GitHub Interesting Key Facts
- HCL is the fastest growing language in GitHub.
- 30% of Fortune 100 companies have OSPOs, most of them are using GitHub.
- 50% of first time contributors in GitHub work on commercially backed projects.
- Tom Preston-Werner, one of the founders and former CEO of GitHub, created TOML configuration file format.
- TOML is named after Tom Preston-Werner. It is short for Tom’s Obvious Minimal Language.
- Among the four founders, Chris Wanstrath is the only one that didn’t have a computer science related degree. He majored in English and then dropped out of college.
- Chris Wanstrath taught himself how to program.
- In 2018, Microsoft acquired GitHub at a whooping $7.5 billion, 25 times GitHub’s revenue in 2017.
- The acquisition made GitHub’s founders instant billionaires.
- GitHub’s main competition in the open source industry is GitLab.
- In February 28, 2018, GitHub was pummeled by the biggest DDoS attack the company has ever received with a size of 1.3 Terabytes per second, sending packets at a rate of 126.9 million per second!
Sources: Celebrity Networth, Forbes 1, Forbes 2, Forbes 3, Cloud Flare, Real Python, GitHub
GitHub: Company Overview (About)
GitHub was founded on the 8th of February, 2008 and then launched on the 10th of April within the same year. GitHub is based in San Francisco, and it has 4 founders.
At a glance:
Source: Github 1, Github 2, Microsoft
GitHub Funding History
GitHub has raised a total of $350M in funding over 5 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Jul 28, 2016 from a Series B round.
Source: Crunchbase
GitHub Investments
GitHub has made 4 investments. Their most recent investment was on Nov 7, 2022, when EdgeDB raised $15M.
Source: Crunchbase
GitHub Acquisitions
GitHub has acquired 8 organizations. Their most recent acquisition was NPM on Mar 16, 2020.
Source: Crunchbase
GitHub Valuation
In 2012, GitHub was too small to have any significant valuation, but as of 2015, the company was valued at $2 billion USD.
Three years later, in 2018, GitHub saw a huge expansion as it was valued at almost $8 billion USD.

Sources: TechCrunch, CNBC
GitHub Revenue
GitHub’s financials were reported as part of Microsoft’s Intelligent Cloud segment when they acquired the company in October 2018 at $7.5 billion.

Sources: CNBC 1, CNBC 2, TechCrunch
How many developers are there in GitHub throughout the years?
Developers and users are interchangeable in GitHub since almost all of the users are developers.

Sources: GitHub 1, GitHub 2, GitHub 3, GitHub 4, GitHub 5, GitHub 6
How many repositories were created in GitHub per year?
Throughout the years, developers in GitHub had been creating repositories left and right. As of June 2022, GitHub reported that there are more than 200 million active repositories.

Sources: GitHub 1, GitHub 2, GitHub 3, GitHub 4, GitHub 5, GitHub 6
How many organizations were using GitHub throughout the years?
These are the number of active organizations that were using GitHub throughout the years:

GitHub also noted:
Sources: GitHub 1, GitHub 2, GitHub 3, GitHub 4, GitHub 5, GitHub 6
What are the top 10 most popular programming languages used in GitHub?

Source: GitHub
Who are the top 10 most popular GitHub users/developers based on GitHub stars?
As of November 2022, this is the unofficial list of the ranking:

Sources: Gitstar-ranking
Who are the top 10 most popular GitHub users/developers based on the number of followers?
As of November 2022, this is the unofficial list of the ranking:

Source: wangchujiang
What are the most popular organizations in GitHub based on GitHub stars?
As of November 2022, this is the unofficial list of the ranking:
Source: Gitstar-Ranking
What are the most popular repositories in GitHub based on GitHub stars?
As of November 2022, this is the unofficial list of the ranking:
Source: Gitstar-Ranking
What are the most popular projects in GitHub based on the number of forks?
As of November 2022, these are the most popular projects in GitHub based on the number of forks:
Source: GitHub
What are the largest open source projects by contributor count in GitHub?
These are the top open source projects by contributors in GitHub during the past year as of October 2022 :

Source: GitHub
What are the top projects in GitHub with the highest contributor growth?
These are the top open source projects by contributors in GitHub during the past year as of October 2022 :
Source: GitHub
GitHub Mobile App Stats: Android vs iOS
These are the key stats and key info on GitHub’s mobile app on Android as of November 2022:
These are the key stats and key info on GitHub’s mobile app on iOS as of November 2022:
Source: GooglePlay, AppStore, venturebeat 1, venturebeat 2
How does GitHub earn money?
GitHub earn revenues through subscription plans and fees on third party apps sales. Presently, GitHub offers 3 distinct subscription plans that caters to both individuals and teams:
- Free
- Team
- Enterprise
Source: Productmint
GitHub earns through subscription plans and prices
Presently, GitHub offers distinct subscription plans: Free, Team, and Enterprise.
The free subscription plan is included in the last as GitHub’s subscription is a freemium model where users that subscribed in the Free plan would be lured into subscribing on paid plans to access more features.
The following lists presents the pricing for each subscription plan:
- Free: $0 per user, per year
- Team: $44 per user, per year
- Enterprise: $231 per user, per year
Source: GitHub, Productmint
GitHub earns through marketplace
Users in GitHub are free to create and list paid version of their apps wherein other users can then download and utilize these apps for their own uses.
GitHub generates revenue through this when users opt in to use these paid apps, a percentage of these earnings goes to GitHub via GitHub Marketplace plus transaction fees.
Users can choose to use the apps either:
- free: cost nothing
- pay a flat rate: prices vary, (no official data)
- pay per unit used: prices vary, (no official data)
Source: GitHub, Productmint
GitHub Number of Employees throughout the years
Just like any other company, as GitHub started to expand, there was a greater need for employees.
The graph below speaks for itself: in 2017, there were less than 1,000 people working at GitHub , and by 2022, there were 5,000 people hired for GitHub.

Below you can see a table-view of the data relating to how many people are employed at GitHub.
Sources: GitHub 1, GitHub 2, Linkedin, CNBC
GitHub Geographic Distribution of Employees
Much like GitHub’s developer community, GitHub is globally distributed. With 63% of the Hubbers working remotely prior to COVID-19, GitHub was able to adjust quickly when the pandemic hit.
The programs to support remote workers were extended to all Hubbers, such as the $1,500 USD stipend for all employees to set up their home offices, a telecommunications stipend, and ergonomic evaluation.Source: GitHub
GitHub Geographic Distribution of Employees - 2019
- 51.7 % of GitHub employees worked in Home Offices
- 29.8% of GitHub employees worked in San Francisco HQ
- 12.6% of GitHub employees worked in Coworking Space
- 5.8% of GitHub employees worked in Local Offices
Source: GitHub
GitHub Geographic Distribution of Employees - 2020
- 53.8% of GitHub employees worked in Home Offices
- 23.3% of GitHub employees worked in San Francisco HQ
- 9.8% of GitHub employees worked in Coworking Space
- 13.1 % of GitHub employees worked in Local Offices
Source: GitHub
GitHub Employees Racial Diversity (US)
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2019 (US - Overall)
The following data reflects the state of DI&B; at GitHub as of July 1st, 2020.
GitHub is aware that the standard reporting categories mandated by the U.S. federal government don’t currently support the diverse range of identities celebrated and represented among Hubbers (Employees).
The following is GitHub’s overall percentage distribution of racial and ethnic minorities in 2019:
Source: GitHub
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2019 (US - Technical Roles)
The following is GitHub’s percentage distribution of racial and ethnic minorities working on technical roles in 2019:
Source: GitHub
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2019 (US - Management)
The following is GitHub’s percentage distribution of racial and ethnic minorities working on management in 2019:
Source: GitHub
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2019 (US - Women)
As part of their advocacy to promote women empowerment, GitHub presented data of their women employees’ or hubbers’ racial diversity in 2019:
Source: GitHub
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2020 (US - Overall)
With more than 1,170 new Hubbers joining GitHub from September 2021 up to October 2022, GitHub experienced significant growth across its employee base.
Simultaneously, GitHub continued to make strides in becoming a more diverse company, aiming to reflect the 90M+ developers around the globe that the company serve daily.
As GitHub continues to grow, their vision of being the home for all developers continues to materialize, expanding their progress, perspectives, and responsibility to the world.
The following is GitHub’s overall percentage distribution of racial and ethnic minorities in 2020:
Source: GitHub
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2020 (US - Technical Roles)
The following is GitHub’s percentage distribution of racial and ethnic minorities working on technical roles in 2020:
Source: GitHub
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2020 (US - Management)
The following is GitHub’s percentage distribution of racial and ethnic minorities working on management in 2020:
Source: GitHub
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2020 (US - Women)
As part of their advocacy to promote women empowerment, GitHub presented data of their women employees’ or hubbers’ racial diversity in 2020:
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2021 (US)
Since GitHub’s last report in 2020, Black, Asian, and Multiracial populations all saw improvements in representation.
GitHub’s Black Hubber population, in particular, had a significant growth which was much higher than what was reported in 2020.
Source: GitHub
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2021 (US - Overall)
The following is GitHub’s overall percentage distribution of racial and ethnic minorities in 2021:
Source: GitHub
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2021 (US - Technical Roles)
The following is GitHub’s percentage distribution of racial and ethnic minorities working on technical roles in 2021:
Source: GitHub
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2021 (US - Management)
The following is GitHub’s percentage distribution of racial and ethnic minorities working on management in 2021:
Source: GitHub
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2021 (US - Women)
As part of their advocacy to promote women empowerment, GitHub presented data of their women employees’ or hubbers’ racial diversity in 2021:
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2022 (US - Overall)
Since GitHub’s last report, Black, Asian, and Multiracial populations all saw improvements in representation.
Our Black Hubber population, in particular, more than doubled (from FY20 to FY22), and had an annual growth rate in FY22 of +60.3%, which was higher than that of GitHub US. There were improvements in other populations as well.
In the past two years, the number of Asian and Multiracial US Hubbers nearly doubled. And GitHub saw Black women also increase their representation.
Mirroring the last census results in the US, it can be seen that the category of multiracial Hubbers grew the most—a sign of how GitHub’s overall demographics are changing toward a more racially converging society.
While these achievements are a reason to pause and reflect on their progress, GitHub acknowledge there is room to grow—and is have excited to try new initiatives in plan to do so.
The following is GitHub’s overall percentage distribution of racial and ethnic minorities in 2022:
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Source: GitHub
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2022 (US - Technical Roles)
The following is GitHub’s percentage distribution of racial and ethnic minorities working on technical roles in 2022:
.jpg)
Source: GitHub
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2022 (US - Management)
The following is GitHub’s percentage distribution of racial and ethnic minorities working on management in 2022:
.jpg)
Source: GitHub
GitHub employees racial diversity - 2022 (US - Women)
As part of their advocacy to promote women empowerment, GitHub presented data of their women employees’ or hubbers’ racial diversity in 2021:
.jpg)
GitHub diversity in senior leadership roles - 2021 (US)
The following data presents percentage distribution of GitHub’s employees or hubbers in senior leadership roles in 2021:
- Women: 22.1%
- Black: 3.0%
- Latinx: 5.4%
- Asian: 16.0%
- Multiracial: 3.9%
Source: GitHub
GitHub diversity in senior leadership roles - 2022 (US)
The following data presents percentage distribution of GitHub’s employees or hubbers in senior leadership roles in 2022:
- Women: 23.6 %
- Black: 3.1%
- Latinx: 4.9%
- Asian: 15.0%
- Multiracial: 4.9%
Source: GitHub
GitHub gender distribution of employees (Global)
According to GitHub, in 2022, the overall representation of women reached 30.7% an increase of more than one full percentage point from the prior year.
The representation of women increased by +2.3 percentage points to 24.5%. A good portion of the population in the management position, which is 33.4%, are women that are above their representation from the previous year, strengthening the leadership pipeline.
Furthermore, the new hire population are made up of women at 33.4%.Source: GitHub
GitHub gender distribution of employees - 2019 (Global)
This is the data of gender distribution of employees or hubbers in 2019:
Overall (2019)
- Male: 66.8%
- Female: 33.2%
Technical Roles (2019)
- Male: 77.9%
- Female: 22.1%
Management (2019)
- Male: 66.8%
- Female 33.2%
Source: GitHub
GitHub gender distribution of employees - 2020 (Global)
This is the data of gender distribution of employees or hubbers in 2020:
Overall (2020)
- Male: 71.4%
- Female: 28.6%
Technical Roles (2020)
- Male: 80.4%
- Female: 19.6%
Management (2020)
- Male 66.8%
- Female: 33.2%
Source: GitHub
GitHub gender distribution of employees - 2021 (Global)
This is the data of gender distribution of employees or hubbers in 2021:
Overall (2021)
- Male: 70.4%
- Female: 29.6%
Technical Roles (2021)
- Male: 77.9%
- Female: 22.1%
Management (2021)
- Male 68.7%
- Female: 31.8%
Source: GitHub
GitHub gender distribution of employees - 2022 (Global)
This is the data of gender distribution of employees or hubbers in 2022:
Overall (2022)
- Male: 69.3%
- Female: 30.7%
Technical Roles (2022)
- Male: 75.5%
- Female: 24.5%
Management (2022)
- Male 66.6%
- Female: 33.4%
Source: GitHub
GitHub employees’ annual population growth rate, FY1- FY22 (Global)
As of October 22, for two years in a row, there is a significant growth in GitHub’s global employee population.
There is an increase of +37%. Github has hired 1,178 new employees or hubbers in FY22 with a hiring growth of 32.8%, making 41.9% of GitHub’s population new in FY22.
GitHub also reported an increase of +41.1% in the employee population of US and ethnic minorities.
Representation of Black employee population also grew by +60.3%, outpacing the US population growth.
An increase in Github’s Latinx employee population by +25.5% and GitHub’s US multiracial employee population also grew by +67.3%.
The following is the data of GitHub’s employee or hubber annual population growth rate:
- Women: 42.2%
- Black: 60.3%
- Latinx: 25.5%
- Asian: 37.7%
- Multiracial: 67.3%
Source: GitHub
GitHub Website Traffic Analysis
These are the data collected on GitHub’s Website Traffic Analysis as of November 2022:
Source: HypeStat
GitHub Traffic Summary
Source: HypeStat
GitHub Website Traffic Sources
- Direct sources: 49.20% of the traffic
- Referral sources: 15.80% of the traffic
- Search sources: 29.91% of the traffic
- Social sources: 5.07% of the traffic
- Paid sources: 0.02% of the traffic
Source: HypeStat
GitHub Traffic Source: Desktop vs Mobile
- 62.36% of the users visit the website through desktop devices
- 37.64% of the users visit the website through mobile devices

Source: HypeStat
What are the top countries using GitHub?
The following data shows the top countries using GitHub:

Source: Similarweb
GitHub Average Time Spent on Visit
The average visit duration of GitHub users on the website is:
- 07:43

Souce: Similarweb