GitHub

GitHub stores your code, tracks changes and issues, and runs automated checks. It suits a solo founder or freelancer who writes or edits code, even occasionally, such as a website or a small app. If you never touch code, you can skip it.

On the maker's pricing page, the Free plan costs nothing and lists unlimited private repositories and unlimited collaborators, plus 2,000 Actions minutes a month. GitHub Pages is listed for public repositories on Free. Team is listed at US$4 per user per month and adds more controls for working with others. Our price above is converted to Australian dollars, so confirm it at checkout.

• Stay on Free while you work alone.
• Move to Team when you add collaborators and want branch protection or more build minutes.

• Create an account and a private repository for your project.
• Commit your work often, with short messages that say what changed.
• Turn on two-factor authentication.
• Connect the repository to your hosting tool so it deploys when you push.

Paid features matter mainly once you have collaborators. Build minutes are capped on the free plan. Keep secrets such as API keys out of the repository, and use your host's settings for them instead.

GitLab and Bitbucket also host code. Most deployment tools, such as Vercel, connect to GitHub first, which is why it is the usual choice.

GitHub holds the code in the Lean SaaS Founder stack.