AWS CodePipeline vs GitLab comparison

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AWS CodePipeline

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

GitLab and AWS CodePipeline compete in the DevOps and CI/CD category. GitLab has an edge with broader functionality in code management and integration flexibility, whereas AWS CodePipeline is preferred for its efficient deployment within the AWS ecosystem.

Features: GitLab is known for comprehensive CI/CD management, code review capabilities, and robust features like branch management and code merging. It offers integration with CIE and flexibility in development environments. AWS CodePipeline shines with smooth integration with AWS services, providing strong automation capabilities and efficient CI/CD implementations. It acts as a one-stop solution for integrating, deploying, and hosting applications within AWS.

Room for Improvement: GitLab could enhance integration with non-Kubernetes environments, expand metrics reporting for leadership, and refine third-party integrations such as with project management tools. AWS CodePipeline faces challenges in customization and lacks multi-cloud capabilities. Improving integration with non-AWS services and simplifying setup processes would enhance its usability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: GitLab offers flexible deployment options across multiple cloud environments and on-premises with community support as its backbone. AWS CodePipeline operates within the AWS ecosystem, benefiting from AWS’s comprehensive support structure. Users of GitLab highlight the need for improved direct support, whereas AWS’s seamless integration aids smoother technical assistance.

Pricing and ROI: GitLab has diverse pricing, offering free and paid tiers. The Premium version is considered cost-effective, though Ultimate features are noted to be pricey. Its ROI is marked by reduced deployment times and enhanced DevOps productivity. AWS CodePipeline offers a pay-as-you-go model deemed affordable, with costs correlated to usage and associated AWS services. It is considered potentially pricier compared to alternatives but offers cost-effectiveness for frequent deployments. Both GitLab and AWS CodePipeline provide notable ROI, yet GitLab may be more appealing to smaller teams or organizations seeking a wide range of functionalities at different price points.

To learn more, read our detailed AWS CodePipeline vs. GitLab Report (Updated: March 2025).

AWS CodePipeline vs. GitLab

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

AWS CodePipeline

Ranking in Build Automation

4th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

GitLab

Ranking in Build Automation

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Security Tools (9th), Release Automation (2nd), Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (7th), Rapid Application Development Software (12th), Software Composition Analysis (SCA) (5th), Enterprise Agile Planning Tools (2nd), Fuzz Testing Tools (2nd), DevSecOps (3rd)

Mindshare comparison

As of April 2025, in the Build Automation category, the mindshare of AWS CodePipeline is 5.7%, down from 8.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of GitLab is 16.6%, down from 18.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Build Automation

Featured Reviews

Udhay Prakash Pethakamsetty

Data Engineer Manager at Capgemini

A fully managed service with excellent integrations and a flexible architecture

Compared to any other tools, AWS products provide better integrations. We have tools for all our needs. The integrations are good. The product is a fully managed service. We specify the various stages in the CI/CD process. We can do it without any external tools. Going through everything is usually an overhead for developers. It is like a configuration. We need to configure it only once. The integration with other AWS services has helped us. Our life as a developer is easy. We need not focus on the integration manually. If we work with third-party tools, we must consider connectivity, role management, security, authentication, and authorization. In AWS CodePipeline, if we have IAM roles configured and KMS for the credentials, we need not worry about anything else. Everything can be done within the tool. The integrations are the best part. We can track everything. The connectivity and scalability are good. The architecture is also flexible enough. We can add multiple things.

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Gaurav Chandel

AWS DevOps/ Site Reliability Engineer at Tata Consultancy

Boosted productivity with automated pipelines and seamless collaboration

There are some challenges with repository file management as GitLab may struggle to manage larger files. Improvements could be made regarding size management and file partitioning. Also, the UI has remained the same for a couple of years and could benefit from an update with AI features and better customization.

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"The product is a one-stop solution that you can use to integrate, deploy and host your application."

"The integration with other applications is fabulous."

"I find performance to be the most valuable CodePipeline feature. It works perfectly and smoothly."

"The product is cost-effective and integrates well with the AWS environment."

"I prefer using CodePipeline and CodeBuild in AWS due to their integration with AWS services, like directly deploying to ECS using Cloud Deploy."

"Code deployment is the best feature."

"The notification and approval approach in the production environment are very useful."

"In AWS, the Cloud DevOps is a managed service from CodeCommit and this has removed the need for a lot of manual steps."

More AWS CodePipeline pros

"GitLab's source control is excellent."

"It speeds up our development, it's faster, safer, and more convenient."

"GitLab has better support, and its features are superior compared to Jenkins."

"A user friendly solution."

"GitLab is being used as a repository for our codebase and it is a one stop DevOps tool we use in our team."

"GitLab is a solution for source code management, container registry, pipelines, testing, and deployment."

"We like that we can create branches and then the branches can be reviewed and you can mesh those branches back. You can independently work with your own branch, you don't need to really control the core of other people."

"In our software development lifecycle, GitLab is used as a component for code repository management. We use GitLab for several projects to handle code repositories. For other software projects, we use Bitbucket, but the use case for both is very similar."

More GitLab pros

Cons

"AWS CodePipeline doesn't offer much room for customization."

"If you're talking about multi-cloud, you can't use it."

"There could be a possibility of deploying tag-based conditions for different environments using the same code base."

"The migration process from one source code to another needs improvement."

"It would be best if AWS CodePipeline provided multiple integration options directly by providing some URLs."

"The product’s pricing needs improvement."

"In AWS CodePipeline, we can only use certain tools for which AWS provisions plugins."

"Improved enhancements and features could make it more intuitive."

More AWS CodePipeline cons

"It should be used by a larger number of people. They should raise awareness."

"GitLab can improve its user interface to make conflict resolution more user-friendly."

"I don't really like the new Kubernetes integration because it is pretty focused on the on-premise environment, but we're in a hybrid environment."

"GitLab could improve the patch repository. It does not have support for Conan patch version regions. Additionally, better support for Kubernetes deployment is needed as part of the package."

"I would like to see AI support in GitLab."

"There are some challenges with repository file management as GitLab may struggle to manage larger files."

"I believe there's room for improvement in the advanced features, particularly in enhancing the pipeline functionalities."

"We are having a few problems integrating with Jira at the moment, which is something that our IT department is investigating."

More GitLab cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would rate the product's pricing a five out of ten."

"The product is quite expensive compared to other solutions."

"It is a straightforward approach where you pay for the resources you consume as they offer a subscription-based licensing model."

"Compared to other cloud services, AWS CodePipeline falls a bit more on the pricey side. I see that the price of the product has been increasing for the past few years."

"AWS charges you based on the number of pipelines you have and how active they are, and I also think that the root account user knows about all the price-related metrics."

"The pricing of this solution is dependent upon your needs including how many jobs you daily and how many times the developer will be changing codes and completing deployments."

"The price of the product depends on how many times you run it. The tool offers a pay-as-you-go model."

"AWS CodePipeline is quite affordable. I've been running around four pipelines and the cost is around one dollar per month. It rarely exceeds two dollars."

More AWS CodePipeline pricing and cost advice

"The solution is based on a licensing model that includes technical support and is paid annually."

"This is an open-source solution."

"We are currently using the open-source version."

"There are different licensing options available, including a free limited-user license."

"The price is okay."

"We are using the open-source version."

"In total, I believe we have more than 300 licenses spread over about 100 users, though I can't comment on the costs involved."

"GitLab is a free solution to use."

More GitLab pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

15%

Financial Services Firm

14%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Educational Organization

26%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

Which AWS solution would you choose - CodeStar or CodePipeline?

Both AWS solutions deliver solid options, with uniquely different features. AWS CodeStar allows for quick development, building, and deployments of apps. It also provides web application and web se...

What do you like most about AWS CodePipeline?

Code deployment is the best feature.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS CodePipeline?

AWS CodePipeline and its associated services do not incur significant additional charges. The cost primarily comes from deploying other AWS resources like EC2 and S3 alongside the pipeline.

What do you like most about GitLab?

I find the features and version control history to be most valuable for our development workflow. These aspects provide us with a clear view of changes and help us manage requests efficiently.

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for GitLab?

The pricing of GitLab is reasonable, aligning with what I consider to be average compared to competitors.

What needs improvement with GitLab?

Certain features in Jira are not available in GitLab, such as the functionality to have weights at the milestone and epic levels. Hopefully, these features will be resolved with work items in GitLa...

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Product Reports

AWS CodePipeline

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Also Known As

CodePipeline

Fuzzit

Overview

AWS CodePipeline is a fully managed continuous delivery service that helps you automate your release pipelines for fast and reliable application and infrastructure updates. CodePipeline automates the build, test, and deploy phases of your release process every time there is a code change, based on the release model you define. This enables you to rapidly and reliably deliver features and updates. You can easily integrate AWS CodePipeline with third-party services such as GitHub or with your own custom plugin. With AWS CodePipeline, you only pay for what you use. There are no upfront fees or long-term commitments.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

GitLab is a complete DevOps platform that enables teams to collaborate and deliver software faster.

It provides a single application for the entire DevOps lifecycle, from planning and development to testing, deployment, and monitoring.

With GitLab, teams can streamline their workflows, automate processes, and improve productivity.

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers

1. NASA 2. IBM 3. Sony 4. Alibaba 5. CERN 6. Siemens 7. Volkswagen 8. ING 9. Ticketmaster 10. SpaceX 11. Adobe 12. Intuit 13. Autodesk 14. Rakuten 15. Unity Technologies 16. Pandora 17. Electronic Arts 18. Nordstrom 19. Verizon 20. Comcast 21. Philips 22. Deutsche Telekom 23. Orange 24. Fujitsu 25. Ericsson 26. Nokia 27. General Electric 28. Cisco 29. Accenture 30. Deloitte 31. PwC 32. KPMG

AWS CodePipeline vs. GitLab