GitHub vs GitLab comparison

GitHub and GitLab are both solutions in the Application Security Tools category. GitHub is ranked #7 with an average rating of 8.9, while GitLab is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.4. GitHub holds a 0.8% mindshare in AS, compared to GitLab’s 2.9% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of GitHub users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of GitLab users who would recommend it.

GitHub

Read 92 GitHub reviews

2,551 Views
1,117 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

GitLab

Read 81 GitLab reviews

3,981 Views
3,274 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

GitHub

GitLab

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 5, 2025

GitHub and GitLab both compete in the DevOps domain, focusing on code management and CI/CD processes. GitLab may hold the edge due to its robust CI/CD capabilities and integration with tools like Kubernetes.

Features: GitHub offers source code management, GitHub Actions for automation, and integration with Microsoft Azure DevOps. GitLab provides robust CI/CD features, container management integration with Kubernetes, and comprehensive DevOps tools, giving it significant out-of-the-box DevOps and security scanning capabilities.

Room for Improvement: GitHub could enhance its integration with CI/CD, security features, support for large files, and user interface for more streamlined collaboration. GitLab can improve AWS integration, documentation, integration with third-party tools, and adapt its pricing for smaller teams.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: GitHub primarily operates in public and hybrid cloud environments, boasting user-friendly operations and a supportive community. GitLab offers versatility with a strong on-premises presence but seeks to balance ease of use with technical complexity. Both need improved documentation and more responsive support.

Pricing and ROI: GitHub offers a free tier for public repositories and competitive licensing models for private use. GitLab's free version is suitable for small-scale use, although premium versions are costly and favor large teams, yet offer a robust feature set that justifies the expense. Both provide time-saving benefits contributing to a positive ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed GitHub vs. GitLab Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

GitHub vs. GitLab

January 2025

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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

GitHub

Ranking in Application Security Tools

7th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Version Control (3rd)

GitLab

Ranking in Application Security Tools

10th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Build Automation (1st), Release Automation (2nd), Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (9th), 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 February 2025, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of GitHub is 0.8%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of GitLab is 2.9%, up from 2.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Application Security Tools

Featured Reviews

Pervez Roy

Solutions Architect at Small Systems LTD

Very good for collaboration on software projects

We use GitHub for code repository alongside Bitbucket GitHub is very good for collaboration on software projects. We prefer Bitbucket for commercial use, while GitHub is used for open source. You can get the differences, history of changes, and version control for various pull requests. You can…

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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 control is the most valuable feature as developers can work on a single code."

"The most valuable feature is the fact that it's cloud-based, and we don't have to manage an on-premises server to use it."

"I find the most valuable collaboration between our peers to be a seamless collaboration between our peers. We can connect and change our code, allowing us to be agile in our projects. Since we're talking about DevOps, we're using Jenkins in our pipeline. It helps speed up the process by automating the DevOps workflow."

"GitHub have a built-in software application development environment and this has been most useful."

"The technical support of the solution is good, and our company has used it for GitHub upgrades."

"The most valuable features are GitHub are the standard features, they are very useful."

"Has great integration with third-party tools."

"Our code is secure."

More GitHub pros

"When a developer checks in code, it is automatically built and deployed, and automated test cases are also run. We have extensive integration with GitLab, which helps us with source code management. We run the static code analysis using SonarQube."

"GitLab's source control is excellent."

"The solution is stable."

"GitLab is very useful for pipelines, continuous integration, and continuous deployment. It is also stable."

"GitLab is scalable and works well with multiple environments."

"CI/CD and GitLab scanning are the most valuable features."

"I have had no problem with the stability of the solution."

"As a developer, this solution is useful as a repository holder because most of the POC projects that we have are on GitLab."

More GitLab pros

Cons

"GitHub could improve in resolving conflicts when multiple developers modify the same line of code."

"If you are uploading or cloning a large file, with more than 25 megs, it's pretty slow."

"There is a bit of a learning curve."

"The support team needs to have a well-defined SLA model since it is an area where the tool currently has some shortcomings."

"I would like to see integration with Slack such that all of the changes made in GitHub are reflected there."

"We are not able to access GitHub from our VPN."

"There could be some improvements related to the automation of certain processes, especially with the integration of artificial intelligence."

"Specifically, I want the solution to offer AI-based merging support, as it is the only area where the product has certain shortcomings."

More GitHub cons

"This solution could be improved by adding modifications such as slack notifications."

"I've noticed an area for improvement in GitLab, particularly needing to go through many steps to push the code to the repository. Resolving that issue would make the product better. My team quickly fixed it by writing a small script, then double-clicking or enabling the script to take care of the issue. However, that quick fix was from my team and not the GitLab team, so in the next release, if an automatic deployment feature would be available in GitLab, then that would be good because, in Visual Studio, you can do that with just one click of a button."

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

"I'm new to GitLab, so I would appreciate more documentation about the code and commands."

"GitLab can improve the integration with third-party applications. It could be made easier. Additionally, having API control from my application could be helpful."

"GitLab would be improved with the addition of templates for deployment on local PCs."

"GitLab doesn't have AWS integration. It would be better to have integration with other container management environments beyond Kubernetes. It has very good integration with Kubernetes, but it doesn't have good integration with, for example, AWS, ETS, etc."

"It has fewer options, and its UI is not so user-friendly."

More GitLab cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It’s an open-source solution."

"GitHub is an open-source product, but when using the free-to-use version, anyone can see the code we're working on."

"I think, in terms of price, GitHub is okay compared to other tools."

"GitHub is an open-source application. It's free to use."

"I am using the free version of the solution. However, there are some costs my organization pays."

"I use the free version of GitHub."

"The price of this solution is reasonable."

"The basic licensing model is free, and if you need to have technical support and such things, then it does cost something. You only need to pay extra if you need technical support."

More GitHub pricing and cost advice

"I think that we pay approximately $100 USD per month."

"We are using the free version of GitLab."

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

"As I work in a vast enterprise, I'm unsure about the licensing cost for GitLab. It's the management team that takes care of that."

"It is very expensive. We can't bear it now, and we have to find another solution. We have a yearly subscription in which we can increase the number of licenses, but we have to pay at the end of the year."

"GitLab's pricing is good compared to others on the market."

"The solution's standard license is paid annually. They have changed the pricing model and it used to be better. There is a free version available."

"The solution is based on a subscription model and is reasonably priced."

More GitLab pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Manufacturing Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

Government

Educational Organization

29%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about GitHub?

The control is the most valuable feature as developers can work on a single code.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for GitHub?

I'm not aware of the costs associated with GitHub. I simply appreciate its efficiency in managing code and collaborating with team members.

See all answers

What needs improvement with GitHub?

I would like to see some AI functionality included in GitHub, similar to the features seen in GitLab, to enhance productivity. Additionally, offering limited free access to features like Copilot co...

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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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

What needs improvement with GitLab?

There are missing search features, particularly when searching repositories or applying filters. Additionally, I have encountered issues with the deployment of CI/CD pipelines, especially dealing w...

See all answers

Comparisons

Fortify on Demand vs GitHub

Compared 18% of the time

Snyk vs GitHub

Compared 16% of the time

Bitbucket vs GitHub

Compared 14% of the time

AWS CodeCommit vs GitHub

Compared 13% of the time

More GitHub Competitors

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs GitLab

Compared 35% of the time

SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) vs GitLab

Compared 9% of the time

GitHub CoPilot vs GitLab

Compared 9% of the time

AWS CodePipeline vs GitLab

Compared 6% of the time

Tekton vs GitLab

Compared 5% of the time

More GitLab Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

GitHub

January 2025

Download GitHub product report

Buyer's Guide

GitLab

January 2025

Download GitLab product report

Also Known As

No data available

Fuzzit

Overview

GitHub is a web-based Git repository hosting service. It offers all of the distributed revision control and source code management (SCM) functionality of Git as well as adding its own features. Unlike Git, which is strictly a command-line tool, GitHub provides a Web-based graphical interface and desktop as well as mobile integration. It also provides access control and several collaboration features such as bug tracking, feature requests, task management, and wikis for every project.

GitHub

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.

GitLab

Sample Customers

Dominion Enterprises, NASA, Braintree, SAP, CyberAgent

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

Buyer's Guide

GitHub vs. GitLab

January 2025

Free Report: GitHub vs. GitLab

Find out what your peers are saying about GitHub vs. GitLab and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.

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