The best Git hosting services, tested and ranked

GitHub came first of six with a perfect 5 out of 5, scoring 5 on every part. We had our first working result in 13 minutes, the fastest in the test, 19 of 20 CI and code review checks passed and the pipeline ran in 2.2 minutes. The docs passed all 10 of our checks, all 5 set-up examples worked, and we passed all 5 export checks with no manual migration, so you aren't locked in. We hit no usage limits. Our full GitHub review has the details.

GitHub hosts Git repositories and adds pull requests, issues, project boards, Actions for CI/CD, packages, Pages and security scanning. It had about 150 million users in May 2025, so most open-source projects and many employers already use it. The free plan includes unlimited private repositories and 2,000 Actions minutes. Copilot, its AI coding assistant, is sold as an add-on and comes with the Enterprise plan.

The risks sit outside what our test measured. GitHub's terms let it use content to improve AI features unless you opt out in settings, it can suspend accounts with or without notice, and it reported several outages in early 2026. On G2 it has 4.7 out of 5 from 2,301 reviews, but only 1.7 out of 5 on Trustpilot from 283 (both checked November 2026), mostly over suspensions and slow support.

Bitbucket came second with 4.5 out of 5. It was the only host to pass all 20 of our CI and code review checks, and its pipeline was the quickest at 1.8 minutes, which earned it a full 5 for performance. It took 25 minutes to reach a first working pipeline, the docs passed 9 of 10 checks, and we exported everything with no manual migration. Read our Bitbucket review.

Bitbucket is Atlassian's Git host. It adds pull requests, merge checks and Pipelines for CI/CD, and its real strength is how closely it links code to Jira work items. Standard is $3.65 per user a month, the lowest paid seat here, and Premium at $8 adds enforced merge checks, IP allowlisting and required two-step sign-in.

The free plan is tight on CI. It covers up to 5 users but only 50 build minutes, and we hit 1 usage limit in two weeks. Extra minutes cost $10 a month for 1,000. App passwords are being replaced by API tokens in 2026, which may break older scripts. It has 4.4 out of 5 on G2 from 992 reviews (checked November 2026).

GitLab came third, also with 4.5 out of 5. It reached a first working pipeline in 27 minutes, passed 19 of 20 CI and code review checks and ran the pipeline in 4.5 minutes. The docs passed 9 of 10 checks and we exported everything with no manual migration. Reliability was its best part at a full 5. Our GitLab review has the full results.

GitLab puts Git hosting, merge requests, CI/CD, security scanning and planning in one application. You can use it as a hosted service or run the self-managed edition on your own servers. Basic static security scanning (SAST) is included even on the free plan, and its Duo Agent Platform for AI has been generally available since January 2026, billed in credits.

Cost and limits are the catch. The free plan caps private top-level groups at 5 users and 400 compute minutes, and we hit 1 usage limit in two weeks. Premium is $29 per user a month, billed yearly only, and Ultimate has no public price. GitLab lists SOC 2 Type 2 and ISO 27001. It has 4.5 out of 5 on G2 from 880 reviews (checked November 2026).

Azure DevOps came fourth with 4 out of 5. It passed 19 of 20 CI and code review checks and ran the pipeline in 4.4 minutes, and value for money scored 4.5. But it took 38 minutes to get going, only 4 of 5 set-up examples worked, we hit 2 usage limits, and leaving needed 1 manual migration. Our Azure DevOps review explains more.

Azure DevOps is Microsoft's suite for teams: Boards for tracking work, Repos for Git, Pipelines for CI/CD, Artifacts for packages and Test Plans for testing. You choose from eight data locations and get a long list of certifications, including SOC 2 Type 2, ISO 27001 and HIPAA. There is also an on-premises version, Azure DevOps Server.

The first 5 Basic users are free, with unlimited Stakeholders and one free hosted parallel job with 1,800 minutes a month. After that, Basic is $6 per user a month, and adding Test Plans makes it $52 per user a month. There's no free trial of paid features. It has 4.2 out of 5 on G2 from 192 reviews (checked November 2026).

Gitea came fifth with 3 out of 5, scoring 3 on every part. It asked a lot of us: 57 minutes to a first working result, 14 of 20 CI and code review checks passed and a 13.6-minute pipeline. The docs passed 7 of 10 checks, we hit 4 usage limits, and leaving needed 2 manual migrations. Read our Gitea review.

Gitea is an open-source Git service you run on your own server, with pull requests, issues, packages and Gitea Actions for CI. It began in 2016 as a fork of Gogs, is light enough for a small server, and is free under the MIT license with unlimited users and repositories. Your code and data stay on your own machines.

If you want help, Enterprise adds SAML single sign-on, audit logs, autoscaling runners and SLA support, with a 30-day trial. Its page lists $9.50 and $19 per user a month without saying which applies to which billing, and it needs a one-year commitment. Gitea Cloud, a managed version, has no listed price.

Codeberg came last with 2 out of 5, scoring 2 on every part. It took 91 minutes to reach a first working result, passed only 10 of 20 CI and code review checks and took 19.5 minutes to run the pipeline. The docs passed 5 of 10 checks, we hit 6 usage limits in two weeks, and leaving needed 3 manual migrations. Our Codeberg review has more.

Codeberg isn't trying to be GitHub. It is a free host for open-source projects, run by a non-profit in Berlin, funded by donations and built on Forgejo. It includes Pages for static sites, Woodpecker CI (on request) and a Weblate translation service. There are no paid tiers, and it doesn't offer commercial private hosting.

In July 2026 its members voted to ban mostly AI-generated repositories and adopted a policy that hosted code won't be used to train AI models; crypto projects are no longer allowed. It is volunteer-run with no uptime guarantee.