GitHub vs Bitbucket
Editor Sebastiaan Smits ·
Published November 14, 2026 · Updated November 14, 2026
On the published price lists, the two differ mainly in what the free tier and the paid ladder include. GitHub's free plan has unlimited private collaborators and 2,000 CI/CD minutes a month. Bitbucket's is limited to 5 users and 50 build minutes, but its paid seats cost a little less and top out at $8.
Side by side
 GitHub |  Bitbucket | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | The default Git host, owned by Microsoft | Git hosting built into the Atlassian suite |
| Best for | Teams that want the biggest ecosystem and easiest hiring | Teams already paying for Jira and Confluence |
| Headquarters | United States | United States |
| Pricing model | Per user / month | Per user / month |
| Pricing | Free plan covers unlimited public and private repositories; Team is $4 per user per month and Enterprise starts at $21 per user per month, both shown as rates for the first 12 months, published. | Free for up to 5 users; Standard is $3.65 per user per month; Premium is $7.25 per user per month, published. |
| Free option | Free plan | Free plan |
| List price as listed on November 14, 2026 | $4 USD per user per month (Team); Free plan $0; Enterprise $21 USD per user per month | $3.65 per user per month (Standard); Free plan $0 for up to 5 users; Premium $8 per user per month |
| Place in our version control software ranking | #6 of 15 | #8 of 15 |
| Website | github.com | bitbucket.org |
Both are reviewed in full in Best Version Control Software in 2026. Vendors can pay for more visibility, and commercial relationships can affect which products we feature and how prominently. Placement disclosure.
Which one to choose
Choose GitHub if
your team is larger than five people and wants to stay on a free plan, or you expect to run a lot of CI/CD minutes without buying extra allowances.
GitHub, #6 in the ranking · Visit GitHub →
Choose Bitbucket if
you have five people or fewer, or you want the cheapest paid seat and a top tier with IP allowlisting and enforced merge checks at $8 per user per month.
Bitbucket, #8 in the ranking · Visit Bitbucket →
Where they differ
How many people fit on the free plan
GitHub's free plan allows unlimited collaborators on private repositories, so a ten-person team can start without a bill. Bitbucket's free plan stops at 5 users, although it also offers unlimited public and private repositories. Past five people, Bitbucket needs a paid seat for everyone. For a growing team that wants to delay spending, GitHub's free plan is the more forgiving one.
Edge: GitHub
Free build minutes each month
The free plans differ sharply on automation. GitHub lists 2,000 CI/CD minutes a month, plus 500 MB of Packages storage. Bitbucket lists 50 build minutes and 1 GB of LFS storage, with another 1 GB per repository. A team running tests on every push can use up 50 minutes quickly. Bitbucket's build minutes and storage are also shared across the workspace, so one busy repository draws from the same pool.
Edge: GitHub
Entry paid seat price
Bitbucket Standard is listed at $3.65 per user per month and includes all current Bitbucket features. GitHub Team is listed at $4 USD per user per month, with 3,000 CI/CD minutes and 2 GB of Packages storage. The gap is 35 cents a seat, about 9 percent. Neither page shows annual prices. Bitbucket is slightly cheaper per seat, and GitHub gives more included minutes for the extra money.
Edge: even
Top tier and what it adds
GitHub Enterprise is $21 USD per user per month and includes 50,000 CI/CD minutes, 50 GB of Packages storage, Enterprise Managed Users and GitHub Copilot access. Bitbucket Premium is $8 per user per month and adds enforced merge checks, IP allowlisting, deployment permissions and required two-step verification. Bitbucket is far cheaper at the top. GitHub's tier is a bigger bundle, so which one wins depends on whether you need the extras.
Edge: Bitbucket
Buying more minutes or storage
Bitbucket sells add-ons at $10 a month for 1,000 more build minutes or for 100 GB of storage, which lets a small team grow one resource without changing tiers. GitHub's pricing page, as we read it, ties minutes and Packages storage to the plan: Team gets 3,000 minutes, Enterprise 50,000. Bitbucket's explicit add-on route is the more flexible one for a team that needs a single extra resource.
Edge: Bitbucket
Tally: GitHub 2, Bitbucket 2, even 1.
When neither fits
Neither is right for a team that wants to host its own code platform. Both pricing pages we read describe hosted plans only. Gitea is a free, open-source, self-hosted Git platform under the MIT license, and GitLab lists a free tier of 5 users per top-level group on its own pricing page.
See Gitea and GitLab among the 15 products in Best Version Control Software in 2026.
Questions and answers
Does GitHub or Bitbucket have a better free plan?
GitHub's free plan is more generous on the published numbers. It allows unlimited collaborators on private repositories and 2,000 CI/CD minutes a month, while Bitbucket's is free for up to 5 users with 50 build minutes and 1 GB of LFS storage. Bitbucket does allow unlimited public and private repositories.
Which is cheaper per user, GitHub or Bitbucket?
Bitbucket is cheaper at both paid levels we checked. Bitbucket Standard is $3.65 per user per month against $4 for GitHub Team, and Bitbucket Premium is $8 against $21 for GitHub Enterprise. The tiers are not identical, since GitHub Enterprise includes 50,000 CI/CD minutes and Copilot access.
Can I buy extra build minutes on Bitbucket?
Yes. Bitbucket lists additional allowances at $10 a month for 1,000 more build minutes or 100 GB of storage. Build minutes and storage are shared across the workspace. GitHub's pricing page ties its minutes to the plan, with 2,000 on Free, 3,000 on Team and 50,000 on Enterprise.
Does Bitbucket Premium include IP allowlisting?
Yes. Bitbucket lists IP allowlisting on Premium at $8 per user per month, along with enforced merge checks, deployment permissions and required two-step verification. Standard, at $3.65, is described as including all current Bitbucket features, but the pricing page lists those four controls under Premium.
Sources
Prices, plan limits and product facts on this page were checked against the vendors' own pages on November 14, 2026. Vendors change both without notice, so treat the figures as of that date.
- GitHub pricing page: GitHub Free, Team and Enterprise prices, CI/CD minutes, Packages storage, unlimited private collaborators, Copilot access and Enterprise Managed Users
- GitHub about page: Checked for ownership and headquarters statements; none found, so the page makes no such claim
- Bitbucket pricing page on Atlassian: Bitbucket Free, Standard and Premium prices, the 5-user free limit, build minutes, LFS storage, Premium controls and the $10 add-ons
- Bitbucket pricing entry point: Redirects to the Atlassian pricing page above, which is the only product-ownership signal we opened
- Bitbucket about page: Returned a 404 when we checked, so no ownership or headquarters statement could be read there
- Atlassian company page: Checked for headquarters and parent-company statements; none found in the text we could read
- GitLab pricing page: GitLab free tier of 5 users per top-level group, mentioned as an alternative
- Gitea about page: Gitea as a free, open-source, self-hosted Git platform under the MIT license