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GitHub vs GitLab Premium comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
4th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
97
Ranking in other categories
Version Control (3rd), Agile and DevOps Services (2nd)
GitLab Premium
Ranking in Application Security Tools
23rd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
5.6
Number of Reviews
4
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Featured Reviews

Murathan OK - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Development Manager at a media company with 10,001+ employees
CI/CD workflows have become streamlined and AI support has improved collaborative development
We are using GitHub because it is open-source software, which is the most valuable solution for us. The open source and community support are very good. We are always up-to-date with the community, and integration difficulty is very low. If you integrate any CI/CD solutions on GitHub, it's very easy. We started using GitHub about three months ago with AI integration. For our deployments, some developers can be very shy about asking for descriptions on their commits. We are using AI support for comments and deployment management, which is beautiful. We are not using the GitHub API for automating workflows in our projects. I give GitHub a five-star rating for the review capabilities. I also give GitHub five stars for integration with third-party applications. There is a lot of integration available on GitHub. If you want to integrate something, even if it could be integrated before GitHub, you can make your code and integrate your own in-house applications. It's a very easy and powerful aspect of GitHub.
Bharadwaj Deepak Mohapatra - PeerSpot reviewer
DevOps Engineer at ENTERPRISE SYSTEM SOLUTIONS LIMITED
Have managed internal projects efficiently but face challenges with user interface and navigation
When discussing improvements for GitLab Premium, the main area is the GUI. GitHub's GUI is very good, offering many collaboration options and the ability to customize dashboards. GitHub's look and feel is superior, but GitLab Premium's dashboard is very simple. Regarding capabilities lacking in GitLab Premium, the main concern is the GUI. For example, in GitHub, there is a right side profile where settings can be directly accessed, and there is a direct section for developer mode with clear segregation. In GitLab Premium, when accessing users, confusion sometimes arises between root user and main user. There is an option for groups, but it is not direct. When clicking on groups, it goes to another section where groups must be found. This hierarchy could be more straightforward and direct. The biggest drawbacks of GitLab Premium are GUI and configuration. GUI is the primary concern, but other aspects are good.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most valuable feature is the fact that it's cloud-based, and we don't have to manage an on-premises server to use it."
"GitHub's source code management is top-notch. It's easy to inspect changes and visualize code and differences. Their action system is comprehensive in terms of making changes and automation."
"Complication free with good ability for third-party integrations."
"The most valuable aspects of GitHub are version control and parallel development. I also appreciate the forking part, which allows us to release a specific set of features to the environment."
"GitHub provides good time reduction and this is what I value the most."
"The most valuable feature is the source code management. It's very helpful and it's a great product."
"We use GitHub instead of our regular shared drive. It offers instant access to shared folders as well as good security."
"Any complex banking can be handled very easily in GitHub. It allows us to integrate with tools like Grid, where we can merge and resolve conflicts without any hassle."
"GitLab Premium is much more reliable, quicker, faster, and basically easier to operate compared to GitHub."
"The biggest benefit from GitLab Premium is that both repository management systems are good, as both GitHub and GitLab are valuable, and the main advantage is that GitLab Premium has community support, making it good in all aspects for small organizations."
"The main benefits I received from GitLab Premium are that I save money and streamline my management process of applications."
"The main benefits from advanced CI/CD capabilities in GitLab Premium include automation to pull and merge the codes together, and it's all done automatically."
 

Cons

"If something has to be moved into approvals, and if they don't approve it in a few hours, then they should move the approval request to some other user, or they should have a way to escalate it."
"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."
"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."
"When I was new, I faced challenges with Git commands, such as reversing or deleting mistakes."
"I would want to see some form of code security scanning implemented."
"The solution can improve by adding video guides, official guides, or short courses that cater to beginners who are new to the system. These resources could offer step-by-step guidance on how to use GitHub, including common procedures such as pulling and committing. Currently, many of us have to resort to searching for information on how to do these tasks via Google. An official guide provided by GitHub itself would be a valuable asset to newcomers and would save them time and effort."
"Our firewall was blocking cloning and downloading with SSH."
"This solution could be improved by offering crowd sourced support where we could ask questions to other users."
"The automation part could be improved. Nowadays AI is being actively used, and if we could integrate something like ChatGPT with GitLab Premium, it would be easier for us to check logs and debug faster."
"The biggest drawbacks of GitLab Premium are GUI and configuration. GUI is the primary concern, but other aspects are good."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"My company purchased it. Before, we used to receive the free version, but then they purchased some of the features."
"I think, in terms of price, GitHub is okay compared to other tools."
"We are currently paying nothing for GitHub."
"The product is reasonably priced."
"GitHub is a cost-effective solution."
"If I consider the market standards, the product's price is pocket-friendly."
"The licensing model from GitHub is very clear."
"It's cheaper than Bitbucket."
Information not available
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Computer Software Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
No data available
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business42
Midsize Enterprise13
Large Enterprise49
No data available
 

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?
I was paying approximately one hundred dollars annually about a year ago. I am uncertain of the current cost, but GitHub without Copilot is free as far as I know. I am not paying anything for my Gi...
What needs improvement with GitHub?
Security could make GitHub better. OWASP Top Ten security advisors could be integrated on GitHub, and it could provide checks and advice. That would be much better. Additionally, LLM integration on...
What needs improvement with GitLab Premium?
GitLab Premium is quite solid now, though there is always room for improvement. They provide a feature for integrating it with provisioning tools such as Terraform and others, but if they could pro...
What advice do you have for others considering GitLab Premium?
I require clarification on which feedback about the effectiveness of GitLab Premium for audit events you are asking about. Overall, I give GitLab Premium a final rating of nine out of ten for the p...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for GitLab Premium?
GitLab Premium is affordable in terms of pricing, while GitHub is a bit pricier. If working with a much more complex and vast organization at the enterprise level, GitHub would be the choice. If op...
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Overview

Information not available
 

Sample Customers

Dominion Enterprises, NASA, Braintree, SAP, CyberAgent
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about GitHub vs. GitLab Premium and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,853 professionals have used our research since 2012.