Bitbucket vs Gerrit Code Review: What are the differences?

Key Differences between Bitbucket and Gerrit Code Review

Bitbucket and Gerrit Code Review are popular tools used in software development for managing code repositories and facilitating code reviews. Although they both serve similar purposes, there are several key differences that set them apart.

1. Integration with Git vs. Custom Version Control System: Bitbucket is built on top of Git, a widely used distributed version control system. It provides seamless integration with Git, allowing developers to easily manage their code repositories using familiar Git commands. In contrast, Gerrit Code Review has its own custom version control system called "PolyGerrit," which is specifically designed for code review workflows.

2. Code Review Workflow: Bitbucket offers a more traditional code review workflow, where reviewers can leave comments directly on the code changes and collaboratively discuss the changes before merging. On the other hand, Gerrit Code Review introduces a more strict and structured code review process by providing a Gerrit-specific web interface for reviewers to review and score code changes. This workflow allows for finer-grained control over code quality and enforce stricter coding standards.

3. Access Control and Permissions: Bitbucket provides a flexible and granular access control system, allowing administrators to easily manage user permissions at the repository, branch, and file level. It also integrates with popular identity providers such as LDAP and Active Directory. In contrast, Gerrit Code Review focuses on a more fine-grained access control system, where permissions can be set on a per-branch or per-project basis. It also provides built-in support for integrating with external identity providers.

4. Support for Continuous Integration and DevOps: Bitbucket offers built-in continuous integration and continuous deployment capabilities through its integration with tools like Jenkins and Bamboo. It allows developers to automate their build, test, and deployment processes directly from Bitbucket. In contrast, Gerrit Code Review does not offer native support for continuous integration or deployment tools. However, it can be integrated with external CI/CD systems using plugins or custom integrations.

5. Code Search and Analytics: Bitbucket provides powerful code search capabilities, allowing developers to search for code snippets, files, or specific lines of code within their repositories. It also offers built-in analytics and reporting features to track code contributions, reviewer activity, and other metrics. In contrast, Gerrit Code Review does not have native code search or analytics capabilities. However, it can be integrated with external code search tools or analytics platforms.

6. Commercial vs. Open Source: Bitbucket is a commercial product offered by Atlassian, a software company specializing in team collaboration tools. It comes with a range of pricing plans and support options. On the other hand, Gerrit Code Review is an open-source project and is available for free under the Apache License 2.0. It is maintained by a community of contributors and can be self-hosted or deployed on cloud platforms.

In summary, Bitbucket and Gerrit Code Review differ in terms of their integration with Git, code review workflow, access control and permissions, support for CI/CD, code search and analytics features, and their pricing models (commercial vs. open source). Choosing the right tool depends on the specific needs and requirements of the development team or organization.