Apache Subversion vs. GitHub

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Apache Subversion
Score 5.4 out of 10
N/A
Apache Subversion is a version control option that is free to download and open source under the Apache 2.0 license.N/A
GitHub
Score 9.0 out of 10
N/A
GitHub is a platform that hosts public and private code and provides software development and collaboration tools. Features include version control, issue tracking, code review, team management, syntax highlighting, etc. Personal plans ($0-50), Organizational plans ($0-200), and Enterprise plans are available.
$4
per month per user
Pricing
Apache SubversionGitHub
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
Team
$40
per year per user
Enterprise
$210
per year per user
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Apache SubversionGitHub
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Apache SubversionGitHub
Considered Both Products
Apache Subversion
Chose Apache Subversion
After Microsoft Visual SourceSafe was discontinued, we chose Subversion and it was a great choice. We were able to migrate to Apache Subversion very quickly and easily and benefited immediately from its non-locking workflow (SourceSafe required users to "lock" the file when …
Chose Apache Subversion
Git is a newer version control system compared to that of svn. I think that svn is more stable, easy to learn/use, and not-so-complex as Git. Also, svn has very good client applications which provide extremely user-friendly user interfaces. Apache Subversion is also open source …
Chose Apache Subversion
Git is better than Subversion in every aspect except that is not free . But since our company has bought Git licenses and I would not go back to using Subversion .
GitHub
Chose GitHub
Before switching to GitHub we used Apache Subversion, but found GitHub was better in virtually every way. When we used subversion in 2011 (albeit things might have changed by now) creating and working on separate branches was tedious. We had to create a bunch of different …
Chose GitHub
GitHub compared to GitLab and Bitbucket seems to have an easier and nice to use interface. This is mainly due to the fact that GitHub is the No1 choice for most of the Open Source projects. Developers out there are already famaliar to it's UX/UI and use it every day.

Another …
Chose GitHub
While SVN comes with basic functionalities, TFS is a superior tool and often unused to its potential in most cases. GitHub brings that equilibrium. It perfectly works like a versioning tool and can also be used to create CICD deployment pipelines.
Chose GitHub
The branches in Perforce and SVN are replicas instead of links/trees like in Github. Those two tools do not have rich APIs like that of GitHub. Subversion and Perforce do not support local repositories, which might hamper the development, if developer is coding and the tools …
Chose GitHub
We switched from Subversion to GitHub for two reasons. GitHub has better support built into our tools. Subversion was located on-premise and required us to maintain the infrastructure. GitHub is much easier to access from remote locations and we don't need to manage our own …
Chose GitHub
Others not listed above, CVS, Microsoft SourceSafe. GitHub offers the most comprehensive offering, including Code Review, Open API, Wiki (just to mention a few) in a single package. GitHub is likely the most used repository in the world. It's fast, even with high user volume. …
Chose GitHub
GitHub has better branching features than Subversion. The code review process in GitHub alone makes it worthwhile, whereas we could have branches in Subversion, it was missing the ability to comment and review other people's code before checkin. GitHub has more control around …
Chose GitHub
Github and git, in general, is much better than SVN or Subversion for version tracking and code collaboration. It takes the best parts of SVN and fixes a lot of what was broken with it. Github's own UI has evolved really well over time and they have taken developer productivity …
Chose GitHub
With the other version control software I've used, I've had a lot more hassles than GitHub. I have limited experience with SourceSafe but have used SVN a bit. I had a bit older version of SVN when I used it but you had to add files to SVN specifically for it to be committed. As …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Apache SubversionGitHub
Version Control Software Features
Comparison of Version Control Software Features features of Product A and Product B
Apache Subversion
-
Ratings
GitHub
5.8
1 Ratings
22% below category average
Branching and Merging00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Version History00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Version Control Collaboration Tools00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Pull Requests00 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Code Review Tools00 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Project Access Control00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
Automated Testing Integration00 Ratings3.01 Ratings
Issue Tracking Integration00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Branch Protection00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Apache SubversionGitHub
Small Businesses
Git
Git
Score 10.0 out of 10
Git
Git
Score 10.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Git
Git
Score 10.0 out of 10
Git
Git
Score 10.0 out of 10
Enterprises
Perforce Helix Core
Perforce Helix Core
Score 6.3 out of 10
Perforce Helix Core
Perforce Helix Core
Score 6.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Apache SubversionGitHub
Likelihood to Recommend
6.6
(10 ratings)
6.8
(122 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
3.1
(2 ratings)
10.0
(1 ratings)
Usability
-
(0 ratings)
9.0
(1 ratings)
Support Rating
-
(0 ratings)
8.8
(26 ratings)
User Testimonials
Apache SubversionGitHub
Likelihood to Recommend
Apache
It's a relatively simple version control system so it works great for an individual or small team (less than 10 people). But if you have a medium to large team, especially one with members distributed over a large geographic area, or one where individuals need to be able to work "offline" without access to a central server, Apache Subversion will likely not be the best choice.
Also, if you're maintaining an open-source project where outside people will be interacting with your code repository, git is probably a better choice because it's becoming the de-facto standard these days and what most developers are familiar with.
Read full review
GitHub
GitHub is well suited for software development, GitHub is particularly well suited for software development projects, where teams need to collaborate on code, track changes, and review code changes. Also for open-source projects, GitHub is an ideal platform for open-source projects, where teams of developers from all over the world can collaborate on code and contribute to projects. For documentation, GitHub provides a platform for creating and sharing documentation, making it an ideal solution for teams that need to create and maintain documentation. On small and medium-sized teams GitHub is well suited as those teams that need to collaborate on software projects and track changes to their code.
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Pros
Apache
  • Revision control done properly - you have end to end visibility of all changes in the project.
  • Conflict resolution - visually highlighting the differences helps to track down the problem.
  • Being open source and very popular.
  • We are using SVN hosted in our network - it is very stable, we had almost zero downtime in 4 years.
  • Rollbacks are made simple and easy to use.
Read full review
GitHub
  • As a repository it's great. It houses almost all the open-source applications/code that anyone can fork and play with. A huge collection of sample codes available with problem statements across different domains make Github a one-stop location.
  • I use GitHub with Windows and the Git Bash is superb. It [is] a powerful alternative to the Command Prompt and Powershell. Allows me to run shell scripts and UNIX commands inside the terminal [on] a Windows PC.
  • GitHub integration with almost all cloud development/deployment platforms is amazing. Deploying a new application in Azure is really smooth. Just link the GitHub repositories and it's good to go. From automatic build to deployment everything is just amazing.
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Cons
Apache
  • Distributed development - I've never worked in an environment where distributed development (developers widely scattered geographically) was a factor, but that's why git exists.
  • Merging - Merging of code from one branch to another can be painful, especially if it's not done frequently. (On the other hand, doing merges is one of the reasons I get a nice salary, so I can't complain too much!)
  • Acceptance - Let's face it, git is what "all the cool kids are using." If you've got a bunch of developers fresh out of school, they'll probably know git and not Subversion.
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GitHub
  • When browsing history of a file, GitHub could make it easier to see the file after a particular commit instead of just being able to quickly view the commit. I'd like to be able to see the commit or the file itself in one click.
  • I would like to be able to view commits by user.
  • I would love to be able to traverse code on GitHub (go to definition, etc) - the good news here is that they are working on these features!
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Likelihood to Renew
Apache
While there are interesting alternatives, such a GIT, Subversion has been a breath of fresh air compared to its predecessors like CVS or Microsoft Source Safe (now called Team Foundation Server). Its ease of use and high adoption rate is going to keep me using this product for years to come.
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GitHub
GitHub's ease of use and continued investment into the Developer Experience have made it the de facto tool for our engineers to manage software changes. With new features that continue to come out, we have been able to consolidate several other SaaS solutions and reduce the number of tools required for each engineer to perform their job responsibilities.
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Usability
Apache
No answers on this topic
GitHub
- Easy to use compared to other version control software. UI interface makes it easy to use, as well as protects against making a major mistake by deleting code, etc. - UI looks modern. - Support for multiple platforms, which I assume will only get better with time. - Student benefits are awesome! - The size limitations on their repositories make sense to me. Not too crazy but realistic from a business perspective.
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Support Rating
Apache
No answers on this topic
GitHub
It's a testament to how easy it is to use GitHub and how many others use it that you can pretty much find the answer to any problem you have by searching online. Consequently, I've never needed to use their support. It's an incredibly easy tool to set up initially, so it won't require much onboarding expertise to get started.
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Alternatives Considered
Apache
Git has become the new standard of version control, with its support for distributed design. As a tool to manage and control versions, Subversion does it well, but Git is the future.
Read full review
GitHub
At the time to evaluation - Bitbucket was very tightly integrated into Atlassian’s suite of tools. For an organization that is starting out and looking to spend limited funds effectively - the cost/benefit of using that suite of tools usually doesn’t make sense. Granted things may have changed since then (its been over 5 years) - but at the time GitHub was effective - and all prospective engineers knew about it and already had accounts. This made it very easy to add to the organization and not lose time in training, etc. Developers seem to really love GitHub above most other tools out there - so that plays into the decision making as well.
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Return on Investment
Apache
  • Subversion helps us feel secure in maintaining access to all of our product code, both current and historical.
  • Being free and open source makes it an even better "investment".
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GitHub
  • Github has increased our rate of code development, increasing our publishing rate. This helps bring attention to the research we are doing and ultimately brings in more funding for further research.
  • Because GitHub makes my team more efficient, we are able to put more hours into code development / report writing rather than agonizing over different versions of code created without version control software.
  • We use a paid version of GitHub, because we work through private repositories, but the increase in productivity, efficiency, and research progress is definitely worth the price.
Read full review
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