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I am about to start a project (.NET) and need to decide between TFS and SVN.

I am more used to SVN(with tortoise client), CVS and VSS. Does TFS have all features available in SVN

Have any of you switched from SVN to TFS and found it worthwhile?
Also it looks like we may need Visual Studio if we need to work with TFS.

[Edit]
Money is not a consideration since we already have the licenses for TFS in place. And I am more interested in the Source Control features of TFS vs SVN, of course other features list is also welcome.

Binoj Antony
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    Ended up using TFS, for all new projects we use TFS. I am the **unofficial** the TFS admin now! The TFS workitem is helpful as well to check-in the code against, as well as tracking status of tasks/bugs. – Binoj Antony Sep 29 '11 at 12:04
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    Sorry, I have to say. When choosing between two evils, pick neither. I would strongly suggest checking out git (or Mercurial, if you must). Of course, it is just VCS, but difference between that and SVN is like ... whatever image you can imagine. – mcepl Jun 25 '16 at 22:06
  • TFS wins in my opinion mainly just because of the Task Integration from TFS to the IDE and the KanBan board system you get with Sprints in the TFS web app. I need a task to work on, I can go to the TFS web app to the Sprint Cycle we are in, crab the Task from Proposed, and drag it to the Active Column. I do the task, check in the code against that task, then I move the task to resolved. It's a PM's Dream. The PM makes me the tasks, and when I resolve one they review it and close it or push it back to me. In my experience (having used both at jobs) TFS boosts productivity over svn. – Ryan Mann Oct 12 '16 at 16:17

16 Answers16

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"One can not compare between TFS and SVN"

SVN: is Source Code Versioning System
TFS: is full fledged Software Development Management system which contains, Version control, Release management, Requirements tracking, Document publishing and other things.

Both have nice to use IDE integration add-ins(e.g. AnkhSVN, Collabnet's add-in) available for VS2005, so that is not the point to consider.

Criteria to consider for choice:
- If you have a no or small budget project choose SVN
- If you are only looking for version control system choose SVN, if you are looking for complete development management choose TFS
- If you have patience to juggle with different integration tools (CruiseControl.Net, NUnit, NCover, FIT) to achieve proper development environment choose SVN, or if you are looking for out of the box implementation of all these for you then choose TFS

NileshChauhan
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    @nils : I definitely disagree about the "both have nice IDE integration". TFS integration into VS is perfect. SVN integration is incomplete (a lot of features are only available from command line), and sometimes a bit buggy. IDE integration is certainly an important thing to consider. – Brann Mar 19 '09 at 10:06
  • IMHO, lot of times my visual studio starts crawling as well. If you look for a proper add-in u will get a lesser buggy one. – NileshChauhan Mar 19 '09 at 10:42
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    The SVN plugins for VS are pretty good and after the pain I've gone through with TFS, never again. TFS may be fully integrated with VS, but it doesn't mean that it makes the actual version controlling or simple functions any better. – achinda99 Mar 19 '09 at 15:26
  • @achinda99 : what SVN plugin are you using? – Brann Mar 19 '09 at 15:27
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    @Brann: VisualSVN is good, so is AnkhSVN – achinda99 Mar 19 '09 at 15:49
  • @achinda99 : well, I've had a lot of problems using AnkhSVN, maybe it's my fault and maybe I was not using it as I should have, but in the end, even if the software is used incorrectly, it's always the software's fault – Brann Mar 19 '09 at 16:08
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    I had problems with AnkhSVN until recently, when I upgraded to the latest 2.1.x version. Since then I haven't had any issues. – sgwill Aug 20 '09 at 11:24
  • Once again someone tries to compare apples with oranges!! :) – caveman_dick May 05 '10 at 20:18
  • Unless you're under the latest TFS (2k10 as of this comment), you still need to juggle different integration tools to achieve a "proper development environment". – user7116 Jan 19 '11 at 19:41
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Having used TFS 18 months back I found it buggy, slow, annoying, very limited search criteria and it had the feel of a product rushed out by a team of un-interested, under paid, over worked techs being forced to use Sharepoint and other MS technologies because that's what marketing wanted. Seriously it was a dog, I would have rather used SourceSafe!

SVN on the other hand is bit techie, IDE integration is a pain, and it can occasionally get confused, but the user base is massive and most issue can get resolved with a quick SO quesition.

Have you considered Vault? Works well, and isn't too pricey.

MrTelly
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  • 18 months ago that would have been a fair comment; with TFS 2008 SP1 the situation is much improved and it's no longer slow or buggy. – Greg Beech Mar 19 '09 at 08:37
  • I've never experienced a single bug in TFS since SP1 – Brann Mar 19 '09 at 08:42
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    18 months is a _very_ long time. It's current version is very stable and works very well. – Pure.Krome Mar 19 '09 at 09:53
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    Maybe a fail, but that doesn't exucse releasing such poor software, I'm happy to be wrong, but it's a valid point of view. – MrTelly Mar 19 '09 at 10:20
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    Vault is absolutely horrible. It is the worst source control system I've ever used. – Charles Boyung Jan 05 '11 at 14:19
  • @Charles - have you used SourceSafe? Vault = SourceSafe done right, not the best VCS but certainly ok, how about PVCS as the all time worst? – MrTelly Jan 06 '11 at 02:02
  • Actually, I would say that SourceSafe is SourceSafe done right. Modern versions of SourceSafe actually aren't terrible (Not good, mind you, but not nearly as bad as it used to be). Vault has so many issues that I could barely get it to check things in properly. PVCS isn't even that bad, although its VS integration is far worse, which does drop it down right with Vault. – Charles Boyung Jan 06 '11 at 13:56
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I would only recommend TFS if you were using the 2013 version and using the Git based repository. I've encountered too many issues with the previous versions to consider them stable.

  • It's impossible to send multiple files to your diff tool at once. This is ridiculously useful when you want to review your changes before a merge and isn't available.
  • Inconsistent availability of functionality. Some functionality is available from only within the IDE while other pieces are only available from Windows Explorer, while still others are only available from the command line.
  • Adding files to version control is not available from the IDE and only available from Windows Explorer integration.
  • Accessing shelf sets is only available from within the IDE and not available through Windows Explorer integration.
  • Lack of a single unified installer. It's not enough just to install TFS, you also have to install team tools and power tools to get basic functionality.
  • Shelf set functionality does not merge. What could have been a cool way of doing private branches, essentially guarantees your code will go out of date and stop working.
  • You have to manually unlock text files before you edit them if you need to use an editor other than Visual Studio.
  • Sometimes Visual Studio forgets to unlock files that it itself is managing and throws an error.
  • The check in and shelving UIs base available files for commit on what has already been added to TFS and not what is actually present within the file system. This makes it extremely easy to miss files. (This is actually a problem with the way Visual Studio handles project files, but that in itself is another rant).
  • It is unnecessarily difficult to use non Microsoft tools for editing your source due to the previously mentioned issues.
  • TFS configuration is committed with your source. This means that if you change your TFS server the configuration for all your history is now incorrect. There is a default configuration you can use which overrides this behavior but it is not obvious.
  • No support for ignore filters at anything but the base level.
  • Inability to handle paths of greater than 249 characters.
  • Files that have been unlocked, but not edited show show up as changed, even though they haven't been. Differentiating between changed and unlocked would make it a lot easier for diffs, or better yet doing away with the entire broken unlocking system entirely.
  • Windows Explorer icon overlays don't clearly show whether a file has been edited. All file in TFS have a green corner while modified files add a pencil to the bottom of the icon. Switching to red corner for modified would be a lot easier to see or using the tortoise system of icons.
  • Older versions of Visual Studio have problems integrating within newer versions of TFS. This means we now have an IDE version dependency in source control.
  • Includes the user solution files by default when they aren't needed. Of course I'll admit this one might be a matter of preference.
  • Bad caching makes it possible that differences between your local copy and the server aren't accurately reflected. It's extremely frustrating to Get Latest and find that you don't actually have latest.
Chris Walter
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It's been 1.5 years now that I'm using SVN for various projects. Setups I've used so far:

  • AnkhSVN client for Visual Studio. It integrates nicely as Source Control provider since version 2.
  • Servers either CollabNet Subversion on windows or Apache 2.2 with SSL + SVN through DAV on linux.

Haven't had any problems with any of these setups and I definetly recommend using SVN as it's free and easy to start using. Also many project management / bug tracking packages integrate with SVN (like trac for instance).

Saulius Žemaitaitis
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I'd pick SVN. I've worked with SVN from a developer standpoint before and I currently work with TFS, and let me tell you that TFS is painful. While TFS is feature full and is more than just version control, its version control is sloppy at best. Merging is horrendous and many of us now turn to manual merging or merge tools because we can't rely on TFS. Files go missing, aren't downloaded to the local system sometimes, and there are just oddities in its behavior that make you want to bang your head against a desk.

That being said, if you want TFS in all its glory, are willing to work with its pain points, it is a great tool to setup automated builds, and releases.

achinda99
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Check out this article before you decide: A Comparison of TFS vs Subversion for Open Source Projects

Sakkle
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    I not Jeffs comment in the article with amusement "Codeplex will never, ever support Subversion...its an architectural impossibility" (made 2 years ago). Never, say never, like "we will never need more that 640K of memory". ;) – AnthonyWJones Mar 19 '09 at 08:24
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I've used both - but actually, I've switched my main projects from TFS into SVN. I find the offline and anonymous access very valuable in my projects.

In general, I think they are comparable. I would just pick the one you know the best, and you are the happiest maintaining. I don't find the specific features in one dramatically outweight the features in the other system.

Reed Copsey
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  • Yep - sure does and that works great, too! – Pure.Krome Mar 19 '09 at 09:54
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    Even though it does, the fundamental model of offline access is, I must say, broken. The "check out" action is rather ludicrous in a disconnected model, but TFS still makes you do it. And if you don't, it doesn't recognize your changes like SVN does. Ugh! – Dave Markle Sep 17 '09 at 02:04
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If you're familiar with svn I'd stick with it. Tfs isn't free and isn't simple. It does far more than just source control. If you're a .net shop like us and you're deciding what product to use for the whole dev cycle it's a contender, but for simple source control it's overkill.

danswain
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Well, to me, the choice is obviously TFS :

  • SVN integration into Visual Studio is incomplete to say the least (a lot of features aren't available from the IDE), and a bit buggy (AnkhSVN certainly is), while TFS one is perfect (which makes sense...). I've had my whole workspace corrupted several times using SVN (during one month), never using TFS (aprox 2 years)

  • While Source-Control related features of both systems are probably quite equivalent, they are accessible directly from the IDE with TFS, while you have to rely on TortoiseSVN or other external tools if you use SVN. Almost all TFS tasks are accessible in a few clicks on the solution explorer tab.

  • Merging is a lot easier with TFS, even for complex merges (for example, SVN will add <<<<<<'s and >>>>>>>>>'s to your .csproj files, so you'll need to manually edit them to open them again from VS.)

While I think those reasons are more than enough to prefer TFS over SVN, I mus add that :

  • TFS is more than just a source-control tool (think work items, project portal, etc.)

    I've used it on a medium-sized project (12 coders, 3 testers, 3 business analysts) in the past, and we've been able to successfully centralize all the tasks in TFS (bug reports, project documentation, build process, etc.)

    I'm not saying it's not possible to do the same using SVN and other third-party tools, but it's definitely nice to have all things nicely integrated in one product.

To stay fair, here are the two obvious drawbacks of TFS :

  • Its price

  • Installing TFS is quite a pain, while SVN installation is a matter of minutes.

    Installing TFS 2008 over SqlServer 2008 is quite complicated, you cannot install TFS on a PDC, etc. To me, it's definetely the worst installation experience I've ever had with a Microsoft product.

    That being said, once installed, TFS is very easy to use (especially for coders not familiar with source control systems)

In my current project, I started with SVN, and quickly switched to TFS. I'm happy I did.

The main reason why I've decided to switch is clearly the overall buggy behaviour of SVN (I was using VisualSVN as a server and AnkhSVN as a client). At least once a week, I found myself spending hours on cryptical AnkhSVN error messages.

To date, I haven't found a single reason to regret the switch to TFS.

Brann
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  • Actually there is shelving in latest Subversion release. – Eugene Morozov Mar 19 '09 at 09:02
  • Also check SVN annotate command to check who touched a particular line of code. Don't know whether it works in the VS integration, but works perfectly in Emacs. :) – Eugene Morozov Mar 19 '09 at 09:03
  • TFS is a PITA to install, but done right it's pure magic – Jonathan C Dickinson Mar 19 '09 at 09:12
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    svn + visual svn and tortoise svn is very seamless and not buggy in the slightest. – Dan Mar 19 '09 at 09:41
  • Never had any troubles with SVN, either on the server or on the client side. We use the command-line client, and the server is plugged into Apache. – Anton Tykhyy Mar 19 '09 at 09:51
  • @Eugene : I've updated my post accordingly. thanks for the hint! – Brann Mar 19 '09 at 09:58
  • @Dan : I was thinking of AnkhSvn when I wrote the 'buggy' word. I've updated my post accordingly. – Brann Mar 19 '09 at 09:58
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    You actually got cryptic error messages with AnkhSVN? When I had it installed, Visual Studio would just crash whenever it wanted to. – Jason Baker Mar 19 '09 at 13:50
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    I find it extremely hard to believe how big a proponent of TFS you are, because I use it at work and its the most painful thing I have come across. It does a horrible job at merging and while SVN may add markers on conflicts, those are easy to fix. Files go missing when you use TFS! TFS sucks... – achinda99 Mar 19 '09 at 15:20
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    @achinda99. Well, in my personal experience, I've never experienced any problems with TFS, while I've had a lot with AnkhSVN. Now, I don't pretend my viewpoint is universal ; YMMV ... – Brann Mar 19 '09 at 15:26
  • @Brann: Which AnkhSVN did you try to come to this conclusion? The AnkhSVN 1.X codebase of years ago or the 2.0 rewrite of AnkhSVN we released last year? – Bert Huijben Mar 19 '09 at 15:59
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    If users have questions on the usability of AnkhSVN, please let us know at users@ankhsvn.open.collab.net.. If you look at our mail archive (available on that sit) you see that most real user issues are handled within a few hours; but we can't help users that don't ask us. – Bert Huijben Mar 19 '09 at 16:04
  • @Bert: I tried the new 2.0 branch, it was 2 month ago. – Brann Mar 19 '09 at 16:05
  • @Bert for example : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/458791/how-can-i-change-the-repository-url-using-ankhsvn-2-x – Brann Mar 19 '09 at 16:07
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    TFS is a pain for merging beyond "simple merges" because of its Check-Out/Check-In model. I loathe having to "check out" files. – user7116 Mar 19 '09 at 16:48
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    @Brann, I can't find a trace from you on any of the AnkhSVN support forums? (User list, Error list, Uservoice page, Irc).. But you can find my month old answer in that question. – Bert Huijben Mar 19 '09 at 16:56
  • @Bert: don't get me wrong, I don't imply that AnkhSVN is a bad plugin. I'm just saying it's still work in progress, and is nowhere close to the integration quality of TFS into VS. – Brann Mar 19 '09 at 17:08
  • @Brann: Nothing will achieve an integration quality of TFS in VS because its not a plugin. Its a full featured component of VS Team System. How well its integrated doesn't change its sloppiness in checking out/in, merging and branching. – achinda99 Mar 19 '09 at 17:51
  • @achinda99: well, I haven't experienced the sloppiness you complain about, at least with TFS 2008 SP1 – Brann Mar 19 '09 at 18:07
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    @Brann, I simply cannot believe your remark about SVN and merging .csproj files. If you think TFS will merge those effortlessly you're in for a big surprise when handling big merges. – Sardaukar Sep 03 '09 at 08:53
  • @Sardaukar : I'm using TFS on a rather big solution. Merge are usually effortless, occasionally I've got to do it manually. That's a HUGE improvement over SVN which requires a manual intervention for each and every merge... – Brann Sep 03 '09 at 08:59
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    Ankh is much more mature now. you should give it another try – Simon Apr 29 '10 at 05:22
  • @Simon - Ankh is still a pretty crappy plugin. I've had tons of problems with it in the past two weeks alone. It can handle simple commits fine, but nothing else beyond that. – Charles Boyung Jan 05 '11 at 14:25
  • @achinda99 - I have serious doubts that you've ever even USED TFS. If you did, there's no way your comments would make any sense. – Charles Boyung Jan 05 '11 at 14:27
  • @sixlettervariables - TFS check-out/check-in is exactly the same as Subversion's commit model. Please explain to me how you think they are different. – Charles Boyung Jan 19 '11 at 18:55
  • TFS tracks what files are checked-out and part of this tracks where branches came from. SVN doesn't follow this. "Baseless" merges are nearly impossible to accomplish easily, which are far more frequent than MS apparently thinks. Especially if you try merging selected changesets between feature branches. We've learned to deal with it through brutally shallow branch trees. [I should state we're on TFS 2k5 with little hope of upgrading (hello corporate realities)] – user7116 Jan 19 '11 at 19:34
  • @sixlettervariables - So you're comparing SVN to a version of TFS that's two full revisions old? That's probably part of your problem. As for baseless merges, you most definitely can do them in TFS: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb668976.aspx The steps don't seem that different than what you do in SVN. It even looks like it works in 2k5, based on the date of the article. – Charles Boyung Jan 20 '11 at 22:00
  • @sixlettervariables - Also, exactly why is this a bad thing: "TFS tracks what files are checked-out and part of this tracks where branches came from." – Charles Boyung Jan 20 '11 at 22:01
  • @Charles Boyung: In 2009, when this was asked, it held true for 2k5 and 2k8. "Baseless merges" are particular to TFS and make it very difficult to do pick-and-choose branching/merging strategies. If you're used to non-MS source control, this is confusing. I'm aware it "works" but the mechanism by which is unpalatable in the long run. As to problems with branch tracking, my issue is it is only 1 level deep. Some advanced branching strategies fall flat. If you look at screenshots from MS, they use very shallow branching. So, "When in Rome". (Outside of TFS, we've dropped SVN for git) – user7116 Jan 20 '11 at 23:06
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    TFS sucks - simply by the virtue of having to depend on VS version. I am now going through the pain of making VS 2008 to use TFS and it's a time consuming process. You can't just check the file in in the TFS, you have to use VS to do that, you have to download a gazillion of updates and service packs while you could just open a SVN,check the file in, and go on with your primary task - coding. The point is, if you like wasting your time, go with TFS. If you like to code, go with SVN. – sarsnake Feb 02 '11 at 19:22
  • I have worked with many source control systems and i never had as much troubble as working with tfs, I will admit it has a fairly nice bug tracker but the source control portion is a nightmare. – Newtopian Mar 29 '11 at 15:21
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    I think that some of the stuff you wrote there are very subjective and sometimes inaccurate. I've used SVN for some years now and I find it to be very reliable, even when it comes to complex merging. I've yet to find any bugs using it and most issues are related to improper use of it (so you might say that there is a learning curve). – Adam Oren Aug 31 '11 at 07:04
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    Does TFS has the capability of two user working on the same file at the same time, and merging it automatically nicely like in SVN, which was the main feature I was aiming for when we did the move from VSS to SVN ? – Chathuranga Wijeratna Apr 17 '12 at 04:31
  • With a plug-in like Agent SVN, Visual Studio and Subversion do integrate seamlessly. – jussij Jun 05 '12 at 14:18
  • I just wanted to mention, since this question is 7 years old but still shows up near the top of google searches, that AnkhSVN integration with VS2015 seems pretty solid with a lot of features. I am sure that 7 years ago this was not the case but for anyone looking into it now, it's a good choice. – James Aug 25 '16 at 16:03
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I'd say TFS is more than just source control. If you can afford it, I would definitely advise to use it. When you start using Team Builds for example, or using stuff like Work Items, then you'll see that TFS can really manage your whole development life cycle, providing a rich environment in which reporting, ease of use, slick VS integration and solid source control are all rolled in to one.

It does require some iron on the server side. I do not find it to be slow however, it works nicely over VPN and supports offline work.

A major con is the install process (on the server side) which is tedious, non-flexible and in my mind (I come from a field in which packaging up apps and deployment are very important) a bad example of how SQL Server, Reporting Services, Sharepoint and webservices could be installed.

craziac
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In my experience SVN overall is far quicker and more painless. I've used it with XCOPY deployment scripts that allow you to work and deploy far faster overall in comparison to TFS.

Chris Halcrow
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TFS can import from SVN, however SVN cannot import from TFS. So if you don’t find a good reason otherwise use SVN, as it is easier to change your mind later.

One of the best things about SVN is that every source code control system I know of can import from it, so choosing SVN us a very low risk option.

Ian Ringrose
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Consider that TFS 2010 can be installed also on Windows Vista / 7 client OSs and that it supports an express, three clicks, installation.

Michele Di Cosmo
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I don't have experience with TFS, but IDE integration is something you should think about. TFS obviously integrates very well with Visual Studio. AnkhSVN, the only usable free plugin for VS, is often problematic, even in the new versions. I haven't tried VisualSVN, though.

Matthew Olenik
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    TFS integrates with VS, but is not so nice if you want to use it with anything but VS. To me, this is a tradeoff. SVN works better outside of VS, but there are other options. – Reed Copsey Mar 19 '09 at 08:05
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    Personally, I like tortoise-svn. The IDE should focus on letting me edit code - I can manage my repo separately, thanks. Most times, I won't do a commit without running my "proper" build/test script at the command-line anyway, so dropping out of the IDE isn't an issue. – Marc Gravell Mar 19 '09 at 08:09
  • A confirmation here: I don't AnkSVN for more complex operations (e.g. I don't know whether it can svn copy and merge these days) but there is always TortoiseSVN or the svn command line client to help me out. Together they are fine for my needs (maintenance programming on .NET applications). – reinierpost Mar 19 '09 at 08:24
  • I stopped using AnkhSVN because it bugged way too often, including corrupted working copy and whatnot. Would be nice with a VS svn plugin that worked, but TortoiseSVN is comfortable enough. – snemarch Mar 19 '09 at 08:44
  • If the last AnkhSVN you tried is an 0.X/1.X version, please try the 2.0 versions before you jump to conclusions; 2.0 is a nearly complete rewrite of the old version. Solution explorer actions like renames, refactoring etc. is all handled and in most cases noticable faster than with all other clients – Bert Huijben Mar 19 '09 at 09:17
  • Bert, I have used version 2.0. I was rather disappointed to see it screw up on several occasions. – Matthew Olenik Mar 19 '09 at 20:14
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Pros:

  • Integration with Visual Studio. A real plus if you're leveraging a full Microsoft tech. stack for development.
  • Automated builds (though achievable via other products) is really nicely done. Continuous Integration and Gated check-in builds are fantastic IMO.

Cons:

  • Windows Workflow Foundation. For some reason, Windows Workflow Foundation was chosen as the method to customize many aspects of TFS. In short, you need a book on Windows Workflow to understand it, and I simply don't have the time. Very disappointing IMO.
  • Project Management. The concept of work items is simple enough I guess, but there's a lot of oddities with it that just leave me flummoxed. It's just way too complicated IMO. Coming from a Trac + SVN background, I much prefer Trac here. Again, just my opinion.
Didaxis
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  • I agree with workflow being a con. I found it completely impenetrable, and ended up putting most of the logic in MSBuild tasks instead. Compare this with CruiseControl and NAnt which took about 10 minutes to understand. Not the best advert for Workflow! – Matt Apr 27 '12 at 09:04
  • Pros Integration with Visual Studio?? Really?? Check out Visual SVN add-on for $79. Real difference is the same base-SVN can be used for ur non-VS projects at the same time, too. TFS is locked with VS only. So, I say that belongs to Cons. – Tom Apr 22 '13 at 14:37
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Failing to understand what the tools are capable of, their limitations, will mean you end up with a tool that doesn't work for what you want. Understand your requirements, and read the product manuals a bit - plenty of information available to determine suitability.

While I agree completely with the proponents for SVN, as it is a glorious tool (I've used it many times in university) , I've found TFS to generally be more cooperative in OOTB situations when you are using the SP1 Version with Studio 2010.

As well, there are some nice little plugins that make TFS a little more palatable for those of us who are used to, and generally prefer a SVN-type solution as well, and many of them have excellent support:

TeamReview for Code Reviewing is one example: http://teamreview.codeplex.com/ MS Pathways for multi-platform use of TFS: http://www.microsoft.com/pathways/teamprise/FAQ.htm

This SO Question is a great resources for TFS addons: What Add-Ons / Utilities are available for TFS?

A Word to the wise, as mentioned above, TFS can be a pain to be installed, so caution should be exercised. Following the route below, I've encountered minimal problems:

Studio 2008 -> Patching -> Studio 2010 -> Patching -> .NET -> SQL Server 2008RD/2012 -> Patching -> TFS -> Patching

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