GitHub vs GitLab vs Bitbucket: Which to Choose in 2026

GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket all host Git repositories, review code and run automated builds. They differ in price, how much free automation you get, how teams are limited on free plans and what each platform is built around.

I read each company's own pricing page directly on October 23, 2026, because prices and limits change and many comparison posts are out of date. Check the live pages before you buy anything.

The short answer

For most individuals and open source projects, GitHub's free plan is the easiest start. GitLab is a strong choice if you want one platform for the whole delivery pipeline. Bitbucket suits small teams that already use Atlassian tools.

Each of the three offers a free plan, but the limits are not the same.

GitLab's free plan caps a top-level group at five users, and Bitbucket's caps a workspace at five users. GitHub's free plan lists no user cap on its pricing page.

GitHub vs GitLab vs Git

Git is the version control tool on your computer. GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket are services that host copies of your repositories and add features around them, such as reviews and automation.

Gitea's documentation describes itself as a self-hosted software development service that covers Git hosting, code review, a package registry and CI/CD, and compares itself to GitHub, Bitbucket and GitLab. That shows what the category covers.

Switching hosts

Because the host is only a remote address, changing it is one command. I created a repository, added a GitHub address as origin, then pointed it at GitLab instead.

$ git remote add origin https://github.com/example/notes-app.git
$ git remote -v
origin	https://github.com/example/notes-app.git (fetch)
origin	https://github.com/example/notes-app.git (push)
$ git remote set-url origin https://gitlab.com/example/notes-app.git
$ git remote -v
origin	https://gitlab.com/example/notes-app.git (fetch)
origin	https://gitlab.com/example/notes-app.git (push)

This only changes where Git sends your commits. Issues, pull requests and automation settings do not move with it, so check each platform's import options. Our Git tutorial covers remotes and pushing.

Free plans compared

This table is our summary of what each pricing page lists for free plans. Included automation minutes apply to private work unless noted.

Item	GitHub Free	GitLab Free	Bitbucket Free
Price	$0	$0	$0
User limit	None listed on the pricing page	5 users per top-level group	Up to 5 users
Repositories	Unlimited public and private	Source code management included	Unlimited public and private
Automation minutes	2,000 CI/CD minutes per month	400 compute minutes per month	50 build minutes
Storage noted	500 MB of Packages storage	10 GiB adjustable storage	1 GB of file storage for LFS

GitHub's page marks Actions minutes and Packages storage as free for public repositories. Its billing documentation adds that Actions costs nothing on self-hosted runners, or on public repositories that use standard GitHub-hosted runners.

Paid plans compared

These are the entry paid plans and the next tier up. Prices are in US dollars and come from each company's pricing page.

Platform	Entry paid plan	Higher plan
GitHub	Team at $4 per user per month for the first 12 months	Enterprise at $21 per user per month for the first 12 months
GitLab	Premium at $29 per user per month, billed annually	Ultimate, with custom pricing
Bitbucket	Standard at $3.65 per user per month	Premium at $8 per user per month

GitHub's page words its prices as "for the first 12 months", so look at what applies afterward before you commit. The other two pages show a single price per user.

CI minutes on each plan

On GitHub's pricing page the monthly CI/CD allowance is 2,000 minutes on Free, 3,000 on Team and 50,000 on Enterprise. On GitLab's page it is 400 minutes on Free, 10,000 on Premium and 50,000 on Ultimate.

GitLab says extra compute minutes cost $10 per 1,000 as a one-time payment. Bitbucket measures minutes by runner size, so a step of 5 minutes on a 2x runner uses 10 build minutes.

What each platform is built around

GitHub

GitHub's pricing page lists Codespaces, Dependabot updates and GitHub Actions on its plans. It also lists Copilot as an add-on. Our VS Code vs Cursor vs JetBrains guide covers the Copilot plans in detail.

GitLab

GitLab's pricing page describes Source Code Management and CI/CD on its Free plan, with application security testing features appearing in higher plans. AI features are available through GitLab Credits.

The page lists credits at $1 each, and says Premium includes $12 of credits per user per month and Ultimate includes $24. Check the page for how credits are billed on your plan.

Bitbucket

Bitbucket's pricing page pitches Standard at growing teams that collaborate on code and CI/CD, and Premium at faster delivery with AI and automation. Its build service is Bitbucket Pipelines.

According to its pricing page, Atlassian also sells Bitbucket Data Center, a self-managed product for customers with strict regulatory or security needs.

The same pipeline in each service

Automation lives in a configuration file in each service. The three formats look similar, so a simple pipeline is easy to translate. I wrote the same job for each: install dependencies and run the tests on a Node project.

GitHub's documentation explains that a workflow is a YAML file stored in the .github/workflows directory of your repository, and that a repository can hold several of them. This is the GitHub version.

name: test
on: [push, pull_request]
jobs:
  test:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    steps:
      - uses: actions/checkout@v4
      - uses: actions/setup-node@v4
        with:
          node-version: 22
      - run: npm ci
      - run: npm test

GitLab's reference says the .gitlab-ci.yml file is where you define the jobs that make up your pipeline, with keywords such as stages, script and image. This is the GitLab version.

image: node:22
stages:
  - test
test:
  stage: test
  script:
    - npm ci
    - npm test

Bitbucket uses a file called bitbucket-pipelines.yml, with pipelines made of steps that run scripts. This is the Bitbucket version.

image: node:22
pipelines:
  default:
    - step:
        name: Test
        script:
          - npm ci
          - npm test

I checked that all three files parse as valid YAML, and ran actionlint on the GitHub file, which reported no problems.

I could not run the GitLab and Bitbucket files without accounts on those services, so check them in each service's editor.

Concept	GitHub Actions	GitLab CI/CD	Bitbucket Pipelines
Config file	A file in .github/workflows	.gitlab-ci.yml	bitbucket-pipelines.yml
Unit of work	A job made of steps	A job in a stage	A step in a pipeline
Environment	runs-on and an action	image	image
Reuse	Actions and reusable workflows	The include keyword	Shared configurations

Switching is less work than it sounds. The commands inside, such as npm ci and npm test, move over unchanged. You rewrite the wrapper, the triggers and any secrets.

Branch protection and review rules

All three let you stop people from pushing straight to your main branch. The details differ, so read the settings before you rely on them.

GitHub's documentation lists these settings for a protected branch: require pull request reviews, require status checks, require conversation resolution, require signed commits, require linear history and require a merge queue.

You can also lock a branch, restrict who can push and control force pushes and deletions.

GitLab's documentation says protected branches control who can merge and push, prevent accidental deletion, enforce review and approval processes, manage Code Owner approval and regulate force pushes. It says the default branch is protected by default.

Bitbucket also has branch permissions. I did not review its settings page for this guide, so check its documentation for current options.

Self-hosting

Self-managed options are part of the decision for some teams. Bitbucket's page names Data Center as its self-managed product, and Gitea's documentation describes a self-hosted service.

GitHub and GitLab also offer ways to run on your own infrastructure or in dedicated environments. I did not verify those offerings for this guide, so check their pages for current options.

Market share

There is no authoritative market share figure for Git hosting. The nearest public data is Stack Overflow's annual survey, which asks respondents which tools they use, and lets them choose more than one.

Coverage of the 2025 survey says GitHub led the code documentation and collaboration category at 81 percent, with Jira at 46 percent and GitLab at 36 percent.

The survey also found GitHub the most desired tool in that category, ahead of Jira.

I did not find a Bitbucket figure in that coverage. These numbers describe survey respondents, who skew toward Stack Overflow users, so treat them as a sign of popularity and not as a market share measurement.

GitHub vs GitLab pricing

On the pages I read, GitHub is cheaper per user for the first paid tier during its 12-month pricing, and GitLab's Premium is higher at $29. GitLab's free plan includes fewer minutes than GitHub's.

Bitbucket's paid plans are the lowest per user. Price is not the whole story, because included minutes, AI features and the tools your team already uses change what a plan is worth.

GitHub vs GitLab for personal use

For personal projects, all three work. GitHub's free plan lets you keep unlimited public and private repositories, and lists no user cap. GitLab's free plan fits personal projects too, with its five-user limit per top-level group.

Bitbucket's free plan also covers individuals and small teams up to five users. If you want the biggest community around your public code, that is a reason many people choose GitHub. This is our reading, not data.

Moving an existing project

Most teams already have code somewhere. All three services document ways to bring it in. GitLab's import page lists sources including GitHub, Bitbucket Cloud, Bitbucket Server, Gitea and a Git repository by URL.

GitHub's documentation covers an importer for external Git repositories and for Subversion, Mercurial and Team Foundation Version Control. Bitbucket has its own page on importing a repository.

What an import does and does not carry depends on the source and the service. The Git history always comes across.

Issues, pull requests, wikis and CI settings may not, and secrets never should. Use this checklist, which is our advice.

What a team of six would pay

Free-plan limits decide a lot. A team of six exceeds the five-user limit on GitLab's and Bitbucket's free plans, so it needs a paid plan on either. GitHub's free plan lists no user cap.

I calculated the monthly list price for six users from the pricing pages. GitHub's price is the first-12-months price shown on its page, so confirm what applies afterward.

Plan	Per user per month	Six users per month	Six users per year
GitHub Team	$4	$24.00	$288.00
GitLab Premium	$29	$174.00	$2,088.00
Bitbucket Standard	$3.65	$21.90	$262.80

The gap between GitLab and the other two is large, and it buys more included minutes: 10,000 on GitLab Premium, against 3,000 on GitHub Team.

Price per user is only one factor. Check whether your builds fit inside the included minutes for the plan you pick.

Choosing by situation

These suggestions are ours. They apply the limits and prices above to common cases.

Where AI fits in the plans

AI coding features now play a part in pricing decisions. GitHub's Copilot is sold on its own plans, and our guide to pricing AI features covers how its credits work.

GitLab's pricing page sells AI through GitLab Credits at $1 each, with $12 included per Premium user per month.

Bitbucket's pricing page describes its Premium plan as aimed at velocity with AI and automation. If AI assistance matters to you, compare those add-ons separately from the repository price.

Questions to ask before you commit

• Do the included automation minutes cover my builds?
• Is single sign-on included in the plan I need? Our single sign-on guide explains why teams ask.
• How can I export my data if I leave?
• What will I pay after the first year?
• Can I run my own build machines if I outgrow the minutes?

How to choose

This table is our advice, built on the pages above. The best choice depends on your team and the tools you already use.

If you want	Consider
The largest community for public code and a simple start	GitHub
One platform for source control and delivery automation	GitLab
A low per-user price and Atlassian tools	Bitbucket
To run it yourself	Gitea, Bitbucket Data Center, or check GitHub and GitLab's own options

Before you decide

GitHub vs GitLab on Reddit

You may see threads that compare them. I did not use Reddit as a source, so I do not summarize it here. Treat any strong opinion as one team's experience, and test the free plan on your own project.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between GitHub and GitLab?

They both store Git repositories and run automation. They differ in pricing, free limits and what each platform is built around.

Is GitHub free?

Yes. The free plan lists unlimited public and private repositories along with 2,000 CI/CD minutes a month.

Is GitHub or GitLab cheaper?

Per their pricing pages, GitHub's Team plan costs $4 per user per month for the first 12 months, while GitLab Premium costs $29 per user per month billed annually.

Is Bitbucket still worth using?

It offers a free plan for up to five users and the lowest paid prices of the three, and suits teams on Atlassian tools.

Can I move from GitHub to GitLab?

Yes, because Git is the same everywhere. Change the remote address, and use each platform's import tools for issues and requests.

What about Gitea?

Gitea is a self-hosted Git service with code review, packages and CI/CD, according to its documentation.

A quick checklist

• Check each live pricing page before you buy.
• Match included minutes to your builds.
• Note the five-user limits on free plans.
• Test a small import before moving a team.
• Keep your remote address easy to change.

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