Transitioning between Bitbucket Data Center and Bitbucket Cloud requires a deep understanding of their differences and similarities. This comparison is crafted to assist users considering migration and consultants eager to grasp the nuances of these platforms.
Feature Parity Indicators:
- ✅ Exact feature match
- ⚠️ Slight differences exist
- ❌ Feature absent in one platform
Repository Details
| Feature | Bitbucket Data Center | Bitbucket Cloud | Feature Parity |
| Name and description | Yes | Yes | ✅ |
| Repository Size | Yes | Yes | ✅ |
| Git Large File Storage | No | Yes | ❌ |
| Git LFS Files | No | Yes | ❌ |
| Forking | – Allow – No Forks | – Allow – Only Private Forks – No Forks | ⚠️ |
| Default branch | Yes | Yes | ✅ |
| Default landing page | No | Yes | ❌ |
| Allow LFS | Yes/No | Only Yes | ⚠️ |
| Transcode diffs | Yes | No | ❌ |
Security
Understanding the security model is essential for repository management. Here is how permissions are structured differently across the two platforms.
| Feature | Bitbucket Data Center | Bitbucket Cloud | Feature Parity |
| Repository Permissions | – Users (admin, read, write) – Groups (admin, read, write) | – Users (admin, read, write) – Groups (admin, read, write) | ✅ |
| Branch Permissions | By branch name, branch pattern, branching model/type | By branch name, branch pattern, branching model/type | ✅ |
| ↳ Prevent changes | Prevent all changes, except by: <User, group or access keys> | Branch restrictions -> Merge permissions: Only specific people or groups have write access (only users allowed) | ⚠️ |
| ↳ Prevent deletion | Prevent deletion, except by: <User, group or access keys> | Branch restrictions -> Merge permissions: Allow deleting this branch (only everyone) | ⚠️ |
| ↳ Prevent rewriting history | Prevent rewriting history, except by: <User, group or access keys> | Branch restrictions -> Merge permissions -> Allow rewriting branch history (only everyone) | ⚠️ |
| ↳ Prevent changes without a pull request | Prevent changes without a pull request, except by: <User, group or access keys> | No | ❌ |
| Access Keys | Yes | Yes | ✅ |
| HTTP Access Tokens | Read, write, admin + Expiry Date | – Pull requests: read, write – Pipelines: Read, Write, Edit Variables – Runners: Read, Write – Webbhooks: Read, Write | ⚠️ |
| Push Log | Yes | No | ❌ |
| Audit Log | Yes | No | ❌ |
Workflow
Efficient development workflows are vital for successful project delivery. Below, I detail how each platform supports these processes and where you can find the corresponding features in Bitbucket Cloud.
| Feature | Bitbucket Data Center | Bitbucket Cloud | Feature Parity |
| Branching Model | – Development – Production | – Development – Production | ✅ |
| Branch Prefixes | Yes | Yes | ✅ |
| Automatic Merging | For all branches | – By branch – Branch restrictions -> Merge settings: Allow automatic merge when builds pass | ⚠️ |
| Hooks | Pre receive – Reject Force Push – Verify Commit Signature – Verify Committer Post Receive – Marketplace | Better Commit Policy for Bitbucket | ⚠️ |
| Webhooks | Only Data Center: + Comment edited + Comment deleted + Mirror synchronized + Reviewers updated + Pull Request Unapproved + Pull Request Needs work | Only Cloud: + Issue Created + Issue Updated + Issue Comment created + Source branch updated + Approval removed + Pull Request Comment resolved + Build status created + Build status updated | ⚠️ |
| Branch Deletion on Merge | Yes | No | ❌ |
| Automatic Merging | Yes | No | ❌ |
Pull Request Management
Pull requests are key to collaborative development. This comparison focuses on the features and where you can find the corresponding features in Bitbucket Cloud.
| Feature | Bitbucket Data Center | Bitbucket Cloud | Feature Parity |
| Merge Checks | No unresolved pull request tasks | Branch restrictions -> Merge settings -> No unresolved pull request tasks | ✅ |
| Merge Checks | Minimum approvals | Branch restrictions -> Merge settings -> Minimum number of approvals / Minimum number of approvals | ✅ |
| Merge Checks | Minimum successful builds | Branch restrictions -> Merge settings -> Minimum number of successful builds for the last commit with | ✅ |
| Merge Checks | No ‘needs work’ status | Branch restrictions -> Merge settings -> No changes are requested | ✅ |
| Merge Checks | No incomplete tasks | Branch restrictions -> Merge settings -> No unresolved pull request tasks | ✅ |
| Merge Checks | No | Branch restrictions -> Merge settings -> Maximum number of commits behind destination branch | ❌ |
| Merge Checks | No | Branch restrictions -> Merge settings -> Reset requested changes when the source branch is modified | ❌ |
| Merge Checks | No | Branch restrictions -> Merge settings -> Allow automatic merge when builds pass | ❌ |
| Merge Checks | No | Branch restrictions -> Merge settings -> Reset approvals when the source branch is modified (Premium) | ❌ |
| Merge Checks | No | Branch restrictions -> Merge settings -> Prevent a merge with unresolved merge checks (Premium) | ❌ |
| Merge strategies | Merge commit –no-ff | Merge strategies (Fast-forward OR Merge commit OR Squash) | ⚠️ |
| Merge strategies | Fast-forward –ff | ||
| Merge strategies | Fast-forward only –ff-only | ||
| Merge strategies | Rebase and merge rebase + merge –no-ff | ||
| Merge strategies | Squash –squash | ||
| Merge strategies | Squash, fast-forward only –squash –ff-only | ||
| Merge strategies | Commit summaries | No | ❌ |
| Default reviewers | Per branch source/target | Per repository | ⚠️ |
| Approvals Required | Per branch source/target | Pull Request Template | ⚠️ |
| Pull Request Template | Description template | Default Description | ✅ |
| Default tasks | No | Yes | ❌ |
| Exclude files | No | Yes | ❌ |
| Auto Decline | Yes | No | ❌ |
| Required builds | Yes | No | ❌ |
| Reviewer Groups | Yes | No | ❌ |
| Code Quality | Code Insights | Integrations | ⚠️ |
Features
| Feature | Bitbucket Data Center | Bitbucket Cloud | Feature Parity |
| Pipelines | No | Yes | ✅ |
| Atlassian Intelligence | No | Yes | ✅ |
| Internal Issue Tracker | No | Yes | ✅ |
| Internal Wiki | No | Yes | ✅ |
| Slack Integration | With Apps | Native | ⚠️ |
Conclusion
I’ve endeavored to include the most relevant and comprehensive information in our detailed comparison between Bitbucket Data Center and Cloud. Your insights and experiences are invaluable, and I encourage you to share your thoughts. Was this comparison helpful? Did you notice any discrepancies or missing features that I overlooked? Your feedback not only enriches this discussion but also aids others in making informed decisions. Please leave your comments below!
