Migrating from GitHub to Azure DevOps
Azure DevOps and GitHub both handle ci cd pipelines and sprint planning, but they differ on pricing — GitHub comes in $2/user/mo/user/mo lower. This guide covers how to move your team across without losing data, context, or momentum.
At a Glance
- Dominant platform for source control and collaboration — used by 100M+ developers, making it the de facto standard for open-source and most commercial software teams
- GitHub Copilot is the leading AI coding assistant, deeply integrated into the platform with code completion, PR summaries, chat, and workspace planning
- GitHub Actions provides powerful, flexible CI/CD built directly into the repository with a massive ecosystem of community-authored actions
- All-in-one DevOps platform combining boards, repos, pipelines, test plans, and artifacts in a single product
- Generous free tier with full functionality for up to 5 users and free CI/CD minutes — ideal for small teams and startups
- Deep native integration with the Microsoft ecosystem including Azure, Visual Studio, GitHub, and Microsoft Teams
You leave behind
- −mobile app
Migration Steps
Audit and export your current workspace
Before touching Azure DevOps, document what lives in GitHub: projects and tasks, custom fields, automations, integrations, and team permissions. Export a full CSV backup — most tools support this from Settings → Export. Pay particular attention to any custom fields and workflow automations that your team relies on daily.
Set up your Azure DevOps workspace
Create your Azure DevOps workspace and replicate your project structure using epics, stories, and sprints. Azure DevOps starts at $6/user/mo/user/mo with a free tier available — budget $2/user/mo more per user. Run with a single pilot team before migrating everyone.
Map your workflow equivalents
Find the closest Azure DevOps equivalent for each GitHub feature your team relies on. projects and tasks in GitHub maps to epics, stories, and sprints in Azure DevOps. Azure DevOps supports custom fields — recreate your GitHub field schema here first. Prioritise the critical path: task creation, status tracking, and assignment.
Import your data
Azure DevOps supports CSV import for tasks and projects and has 20+ native integrations. After importing, rebuild your key automations — Azure DevOps's automation engine can replicate most rules you had in GitHub. Start with your most active project rather than importing everything at once.
Onboard your team
Run a 30-minute walkthrough covering the daily workflow: how to create epics, stories, and sprints, update status, and find your board. Azure DevOps has a steeper learning curve. Budget 2–3 weeks for full adoption and schedule follow-up sessions after week one.
Run GitHub in parallel for two weeks
Keep GitHub read-only while your team works primarily in Azure DevOps. This reduces risk and lets people reference historical context — old decisions, archived tickets, past sprint data — without slowing the migration. After two weeks with no new work going into GitHub, archive the workspace and make Azure DevOps the official home.
Ready to switch?
Read the full Azure DevOps review for pricing, integrations, and team fit details.