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GitLab vs Microsoft Azure DevOps comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 8, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

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

ROI

Sentiment score
7.6
GitLab significantly boosts ROI through improved DevOps, cost savings, automation, reduced deployment times, and enhanced software security.
Sentiment score
7.4
Users report positive returns from Microsoft Azure DevOps through enhanced productivity, team synchronization, and streamlined management and deployment processes.
We have saved time significantly, reducing deployment time from four hours to five minutes per deployment.
Migrating to GitLab is bringing time-saving benefits, and everything is easier to automate.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.7
GitLab's support is mixed; open-source users see varying help levels, while paid users often receive better, faster service.
Sentiment score
7.0
Microsoft Azure DevOps offers satisfactory support, with comprehensive documentation and online resources aiding users in resolving issues independently.
I have interacted with architects for some advice during the implementation, and they were prompt in their response.
I have had meetings where they taught me, explained things, and provided guidance for starting from scratch.
We have rarely needed to escalate issues to technical support since GitLab usually runs seamlessly.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
GitLab efficiently supports scalability and integration, accommodating diverse user volumes and cloud-based environments for enhanced adaptability.
No sentiment score available
It has all the features required for our coding and deployment needs, which makes it scalable to our changing requirements.
We're transitioning to OpenShift for future scalability with increased user numbers.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
GitLab is highly stable and reliable, with minimal bugs and consistent performance, maintaining user confidence despite occasional minor issues.
No sentiment score available
I have not encountered any performance or stability issues with GitLab so far.
 

Room For Improvement

GitLab aims to improve integrations, metrics, documentation, UI, pricing, automation, support, and expand AI and security features.
It would be beneficial to have a user-friendly interface for setting up these configurations, instead of just writing YAML files.
GitLab can improve its user interface to make conflict resolution more user-friendly.
The UI has remained the same for a couple of years and could benefit from an update with AI features and better customization.
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find GitLab pricing competitive, yet some consider Ultimate plan cost prohibitive; general cost rating: seven out of ten.
Even when working in other small organizations, we opted for GitLab as it was cost-efficient.
The pricing of GitLab is reasonable, aligning with what I consider to be average compared to competitors.
The price is high, and it limits user accessibility.
 

Valuable Features

GitLab enhances productivity with robust CI/CD, seamless integration, intuitive UI, and supports collaborative, independent branch management for developers.
As we implement automated testing and DevSecOps, it speeds up the process by forty to sixty percent.
The Ultimate version offers enhanced features for security scanning through DAST and SAST analysis, which have greatly benefitted our project workflow.
The feature I appreciate the most about GitLab is its ease of use and compatibility, which allows for straightforward building and deployment processes.
 

Categories and Ranking

GitLab
Ranking in Release Automation
2nd
Ranking in Enterprise Agile Planning Tools
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
81
Ranking in other categories
Application Security Tools (10th), Build Automation (1st), Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (9th), Rapid Application Development Software (12th), Software Composition Analysis (SCA) (5th), Fuzz Testing Tools (2nd), DevSecOps (3rd)
Microsoft Azure DevOps
Ranking in Release Automation
1st
Ranking in Enterprise Agile Planning Tools
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
130
Ranking in other categories
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Release Automation category, the mindshare of GitLab is 36.0%, up from 30.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure DevOps is 38.9%, up from 36.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Release Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Corné den Hollander - PeerSpot reviewer
Powerful, mature, and easy to set up and manage
It's more related to the supporting layer of features, such as issue management and issue tracking. We tend to always use, for example, Jira next to it. That doesn't mean that GitLab should build something similar to Jira because that will always have its place, but they could grow a bit in those kinds of supporting features. I see some, for example, covering ITSM on a DevOps team level, and that's one of the things that I and my current client would find really helpful. It's understandably not going to be their main focus and their core, and whenever you are with a company that needs a bit more advanced features on that specific topic, you're probably still going to integrate with another tool like Jira Service Management, for example. However, some basic features on things like that could be really helpful. In terms of additional features, nothing comes to mind. One of the potential pitfalls is to keep adding new features and functionalities. They can just improve some of the existing features to make it high-end, top-quality. I don't have any substantial experience with agile planning. I don't know the industries GitLab is in, and I don't know why they make decisions like this, but as a customer, I would rather see them invest in improving the basic agile planning functionalities rather than adding, for example, portfolio planning features. That's because if I'm going to do portfolio planning, I probably will also need a lot of business users. I'm not sure if I want them in GitLab, I'd rather have them in Jira collaborating with me on portfolio planning. That's way better fitted for that type of work.
Akshat Prakash - PeerSpot reviewer
Allows us to deploy code to production without releasing certain features immediately and agile project management capabilities offer resource-leveling
My company has experienced benefits from using it or from recent updates in Azure Pipelines. For instance, we can manage different code versions from the same repository across different environments. We also use feature flags; the code is deployed, but the feature can be made visible to the end user at a later time. Additionally, as part of the deployment, we integrate automated and regression testing, which stops the deployment if testing fails, thus preventing regression bugs. This saves time and increases productivity by reducing the need for manual testing. Lastly, it integrates with the project management aspects, allowing us to link code deployments with project milestones. Azure DevOps supported our shift towards DevOps culture or practices. We shifted to the cloud environment and started migrating from our data centers about eight or nine years back. It has been a long journey. However, we have used Azure DevOps for almost five to six years in every project. We also use automation testing in Azure, so we have an integrated test suite that allows us to perform functional and regression testing effectively via the Azure DevOps system.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Educational Organization
29%
Financial Services Firm
11%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Computer Software Company
12%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for GitLab?
GitLab is mostly free, with potential costs arising from upgrade versions. There is a trial period of about six months during which it is free. Afterward, fees apply.
What needs improvement with GitLab?
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...
Which is better - Jira or Microsoft Azure DevOps?
Jira is a great centralized tool for just about everything, from local team management to keeping track of products and work logs. It is easy to implement and navigate, and it is stable and scalabl...
Which is better - TFS or Azure DevOps?
TFS and Azure DevOps are different in many ways. TFS was designed for admins, and only offers incremental improvements. In addition, TFS seems complicated to use and I don’t think it has a very fri...
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure DevOps?
Valuable features for project management and tracking in Azure DevOps include a portal displaying test results, check-in/check-out activity, and developer/tester productivity.
 

Also Known As

Fuzzit
Azure DevOps, VSTS, Visual Studio Team Services, MS Azure DevOps
 

Learn More

 

Overview

 

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
Alaska Airlines, Iberia Airlines, Columbia, Skype
Find out what your peers are saying about GitLab vs. Microsoft Azure DevOps and other solutions. Updated: November 2024.
825,399 professionals have used our research since 2012.