Used For

• +**Your junior dev accidentally deleted the main codebase** → Git tracks every change ever made, so you can time-travel back to when things worked
• +**You're manually testing code at 2am before every release** → GitHub Actions runs tests automatically when code changes, catches bugs before customers do
• +**Three people edited the same file and now nothing works** → Pull requests let you review changes before they go live, no more merge disasters
• +Branches let you experiment without fear — try new features in isolation, merge only what works
• +Issues and project boards connect bugs directly to code fixes — no more lost Slack messages about what broke

Best For

• >Your team keeps overwriting each other's code and someone's about to snap
• >You're emailing ZIP files back and forth like it's 2003
• >Your deployment process involves crossing fingers and praying nothing breaks

Not For

• -Non-technical teams who just need file sharing — you'll spend weeks learning Git commands for no reason
• -Solo developers who never collaborate — the free tier is fine, but you're mostly paying for teamwork features
• -Companies wanting something simple — there's a real learning curve, and your team will complain about the command line

Pairs With

• *VS Code (where developers actually write code before pushing it to GitHub)
• *Slack (where the team gets pinged about failed builds and code reviews)
• *AWS or Vercel (where GitHub Actions deploys your code automatically)
• *Docker (for building consistent environments that don't work "only on my machine")
• *Dependabot (scans for security issues because nobody remembers to update dependencies)
• *Jenkins or CircleCI (if GitHub Actions isn't powerful enough for complex deployments)

The Catch

• !Learning Git basics takes 1-2 weeks of daily practice — expect frustrated developers during the transition
• !The 2,000 free automation minutes disappear fast with active projects — you'll hit overages quicker than expected
• !Merge conflicts will make junior developers cry — budget time for Git training or hire someone who knows it

Bottom Line

The mother of code hosting — everyone's there, so you probably should be too.