Dev workflow and DevOps · Comparison
Git vs GitHub
The two names are often used as if they meant the same thing. Git is the program that records a project's history on your machine; GitHub is a website that hosts Git repositories and adds collaboration on top.
2 options · 8 questions side by side · updated
| Compare | Git | GitHub |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A version control program | A hosting and collaboration service |
| Where it runs | On your computer, even offline | In the cloud, or on your servers with Enterprise Server |
| Main job | Record, branch and merge history | Share repos, review code, run CI, track issues |
| Works without the other | Yes, alone or with GitLab or Bitbucket | No, every GitHub repository is a Git repository |
| Interface | Command line, editors and desktop apps | Website, GitHub Desktop and the gh CLI |
| Who makes it | Open-source project started by Linus Torvalds | GitHub, owned by Microsoft |
| Cost | Free (GPL 2.0) | Free plan; Team and Enterprise per user |
| Alternatives | Mercurial, Subversion (now rare) | GitLab, Bitbucket, Codeberg |
How to choose between Git and GitHub
- Use Git for any code project; it is the standard way to track changes.
- Pick GitHub when you want hosting, pull request reviews and CI in one place; GitLab and Bitbucket are the main alternatives.
- Moving hosts is straightforward for the code and its history, because every clone holds all of it; issues and pull requests take more work to move.
The options
- GitThe standard tool for tracking changes to code. It saves snapshots of a project so you can see who changed what, undo mistakes and work on several things at once.
- GitHubThe most widely used website for hosting Git repositories, where people share code, review each other's changes, track issues and automate builds.
More comparisons
- npm vs pnpm vs Yarn vs BunAll four install packages from the same npm registry and read the same package.json. They differ in speed, disk use, strictness and what else comes bundled with them.
- Docker vs KubernetesThey are partners more than rivals. Docker packages an app into a container and runs it; Kubernetes runs many containers across a fleet of machines and keeps them healthy.
- ESLint vs PrettierThey answer different questions. ESLint asks whether code is likely to be wrong; Prettier decides how it should look. Most JavaScript projects run both.
- Vercel vs Netlify vs Cloudflare PagesAll three build your site from Git, serve it from a global CDN and give every branch a preview link. They differ in which frameworks they favour, how they bill, and what sits around the hosting.
- Serverless vs VPS vs shared hostingThree very different ways to run the server side of a site. They trade off how much you manage, how costs behave as traffic grows, and what kinds of software you can run.
- AWS vs Google Cloud vs AzureThe three big clouds offer similar building blocks under different names. The choice usually comes down to your team's experience, the ecosystem you already use and a few standout services.
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