Unlimited free private repos | GitHub, BitBucket and GitLab
Tags: gitlab, github, bitbucket, repository
Published: 2019-01-08 08:03:44

---
title: Unlimited free private repos | GitHub, BitBucket and GitLab
published: true
description: 
tags: gitlab, github, bitbucket, repository
cover_image: https://thepracticaldev.s3.amazonaws.com/i/qiyy4emmubaecspqzhcm.png
---

_**NOTE:** This is not a sponsored blog post 😝, but I would appreciate if you can [buy me a coffee](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mittalyashu)_

As you might hear that GitHub had recently changed their [pricing model](https://www.github.com/pricing/), which include an unlimited private repository for free.

I know how do you feel like...

![Man dancing](https://media.giphy.com/media/F9hQLAVhWnL56/giphy.gif)

It was the same experience for me, but hang on there's a catch you only get 3 contributors in private repository for free. 😂

Anyway, this article is not about GitHub pricing, instead, it is about the business itself, how does it impact other competitors _(GitLab, BitBucket and many more)_.

## GitHub

GitHub is already a leading player in open source world, with 20 million repositories and still counting. For the first time, developers can use GitHub for their private projects with up to three collaborators per repository for free. Many developers want to use private repos to work on a side project or try something out in private before releasing it publicly encouraging more and more developer to participate in open source work.

According to their latest blog, it is clear that Microsoft's end goal is to re-direct the GitHub users to use their Azure services.

Follow me on GitHub: [mittalyashu](http://github.com/mittalyashu/)

## GitLab

Even thought GitLab is from the same background but still it has a unique way of doing work remotely and opens sourcing the knowledge and guidelines in the form of handbook they follow to run the company.

Even though GitLab.com recently surpassed 10 million repository and organizations like Drupal, CMake, GNOME, Xorg, Debian are using self-hosted version of GitLab.

When people hear the buzz of GitHub providing unlimited private repository in a free plan they were still not convinced as GitLab still wins by providing CI and deployment feature for free.

Even at [CodeCarrot](https://www.codecarrot.net/) we use GitLab to build products for our clients.

### BitBucket

BitBucket is popular for providing unlimited private repository and pipelines feature for free. Comparing with GitLab, I would say GitLab still wins as BitBucket only provide 50 mins/mo of build minutes whereas GitLab provides 2,000 mins/mo on shared runners.

If you into self-hosting you might find better deal with one time payment.

I am still unaware of the number of repository BitBucket.org store.

What do you say about it? Which one do you prefer to use GitHub, BitBucket or GitLab?

### Reference

* [GitHub blog](https://blog.github.com/2019-01-07-new-year-new-github/)
* [GitLab blog](https://about.gitlab.com/2019/01/07/github-offering-free-private-repos-for-up-to-three-collaborators/)
* [Tweet by Simon Chopin](https://twitter.com/laarmen/status/1082535505659609088)
* [GitHub pricing](https://www.github.com/pricing/)
* [GitLab pricing](https://about.gitlab.com/pricing/)
* [BitBucket pricing](https://bitbucket.org/product/pricing/)

Found this article interesting? Consider buying a coffee for me.
[![Buy Me A Coffee Button](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/assets/img/custom_images/orange_img.png)](https://www.buymeacoffee.com/mittalyashu)