Bitbucket vs GitHub
A source-aware comparison of pricing, documented capabilities and workflow fit.
Short answer
- Price: not directly comparable — Bitbucket is free tier available, GitHub is free tier available.
- How to start: both are free tier available.
- Where they differ: only GitHub has mobile app; both offer public api and sso (saml).
These lines are generated from the pricing we track, not from a paid placement. How we score tools.
What Bitbucket is
What Bitbucket isBitbucket is Atlassian's Git hosting service, and its main argument is how tightly it connects to Jira. Commits, branches and pull requests link to issues automatically, which is worth a lot if your team already plans work in Jira. If your team does not live in Jira, that advantage disappears and you are comparing it against larger ecosystems on their own terms. Pipelines are built in, so small teams can host code and run CI without adding a second vendor.
What GitHub is
What GitHub isGitHub is the social network of the software world and the largest code-hosting platform on earth. It is a Git-based system that allows millions of developers to collaborate on open-source and private projects. Beyond version control, GitHub Actions manages CI/CD processes, while GitHub Copilot provides AI-driven coding support. Whether you're managing a solo project or a massive engineering team, GitHub is the heart of the modern software development lifecycle where code is stored and reviewed.
Side by side
| Bitbucket | GitHub | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Developer Tools | Developer Tools |
| How to start | Free tiernot a monthly price | Free tiernot a monthly price |
| Public API | Yes | Yes |
| Mobile app | No | Yes |
| Open source / self-hostable | No | No |
| SSO (SAML) | Yes | Yes |
| Visit | Bitbucket ↗ | GitHub ↗ |
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What Bitbucket is built to do
- Jira integration
- Links commits, branches and pull requests to Jira issues automatically.
- Bitbucket Pipelines
- Runs CI/CD from a YAML file in the repository without a separate service.
- Branch permissions
- Restricts merges and pushes per branch with required approvals.
What GitHub is built to do
- GitHub Actions
- Automatically test and deploy your code directly from your repository.
- GitHub Copilot
- An AI assistant that predicts your code and writes entire functions for you.
- Pull Requests
- Review, comment on, and approve code changes collaboratively with your team.
- Dependabot
- Automatically updates your project's libraries and patches security flaws.
Choose Bitbucket if
- Teams of up to 5 who want free private repos with 50 build minutes and 1 GB LFS a month
- Jira-centric teams that want commits, branches and pull requests linked to issues natively
- Growing teams paying $3.65 per user/month for Standard or $7.25 for Premium's merge checks and IP allowlisting
Skip Bitbucket if
- Your team is larger than 5 and you want to stay free
- Your CI is heavy: 50 free minutes is small, extra 1,000 minutes cost $10/month
- You are not using Jira — much of Bitbucket's value is the Atlassian integration
Choose GitHub if
- Anyone who needs private repositories at no cost — the free plan gives unlimited ones
- Open-source projects: Actions minutes and package storage are free for public repos
- Small teams: Team is $4/user/month
Skip GitHub if
- You run heavy CI — the free plan includes 2,000 Actions minutes a month on private repos
- You need SAML SSO or an audit log API; those are Enterprise at $21/user/month
- You store large packages: free gives 500MB, Team 2GB
Evidence and freshness
Where a claim on this page comes from a vendor page, it is linked here.
Bitbucket: pros & cons
- Deep Jira integration that competitors cannot match
- Built-in Pipelines for CI
- Free tier for small teams
- Smaller ecosystem and community than GitHub
- Less appealing if you do not use Jira
- Pipelines minutes run out quickly on the free plan
GitHub: pros & cons
- World Standard: Acts as a digital resume for developers; this is where the industry lives.
- Open Source Power: Provides access to millions of ready-made libraries and codebases.
- GitHub Copilot: The most effective AI pair programmer support in history.
- Security: Automatically detects vulnerabilities and dependency errors in your code.
- Learning Curve: Requires knowledge of Git concepts like merging, rebasing, and conflicts.
- Enterprise Pricing: Advanced security and management features can be expensive for firms.
- Storage Limits: Not ideal for storing gigabytes of large binary files.
Our verdict on Bitbucket
Choose it for the Jira link, not on its own merits. Outside the Atlassian stack the case is much weaker.
Our verdict on GitHub
The de-facto standard for modern software development; the true home of code.
Published plans, side by side
Every figure below was read from the vendor's own pricing page and is shown with the sentence it came from. Where a vendor publishes no plan prices, we say so rather than guess.
Bitbucket
- Standard$3.65/user/mo
Standard $3.65 per user/month; Premium $7.25 per user/month with merge checks, IP allowlisting, required 2SV
- Premium$7.25/user/mo
Standard $3.65 per user/month; Premium $7.25 per user/month with merge checks, IP allowlisting, required 2SV
GitHub
- Free$0/mo
Free $0 with unlimited private repositories, 2,000 Actions minutes/month and 500MB package storage
- Team$4/user/mo
Team $4/user/month with 3,000 Actions minutes and 2GB storage
- Enterprise$21/user/mo
Enterprise $21/user/month with 50,000 Actions minutes, 50GB storage, SAML SSO and audit log API
Bitbucket vs GitHub: common questions
- Does Bitbucket or GitHub have a free plan?
- Both do: Bitbucket has a free tier with limits, and GitHub has a free tier with limits.
- Which is cheaper once you start paying, Bitbucket or GitHub?
- Bitbucket has the cheaper first paid step: Standard at $3.65/user/mo, against Team at $4/user/mo for GitHub. Both figures come from the vendors' own pricing pages.
- What is the difference between Bitbucket and GitHub?
- On the criteria we check, only GitHub has mobile app; both offer public api and sso (saml). The table above lists every criterion side by side.