Assembla vs GitHub Issues (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, GitHub Issues grades higher than Assembla: 3.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 5, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 10, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
GitHub Issues grades higher on value for money, the free plan, features and ease of use. They get the same grade on platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Assembla
Managed Git, SVN and Perforce hosting with project management
GitHub Issues
Issue tracking and project planning built into GitHub
Which one is for you
Pick Assembla if
- Fits if you still keep code in SVN and want tickets beside it
- Works for teams that want code hosting in several regions
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a free plan, as only a 14-day trial exists
- Not for you if you want project management on Starter, as it begins at Growth
- Pricey if you need Perforce Cloud, which starts at $52.20 a user a month yearly
- Watch out: extra storage and 24x5 support are add-ons below Custom Cloud
Pick GitHub Issues if
- Fits if you're a software team that already hosts its code on GitHub
- Works for open source projects taking bug reports and feature requests in public
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if your work isn't code, because every issue has to live in a repository
- Skip it if you want to buy just an issue tracker, as paid plans are priced per user for all of GitHub
- Pricey if you need single sign-on, SCIM or a self-hosted server, which start with Enterprise at $21 a user a month
- Tight if you track a lot per issue, as a project is limited to 50 fields, built-in ones included
- Watch out: there's no time logging, no desktop app for issues, and Free gets community support only
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAssemblaFair | 3.4GPAGitHub IssuesVery good | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CStarter is $12.50 a user a month on yearly billing, but project management needs Growth at $19, past the $15.95 where the dearer quarter starts. | AIssues isn't sold on its own: it comes with every GitHub plan, the free one included, and Team is $4 a user a month for the whole platform, under the $5.10 where this category's cheapest quarter starts. Enterprise at $21 is only for single sign-on and the self-hosted server. |
| Free plan and trial | CA 14-day trial with no card is the only free part. There is no free plan. | AGitHub Free includes Issues and Projects with unlimited public and private repositories, so there's no cap a normal team runs into. Support on Free is community only, which is the one thing you're giving up. |
| Features | CGit and SVN hosting, code review, tickets, sprints, time tracking and wikis. Project management is not in Starter. | BIssues with sub-issues, dependencies, labels and milestones, and Projects on top with table, board and roadmap views, custom fields, week-by-week iterations, built-in automations and a burn-up chart. The whole tracking job, then. Projects stops at 50 fields, and there's no time logging. |
| Ease of use | CNo store rating on record. Repositories, permissions and integrations have to be set up. | BNo store rating on record, but there's genuinely nothing to set up: if your code is on GitHub, the tracker is already in the account you use every day. Every mouse action has a keyboard shortcut or a CLI command too. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with Slack, Jira, GitHub, Travis CI, Zapier and TestRail links. | BWeb, iPhone and Android, plus the GitHub CLI if you'd rather stay in the terminal, and a GraphQL API with Actions behind it. No desktop app for issues, which is what keeps it off the top mark. |
| Best for | Git or SVN hosting with ticketing on the side | teams whose code already lives on GitHub |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Assembla and GitHub Issues. How we grade
Price against what you get
Assembla starts at $12.50 a month for each person and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. GitHub Issues starts at $4 a month for each person and scores 3.0.
GitHub Issues scores higher and starts $8.50 a month lower. Of the other project management tools on the chart, 51 score higher than Assembla for less, and none scores higher than GitHub Issues for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- Assembla also covers wiki and time tracking.
- GitHub Issues also covers Markdown, kanban boards, Gantt & timelines and workflow automation.
At a glance
| Assembla | GitHub Issues | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free trial | Free plan |
| Starts at | $12.50 per user / month, billed annually | $4 per user / month (GitHub Team) |
| Free plan | None | GitHub Free includes Issues and Projects for individuals and organizations, with unlimited public and private repositories and community support. |
| Free trial | 14-day free trial, no credit card required | 30-day free trial of GitHub Enterprise |
| Web | ||
| iOS | ||
| Android | ||
| Made by | Assembla | GitHub, Inc. |
| Price read from | get.assembla.com | github.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Oct 5, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Assembla
- Project management is included only from Growth; Starter is code hosting.
- Storage beyond the included amount is an add-on, and premium 24x5 support is an add-on until Custom Cloud.
- Perforce Cloud is priced separately, from $52.20 per user / month billed annually ($58 month to month).
- The pricing page shows an annual-billing toggle with a 10% badge; the per-user prices here match its annual totals but the monthly-billing figures are not in the page text.
GitHub Issues
- Issues is not sold on its own: it is part of every GitHub plan, and paid plans are priced per user for the whole platform.
- Every issue lives in a repository, so planning across repositories and teams runs through GitHub Projects.
- A project is limited to 50 fields, counting built-in metadata and custom fields.
- SAML single sign-on, SCIM provisioning and self-hosted Enterprise Server need the Enterprise plan, from $21 per user / month.
Key features
Assembla
- Git and SVN hosting
- Unlimited repositories for Git and Apache Subversion, with Git LFS.
- Code review
- Merge requests, inline comments and multi-reviewer approvals.
- Ticketing and sprints
- Growth includes ticketing, backlog, milestones, a standup board and burndown charts.
- Time tracking
- Time tracking and reports are listed under project management.
- Wikis and message board
- Documentation and discussion live next to the code.
- Hosting regions
- EU, US and APAC regions are listed for Starter and Growth.
GitHub Issues
- Issues and sub-issues
- Issues track bugs, features and ideas. Sub-issues break larger work into a hierarchy with progress indicators, and dependencies mark which issues block others.
- Tables, boards and roadmaps
- GitHub Projects shows issues and pull requests as a table, a kanban board or a timeline-style roadmap, with saved views that filter, sort, slice and group.
- Custom fields and iterations
- A project takes up to 50 fields, including date, number, single-select and text fields and an iteration field for planning work week by week.
- Built-in automations
- Built-in workflows set fields, archive items and add issues from a repository automatically. The GraphQL API and GitHub Actions allow further automation.
- Insights and charts
- Current and historical charts are built from the items in a project, including a default burn-up chart that shows completed work against what is left.
- Mobile, CLI and keyboard access
- Issues can be created and managed in the iOS and Android apps and from the GitHub CLI, and every mouse action has a keyboard shortcut or command.
Plans
Assembla
Starter$12.50
per user / month, billed annually
Managed Git and SVN hosting with 10 GB of storage per user, wikis, code review and standard 12x5 support. Recommended for up to 5 users.
Growth$19
per user / month, billed annually
Adds project management (ticketing, agile sprints, backlog, time tracking), 50 GB of storage per user and more integrations. Recommended for up to 25 users.
Custom CloudCustom
12-month term, unlimited users, a single-tenant environment, 250 GB of storage and premium support included.
GitHub Issues
Free$0
GitHub plan for individuals and organizations. Includes Issues and Projects, unlimited public and private repositories and community support.
Team$4
per user / month
GitHub plan that adds repository rules, required reviewers, code owners, 3,000 CI/CD minutes a month and web-based support. Includes Issues and Projects.
Enterprise$21
per user / month, starting price
Adds SAML single sign-on, SCIM provisioning, enterprise accounts, data residency and the self-hosted Enterprise Server option.
Ways to pay less
Assembla
- Annual discount
10% off with annual billing
The pricing page has a billing toggle with annual billing marked at 10% off.
GitHub Issues
- Nonprofit
Free Team plan for verified nonprofits
GitHub for Nonprofits gives verified 501(c)(3) or equivalent organizations a free GitHub Team plan with unlimited users, or 25% off GitHub Enterprise Cloud.
- Startups
$10,000 in credits for eligible startups
GitHub for Startups gives partner-affiliated startups with outside funding up to Series B, and new to GitHub Enterprise, $10,000 in credits valid for up to 12 months.
- Education
Free developer tools for students and teachers
GitHub's pricing page says students and teachers get free access to developer tools through GitHub Education, for the school year and beyond.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Assembla or GitHub Issues?
As of Nov 13, 2026, GitHub Issues is cheaper to start with: $4 a month for each person, against $12.50 a month for each person for Assembla. Assembla starts at $12.50 per user / month, billed annually, and GitHub Issues starts at $4 per user / month (GitHub Team).
Which has a free plan, Assembla or GitHub Issues?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only GitHub Issues has a free plan. Assembla does not, though it has a free trial.
Which platforms do Assembla and GitHub Issues run on?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only GitHub Issues lists iOS and Android apps. Both list a web app. A platform missing from a listing is one its maker's pages did not mention.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.