Codebase Launches Git-based Project Management Service

Git, the decentralized version control system created by Linus Torvalds, has gathered a lot of steam recently due to the success of Git repository host GitHub. And GitHub, like sort-of competitor SourceForge, does a great job at hosting open source projects, including high profile ones such as Ruby on Rails, Capistrano, Merb, Prototype and Scriptaculous. But what about small teams that need a bit more around their private source repositories?

GitHub does offer private repositories, but a new service called Codebase from tiny UK development firm aTech Media, has built a project management suite around the idea of shared Git repositories. Codebase adds issue tracking and milestones, deployment tracking, and activity feeds around the core Git-based version control and source code repositories.

Codebase, which is free for 5 projects with 100MB disk space during the public beta that is scheduled to run through January, provides users with unlimited code repositories for each new project. Code, commits and changesets can be browsed via an online code browser, and users can leave comments on any change or on any file.

The application also has a powerful built in ticketing system for keeping on top of issues and defining milestones and version targets. The ticketing system has been tied into Git allowing developers to update tickets directly from a commit, saving time and keeping things organized.

Activity streams keep team members abreast of new commits, issues, milestones, or deployments.

Once the beta period ends, Codebase will operate using the freemium model, with paid plans perhaps starting at £5/month. The application’s free plan will offer 20MB of space and 1-2 projects (still to be determined). Though the 20MB cap on the free plan doesn’t sound like much, because of Git’s compression, that’s actually a pretty good amount of space to work with.

Disclaimer: I have a business relationship with aTech Media founder Adam Cooke.