7 Best Version Control Tools in 2025

Selecting a version control tool is a critical technical decision that impacts your team’s efficiency and collaboration.

They enable developers to track code changes while providing long-term project maintainability and operational security.

A poorly suited system creates unnecessary merge conflicts and becomes a constant source of frustration, slowing progress.

With developers contributing from every corner of the world and projects comprising millions of lines of code, teams can’t afford downtime, data loss, or complex recovery processes.

The core question is no longer if you need version control, but which system best handles these pressures without adding unnecessary complexity.

However, with numerous options available, it can be challenging to select the most suitable version control system for your project.

We have done the hard work for you and evaluated the top version control tools based on their performance, user experience, and how they facilitate collaboration between project stakeholders.

Compare key features to make an informed decision and choose a platform that actively supports your team’s goals rather than becoming an obstacle to them.

Let’s get started.

Top 7 Version Control Tools

Here’s an overview of the best version control tools, including their notable features, pros, cons, and pricing.

GitHub

GitHub is a web-based platform for hosting and collaborating on code using the Git version control system.

Owned by Microsoft, GitHub is the world’s largest open-source community, providing an extensive set of tools for code review, repository management, and project coordination. This makes it an essential resource for both open-source projects and enterprise-level development.

Key Features:

• Repository Hosting: GitHub hosts Git repositories in the cloud, providing a central location for your project’s code and its complete history.
• Pull Requests: It offers collaboration features that enable users to work together. You can propose changes and have them reviewed before merging them into the main project. You can also create a personal copy of any public repository.
• Project Management Tools: It includes integrated tools for tracking issues, bugs, feature requests, and organizing tasks.
• GitHub Actions (CI/CD): This feature allows you to automate your software development workflows. You can create scripts to automatically test, build, and deploy your code to servers whenever changes are pushed.
• Documentation and Wikis: The platform also offers built-in documentation, including README files, wikis, and markdown previews, as well as hosting static sites (GitHub Pages).

Pros:

• Strong collaboration features and community support.
• Essential for contributing to open-source projects.

Cons:

• It can be complex for beginners.
• Pricing can scale for large teams or enterprise use.

Pricing:

• Free for open-source projects with unlimited public and private repositories.
• Pricing starts at $4 per user/month.

GitLab

GitLab is a comprehensive DevSecOps platform for the entire software development lifecycle, from planning and source code management to CI/CD, security, and monitoring.

It is the most popular open-source GitHub alternative that enables developers to self-host, embed security and automation into their process without managing multiple vendor integrations.

Key Features:

• Source Code Management: Built on Git, it provides the standard features you’d expect, like code repositories, issues, branching, and merge requests.
• CI/CD Pipelines: You can automate testing, building, and code deployment without dependencies on third-party plugins.
• Integrated Security: It offers built-in security features, including static (SAST) and dynamic (DAST) application security testing, dependency scanning, and secret detection, with findings visible directly in merge requests.
• Collaboration Features: The platform includes tools for issue tracking, Kanban boards, wikis, and milestones, keeping planning and code tightly integrated.
• GitLab Duo: Get AI help across the development lifecycle, from code suggestions and test generation in the IDE to summarizing merge requests and explaining vulnerabilities.

Pros:

• All-in-one platform for the entire DevOps process.
• Strong CI/CD and automation capabilities.
• Open-source core for transparency and self-hosting.

Cons:

• Self-managed instances at scale could require significant infrastructure resources.
• Some users find the interface complex.

Pricing:

• Free for open source projects.
• Premium plan starts at $29 per user/month.

Subversion

Apache Subversion (SVN) is a centralized version control system designed to manage files and version histories.

It is an enterprise-level, open-source software that has become a popular choice for version control among developers. It is especially appreciated for its simplicity and stability in environments with a single, central code repository.

Key Features:

• Versioning: SVN versions not just file contents, but also directories, copies, renames, and deletions. This means you can track the complete structural history of your project.
• Atomic Commits: If a commit is interrupted, the repository remains unchanged, preventing partial updates that could corrupt the codebase.
• Cheap Branching and Tagging: Branches and tags are implemented as efficient copies within the repository. This makes the process faster and less expensive because a copy occupies a small, constant amount of space.
• File Locking: SVN supports a file locking workflow for files that are difficult to merge. This prevents conflicts by allowing only one person to edit a file at a time.
• Access Control: Administrators can set path-based authorization rules to control access to specific directories and files within the repository.

Pros:

• Easy to use for beginners.
• Handles large files well.

Cons:

• Tracking the merges can be complex and often requires manual conflict resolution.
• Viewing logs or differences can be time-consuming.

Pricing: Free

Bitbucket

Bitbucket is a Git-based code hosting and collaboration platform developed by Atlassian.

It helps teams manage software development from planning to deployment, with built-in AI features, CI/CD, and deep integration with other Atlassian products, such as Jira and Confluence.

Key Features:

• Git Repository Hosting: It offers unlimited private Git repositories, making it suitable for both open-source and proprietary projects.
• Built-in CI/CD: Automatically build, test, and deploy your code directly from the Bitbucket environment.
• Collaboration: Bitbucket facilitates collaboration through pull requests with inline comments, branch permissions, and automated merge checks for code quality before integration.
• Atlassian Ecosystem: It integrates with Jira for project tracking and Confluence for documentation. You can link commits and branches directly to Jira issues for traceability.
• Security and Compliance: The cloud-based platform includes features like IP allowlisting, two-factor authentication, and integration with security scanning tools to help you build security into your development process.

Pros:

• Enterprise-grade security with granular access control.
• Generous free tier with unlimited private repositories.

Cons:

• The user interface can feel less modern.
• Smaller presence in the open-source community.

Pricing:

• A free plan is available for up to 5 users.
• Pricing starts at $3.30 per user/month.

Perforce P4 (Helix Core)

Perforce P4 is an enterprise-grade, centralized version control system specifically designed to handle very large projects, binary files, and distributed teams.

It is the industry standard in fields such as game development, animation, and VFX, where managing terabytes of data and hundreds of contributors is commonplace.

Key Features:

• Massive Scalability: P4 versions not only source code, but also massive binary files, such as 3D models, video assets, and CAD files, which are common in game development and media production.
• Enterprise Security and Compliance: Offers granular, file-level permissions, comprehensive audit trails, and support for single sign-on (SSO) to protect valuable intellectual property.
• Advanced Workflow Management: Features like Perforce Streams provide visual branching and merging, making it easier to manage complex parallel development processes.
• Git Integration: For developers who prefer Git, the free P4 Git Connector allows teams to use Git clients while storing assets in the powerful Helix Core server.

Pros:

• Unmatched performance in managing huge repositories.
• Centralized control and backup procedures.

Cons:

• It can be overwhelming for small teams or projects.
• Licensing costs for larger teams.

Pricing:

• A free plan is available for up to 5 users.
• Pricing starts at $39 per user/per month.

Amazon CodeCatalyst

Amazon CodeCatalyst is a unified DevOps platform that incorporates source control via Git repositories alongside a full suite of tools for building, testing, and deploying applications on AWS.

It’s designed to bring the entire software development lifecycle into a single, integrated service, making things much easier for developers by eliminating the need to manage multiple disconnected tools.

Key Features:

• Source Repositories: CodeCatalyst provides integrated Git repositories for secure code storage and collaboration. You can also connect existing repositories from GitHub.
• Project Blueprints: Use blueprints to set up a project with sample code automatically, CI/CD pipeline, build scripts, and configured cloud resources based on your chosen programming language or framework.
• CI/CD Automation: You can create workflows using a visual editor or YAML to define how your application is built, tested, and deployed. Events, such as a code push or a pull request, trigger workflows.
• Dev Environments: These are cloud-based development environments pre-configured with the tools needed for your project. They allow you to start coding instantly without setting up a local machine, and your work is automatically saved.
• Issue Tracking: CodeCatalyst includes built-in issue tracking for task management. You can add source repositories, issues, and other resources to your project by connecting your CodeCatalyst account to an AWS account.

Pros:

• Quick project setup with blueprints and integrated resources.
• Strong integration with the AWS environment.

Cons:

• Resource limits in the free tier.
• Limited support outside AWS.

Pricing:

• Free tier available.
• Pay-as-you-go pricing model based on users and resource consumption.

Unity Version Control

Unity Version Control is a version control system designed specifically to handle the challenges of game development and other projects with large files and assets.

Built with powerful Plastic SCM technology, Unity Version Control offers optimized workflows for designers and developers, as well as superior speed when working with huge repos and binaries.

Key Features:

• Scalable Version Control: It’s a scalable source code management solution that is engineered to remain fast and responsive even when working with large amounts of data.
• Smart Locks: This feature enforces a single line of development for a file across branches, minimizing the risk of two people editing the same file and causing merge conflicts.
• Flexible Workflows: It supports both centralized and distributed workflows, allowing programmers to use powerful branching and merging capabilities.
• Unity Integration: You can create and link repositories directly from the Unity Hub and perform version control operations like check-out and submit within the editor itself.

Pros:

• Handles large binary files effortlessly.
• Offers both cloud and on-premises deployment.

Cons:

• Advanced features can become costly.
• Some features have a steeper learning curve.

Pricing:

• Free plan available.
• Pay-as-you-go pricing model based on monthly active users and total cloud storage.

Final Words

We have listed some of the best version control tools, which offer extensive capabilities for managing code repositories, optimizing team collaboration, and streamlining development tasks.

The right tool for you depends entirely on the size of your project, the types of assets involved, and your team’s specific workflow.

By understanding the core features and trade-offs of each system, you can select the tool that best supports your work and integrates into your development process.

FAQs: