Bitbucket vs. Stash for small developer group

[MeikS]

We're currently evaluating git integration for our JIRA instance (moved that recently from a hosted environment to our own server) and I'm a bit confused whether chosing Bitbucket or Stash to host and manage our code with git.

I already know that Bitbucket has more features than Stash because it's been there for a longer time.

We want to be able to...
- manage our code via git
- be able to use branches
- integrate git with JIRA so that we can connect commits with issues

Which product should we choose? What are the biggest advantages of one of them over the other one?

[AmberF · Accepted solution]

Hey Meik,

Thanks for reaching out!

The decision to go with Bitbucket or Stash really depends on your preferences and needs around a few key points:

• Locally hosted vs. Cloud hosted: Stash is installed in-house giving you the ability to control OS, database, etc.. This distinction also allows users to integrate with internal LDAP systems and create custom layers of security around their source. Bitbucket, on the other hand, is hosted by us in the cloud. This takes away the need to manage your server administration or purchase any extra hardware
  
• Workflow Control: Although Bitbucket and Stash provide similar features around workflow and collaboration, Stash takes it to an extra level with its secure pull request functionality. This includes the ability to enforce pull request requirements, i.e. min. number of approvals or passing CI builds, before any code can be merged.
  
• Extensibility: Both Bitbucket and Stash allow users to create custom git hooks, but Stash takes this further providing the ability to create custom add-on functionality. We've worked hard to create easy to use REST APIs so that Stash owners can customize the tool whichever way they see fit. To get an idea of the types of add-ons you can create see what's already available in our Atlassian Marketplace.

The best way to decide between the two is to give each of them a try. We offer free Bitbucket accounts for 1-5 users and free 30 day evaluation keys for Stash. We're also here to help with any feature and functionality questions that may arise during your trials, feel free to email us any time at sales@atlassian.com.

[Fajar Suryawan]

And at Atlassian, what do you guys use? BitBucket or Stash? And why?

[cofarrell]

Hi Fajar,

We use both of course. ;-)

I'm a developer on the Stash team, so obviously we use our own product. Some teams use Stash and some use Bitbucket, there isn't any rhyme or reason to it. At some point last year we switched a few projects from Bitbucket to Stash, largely to put it under more production load, but many are still on Bitbucket and I don't see that changing. That's one of the beautiful things about Git/DVCS - it's so easy.

Apologies I'm not sure that helps much. I think Amber gave a good description of the pros/cons. I personally see the biggest differentiator being the hosting requirements. For some people hosting in the cloud just isn't an option, so Stash is the only choice. Otherwise I might be tempted to try both and see which you prefer. :)

Cheers,

Charles

[Al Sko]

I remember Bitbucket.org was built on some technology stack different from Stash (which is a newer product). do you guys expect to switch Bitbucket.org website to use Stash underneath? if not, I'm curious why... :) supporting two completely different products with similar functionality seems excessive..

[Adam Czyrek]

Answer: Stash.

Sadly I found out, late in the game, that bitbucket does not support code-search.

This is pretty crucial, if you are using bitbucket for code.

Another, more basic reason to choose Stash:
Stash can't be as bad as Bitbucket in regards to customer response for a matter like this:
https://bitbucket.org/site/master/issue/2874/ability-to-search-source-code-bb-39
352 comments going back to 2011.. this is mind numbing. How are these guys still in business?

Last commentor says: 

"Craig Tataryn: This has got to be the longest troll ever devised by a company... ever.

• 5 days ago"

If that doesn't show you that bitbucket doesn't care about code people, I don't know what would.

If that kind of customer response doesn't make you go to Stash then I don't know what will.. So lame BitBucket, so lame.

I guess bitbucket is for beginners.

If you manage your repository, and you can read and remember code, you will need code-search. Not providing it may have made sense a long time ago, but the lack of this feature is the one thing keeping me from doing my job in the cloud entirely.
 

I don't want to clone my entire project to a local machine just to grep. No one does. Kinda defeats the whole purpose of Cloud Everything, doesn't it? Not even mentioning the loss of cross-repository search.
 

Unless I am missing something,  this Code Search feature would be very easy to implement. This is the killer that makes me not trust the BitBucket.org team, or their leadership.

Time to migrate   Booooooo.

FYI: In Stash, this feature is called FishEye.

[Fajar Suryawan]

Glad to hear that Charles!

Switching product gives us different perspectives of course. If one team has been using bitbucket for quite a long time and then switches to stash, I'm sure they have many things to say.

In stash, the features I am missing most are:

• commit graph. https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/STASH-2534
• code commenting outside a pull-request context. https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/STASH-2511

This is particularly obvious if you come from github, gitolite, gitlab, or bitbucket.