Lowest risk
GitHub
Summary
Hosting for software development version control using Git.

Parent organisation: Microsoft
Type of organisation: Publicly-listed company (or group)
Market share: Market dominance

Pricing: Free-$9/user/month
Factors driving pricing: Additional features, More users (publishing-side), Ability to whitelabel or customize, Customer size
Skills needed to set-up: Software developer
Skills needed to use: Needs tool/domain expert for ongoing use
Pros
Open Source alternatives available
Releases new features regularly
Transparent pricing model
Plain English TOS
Clear data policies
Allows data export
Allows data deletion
Has accessibility statement
Shares diversity data
Cons
Monopoly platform - does not aid a diverse media ecosystem

Full Product Data Collection

Data collected January-February 2020

Product nameGitHub
Product URLhttps://github.com/
Parent organisationMicrosoft
Workflow categoryCollaboration & editing
Date product founded2008
Product descriptionHosting for software development version control using Git.
What type of company or organisation is the product owned by?Publicly-listed company (or group)
Is the company profit-making?Yes, profitable
How is this product funded?Subscriptions, Investment by parent company or group
What market share does the tool have?Market dominance
Is there an Open Source alternative in this product space?Yes. Gitlab, Gogs, Gitea
When did the company last release new features?Jan-2020. GitHub 2.25 (Partial clones, Sparse checkout management, Tidbits)
Have they shared details of the product roadmap?No
Is there talk of the product raising further investment?No
Is there talk of the product being acquired?No
Have there been any newsworthy business issues or challenges in the last 12 months?No
Is there a pricing model listed on the website?Yes
How clear & transparent is this pricing model?Very: full pricing listed
What is the range of prices offered?Free
Pro – $7/month
Team – $9 per user/month
Enterprise – contact sales
What factors drive higher pricing?Additional features, More users (publishing-side), Ability to whitelabel or customize, Customer size
What skills are needed to get this tool set up & usable?Software developer
What skills are needed to USE this tool day-to-day?Needs tool/domain expert for ongoing use
Does this tool use proprietary file formats for saving documents & outputs?Defaults to common open standard file formats
Is the product reliant on 3rd-party APIs or interoperability to function?No
Have there been any newsworthy technical issues in the last 3 years?No
How clear is the Terms of Service for users (i.e. publishing customers)?Simplified, plain English TOS
Does the product have a data collection & usage policy on its website? (Can be a GDPR statement)?Yes, comprehensive.
Is their data policy “GDPR everywhere”?Yes, GDPR compliant globally
Does the product require your audience to sign-in to use it?N/A not an audience-facing tool
IF SIGN IN REQUIRED: Does audience sign-in use 3rd party platforms?N/A not an audience-facing tool
Does the public product website mention how to export or transfer your data to another service?Yes: Export/transfer publisher content
Does the public product website mention how to delete your data?Yes: for publisher data only
Have there been any newsworthy security breaches with this product in the last 3 years?No
Does the company have an accessibility statement on its website?Yes
Does the company release information on the diversity of the workforce?Yes