GitLab vs Harness comparison

GitLab and Harness are both solutions in the Build Automation category. GitLab is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.4, while Harness is ranked #11 with an average rating of 7.7. GitLab holds a 17.4% mindshare in BA, compared to Harness’s 5.7% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of GitLab users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Harness users who would recommend it.

GitLab

Read 81 GitLab reviews

7,165 Views
5,755 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

Harness

Read 3 Harness reviews

2,173 Views
1,541 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

GitLab

Harness

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between GitLab and Harness based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Build Automation solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

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

Buyer's Guide

GitLab vs. Harness

January 2025

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Helped 831,265 peers since 2012

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

GitLab

Ranking in Build Automation

1st

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

9th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Security Tools (10th), Release Automation (2nd), Rapid Application Development Software (12th), Software Composition Analysis (SCA) (5th), Enterprise Agile Planning Tools (2nd), Fuzz Testing Tools (2nd), DevSecOps (3rd)

Harness

Ranking in Build Automation

11th

Ranking in Static Application Security Testing (SAST)

30th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Cloud Cost Management (15th)

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Build Automation category, the mindshare of GitLab is 17.4%, down from 19.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Harness is 5.7%, up from 4.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Build Automation

Featured Reviews

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.

Read full review

Linwei Yuan

Software Engineer at Citi

Streamline microservices deployment with integrated execution pipelines and comprehensive monitoring

Harness integrates all functions like execution pipelines, environment checks, and log monitoring in one place. It is very convenient since we have many microservices, so having one platform for all of them is beneficial. The dashboard allows me to monitor all core services' deployment status in one place, making it easier to find bugs and check logs.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

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

"GitLab's source control is excellent."

"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."

"The code merging capability is something that we use very frequently."

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

"The CI/CD pipeline with Helm has significantly improved deployment speed and efficiency."

"I like that it's easy to deploy our services over GitLab. The customer support is also good with a really active community. You have a lot of support that you can get online with your stack. That is probably one of the benefits of using GitLab. It's also really fast."

"It is very flexible and easy because you can store data on cloud."

More GitLab pros

"Harness integrates all functions like execution pipelines, environment checks, and log monitoring in one place."

"Harness integrates all functions like execution pipelines, environment checks, and log monitoring in one place, making it convenient."

"Harness starts integrating with organizations, making everything automated without the need for manual interruption."

"It's a highly customizable DevOps tool."

Cons

"Some of the scripts that we encountered in GitLab were not fully functional and threw up errors."

"I would like configuration of a YML file to be done via UI rather than a code file."

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

"The solution could be faster."

"In the next release, I would like to see GitLab expand its integration capabilities to include platforms like DigitalOcean, which developers widely use for cloud infrastructure. Enhancing CI/CD automation features specifically tailored for DigitalOcean would be beneficial."

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

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

"We would like to generate document pages from the sources."

More GitLab cons

"There's also room for improvement in debugging pipeline issues, which can sometimes become complex."

"Even with automation, there's a requirement for manual change requests for approvals."

"I prefer the previous less compact UI version of Harness, which showed more details on the screen."

"When integrating Harness with more than twenty applications in one place, it becomes less stable, causing improvements to be necessary."

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

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

"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."

"My company uses the free version of GitLab, which is GitLab Community Edition. There is a licensed version also available for GitLab."

"The price of GitLab could be better, it is expensive."

"The initial setup cost is excellent and you can add the premium features later."

"GitLab is a free solution to use."

"This is an open-source solution."

More GitLab pricing and cost advice

Information not available

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Educational Organization

29%

Computer Software Company

11%

Financial Services Firm

11%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

34%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

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

What do you like most about Harness?

It's a highly customizable DevOps tool.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Harness?

Previously, when deploying a version that had been deployed successfully before, it sometimes failed upon trying again, which seems to be an intermittent issue about stability. I prefer the previou...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Harness?

I used Harness for CICD, and it served as the release platform that our team used for Java applications. We do Java microservices, and we used it to deploy them.

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs GitLab

Compared 37% of the time

SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) vs GitLab

Compared 8% of the time

GitHub CoPilot vs GitLab

Compared 8% of the time

AWS CodePipeline vs GitLab

Compared 5% of the time

Tekton vs GitLab

Compared 5% of the time

More GitLab Competitors

Jenkins vs Harness

Compared 22% of the time

Tekton vs Harness

Compared 16% of the time

GitHub Actions vs Harness

Compared 15% of the time

TeamCity vs Harness

Compared 14% of the time

CircleCI vs Harness

Compared 4% of the time

More Harness Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

GitLab

January 2025

Download GitLab product report

Buyer's Guide

Build Automation

December 2024

Download Harness product report

Also Known As

Fuzzit

Armory

Learn More

GitLab

Video not available

Harness

Overview

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.

Harness offers a comprehensive toolset for automating deployment processes and enhancing software update efficiency. It's lauded for its CI/CD capabilities, feature flagging, and real-time deployment monitoring. Key features include an intuitive UI, secret management, and robust rollback functionalities, all contributing to improved productivity and reduced errors in DevOps environments.

Sample Customers

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

Linedata, Openbank, Home Depot, Advanced

Buyer's Guide

GitLab vs. Harness

January 2025

Free Report: GitLab vs. Harness

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

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