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GitLab vs Microsoft Azure DevOps comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

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
Microsoft Azure DevOps offers positive ROI, enhancing productivity and integration, especially within larger organizations using Microsoft infrastructure.
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.
On a scale of one to ten, where ten is the best, I would say ROI is an eight.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.8
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 support is generally prompt and effective, though some users note delays and deployment support gaps.
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.
Resolving issues took time since understanding our unique problems was not always straightforward for support teams.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.4
GitLab efficiently supports scalability and integration, accommodating diverse user volumes and cloud-based environments for enhanced adaptability.
Sentiment score
7.6
Microsoft Azure DevOps offers excellent scalability, efficiently managing numerous users and projects across various organization sizes without performance issues.
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.
The scalability has left me pleased, not just for our teams in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, but as we expanded into North America, Africa, and even Australia.
 

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.
Sentiment score
8.0
Microsoft Azure DevOps is praised for its stability, with minor issues quickly resolved, receiving high ratings from users.
I have not encountered any performance or stability issues with GitLab so far.
The solution is stable, and we did not encounter any stability issues.
 

Room For Improvement

GitLab aims to improve integrations, metrics, documentation, UI, pricing, automation, support, and expand AI and security features.
Users seek improved integration, customization, reporting, and pricing in Azure DevOps, highlighting challenges with setup, updates, and project management.
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.
Those processes are a bit difficult for some customers who may not have technical knowledge and don't go through the entire documentation.
Enhanced system guidance highlighting best practices would be beneficial, especially if experienced personnel are not available for support.
 

Setup Cost

Enterprise buyers find GitLab pricing competitive, yet some consider Ultimate plan cost prohibitive; general cost rating: seven out of ten.
Microsoft Azure DevOps provides flexible, competitive pricing from $5 to $15 per user monthly, with discounts for partners and free options.
The pricing of GitLab is reasonable, aligning with what I consider to be average compared to competitors.
Even when working in other small organizations, we opted for GitLab as it was cost-efficient.
The price is high, and it limits user accessibility.
They don't even provide a POC where you can have a sandbox or stuff that you can go through and see how exactly it's costing.
I find it to be expensive.
 

Valuable Features

GitLab enhances productivity with robust CI/CD, seamless integration, intuitive UI, and supports collaborative, independent branch management for developers.
Azure DevOps offers comprehensive features enhancing productivity with CI/CD pipelines, user-friendly tools, and seamless team collaboration.
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.
We are utilizing the pipelines extensively and gaining significant benefits from GitLab.
I can't approve my own request and move the code around without a review.
Our company organized a training session with a certified Azure expert, which was extremely beneficial for adopting best practices during the initial three months.
 

Categories and Ranking

GitLab
Ranking in Release Automation
2nd
Ranking in Enterprise Agile Planning Tools
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
81
Ranking in other categories
Application Security Tools (8th), Build Automation (1st), Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (8th), 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
132
Ranking in other categories
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Release Automation category, the mindshare of GitLab is 35.6%, up from 31.3% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure DevOps is 38.3%, up from 36.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Release Automation
 

Featured Reviews

Gaurav Chandel - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Ivan Angelov - PeerSpot reviewer
Facilitates agile transformation with potential for enhanced intuitiveness
What I liked about the solution is that it offers numerous features that are not available by default unless you are agile. Transitioning from the traditional Waterfall model to an agile methodology was challenging for us. Until 2020, our team predominantly worked with the Waterfall approach, using local tools like ServiceNow. We had a few team members who were familiar with Agile ISO, but none had experience with Azure. Therefore, we pursued Azure certification at the AZ-900 level. Our company organized a training session with a certified Azure expert, which was extremely beneficial for adopting best practices during the initial three months. This preparation helped us get accustomed to the new tool, as transitioning to a new system invariably requires time. Managing a pipeline of deliverables became significantly easier with this solution. We utilized it for stories and integrated change management with Azure DevOps. Eventually, everything related to the environment was organized there, enabling us to follow up and track progress with our technical engineers on an hourly, daily, or weekly basis. Reports were automatically generated and sent to management, offering them insights into our progress concerning the predefined roadmap.
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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?
The pricing of GitLab is reasonable, aligning with what I consider to be average compared to competitors.
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...
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
 

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: January 2025.
832,723 professionals have used our research since 2012.