The platform grew from three million to one hundred million users in less than a decade. GitHub is clearly loved.
Exactly ten years ago, three million developers used the platform. That number had grown to 28 million by the time Microsoft acquired GitHub in 2018. Three months ago, the 90 million mark was passed. Now, the organization announces that the 100 million milestone has been reached.
GitHub
As you probably know, GitHub allows users to host code. The platform is home to countless software projects. Users range from independent developers to the world’s largest organizations. Code is stored in repositories that can be shared with collaborators easily and securely.
The organization is growing faster than expected. During a 2019 keynote, former CEO Nat Friedman stated that GitHub wanted to reach 100 million users by 2025. The milestone has been achieved more than two years earlier than anticipated.
Cash cow
That’s good news for parent company Microsoft. Although GitHub’s basic features are available for free, the platform’s annual revenue totals more than $1 billion (about 920 million euros) at the time of writing.
Users with demand for advanced settings can choose between two paid licenses. GitHub’s popularity is due to the fact that many professionals don’t require either. Non-paying users receive valuable services, including free code security scans and vulnerability alerts.
Paying users have access to additional services. One of the most important examples is GitHub Copilot, an AI tool that automatically suggests and completes lines of code to speed software development.
45 minutes ago
