:

• A solution in the cloud provided by Bitbucket Cloud.
• A solution that is self-managed and is provided by Bitbucket Data Center. The Data Center option is an enterprise offering that is aimed at providing full control over the environment in which development takes place.

BitBucket provides a free version that supports up to five users in addition to a premium option that is inexpensive in comparison to other platforms. BitBucket shines when interacting with other popular Atlassian products such as Jira, Confluence, Trello, Opsgenie, and so on. Since BitBucket is managed by Atlassian, this interaction brings out its full potential.

Because of this, the organization should consider Bitbucket as their top option if they use other Atlassian products.

BitBucket Features

• An infinite number of personal repositories available at no cost to the user.
• Full support for the software development lifecycle through direct integrations with Atlassian tools (SDLC)
• By utilizing the Marketplace and the Atlassian Open DevOps methodology, it is possible to connect with a wide variety of external tools and resources.
• BitBucket Pipelines is an automated workflow generator that is a CI/CD service integrated into BitBucket.
• Use the Sourcetree client on your Mac or PC to administer your Git repositories.
• Organizations can easily facilitate DevSecOps with the help of integrated security practices such as pull request scanning and the ability to integrate the Snyk vulnerability scanner.
• SSO, Just-In-Time, and OAuth 2.0 support highlight the superiority of the user management system.
• Integrated analytics for all Atlassian products to help you take intelligent action on your data.

♦ Azure DevOps

Version control is handled by the Azure Repos service, which is part of the DevOps suite that is included with Azure DevOps. Azure DevOps is a comprehensive DevOps platform that is based on the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.

There are two flavors available for the Azure DevOps platform:

• The Azure DevOps Services are powered by Microsoft Azure.
• An offline self-management option is available through the Azure DevOps Server, which is the successor to the Microsoft Team Foundation Server (MTFS).

The Azure DevOps service, which is hosted in the cloud, makes the entire platform, with the exception of test plans, available totally free of charge for as many as five users. The Azure DevOps services can be accessed in their entirety by Visual Studio subscribers.

If you are heavily invested in the Microsoft ecosystem or if your application is dependent on Azure, then utilizing Azure DevOps to power your software development pipelines at any scale will be your best option.

Azure DevOps Features

• Connectivity to Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform and other services
• An extensive set of features, such as an unlimited number of personal repositories, all available at no cost to users.
• Individual developers or small teams (up to 5 users) can use Azure DevOps Server Express at no cost to implement Azure DevOps offline.
• As an adjunct to and expansion of DevOps capabilities, the Extensions Marketplace provides access to over a thousand available integrations.
• Any Git client is supported, and a semantic code search can be performed on all repos, pipelines, test plans, and artifacts in Azure.

To sum up versioning

Since all of these platforms have progressed beyond simple version control functionality to offer complete DevOps platforms that can power SDLC at any scale, choosing the best one is more complicated than simply picking the best version control tool.

Choose Azure DevOps if you’re already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem; if you use Atlassian tools, Bitbucket is your best bet. GitLab is great for anyone looking for a streamlined, all-in-one DevOps platform because of its central focus on this area.

As a mature platform with a rich set of features, GitHub is the best option for driving any kind of software development effort.