Softwr

Technology · head to head

GitHub vs Keila

GitHub logo

GitHub

Technology

Where the world builds software

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Keila logo

Keila

Email Marketing

AGPL newsletter tool from Germany, self-hostable or hosted in the EU with no free plan

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: GitHub acquired by Microsoft in 2018, reducing pure independence despite operational autonomy; Keila there is no free hosted plan at all, stated as deliberate policy, so unlike almost every competitor there is no way to run a small list at zero cost without self-hosting it yourself.
  • They diverge on capability: GitHub covers Git repositories, Keila covers Priced by emails sent.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which GitHub and Keila actually diverge.

Attributes where GitHub and Keila differ
AttributeGitHubKeila
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer month by emails sent
PlatformsWeb, Desktop, MobileWeb, Linux, Self-hosted
CategoryTechnologyEmail Marketing
Founded2008Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in GitHub

  • Git repositories
  • Pull requests
  • Code review
  • Issues & projects
  • GitHub Actions CI/CD
  • GitHub Pages
  • Security scanning
  • Dependency management

Only in Keila

  • Priced by emails sent
  • Bring your own sender
  • Self-hosting
  • EU hosting
  • Sign-up forms
  • Segmentation
  • Markdown and block editor
  • Multiple projects

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

GitHub

  • Version controlnot Keila
  • Code collaborationnot Keila
  • CI/CD pipelinesnot Keila
  • Project managementnot Keila
  • Documentation hostingnot Keila

Keila

  • A membership organisation holding forty thousand contacts but sending only one newsletter a month, where contact-metered pricing would cost many times morenot GitHub
  • A European publisher or public body that needs subscriber data held in the EU under a GDPR-friendly arrangementnot GitHub
  • A technical team that wants to self-host its newsletter tool and route sending through its existing AWS SES accountnot GitHub
  • An agency running several separate client lists that does not want to pay per project or per additional listnot GitHub

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

GitHub

  • Acquired by Microsoft in 2018, reducing pure independence despite operational autonomy
  • Primary focus on source control differs from purpose-built project management tools like Jira
  • Pricing for enterprise features and private repositories adds up compared to some self-hosted alternatives

Keila

  • There is no free hosted plan at all, stated as deliberate policy, so unlike almost every competitor there is no way to run a small list at zero cost without self-hosting it yourself.
  • Marketing automation is minimal, with none of the behavioural triggers, journey builders or e-commerce revenue attribution that Klaviyo, Brevo and Mailchimp treat as table stakes.
  • The self-hosted route puts deliverability entirely on you: reputation, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, warm-up and bounce handling are your problem, and a badly configured instance will land in spam folders.
  • It is a small project from a small company, so the integration ecosystem is thin and there is no partner network, template marketplace or large body of community expertise to draw on.
  • Email volume tiers step in fixed blocks, so an organisation whose sending is uneven across the year either overbuys at the annual peak or has to change plan repeatedly.

Pricing, plan by plan

GitHub

Free
  • FreeFree
    • Unlimited public/private repos
    • 2,000 CI/CD minutes/month
    • 500MB package storage
  • Team$4/month
    • Everything in Free
    • 3,000 CI/CD minutes/month
    • 2GB package storage
  • Enterprise$21/month
    • Everything in Team
    • 50,000 CI/CD minutes/month
    • 50GB package storage

Keila

Free
  • Self-hostedFree
    • AGPL-3.0-or-later licence with no fee
    • Official Docker image and sample compose file
    • You supply hosting and a sending backend
  • Keila XS$8/month
    • Two thousand emails per month
    • Unlimited contacts and projects
    • Send with Keila or bring your own email server
  • Keila M$32/month
    • Fifteen thousand emails per month
    • Unlimited contacts and projects
    • Sign-up forms and segmentation
  • Keila XXL$256/month
    • Two hundred and fifty thousand emails per month
    • Unlimited contacts and projects
    • Intermediate tiers at 16, 64 and 128 EUR for 5,000, 50,000 and 100,000 emails

Which should you pick?

Choose GitHub if

  • You need git repositories.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Desktop, Mobile.
  • You also want pull requests.
GitHub review

Choose Keila if

  • You need priced by emails sent.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Linux, Self-hosted.
  • You also want bring your own sender.
Keila review

Questions people ask

Is GitHub or Keila better?
Neither clearly leads. GitHub starts at Free and Keila at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GitHub or Keila?
GitHub starts at Free and Keila at Free.
Does GitHub or Keila run on more platforms?
GitHub runs on Web, Desktop, Mobile. Keila runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted.
Can I use GitHub for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is GitHub best used for?
GitHub is most often used for version control, code collaboration, ci/cd pipelines, project management. Of those, version control and code collaboration are not what Keila is typically brought in for.
What can GitHub do that Keila cannot?
GitHub covers Git repositories, Pull requests, Code review, Issues & projects. Keila covers Priced by emails sent, Bring your own sender, Self-hosting, EU hosting.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

GitHub: What is a Git repository and how does GitHub use it?

A repository is the centralized database that stores the complete collection of files and folders for a codebase, along with the revision history. GitHub uses Git to provide distributed version control access to repositories with version tracking, branching, and collaboration features.

Source
Keila: Is Keila free?

The software is, under AGPL-3.0-or-later, if you self-host. The hosted service has no free plan by deliberate policy and starts at 8 EUR a month.

GitHub: How does GitHub authentication work?

When you connect to a GitHub repository from Git, you need to authenticate with GitHub using either HTTPS or SSH. GitHub supports multiple authentication methods including passwords, personal access tokens, SSH keys, and GitHub Apps.

Source
Keila: How is the hosted service priced?

By emails sent, from 8 EUR for two thousand up to 256 EUR for two hundred and fifty thousand a month. Contacts and projects are unlimited on every tier.

GitHub: How long has GitHub been operating?

GitHub was founded in 2008 and launched publicly on April 10, 2008, making it the dominant git hosting platform for nearly two decades.

Source
Keila: Can I use my own email provider?

Yes. AWS SES, Sendgrid, Mailgun, Postmark, generic SMTP or a personal inbox are all supported as sending backends.

GitHub: Who owns GitHub and when did the acquisition occur?

Microsoft acquired GitHub for $7.5 billion USD, with the deal announced June 4, 2018 and completed October 26, 2018. GitHub operates as an independent subsidiary within Microsoft.

Source
Keila: Are there discounts?

Pentacent offers reduced rates to nonprofits and open source projects on request.

Share

Related pages

More on GitHub

More on Keila

Keep looking

Other head to heads