Whether you’re a code king or just starting out, odds are you know what GitHub is. For the few that don’t know, it’s the world’s most popular code hosting site. Users of the site can choose between Git or Subversion as their version control system to manage, maintain and release their software projects. Since the site offers free unlimited public code for its users, one can see why it’s so popular amongst developers.
However, don’t ignore the other options. There are a plethora of alternatives, but let’s just look at three of them.
1: BITBUCKET GITHUB ALTERNATIVE
Bitbucket may be second to GitHub in terms of users and popularity but it’s certainly a worthy competitor. Bitbucket is free for individuals and organizations with 5 users or less. Furthermore, it lets you have unlimited public and private repositories. For those looking to use their own domain site for Bitbucket, you can do that.
2: GITLAB ‘BETTER THAN GITHUB’
That’s not a fake motto. GitLab prides themselves on being better than GitHub. One of the many unique features you will find is that you can install GitLab onto your own server. Thus, giving you the option of using Gitlab on a custom host or custom domain.
In addition, GitLab lets users have unlimited public and private repositories. Did we mention that’s all for free? Well, it is. While not as easy to use as it’s competitors, GitLab is more private, secure and reports better-serving speed.
3: CODEPLEX IS MICROSOFT’S GITHUB
Microsoft’s answer to open source code hosting is CodePlex. Codeplex lets you create projects that each get a custom domain. Hence, projects need unique titles. For those that lack a bit of creativity, this could be a minor issue. In addition to the custom domain, CodePlex gives you the options of either Git, Mercurial, or Team Foundation as your Version Control.
All CodePlex projects are private for up to 30 days. After that, they are removed if not made public. Keep in mind, though, you don’t ned to pay to use any CodePlex feature nor is there a cap on the number of users in a given project.
