Announcing the Top Rated Version Control Software for 2019

We are excited to announce the Top Rated Version Control Software for 2019! Top Rated awards showcase today’s top-of-the-line products in Version Control Software based solely on user feedback and satisfaction scores. These awards make the voice of the market the primary decider into the industry’s best products.

Top Rated awards are the most trusted in the industry because they are never influenced by analyst opinion, the vendor’s size, popularity, or status as a TrustRadius customer. 

Here are the winners:

Git

An industry standard, Git is a free and open-source version control system. Git is designed for fast, simple branching and merging. It passively backs up projects by requiring users to clone each repository they work on. Users can add multiple changes into one “staging area” for review before actually submitting changes. Git has a large developer community and many free resources. Users from midsize companies make up a small majority (39%) of Git users on TrustRadius. Reviewers value Git’s reliability, efficient branching and merging, and abundance of experienced developers.

“Most developers today are not only familiar with Git, but have used it everywhere they’ve worked…I would recommend it to anyone, whether it’s an individual working on their own project, a small start-up company, or a huge organization with thousands of developers.”

–Gabriel Samaroo | Senior Software Engineer | Computer Software Company

GitHub

GitHub is a software development and code-sharing platform built on Git. It extends Git’s feature set with social networking, project management, and automation tools. Project managers can use GitHub to form teams, moderate discussions, and assign tasks. Documentation tools help create wikis and project websites. The platform maintains a registry of public and private software packages, allowing users to easily include other projects in their own. A small majority (36%) of GitHub users on TrustRadius are from small businesses. Its collaboration features, extensions and integrations, and code review tools make GitHub popular with reviewers.

“GitHub code reviews prevented many instances where a bug would have been introduced to a production environment. It makes the code review process easy!”

–Lizzy Randall | Siebel & Siebel OpenUI Programmer | Religious Non-Profit Institution

Bitbucket

Bitbucket is a software development and project management platform built on Git. Beyond core Git functionality, it includes access control and continuous delivery features. Teams can use Bitbucket to organize Git repositories into projects. Integrations with Trello and Jira help users  manage tasks, bugs, and milestones. The software can be deployed on-site or hosted in the cloud. People from small and midsize companies make up almost equal portions (34% and 35% respectively) of Bitbucket users on TrustRadius. Reviewers value Bitbucket’s code review features, tight JIRA integration, and build automation capability.

“[We] leverage the pipelines feature to provide automated deployments and testing where possible to maximize our CICD process for our projects…For most standard code management and deployment scenarios, Bitbucket does a fabulous job. You can easily branch [your] code, review it, merge it, and deploy it with little manual intervention once things are set up.”

–Sean Patterson | Software Development Director | Internet Company

Congratulations to the winners of the Top Rated Version Control Software Award!

What is Version Control Software?

Version control software helps manage changes to files over time. Each time someone changes a version-controlled file, these tools track the changes made, the person submitting the changes, and a description of the changes. If necessary, files can be reverted to previous versions.

Software developers are the primary users of version control tools, using them to test new features, track down bugs, and coordinate with other developers. As a result, most version control products include code management features. Branching tools help isolate groups of changes, and merging tools integrate branches. Conflict resolution features highlight areas where conflicting changes have been made to the same file. Recently, some version control vendors have adopted the software-as-a-service (SaaS) model, offering cloud-based storage, extra collaborative tools, and team management options.

Before buying version control software, consider who will be expected to use it. Developers may be comfortable using only console commands, but non-developers might value a full-featured GUI. If you’re replacing an existing version control system, evaluate the UX differences between the old software and the new software. These differences may impact existing tools and processes.

Top Rated Criteria

Products included in the 2019 Top Rated Version Control Software list must have been in the top tier of their category TrustMap as of July 1st, 2019. To qualify for the Version Control Software Top Rated Award, products must have at least 10 reviews written within the past year, a TRScore of at least 7.5 out of 10, and must receive at least 1.5% of the traffic in their category.  Every reviewer is verified and every review is vetted before publication. Products are plotted on the TrustMap based on end-user data, including users’ likelihood to recommend scores as well as buyer research patterns. To learn more about TrustMaps and Top Rated methodology, check out this page.