GitHub vs GitLab comparison

GitHub and GitLab are both solutions in the Application Security Tools category. GitHub is ranked #6 with an average rating of 8.9, while GitLab is ranked #9 with an average rating of 8.6. GitHub holds a 0.8% mindshare in AS, compared to GitLab’s 3.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of GitHub users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 97% of GitLab users who would recommend it.

GitHub

Read 93 GitHub reviews

2,518 Views
1,112 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

GitLab

Read 82 GitLab reviews

3,648 Views
3,011 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: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

GitHub vs. GitLab

March 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

6th

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Version Control (3rd)

GitLab

Ranking in Application Security Tools

9th

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) (7th), 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 April 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 3.0%, up from 2.7% 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 support team is good."

"You can get the differences, history of changes, and version control for various pull requests."

"With GitHub, we can manage our development progress, CID, and continuous integration. It helps streamline our development processes effectively."

"A great feature is being able to have different repositories and different kinds of projects in a single solution at a single time. It's just a click away."

"The most valuable feature is help offered by the community for open-source projects."

"GitHub has improved the productivity of my team by simplifying code merging and enabling effective branching strategies."

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

"GitHub is very straightforward. I really appreciate the versioning capabilities, ease of use, and the ability to host code."

More GitHub pros

"Everything is easy to configure and easy to work with."

"It is very useful for reviews. We are using branch merging operations and full reset operations. It is also very useful for merging our code and tracking another branch. The graph diagrams of Git are very useful. Its interface is straightforward and not too complex for us."

"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."

"GitLab's best features are maintenance, branch integration, and development infrastructure."

"CI/CD is valuable for me."

"A user friendly solution."

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

"Continuous integration with deployment is very powerful, which is a significant reason for migrating from TFS to GitLab."

More GitLab pros

Cons

"The solution should have less integration with the AI part, but it needs to add features with other automation tools so that it can be easily integrated."

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

"I decided not to use GitHub but developed my tool because I found it more efficient. I'm familiar with my tools, making them easier to use. I like being able to customize them to fit my workflow and the way I think.. Software development is like a personal workshop, and I tailor my version control to match my approach."

"I would like to see some AI functionality included in GitHub, similar to the features seen in GitLab, to enhance productivity."

"This solution could be improved if migration was fully automated to make it easy, for example, to migrate repositories into GitHub."

"GitHub needs to improve its UI."

"I faced one or two breakdowns. That said, they lasted only for a few seconds or a minute."

"The ticketing system is not working."

More GitHub cons

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

"I rate the support from GitLab a four out of five."

"We'd like to see better integration with the Atlassian ecosystem."

"Their RBAC is role-based access, which is fine but not very good."

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

"The solution could be faster."

"The solution should be more cloud-native and have more cloud-native capabilities and features."

"The only thing our company is really waiting on in terms of features is the development of metrics."

More GitLab cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My company purchased it. Before, we used to receive the free version, but then they purchased some of the features."

"You don't have to pay for a license if you are using the free version."

"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 use the free version of the tool."

"The price of this solution is reasonable."

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

"We pay a subscription-based yearly licensing fee for the solution."

More GitHub pricing and cost advice

"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 price is okay."

"GitLab is highly priced for smaller teams, but it's okay if considering a user base of thousands."

"I don't mind the price because I use the free version."

"GitLab is cheap."

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

"There are different licensing options available, including a free limited-user license."

More GitLab pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

13%

Manufacturing Company

12%

Computer Software Company

11%

University

Educational Organization

26%

Financial Services Firm

12%

Computer Software Company

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?

The pricing of GitHub depends on the choice of solutions, such as building one's own GitHub Runners to save money or using GitHub's Runners with extra costs. The pricing is considered reasonable an...

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What needs improvement with GitHub?

There are still areas for improvement with GitHub Actions and their deployment workflows, as they have made significant progress but are not yet polished. Occasionally, stability can be an issue, t...

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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?

Certain features in Jira are not available in GitLab, such as the functionality to have weights at the milestone and epic levels. Hopefully, these features will be resolved with work items in GitLa...

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Comparisons

Bitbucket vs GitHub

Compared 17% of the time

Fortify on Demand vs GitHub

Compared 15% of the time

Snyk vs GitHub

Compared 12% of the time

AWS CodeCommit vs GitHub

Compared 11% of the time

Qualys Web Application Scanning vs GitHub

Compared 3% of the time

More GitHub Competitors

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs GitLab

Compared 29% of the time

GitHub CoPilot vs GitLab

Compared 13% of the time

SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) vs GitLab

Compared 8% 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

March 2025

Download GitHub product report

Buyer's Guide

GitLab

March 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

March 2025

Free Report: GitHub vs. GitLab

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