GitHub Actions vs GitLab comparison

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GitHub Actions

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 5, 2025

GitLab and GitHub Actions are both prominent platforms in software development automation. GitLab seems to have the upper hand when it comes to deep integration and control for teams, while GitHub Actions shines in seamless integration and adaptability.

Features: GitLab provides robust CI/CD pipeline capabilities, comprehensive DevOps tools, and effective code review features. GitHub Actions excels in its automation capabilities and seamless integration within the GitHub ecosystem, which allows for diverse workflow automation.

Room for Improvement: GitLab could improve its integration with third-party tools, documentation, and advanced project management features. GitHub Actions could enhance its debugging capabilities, integration options, and dashboard usability.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: GitLab supports both on-premises and cloud deployments, providing robustness but facing criticism for slow technical support. GitHub Actions benefits from seamless cloud deployment and integration with GitHub but relies on community support.

Pricing and ROI: GitLab offers a tiered pricing model, expensive for smaller teams but lucrative through deep integration. GitHub Actions is open source and cost-effective for individuals, with additional costs for enterprise needs, both showing strong ROI potential.

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

GitHub Actions 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

GitHub Actions

Ranking in Build Automation

4th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.6

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

GitLab

Ranking in Build Automation

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Security Tools (10th), Release Automation (2nd), Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (7th), Rapid Application Development Software (11th), Software Composition Analysis (SCA) (5th), Enterprise Agile Planning Tools (2nd), Fuzz Testing Tools (2nd), DevSecOps (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Build Automation category, the mindshare of GitHub Actions is 11.5%, up from 6.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of GitLab is 15.0%, down from 18.0% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Build Automation

Featured Reviews

MohamedMostafa1

Chief Software Engineer at Valeo

Handles scalability well, automatically managing execution infrastructure without requiring additional configurationsThe automation feature of GitHub Actions is

I find the automation feature of GitHub Actions most valuable for our building processes. It integrates seamlessly with GitHub, so there's no extra configuration needed, making the building process easy and efficient. GitHub Actions handles scalability well, automatically managing execution infrastructure without requiring additional configurations. We haven't yet explored GitHub Actions' support for AI projects, as we haven't used its AI capabilities.

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Rohit Kesharwani

Manager, Engineering at 7-Eleven

Improved agility and time to market with CI/CD enhancements

The CI/CD pipelines in GitLab ( /products/gitlab-reviews ) are highly valuable. Another important feature is the single source of repository, allowing efficient repository management and source code management. GitLab provides manageability by allowing us to manage source code effectively through separate repositories. Additionally, GitLab enables the creation of individual CI/CD pipelines for each repository, making software more agile. By integrating GitLab as a DevOps platform, we have enhanced agility, improved our time to market, and different teams can work collaboratively on various projects.

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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

"Creating workflows in YAML format is straightforward and easy to comprehend. This includes both understanding and writing workflows. Additionally, the downloading aspect for third-party instances can also be easily done. It's worth noting that vulnerability analysis and similar tasks should be part of our automation through data workflows. Furthermore, we can break down our processes step by step, starting from building, then moving on to analysis, testing, and finally deploying in production and the clear environment. All of these tasks can be efficiently managed within this platform."

"I find the automation feature of GitHub Actions most valuable for our building processes. It integrates seamlessly with GitHub, so there's no extra configuration needed, making the building process easy and efficient. GitHub Actions handles scalability well, automatically managing execution infrastructure without requiring additional configurations. We haven't yet explored GitHub Actions' support for AI projects, as we haven't used its AI capabilities."

"It improves efficiency as it involves no downtime and is managed by GitHub."

"The product's most beneficial feature is the ability to create workflows within the solution."

"I have optimized job execution time by running test scripts in parallel and creating multiple pipelines; we've significantly reduced execution times. What could take 50 minutes can be cut down to just 8 to 10 minutes through these optimizations."

"It is a very stable solution as we have not faced any issues."

"GitHub Actions is a beautiful tool that integrates smoothly with all major tools, reducing CI/CD work by 30% to 40%."

"The solution has saved us approximately 20% in terms of efficiency and productivity."

More GitHub Actions pros

"They incorporate new features every September, and they have introduced their own code editor and AI features."

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

"This is a scalable solution. We had around 200 users working with it."

"The SaaS setup is impressive, and it has DAST solutioning."

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

"The stability of GitLab is impressive."

"GitLab is very well-organized and easy to use. Also, it offers most features that customers need."

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

More GitLab pros

Cons

"In terms of improvements, I think better logging for debugging purposes would be helpful, especially for complex workflows."

"The main challenge I've experienced is with integration, particularly uploading to OneDrive, which was more complex compared to Google Drive or AWS S3 bucket."

"There could be more integration options with different platforms."

"GitHub Actions lacks a feature for automating the build process for mobile applications."

"Switching between hosted and self-hosted agents can be a bit complex, as self-hosted agents need to be provisioned in platforms like Azure or AWS."

"The primary area for improvement I see is in artifact management, especially for saving screenshots or videos from failed tests or data-driven actions. Currently, the configuration for saving these artifacts is complex."

"The UI could be better."

"GitHub sometimes makes it difficult to debug actions."

More GitHub Actions cons

"The licensing model could be improved to be more accommodating in terms of user numbers and costs."

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

"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."

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

"It could have more security integrations and the ability to check the vulnerability of the code. I don't think it is a responsibility of Gitlab, but it would be nice to have more options to integrate with."

"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 should enhance its GitOps capability as they are currently using FluxCD, however, Argo CD is better and offers more features. GitLab should work on improving their user interface for GitOps as it is lagging behind."

"GitLab's UI could be improved."

More GitLab cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is free and open platform, so I would rate it 1 out of 10."

"The product is slightly more expensive than some alternatives."

"For our basic usage, we didn't have to pay."

"Price-wise, GitHub Actions is okay. If I want to use the product's advanced features, then I need to pay the licensing charges for the solution."

"The cost for GitHub Actions may be around $45 dollars per user."

"Regarding cost, as an enterprise, we negotiate our license and expenses, so I can't provide a specific rating for that."

"The tool's price is okay and reasonable."

"It's low-priced. Not high, but definitely low."

"I'm not aware of the licensing costs because those were covered by the customer."

"GitLab is an open-source solution."

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

"GitLab is a free solution to use."

"This is an open-source solution."

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

"This product is not very expensive but the price can be better."

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

More GitLab pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

13%

Computer Software Company

13%

Educational Organization

12%

Government

10%

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about GitHub Actions?

I have optimized job execution time by running test scripts in parallel and creating multiple pipelines; we've significantly reduced execution times. What could take 50 minutes can be cut down to j...

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for GitHub Actions?

I would rate pricing a seven, which leans toward the expensive side. However, there is still value for money, and that's why we continue using it.

What needs improvement with GitHub Actions?

I would need to check with my team about specific shortcomings. We still use Jenkins ( /products/jenkins-reviews ) for some tasks, which suggests there may be areas for improvement in GitHub Actions.

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 and cost are on par with other tools and are neither too expensive nor cheap.

What needs improvement with GitLab?

One significant feature we lack is the configuration that enforces code reviews, which simplifies the development life cycle. Unfortunately, this is available only at a higher license level than we...

Harness vs GitHub Actions

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Compared 16% of the time

SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) vs GitLab

Compared 6% of the time

TeamCity vs GitLab

Compared 5% of the time

Tekton vs GitLab

Compared 5% of the time

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Product Reports

GitHub Actions

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Download GitLab product report

Also Known As

No data available

Fuzzit

Overview

GitHub Actions streamlines CI/CD processes with an intuitive YAML workflow and robust automation, enhancing efficiency and integration with third-party tools and cloud providers.

GitHub Actions automates development pipelines, supports scalable public and private runners, and manages secure secrets. This tool integrates seamlessly with platforms like AWS, Kubernetes, Google Cloud, and Databricks. It enhances DevOps workflows with reliable task automation. Users note areas for UI and deployment tool improvements, artifact management simplification, and additional programming language support. Debugging complexity and hosting agent transitions pose challenges, along with integration enhancements for tools like OneDrive.

What are GitHub Actions' key features?

YAML Workflow Creation: Simplifies configuration with intuitive YAML.
CI/CD Integration: Provides seamless integration within DevOps pipelines.
Automation Capabilities: Automates tasks with minimal manual intervention.
Third-Party Tool Compatibility: Works well with diverse tools and platforms.
Secure Secrets Management: Protects sensitive information effectively.

What benefits do users find in GitHub Actions?

Enhanced Performance: Boosts task execution speed and reliability.
Scalability: Supports growth with flexible runner options.
Improved Release Cycles: Ensures consistent updates and deployments.
Workflow Efficiency: Reduces manual tasks, increasing operational efficiency.

Companies in tech and software development frequently utilize GitHub Actions for integrating, deploying, and versioning projects. It is often employed for deploying applications to cloud environments like AWS and Kubernetes, managing extensive CI/CD workflows, and automating test and security operations, thereby streamlining production cycles across industries.

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.

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

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

GitHub Actions vs. GitLab