Teams look past GitHub when per-seat prices and metered extras add up, when they want to self-host or leave a single vendor's cloud, or when they want the repository, CI and planning in one other product. Most go to GitLab or Bitbucket for a hosted rival, or to Gitea and Forgejo to run their own.
Visibility in our rankings can be paid for. Payment moves a vendor's position within
the shortlist; it never adds a vendor, and it never changes a word of the review or of this page. How it works:
placement disclosure · editorial process.
What each alternative does differently
1. GitLab
Repos, CI/CD, scanning and planning in one product · United States
The closest full-platform rival, with source control, CI/CD and security in one product. Free allows 5 users per top-level group, 400 compute minutes and 10 GiB. Premium is $29 per user a month billed annually. It runs as GitLab.com, Self-Managed or Dedicated; AI features need a Credits add-on.
Switch from GitHub if you want one product for code, CI and security, with a self-managed option.
Pricing: Free tier for up to 5 users per top-level group with 400 compute minutes a month; Premium is $29 per user per month billed annually, published; Ultimate is priced on request. (free plan)
Full review: #5 of 15 in our ranking ·
Visit GitLab →
2. Bitbucket
Git hosting built into the Atlassian suite · United States
Atlassian's Git host, built to sit beside Jira. Free covers up to 5 users, Standard is $3.65 and Premium $7.25 per user a month, below GitHub's Team and Enterprise list rates. Data Center is a self-managed edition handled through sales.
Switch from GitHub if your teams already plan work in Jira and want cheaper seats.
Pricing: Free for up to 5 users; Standard is $3.65 per user per month; Premium is $7.25 per user per month, published. (free plan)
Full review: #6 of 15 in our ranking ·
Visit Bitbucket →
3. Azure DevOps
Microsoft’s repos, boards and pipelines bundle · United States
Microsoft's own suite: Azure Repos with unlimited private Git repos, Boards and Pipelines. The first 5 users are free, then the Basic plan is $6 per user a month; Test Plans adds $52. It bills by service, so it suits Azure-centered teams more than open-source contributors.
Switch from GitHub if you build on Azure and want repos, boards and pipelines billed under one Microsoft agreement.
Pricing: Basic plan is $6 per user per month after 5 free users; Basic plus Test Plans is $52 per user per month, published. (free plan)
Full review: #7 of 15 in our ranking ·
Visit Azure DevOps →
4. Gitea
Single-binary self-hosted Git server · United States
Open-source Git hosting under the MIT license, with leadership and commercial support from CommitGo. Self-hosting is free with unlimited users and repositories, including Gitea Actions. Gitea Enterprise adds SAML SSO and audit logs at a listed $9.50 per user a month on a one-year commitment.
Switch from GitHub if you want a lightweight self-hosted forge with CI included and optional paid support.
Pricing: The software is free to self-host without limit; Gitea Enterprise, the self-managed edition with SAML SSO and audit logs, is listed at $9.50 per user per month (down from $19) on a one-year commitment, and the hosted Gitea Cloud product is sold separately by CommitGo. (open source)
Full review: #1 of 15 in our ranking ·
Visit Gitea →
5. Forgejo
Community-governed fork of Gitea · Germany
Self-hosted forge that its project says will always be free software, run under the Codeberg e.V. umbrella. You carry the operations yourself, or use a community instance such as Codeberg. It presents itself as a self-hosted alternative to GitHub.
Switch from GitHub if you want a community-governed, free-software forge and can run the servers yourself.
Pricing: Free and open source, with no commercial tier or hosted product to buy. (open source)
Full review: #8 of 15 in our ranking ·
Visit Forgejo →
6. Codeberg
Free non-profit hosting for open source only · Germany
A non-profit, community-run host operated by Codeberg e.V. and built on Forgejo, aimed at free and open-source projects. Its migration tool can bring over issues, labels, wiki, releases and milestones from GitHub, and it is meant for free software projects.
Switch from GitHub if your project is open source and you want a non-profit host in place of GitHub.
Pricing: Free for projects that qualify, within default quotas of 750 MiB of Git storage and 1.5 GiB of packages, LFS and attachments that larger projects can ask to raise; there is no paid tier. (open source)
Full review: #14 of 15 in our ranking ·
Visit Codeberg →
7. SourceHut
Minimalist Git hosting reviewed by email · Netherlands
Open-source tools for Git and Mercurial hosting, mailing lists and bug tracking, offered as separate services. During its public alpha, payment is needed only to host your own projects, with pay-what-you-can tiers; contributors use it free. Builds and chat require payment. It is a set of tools, not one GitHub-style product.
Switch from GitHub if you prefer small, separate tools, including mailing lists, to a single platform.
Pricing: Pay-what-you-can tiers of €4, €8 or €12 a month (or $4, $8, $12), identical apart from price and expected only from users hosting their own projects; contributors use it free and the software is open source to self-host. (open source)
Full review: #13 of 15 in our ranking ·
Visit SourceHut →
8. Assembla
Hosted Git/SVN/Perforce with compliance features · United States
Hosts both Git and SVN, aimed at teams that mix the two. Starter is $12.50 and Growth $19 per user a month, with a 14-day trial, and Growth adds project management. Storage is 10 GB per user on Starter. Per seat it costs more than Bitbucket.
Switch from GitHub if you still keep Subversion repositories next to Git and want both hosted together.
Pricing: Starter is $12.50 and Growth is $19 per user per month, published, with a 14-day free trial; the dedicated Custom cloud and Perforce Enterprise Cloud are quoted. (free trial)
Full review: #11 of 15 in our ranking ·
Visit Assembla →
9. Beanstalk
Hosted Git and SVN with built-in deployment · United States
Flat monthly plans by repository and user count, not per seat: Bronze is $15 for 5 users and 10 repositories, up to Diamond at $200 for 200 users. A free account covers 1 user, 1 repository and 100 MB. It hosts Git and Subversion and lists deployments in every plan.
Switch from GitHub if you are a small team that wants predictable flat pricing for Git or Subversion.
Pricing: A free account covers 1 user and 1 repository; paid plans start at $15 per month for 5 users and 10 repositories, published, rising with team size to $200 a month. (free plan)
Full review: #9 of 15 in our ranking ·
Visit Beanstalk →
10. Tuleap
Open source Git, boards and CI in one platform · France
Open-source application lifecycle software developed in France by Enalean, available in the cloud or on-premises. Source code management is one part of a wider suite for agile management, requirements and testing. It suits organizations that must show compliance, and is heavy for a team that only needs repositories.
Switch from GitHub if you need requirements, testing and compliance traceability around the code, from a European vendor.
Pricing: Free and open source to self-host; the hosted myTuleap cloud and enterprise support are priced on request. (open source)
Full review: #3 of 15 in our ranking ·
Visit Tuleap →
11. Perforce P4 (Helix Core)
Version control for huge files and monorepos · United States
Version control for very large files and binary assets such as game art, now sold as P4. Free for up to 5 users and 20 workspaces; P4 Cloud is $39 per user a month; on-premises is quoted. A free Git Connector lets Git users work against it. It replaces GitHub only for asset-heavy work.
Switch from GitHub if your repositories hold large art or design assets alongside code.
Pricing: Free for up to 5 users and 20 workspaces; the hosted P4 Cloud is $39 per user per month for teams up to 100, published, while on-premises Scale and Platform licensing is quoted. (free plan)
Full review: #2 of 15 in our ranking ·
Visit Perforce P4 (Helix Core) →
Questions and answers
Can I move issues and pull requests off GitHub?
Yes, with importers. GitLab's GitHub importer brings over issues, pull requests, comments, labels, milestones, release notes and wiki pages. Codeberg's migration tool can import issues, labels, wiki, releases and milestones, using an access token for private repositories.
Does my Git history move intact?
Yes. GitHub documents mirroring a repository with a bare clone and a mirror push to the new host. Git LFS objects need a separate step, which the same page describes.
What does GitHub cost after the first 12 months?
The pricing page shows $4 for Team and $21 for Enterprise per user a month, each marked as the rate for the first 12 months, and the page text does not state the later rate. Ask GitHub for the renewal price before relying on the figure.
Which alternatives are free?
GitLab Free allows 5 users per top-level group, Bitbucket and Azure DevOps cover 5 users, and Perforce covers 5 users. Gitea and Forgejo are free to self-host. Codeberg is free for qualifying projects, and Beanstalk has a 1-user free account.
Which alternatives can I self-host?
Gitea (MIT), Forgejo, SourceHut, Tuleap, GitLab Self-Managed and Bitbucket Data Center. Codeberg itself is a hosted service built on Forgejo. Self-hosting trades the seat fee for patching, backups and uptime that you must run yourself.
Do my GitHub Actions workflows keep working?
Not by themselves. Gitea lists Actions CI/CD among its features and Codeberg documents Forgejo Actions, but the pages we read do not promise that GitHub workflow files run unchanged. Test every workflow, and expect to rewrite for GitLab or Azure Pipelines.
