No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

GitLab Premium vs Qualys Web Application Scanning 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

GitLab Premium
Ranking in Application Security Tools
28th
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
5.4
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Qualys Web Application Scan...
Ranking in Application Security Tools
19th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.3
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (14th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2026, in the Application Security Tools category, the mindshare of GitLab Premium is 0.3%. The mindshare of Qualys Web Application Scanning is 1.7%, down from 2.1% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Application Security Tools Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Qualys Web Application Scanning1.7%
GitLab Premium0.3%
Other98.0%
Application Security Tools
 

Featured Reviews

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.
AnkitSharma13 - PeerSpot reviewer
Security Officer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Web scanning needs improvement but offers good vulnerability detection
The downside of Qualys Web Application Scanning is that it cannot crawl automatically. If I provide an IP address and a login form, it does basic testing, but it doesn't go deep as IBM AppScan does. If Qualys Web Application Scanning could improve its crawling capability, it would be more user-friendly. Qualys Web Application Scanning does IP-level testing, requiring direct input of credentials, and can only scan a few pages to provide known generic vulnerabilities, which isn't as beneficial from my point of view. The Vulnerability Management also relies heavily on version numbers and will flag vulnerabilities based on the component version, but it doesn't check if a real fix exists, leading to flags on components that actually have workarounds available.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"GitLab Premium is much more reliable, quicker, faster, and basically easier to operate compared to GitHub."
"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."
"I would give a rating of eleven in that case, because we never had a downtime with GitLab Premium."
"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."
"By using QualysGuard, we are able to finish external scans with assured results in half the time.​"
"It combines both web application vulnerability management and internal vulnerability management on one platform and dashboard. Usually, you have to purchase separate tools."
"The feature that I have found most valuable is the progressive scan. It is good. It's done in 24 hours."
"The most valuable feature is that we are able to scan the services and put credentials like a user ID password, and we can verify the vulnerability level."
"Qualys Web Application Scanning has multiple features like threat protection and container security scanning in one box."
"The advantage of Qualys Web Application Scanning lies in its user-friendly dashboard and appealing reports, which are useful for presentation to leadership."
"What I remember from my experience with Qualys is that the simplicity of exporting reports and the simplicity and clarity of the reports included with the product is good."
"Technical support is very good whenever we send them a message."
 

Cons

"It is complex. It takes a good amount of time."
"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."
"In terms of improvement for GitLab Premium, not necessarily GitLab Premium specifically but GitLab as a whole could enhance features on the project management side."
"In certain cases, this product does have false positives, which the company should work on."
"The virus code updates are not frequent enough."
"The scanner reports a lot of false positives, which is something that needs to be improved."
"The pricing of Qualys is quite expensive in comparison with the other products in this category that are offering pretty much the same thing."
"It's missing some zero-day patches."
"It is unclear how to build automation on Qualys. We do some automation, but not fully, because working is difficult."
"There should be better visibility into the application."
"New features need to be added, specifically LLM-based solutions."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available
"From my perspective, it is a budget-friendly option."
"The product pricing is fair and reasonably priced."
"Pricing was reasonable and competitive. It was not too far above the other products."
"Qualys WAS' pricing is competitive."
"Licensing was based on the number of assets that you want to scan on your network. You can also do licensing on subscription. On subscription, it is easier and more flexible. You tell Qualys that you want to move from the 1000 to 2000 band or the 3000 or 5000 band, then they will give you the quotation for it. Once you pay for it, applying the licensing is quite easy and effective."
"Qualys Web Application Scanning's pricing is a bit expensive compared to other solutions available in the market."
"The cost is $30,000 USD for one year to cover WAS (Web Application Security) and the VM (Virtual Machine) security in a company with 200 employees."
"We normally purchase an annual license."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Application Security Tools solutions are best for your needs.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
44%
Transportation Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
13%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Construction Company
7%
Computer Software Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business8
Midsize Enterprise6
Large Enterprise27
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with GitLab Premium?
It could be better, but now that we have migrated to Siemens Energy, GitLab Premium is being actively looked after by another team. We are just making sure that GitLab Premium administration is bei...
What advice do you have for others considering GitLab Premium?
We were on the desktop, and now GitLab Premium is on cloud. I am not really sure about the purchase process for GitLab Premium. I am a GitLab Premium end-user. I give this product a rating of eight...
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...
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Qualys Web Application Scanning?
Regarding pricing, I think for personal use, it is costly, but if organizations are ready to pay, then it is fine as they are using it.
What needs improvement with Qualys Web Application Scanning?
The downside of Qualys Web Application Scanning is that it cannot crawl automatically. If I provide an IP address and a login form, it does basic testing, but it doesn't go deep as IBM AppScan does...
What is your primary use case for Qualys Web Application Scanning?
I use Qualys Web Application Scanning, and we are using Vulnerability Management. By Vulnerability Management, I mean not TotalCloud; they have some on-premises solutions also. Patch Management and...
 

Also Known As

No data available
Qualys WAS
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
BskyB, Cartagena, ClearPoint Learning Systems, Connect Group, du, Fortrex Technologies, HBOR, HDI, Highlights for Children, The Lithuanian State Enterprise Centre of Registers, City of Miami Beach, Microsoft, MidlandHR, MSCI Inc., Northern Arizona University, Ofgem, Olympus Europa, PhoneFactor, RTL Nederland, ThousandEyes, VGZ Organisatie B.V.
Find out what your peers are saying about GitLab Premium vs. Qualys Web Application Scanning and other solutions. Updated: August 2026.
909,725 professionals have used our research since 2012.