Sourcegraph vs Sourcetrail: What are the differences?

Introduction

Here is a comparison between Sourcegraph and Sourcetrail, highlighting their key differences.

1. Integration with IDEs: One key difference between Sourcegraph and Sourcetrail lies in their integration with Integrated Development Environments (IDEs). Sourcegraph offers seamless integration with popular IDEs such as Visual Studio Code, IntelliJ, and Sublime Text, allowing developers to perform code searches and navigate through their codebase without leaving their IDE. On the other hand, Sourcetrail provides a standalone application that needs to be launched separately from the IDE, requiring developers to switch between the IDE and Sourcetrail for code exploration.

2. Code Intelligence: Sourcegraph is primarily built as a code search and navigation tool, offering features like jump-to-definition, find-references, and code intelligence. It provides rich contextual information about code symbols, including documentation and examples. In contrast, Sourcetrail goes beyond code search and navigation, offering more extensive code intelligence capabilities. It analyzes the codebase to generate an interlinked graph of dependencies and relations, allowing developers to visualize and explore the code in a comprehensive manner.

3. Language Support: Another significant difference between Sourcegraph and Sourcetrail is their language support. Sourcegraph has broader language support, including popular programming languages like Java, Python, JavaScript, Go, and more. It also supports multiple code-hosting platforms like GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket. On the other hand, Sourcetrail currently focuses on a more limited set of languages, with primary support for C, C++, and Python, although additional languages may be added in future updates.

4. Code Collaboration: Sourcegraph emphasizes code collaboration by providing features like code reviews, discussions, and annotations. It allows multiple users to review and comment on code changes within the platform, promoting collaboration and knowledge sharing among team members. In contrast, Sourcetrail is more centered around individual code exploration and analysis, lacking dedicated features for code collaboration.

5. Platform Accessibility: Sourcegraph is web-based and can be accessed through a web browser, making it platform-independent. Users can access Sourcegraph from any operating system with a compatible web browser, without the need for additional software installation. Sourcetrail, on the other hand, relies on a standalone application that needs to be installed on the user's machine. This could limit accessibility for developers who prefer to work on different platforms or have restricted installation permissions.

6. Pricing and Support: Sourcegraph offers both free and paid plans, providing different levels of functionalities and support for enterprise customers. It offers dedicated support channels and additional features tailored towards the needs of organizations. Sourcetrail, on the other hand, provides a free version for personal use and a paid version for businesses. However, the paid version of Sourcetrail only includes priority support without additional enterprise-specific features.

In Summary, Sourcegraph provides seamless IDE integration, extensive code intelligence, broader language support, code collaboration features, platform accessibility, and comprehensive enterprise support. Sourcetrail, on the other hand, focuses on standalone code exploration, specialized language support, free personal use, and a simplified pricing structure.