When comparing GitStack vs Meat!, the Slant community recommends GitStack for most people. In the question“What are the best self-hosted web-based Git repository managers?” GitStack is ranked 13th while Meat! is ranked 19th. The most important reason people chose GitStack is:
GitStack is free and open source. It's source code can be found on GitHub.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Free and open source
GitStack is free and open source. It's source code can be found on GitHub.
Pro FREE Business Edition if you write a blog post about them
They offer a FREE Business Edition if you have a blog and write a post about them. That's $720 you don't have to pay.
Pro Easy setup
There is a wizard setup that installs GitStack on windows in about 3 minutes.
Pro Can manage users and groups out of the box
GitStack supports user and group management and permissions. Different users or groups can have different permissions.
Pro LDAP support
The Lightweight Directory Access Protocol is an application protocol for accessing and maintaining distributed directory information services over an Internet Protocol (IP) network.
Pro Nice material design
The design is minimalistic and based on today's standarts on material design. It uses colors which are pleasing to the eye and displays the information in an ordered way. The main view shows the latest activity sorted in a chronological order, displaying commits and pushes.
Every repo has it's own view, on the top there's the repo's name and a dropdown which displays the current branch with the ability to change to another branch or to create a new one.
On the right there's a vertical menu with links to add a new file, show the history or to download the current repository.
Pro Deployment is very easy
Deploying Meat! is very easy and it can be done in multiple platforms by using Virtual Machines such as Mware Fusion, VirtualBox, VM Workstation & Payer, or vSphere.
Cons
Con Windows only
Unfortunately GitStack is not cross-platform. It only runs on windows.
Con Does not support issue tracking
There is no issue tracking out of the box for GitStack, companies that choose to use it usually have a issue tracking software already installed and running.
Con Git only
Supports only Git version control system.
Con Clear Port 80
When installing, you must have port 80 clear or it won't install. You can change the port after install, but for install, it must be clear.
Con Not open source with a license prone to errors
Although the self-hosted version is completely free and unlimited, it's not open source. It's proprietary license is filled with errors and it's open to a lot of interpretations in the future.
For example:
IF YOU DO NOT OWN THE SOFTWARE, THEN DO NOT DOWNLOAD,
INSTALL, COPY OR USE THE SOFTWARE.
Should be:
You further acknowledge that title and full ownership
rights to the Software will remain the exclusive property
of BigHit and/or its suppliers,