The Many Benefits Of Using Git For Your Projects

A version control system is important, so does online source code repositories to collaborate with others on a project.

So, in this article, we are going to discuss what version control or source code hosting services like BitBucket, GitHub, GitShip, and not version control systems (Git, SVN).

You might be confused. Isn't it all one, isn't Git and GitHub same?

The answer is obviously NO. Git (or SVN, or Mercurial) is version control systems, that features local branching and version controlling. Where GitHub, GitShip, BitBucket are web-based git hosting services along with some good interface to work on it efficiently and they make it even cooler by having communities.

Read this article first if you haven't chosen a version control system yet, which you obviously need to before choosing a source code repository tool. But we think most of you will pick Git, as it is a very powerful and widely used version control tool, so most of the source code hosting solutions we list will be for Git based projects.

One source code repository provider is different than others in some ways. We can not say one is absolutely best, but for your specific requirement, one can better than others.

So, read the article till the end as we walk you through about all popular source repositories available in the market and how each one is different than others.

It will help you make an informed decision while choosing one solution that is the best suit for your project work.

Top 6 Source Code Repository Hosts GitHub:

GitHub helps software development teams to collaborate and maintain the history of code changes. it still has some of the best tools for issue tracking, continuous integration, code review, and general code management.

GitHub is a source code repository to host Git based projects, you enjoy the advantages of a distributed version control system. It provides really good security. The most important thing is it has one of the largest community, so whenever you face any problem, almost always you will find a solution.

It does have a free plan, but it doesn't allow you to have private repositories, so if you are working on an open-source project, then it is nice, otherwise, you should be subscribed to $7 a month plan for individual use or 9 dollar plan if you want to collaborate.

BitBucket:

Bitbucket has been around for many years. It is a part of the Atlassian software suite, hence can be integrated with Atlassian services including HipChat, Jira, and Bamboo. It has already been through some of that change-over process since after it is acquired by Atlassian. It's still a commercial platform like GitHub. Organizationally speaking, it is far from being just a start-up, and it's on a stable footing. Bitbucket shares most of the features of GitHub and GitLab, but also comers up with a few novel features of its own, like native support for Mercurial repositories. Main features of Bitbucket are code branching, in-line commenting, and pull requests. It can be deployed on a local server, data centre of the company, as well as on the cloud. It allows you to connect for free with up to five users. This is good as you can try the platform for free before going to purchase.

GitShip:

GitShip is Git based repository hosting, it has very easy to follow UI, is secure, efficient with a very affordable price. GitShip makes the DevOps cycle easy allowing teams to collaborate and focus executing on ideas quickly. The time from idea to finished product can be managed efficiently using the GitShip platform.

On the top of standard features of a source code repository, GitShip offers special bug tracking, issue tracking, feature requests, task management, and 24/7 support.

One cool thing about GitShip is Through its automatic DevOps, GitShip automates code analysis, licensing, dependency scanning, security testing, and many other features.

Its pricing starts with just $4, it provides all the features, just limits storage to 10gb and 500 build minutes per month.

GitLab:

GitLab is one among the most leading contenders when it comes to alternative code platforms. It is a complete open source platform wherein using continuous integration (CI) capabilities, users can automatically test and deliver the code. It comes with other handy features like comes with a lot of handy features like an integrated project, a project website, etc. It mostly covers all requisitions of project development: view code, pull requests and combine the conflict resolution. Users can host their code right on GitLab's site much like they would on GitHub. Additionally, they can also choose to self-host a GitLab instance of their own on their own server and have full control over who has access to everything there and how things are managed. GitLab covers almost all the features of GitHub. Moreover, its continuous integration and testing tools are superior. Maybe the community of developers on GitLab is smaller is then that on GitHub, still there is a high possibility that Users finds more like-minded developers among the population there.

SourceForge

SourceForge is one of the oldest source code repositories. In early days, it used to work like, suppose you had an open source project, you could host your code on SourceForge and share your releases. After spending some time on migration to Git for version control, it rushed into certain events of commercial acquiring and re-acquiring, along with few unfortunate bundling decisions for few open source projects. Passed through that, SourceForge certainly has recovered since then and is still a place for a number of live Open Source projects.

PerForce

PerForce is a version control system which makes use of HelixCore platform to provide features including team collaboration, and support for centralized and distributed development workflows. Helixcore platform is a security solution which offers complete software collaboration system that includes issue tracking, code reviewal and other advanced features like Threat detection. Considering the cost factor, it is free for a small team of few developers. It also allows to track the changes in code and offers a complete Git ecosystem. Further its subscription is for 12 months and quote can be requested for information on other plans.

BeanStalk

Those developers who need to work from remote places, BeanStalk is the idlest option for them. It is a software which is based on browser and cloud, which allows users to code, commit, review and deploy making use of a browser. For efficient collaborations related to codes and updates, BeanStalk can be integrated with email and messaging platforms. It comes with built-in analytics features and supports both Git and SVN. It leverages encryption, 2-factor authentication and password protection for security. BeanStalk is a host that doesn’t require a client. For instant gratification, users can add files, create branches and directly edit in browser. With repository and branch level permissions, it provides total control of both teams and individuals.

So here you have it. These are the 6 best source code repository tools. If you are still confused, we would recommend to take some time and try the free versions for all, test all the feature, see the UI, and then use whichever you are more comfortable with.