GitHub is a Developer tools tool: Code hosting, CI/CD and AI coding platform owned by Microsoft.

How much does GitHub cost?

GitHub uses a Freemium model; paid plans start at $4 per month.

What are the best alternatives to GitHub?

Community-listed alternatives to GitHub include Cursor, Postman, Apidog, Exa.

Does GitHub have a free trial?

Yes, GitHub offers a 30-day free trial.

What does GitHub integrate with?

GitHub integrates with Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Linear, Vercel, Sentry and more.

Which platforms does GitHub support?

GitHub is available on web, macos, windows, ios, android.

GitHub

Code hosting, CI/CD and AI coding platform owned by Microsoft

Freemium · $4Developer tools

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GitHub is a developer tools tool for Developers and Small businesses, offered as freemium ($4/mo). Based in United States, founded in 2008. Popular alternatives include Cursor, Postman, Apidog.

About GitHub

GitHub is the largest platform for hosting Git repositories and collaborating on code. It was founded in 2008 in San Francisco by Chris Wanstrath, PJ Hyett, Tom Preston-Werner and Scott Chacon, and Microsoft bought it in 2018 for $7.5 billion. GitHub's Octoverse 2025 report counts more than 180 million developers and 630 million repositories. The core job is version control with pull requests and code review.

Around repositories GitHub adds Issues and Projects for planning, Actions for CI/CD with hosted runners, Codespaces for cloud dev environments and security tooling such as Dependabot, code scanning and secret scanning. Copilot provides AI code completion, chat and a coding agent that works from issues to pull requests. The Free plan includes unlimited public and private repositories with Actions minutes and Packages storage; Team and Enterprise add more minutes, protected branches, SAML SSO, audit logs and data residency. Copilot is billed separately, and GitHub Secret Protection and Code Security are paid add-ons for private code.

GitHub fits almost every software team. Costs climb with Actions minutes, Codespaces hours, Copilot usage and security add-ons. Its planning tools are lighter than Jira or Linear, which many teams keep alongside it, and GitLab is the main rival for a single DevSecOps app with strong self-managed options.

In August 2025 CEO Thomas Dohmke stepped down and GitHub moved into Microsoft's CoreAI group; Copilot now bills in AI credits. The pricing page lists Team and Enterprise prices for the first 12 months, so check renewal terms.

Key features of GitHub

Unlimited public and private Git repositories with pull request reviews
GitHub Actions CI/CD with hosted Linux, Windows and macOS runners
Issues, Projects boards and roadmaps for planning work
Copilot code completion, chat and an autonomous coding agent
Codespaces cloud development environments billed per hour
Dependabot, code scanning and secret scanning for supply chain security
GitHub Packages registry and GitHub Pages static hosting
SAML SSO, audit logs and regional data residency on Enterprise

Pros and cons

Pros

Industry standard with the largest developer community
Generous free plan including private repos and CI minutes
Huge marketplace of Actions and integrations
Copilot is tightly built into the editor and pull requests
Team plan is inexpensive at $4 per user

Cons

Actions, Codespaces and Copilot usage can push costs up
Advanced security features are paid add-ons
Project planning is lighter than Jira or Linear
Self-hosted GitHub Enterprise Server is expensive
Renewal pricing after the first 12 months is not spelled out on the page

GitHub pricing

GitHub uses a freemium model. A 30-day free trial is available.

Plan	Price	Includes
Free	$0	Unlimited repos; 2,000 Actions min/mo, 500MB Packages
Team	$4 / user/mo	3,000 Actions min/mo, 2GB Packages, protected branches
Enterprise	$21 / user/mo	From; 50,000 Actions min, SAML SSO, data residency
Copilot Pro	$10 / mo	Individual AI coding; Pro+ $39, Max $100 per month

Source: github.com · checked on Oct 20, 2026

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How GitHub compares in Developer tools

Rank by votes: #2 / 101
Starting price: $4
Free alternatives: 23

GitHub ranks #2 of 101 developer tools tools by community votes and is priced below most tools in the category.

Common use cases

1Hosting source code and reviewing changes through pull requests
2Running CI/CD pipelines and deployments with Actions
3Maintaining open-source projects with community contributions
4Using Copilot to write, review and refactor code
5Scanning dependencies and secrets for vulnerabilities
6Spinning up preconfigured cloud dev environments for onboarding

Best for

Software teams of any size that want hosted Git, CI/CD, security scanning and AI coding help in one platform.

Not ideal for

Teams that need deep issue tracking or a single self-managed DevSecOps suite (Jira, GitLab).

Integrations

Slack
Microsoft Teams
Jira
Linear
Vercel
Sentry
Visual Studio Code
Azure

Our take

GitHub is the default choice for hosting code and running CI, and the Free and Team plans cover most small teams. Budget carefully for Actions, Copilot and security add-ons as usage grows, and pair it with a dedicated tracker if planning is complex.

FAQ

What is GitHub?: GitHub is a Developer tools tool: Code hosting, CI/CD and AI coding platform owned by Microsoft.
How much does GitHub cost?: GitHub uses a Freemium model; paid plans start at $4 per month.
What are the best alternatives to GitHub?: Community-listed alternatives to GitHub include Cursor, Postman, Apidog, Exa.
Does GitHub have a free trial?: Yes, GitHub offers a 30-day free trial.
What does GitHub integrate with?: GitHub integrates with Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Linear, Vercel, Sentry and more.
Which platforms does GitHub support?: GitHub is available on web, macos, windows, ios, android.
Who is GitHub for?: Software teams of any size that want hosted Git, CI/CD, security scanning and AI coding help in one platform.

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