Who Owns GitHub

GitHub is owned by Microsoft, which acquired the code hosting platform in October 2018 for roughly 7.5 billion dollars in an all stock deal.

GitHub is the largest platform in the world for hosting, reviewing, and collaborating on software code, used by more than 100 million developers and millions of companies ranging from small startups to Fortune 500 enterprises.

Before Microsoft bought it, GitHub had grown into a nearly ten year old independent company founded in 2008 by Tom Preston Werner, Chris Wanstrath, PJ Hyett, and Scott Chacon, and it had become the default home for open source software.

So how did an independent developer favorite end up under the ownership of one of the biggest software companies on Earth, and has Microsoft changed what made GitHub popular in the first place?

This guide explores the full ownership history of GitHub, how the Microsoft deal came together, what has changed under Microsoft, how GitHub compares with rivals like GitLab and Bitbucket, and whether the platform is still worth using for developers today.

So lets get started.

The Microsoft Acquisition Of GitHub

Microsoft officially closed its acquisition of GitHub on October 26, 2018, after announcing the deal earlier that year, paying approximately 7.5 billion dollars in Microsoft stock.

The purchase was one of the largest in Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella era of acquisitions, and it signaled a major shift for a company once known for viewing open source software as a competitive threat.

Microsoft framed the deal as a way to empower developers at every stage of the development lifecycle, from writing and testing code to shipping and deploying it.

Nat Friedman, a former GitHub employee who had sold his own startup Xamarin to Microsoft, was named GitHub CEO shortly after the acquisition closed.

GitHub Before Microsoft Ownership

GitHub launched in April 2008 as a Git based hosting service that made version control accessible to a much broader audience than the command line tools that came before it.

The platform grew almost entirely through word of mouth among developers and became the default place to store open source projects, with millions of public repositories accumulating over its first decade.

GitHub raised significant venture funding, including a 100 million dollar round from Andreessen Horowitz in 2012 and a 250 million dollar round in 2015 that valued the company at around 2 billion dollars.

By the time Microsoft came calling, GitHub was reportedly exploring an initial public offering, but leadership ultimately decided a sale offered more stability and resources.

How GitHub Operates Under Microsoft Today

Microsoft has largely kept GitHub operating as a distinct brand and platform rather than folding it directly into existing Microsoft developer products like Azure DevOps.

GitHub continues to support all major operating systems and works with competing cloud platforms, not just Microsoft Azure, a decision that helped ease early fears that Microsoft would favor its own ecosystem.

Free public and private repositories, which GitHub introduced shortly after the Microsoft deal closed, remain a core part of the platform and helped it retain developers who might have otherwise moved to competitors.

GitHub Leadership And Recent Changes

Thomas Dohmke became GitHub CEO in November 2021, succeeding Nat Friedman, and led the company through the rapid growth of GitHub Copilot and other AI powered developer tools.

Dohmke announced his departure as GitHub CEO in August 2025, with GitHub moving even closer into Microsoft’s CoreAI organization while continuing to operate under its own brand.

Industry coverage of the leadership change noted that GitHub would remain a distinct platform even as its engineering and strategy work moved deeper into Microsoft’s broader AI push.

GitHub Versus GitLab And Bitbucket

GitLab is GitHub’s closest direct competitor, offering a similar all in one platform for code hosting, issue tracking, and continuous integration, though GitLab has traditionally emphasized a more complete DevOps toolchain in a single product.

Bitbucket, owned by Atlassian, competes mainly for teams already using Jira and other Atlassian tools, giving it an edge in enterprise environments that are already invested in that ecosystem.

GitHub maintains the largest overall user base and open source community of the three, which continues to be its biggest competitive advantage regardless of who owns it.

GitHub Copilot And AI Integration

GitHub Copilot, an AI pair programming tool built with OpenAI technology, launched broadly in 2022 and has become one of the most widely adopted AI coding assistants in the industry.

Microsoft has invested heavily in expanding Copilot features directly inside GitHub, including chat based debugging, pull request summaries, and automated code review suggestions.

This AI push has tied GitHub even more closely to Microsoft’s broader artificial intelligence strategy, which also includes its partnership with OpenAI.

Is GitHub Really Worth It For Developers

For most individual developers and open source maintainers, GitHub remains worth using because of its free tier, massive community, and deep integration with tools developers already rely on.

Common complaints from long time users center on pricing for larger teams, occasional platform outages, and concerns about Microsoft eventually pushing GitHub users toward Azure hosted services.

Trustpilot reviews of GitHub reflect a mixed but generally positive picture, with praise for reliability and criticism aimed mostly at customer support response times for paid plans.

Compared with the alternative of Microsoft not owning GitHub at all, most developers agree the platform has retained its independence better than initially feared, which is part of why it remains the default choice for hosting code in 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions About Who Owns GitHub

Who owns GitHub in 2026?

GitHub is owned by Microsoft, which has owned the platform since completing its 7.5 billion dollar acquisition in October 2018.

Did Microsoft change GitHub after buying it?

Microsoft kept GitHub operating as an independent brand, introduced free private repositories, and has since focused on adding AI features like GitHub Copilot rather than merging GitHub into other Microsoft products.

Is GitHub free to use?

Yes, GitHub offers a free tier that includes unlimited public and private repositories for individuals, with paid plans available for teams that need advanced collaboration and security features.

Who was GitHub owned by before Microsoft?

Before Microsoft, GitHub was an independently owned and venture backed company founded in 2008 by Tom Preston Werner, Chris Wanstrath, PJ Hyett, and Scott Chacon.

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Readers interested in how other major tech platforms are owned and operated may also want to see who owns Microsoft.

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