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GitHub vs GitLab comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Apr 6, 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
5.0
GitHub provides efficient code management, cost benefits, secure code, and organizational advantages, enhancing market delivery and user experience.
Sentiment score
7.6
GitLab improves ROI by increasing efficiency, reducing deployment time, and enhancing DevOps through cost-saving, automation, and vulnerability management.
Migrating to GitLab is bringing time-saving benefits, and everything is easier to automate.
We have saved time significantly, reducing deployment time from four hours to five minutes per deployment.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.5
Users primarily rely on community resources for support, but some desire quicker access to GitHub's technical support.
Sentiment score
6.8
GitLab's support varies by license; paid users praise responsiveness, while free version users rely on community forums and documentation.
The technical support from GitHub is generally good, and they communicate effectively.
Some forums help you get answers faster since you just type in your concern and see resolutions from other engineers.
I have not used GitHub's technical support extensively because there are many resources and a robust knowledge base available due to the large user community.
We have rarely needed to escalate issues to technical support since GitLab usually runs seamlessly.
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.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.7
GitHub efficiently supports global teams with scalable, cloud-based infrastructure, ensuring performance and stability for diverse user and project sizes.
Sentiment score
7.4
GitLab's scalable container architecture supports diverse environments, flexible deployment, and smooth integration, despite some configuration and scaling challenges.
We have never had a problem with scalability, so I would rate it at least eight to nine.
GitHub is more scalable than on-prem solutions, allowing for cloud-based scaling which is beneficial for processing large workloads efficiently.
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.
For scaling, other deployment options from GitLab's side need to be adopted.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.7
GitHub is stable, supports over 1,000 users effectively, with transparency and reliable updates appreciated, despite minor issues.
Sentiment score
8.2
GitLab is highly stable and reliable, with minor issues mainly under heavy load or during updates.
If a skilled developer uses it, it is ten out of ten for stability.
It provides a reliable environment for code management.
GitHub is mostly stable, but there can be occasional hiccups.
I have not encountered any performance or stability issues with GitLab so far.
The updates are frequent and demanding, happening at least once a week due to security reasons.
 

Room For Improvement

GitHub needs improved security, integration, AI enhancements, UI/UX, search, docs, automation, and support for better user experience.
GitLab users seek improved CI/CD automation, integrations, user interface, project management, security, pricing, and support for enhanced usability.
One area for improvement in GitHub could be integration with other tools, such as test management or project management tools.
I would like to see some AI functionality included in GitHub, similar to the features seen in GitLab, to enhance productivity.
When solving merge conflicts, it would be helpful to have tooltips within the actions to know what changes could happen next when resolving a conflict.
It would be beneficial to have a user-friendly interface for setting up these configurations, instead of just writing YAML files.
It is essential to conduct proper testing, such as unit tests and code coverage, within the SDLC pipelines.
GitLab can improve its user interface to make conflict resolution more user-friendly.
 

Setup Cost

GitHub provides cost-effective subscription options with a free basic version, ideal for public use, and competitive pricing for enterprises.
GitLab provides flexible pricing with open-source access and paid tiers, catering to different enterprise needs and budgets.
Normally, GitHub is not expensive, but it would be welcome if it reduces costs for developing countries.
The pricing of GitHub is reasonable, with the cost being around seven dollars per user per month for private repositories.
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.
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

GitHub offers robust community support, security, version control, integration with DevOps tools, and flexibility for distributed teams.
GitLab excels in UI, CI/CD, code management, and integration, offering user-friendly, efficient, and scalable development and deployment features.
The pull request facility for code review.
GitHub Actions allow for creating multiple jobs that run in different stages such as build, test, and deploy, which enable better visibility and control over the deployment pipeline.
For branching, it works well, especially in an agile environment.
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.
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.
 

Categories and Ranking

GitHub
Ranking in Application Security Tools
7th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
94
Ranking in other categories
Version Control (3rd)
GitLab
Ranking in Application Security Tools
9th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
84
Ranking in other categories
Build Automation (1st), Release Automation (2nd), Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (6th), Rapid Application Development Software (11th), Software Composition Analysis (SCA) (5th), Enterprise Agile Planning Tools (2nd), Fuzz Testing Tools (3rd), DevSecOps (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of GitHub is 0.9%, down from 1.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of GitLab is 2.8%, up from 2.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Security Tools
 

Featured Reviews

Pervez Roy - PeerSpot reviewer
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…
Rohit Kesharwani - PeerSpot reviewer
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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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
6%
Educational Organization
16%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Computer Software Company
13%
Government
9%
 

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.
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...
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...
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...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

No data available
Fuzzit
 

Overview

 

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
Find out what your peers are saying about GitHub vs. GitLab and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
856,873 professionals have used our research since 2012.