Gogs

Here's a rundown of the most widely used code hosting platforms, based on what developers and teams actually adopt in practice:

1. GitHub

The de facto standard for most developers, especially in open source. Owned by Microsoft.

• Why people use it: Massive community, best-in-class discoverability, huge ecosystem of integrations (Actions for CI/CD, Copilot for AI coding, Packages, Codespaces for cloud dev environments).
• Best for: Open source projects, startups, and companies that want the largest talent pool familiar with the tooling.
• Pricing: Free for public/private repos with generous limits; paid tiers add advanced security, more Actions minutes, etc.

2. GitLab

A strong all-in-one DevOps platform that many enterprises choose for its self-hosting flexibility.

• Why people use it: Built-in CI/CD that's considered more mature out-of-the-box than GitHub's, plus issue tracking, container registry, and security scanning all in one product.
• Best for: Companies wanting a single platform covering the full software lifecycle, or those needing on-premises/self-managed instances for compliance reasons.
• Pricing: Free tier is robust; Premium/Ultimate tiers target enterprise needs.

3. Bitbucket (Atlassian)

Popular mainly because of its tight integration with Jira and Trello.

• Why people use it: If your team already lives in the Atlassian ecosystem (Jira for tickets, Confluence for docs), Bitbucket fits naturally.
• Best for: Teams already invested in Atlassian tools.
• Pricing: Free for small teams; scales with user count.

4. SourceForge

More legacy now, but still hosts many older open-source projects.

• Why people use it: Historical significance; some long-standing projects still live here.
• Best for: Not typically a first choice for new projects today—mostly relevant if maintaining legacy software.

5. Self-hosted alternatives

• Gitea / Forgejo – Lightweight, easy to self-host, popular with individuals and small teams wanting full control without GitLab's overhead.
• Gogs – Similar lightweight self-hosted option, though Gitea (a fork) has surpassed it in popularity.

6. Azure DevOps (Microsoft)

• Why people use it: Enterprises already using Microsoft's stack (Azure,.NET) often use it for repos plus pipelines, boards, and artifacts in one suite.
• Best for: Enterprise.NET/Azure shops.

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Bottom line recommendation

• Default choice for most people: GitHub — it's where the community is, the tooling is excellent, and hiring/collaboration is easiest since most developers already have accounts.
• If you want an integrated DevOps suite or self-hosting: GitLab.
• If your org uses Jira: Bitbucket.
• If you want a free, lightweight self-hosted option: Gitea/Forgejo.

For the vast majority of individuals, teams, and open-source projects, GitHub remains the top pick simply because of network effects—it's where collaborators, contributors, and recruiters look first.

Here are the best code hosting platforms people actually use, ranked by popularity and practical strengths.

1. GitHub — The Industry Standard

Best for: Open source, personal projects, enterprise teams, portfolio building
Why people use it:

• Largest developer community and most public repositories
• Excellent code review tools, Actions (CI/CD), Copilot integration
• Free for unlimited private repos (small teams)
• Essential for contributing to open source

Downsides:

• Advanced features (e.g., branch protection) need paid plans for private repos
• Limited storage on free tier

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2. GitLab — Best Built-in CI/CD

Best for: DevOps-heavy teams, self-hosted options
Why people use it:

• Mature, integrated CI/CD in the same platform
• Great for “DevOps in one place” (repo, issues, pipelines, registry)
• Generous free tier with unlimited private repos
• Self-hosted Community Edition is free forever

Downsides:

• Less developer community than GitHub
• Heavier, can feel slower

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3. Bitbucket — Best for Jira Users

Best for: Teams already using Atlassian (Jira, Confluence, Trello)
Why people use it:

• Native integration with Jira and Confluence
• Free private repos for up to 5 users
• Good built-in pipelines and pull request workflows
• Supports Mercurial (legacy) in addition to Git

Downsides:

• Smaller community
• Free tier limits number of users

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4. Azure Repos — Best for Microsoft Stack

Best for: Teams using Azure DevOps / Visual Studio
Why people use it:

• Unlimited private repos free (with Microsoft account)
• Seamless integration with Azure Pipelines, Boards, and VS Code
• Excellent for enterprise with Microsoft licensing

Downsides:

• Less intuitive for non-Microsoft users
• Smaller third-party integration ecosystem

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5. SourceForge — Legacy but still alive

Best for: Hosting older open-source projects, downloads, and mirroring
Why people use it:

• Decades of Java, C, C++ projects
• Provides project web hosting, file downloads, and metrics
• No longer the default, but still used for many mature tools

Downsides:

• Outdated interface
• Not a modern developer experience

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6. Self-hosted / Lightweight options (for niche use)

• Gitea — Fast, lightweight, self-hosted. Great for small teams or personal servers.
• Gogs — Even lighter than Gitea, simple setup.
• GitBucket — Java-based self-hosted Git with a GitHub-like UI.

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Final verdict

• Go with GitHub if you want the biggest ecosystem, open source visibility, and job-relevant portfolio.
• Go with GitLab if you want integrated CI/CD and don’t want to pay for external build servers.
• Go with Bitbucket / Azure if you’re locked into Atlassian or Microsoft tools.
• Go with Gitea if you want full control on your own server.

Most people use GitHub + GitLab together: one for open source/portfolio, one for personal or work self-hosted DevOps.