GitLab vs GoCD comparison

GitLab and Thoughtworks are both solutions in the Build Automation category. GitLab is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.6, while Thoughtworks is ranked #16 with an average rating of 7.3. GitLab holds a 14.5% mindshare in BA, compared to Thoughtworks’s 1.6% mindshare. Additionally, 97% of GitLab users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 88% of Thoughtworks users who would recommend it.

GitLab

Read 85 GitLab reviews

19,768 Views
4,547 Comparison Views

97% willing to recommend

GoCD

Read 7 GoCD reviews

881 Views
617 Comparison Views

88% willing to recommend

GitLab

GoCD

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Download the report

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 7, 2025

GoCD and GitLab compete in the continuous integration and delivery space. GitLab seems to hold the advantage due to its comprehensive feature set and strong market appeal.

Features: GoCD provides powerful pipeline management, efficient resource consumption, and value stream mapping to enhance project transparency. In contrast, GitLab offers extensive integrations, robust CI/CD pipelines, and a sophisticated code review system, making it a complete solution for the development lifecycle.

Room for Improvement: GoCD could benefit from a broader range of plugins and enhanced documentation for newcomers. It may also require improvements in user interface customization options. GitLab may improve in refining its complex features for better accessibility, offering more straightforward onboarding guides, and expanding its feature set usage to meet diverse development needs.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: GoCD's lightweight architecture simplifies quick setups, focusing on standard workflow management. GitLab provides versatile deployment options, including cloud and hybrid setups, supported by extensive documentation and superior customer service channels for a seamless implementation experience.

Pricing and ROI: GoCD appeals with low initial costs due to its open-source nature, making it cost-effective. GitLab charges higher prices, justified by its extensive features and integration capabilities, which lead to favorable ROI through decreased need for additional tools.

To learn more, read our detailed GitLab vs. GoCD Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

GitLab vs. GoCD

July 2025

Download the complete report

Helped 866,300 peers since 2012

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

Ranking in Build Automation

1st

Ranking in Release Automation

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

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

GoCD

Ranking in Build Automation

16th

Ranking in Release Automation

10th

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites (15th)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Build Automation category, the mindshare of GitLab is 14.5%, down from 17.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of GoCD is 1.6%, up from 1.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Build Automation Market Share Distribution
Product	Market Share (%)
GitLab	14.5%
GoCD	1.6%
Other	83.9%

Build Automation

Featured Reviews

Rohit Kesharwani

Manager, Engineering at 7-Eleven

Improved agility and time to market with CI/CD enhancements

The CI/CD pipelines in GitLab 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.

Read full review

Nishant Narayan Singh

DevOps Architect at Cognizant

Simplifies the pipeline process, but the access control system needs enhancement

One area of product improvement is the access control system. It is difficult to assign different access levels because it relies on separate keys for developer and admin access, which could be simplified. The folder structure is another aspect that could be enhanced, as all jobs are displayed on a single page without the clear organization seen in Jenkins. Implementing a more structured approach to organizing jobs would improve user experience. AI could simplify job creation. For example, instead of manually editing pipelines as code, an AI tool could allow users to input variables and automatically generate the required jobs. It would help reduce human errors, such as issues that arise from incorrect edits in large code files.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"GitLab offers a good interface for doing code reviews between two colleagues."

"CI/CD is very good. The version control system is also good. These are the two features that we use."

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

"GitLab is very useful for pipelines, continuous integration, and continuous deployment. It is also stable."

"The CI/CD process is very efficient."

"We like that we can have an all-encompassing product and don't have to implement different solutions."

"The tool helps to integrate CI/CD pipeline deployments. It is very easy to learn. Its security model is good."

"The solution makes the CI/CD pipelines easy to execute."

More GitLab pros

"The UI is colorful."

"Permission separations mean that we can grant limited permissions for each team or team member."

"The most notable aspect is its user interface, which we find to be user-friendly and straightforward for deploying and comprehending pipelines. We have the ability to create multiple pipelines, and in addition to that, the resource consumption is impressive."

"GoCD's open-source nature is valuable."

Cons

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

"There was a problem with the build environment when we were looking at developing iOS applications. iOS build require Mac machines and there are no Mac machines provided by GitLab in their cloud. So to build for mobile iOS application, we needed to use our own Mac machine within our own infrastructure. If GitLab were to provide a feature such that an iOS application could also be built through GitLab directly, that would be great."

"The initial setup was quite challenging because it takes some time to understand how to pull out or push the code."

"I've noticed an area for improvement in GitLab, particularly needing to go through many steps to push the code to the repository. Resolving that issue would make the product better. My team quickly fixed it by writing a small script, then double-clicking or enabling the script to take care of the issue. However, that quick fix was from my team and not the GitLab team, so in the next release, if an automatic deployment feature would be available in GitLab, then that would be good because, in Visual Studio, you can do that with just one click of a button."

"GitLab can improve its user interface to make conflict resolution more user-friendly."

"As GitLab is not perfect, what needs improvement in the solution is the Wiki feature of the groups or the repertories because currently, it's not searchable by default. You'll need an indexing service such as Elasticsearch to make it searchable, and that requires too much work, so for me, it's the main feature that should be improved in GitLab. In the next version of the solution, from the top of my head, the documentation could be improved. Besides the Wiki, it would be good if there's documentation that would be automatically generated based on the code repository. In other words, there should be some tutorials from GitLab for developers in the next release."

"The integration could be slightly better."

"Atlassian offers more products than GitLab. GitLab offers source control management, version control and collaboration between developers. Atlassian offers features on top of this as well as more integration points for developers."

More GitLab cons

"The aspect that requires attention is the user management component. When integrating with BitLabs and authenticating through GitLab, there are specific features we desire. One important feature is the ability to import users directly from GitLab, along with their respective designations, and assign appropriate privileges based on that information. Allocating different privileges to users is a time-consuming process for us."

"The documentation really should be improved by including real examples and more setup cases."

"The tool must be more user-friendly."

"It is difficult to assign different access levels because it relies on separate keys for developer and admin access, which could be simplified."

Pricing and Cost Advice

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

"On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the pricing a five out of ten."

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

"We are using the open-source version."

"It seems reasonable. Our IT team manages the licenses."

"The initial setup cost is excellent and you can add the premium features later."

"We are currently using the open-source version."

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

More GitLab pricing and cost advice

"It's an open-source and free tool."

"This is an open-source solution and it is inexpensive."

See which vendors are best for you

Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Build Automation solutions are best for your needs.

See recommendations

866,300 professionals have used our research since 2012.

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

14%

Computer Software Company

13%

Government

11%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Computer Software Company

14%

Financial Services Firm

Retailer

Educational Organization

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	35
Midsize Enterprise	9
Large Enterprise	42

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	4
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	3

Questions from the Community

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

See all answers

What needs improvement with GitLab?

Regarding improvements, making task management is something that GitLab can potentially make easier, similar to what DevOps or Jira does.

See all answers

What do you like most about GoCD?

The UI is colorful.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for GoCD?

The product is free of cost.

See all answers

What needs improvement with GoCD?

See all answers

Comparisons

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs GitLab

Compared 32% of the time

GitHub CoPilot vs GitLab

Compared 14% of the time

SonarQube Server (formerly SonarQube) vs GitLab

Compared 5% of the time

TeamCity vs GitLab

Compared 5% of the time

Tekton vs GitLab

Compared 4% of the time

More GitLab Competitors

Jenkins vs GoCD

Compared 28% of the time

GitHub Actions vs GoCD

Compared 18% of the time

Tekton vs GoCD

Compared 10% of the time

BMC Release Lifecycle Management vs GoCD

Compared 8% of the time

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs GoCD

Compared 8% of the time

More GoCD Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

GitLab

August 2025

Download GitLab product report

Buyer's Guide

Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites

August 2025

Download GoCD product report

Also Known As

Fuzzit

Adaptive ALM, Thoughtworks Go

Overview

GitLab offers a secure and user-friendly platform for CI/CD pipeline management, code repository control, and collaboration, enhancing development speed and efficiency. It facilitates automation with extensive customization and tool integration, ideal for DevOps processes.

GitLab supports source code management, version control, and collaborative development. It's frequently used in CI/CD processes to automate builds and deployments while integrating DevOps practices. GitLab allows companies to manage repositories, automate pipelines, conduct code reviews, and maintain development lifecycles. The platform supports infrastructure and configuration management, enabling efficient code collaboration, deployment automation, and comprehensive repository handling. Many organizations commit and deploy developed code using GitLab's capabilities.

What are GitLab's most valuable features?

CI/CD Pipeline Management: Streamlines development through automated testing and deployment.
User-Friendly Interface: Ensures ease of collaboration and task automation.
Code Merging and Branching: Facilitates smooth code integration and version control.
Security Platform: Provides strong security features for safe development.
Tool Integration: Enhances functionality with diverse tool integration.

What benefits should users evaluate?

Development Speed: Accelerates processes through automation.
Collaboration Ease: Simplifies team interactions and workflow.
Customization Options: Offers extensive personalization for specific needs.
Comprehensive Documentation: Provides detailed guidance for users.
Secure Platform: Maintains integrity with robust security features.

In specific industries, GitLab serves as a backbone for source code management and CI/CD implementation. Companies leverage its capabilities for infrastructure management and deployment automation, thus streamlining project delivery timelines. Its ability to handle configuration management and code repositories effectively aids in maintaining development lifecycles, making it a preferred choice for organizations committed to enhancing their DevOps practices.

GitLab

GoCD is an open source continuous delivery server created by ThoughtWorks. GoCD offers businesses a first-class build and deployment engine for complete control and visibility. It was designed for continuous delivery and the concepts essential to this practice are built in at the core.

Thoughtworks

Sample Customers

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

Ancestry.com, Barclay Card, AutoTrader, BT Financial Group, Gamesys, Nike, Vodafone, Haufe Lexware, Medidata, Hoovers

Buyer's Guide

GitLab vs. GoCD

July 2025

Free Report: GitLab vs. GoCD

Find out what your peers are saying about GitLab vs. GoCD and other solutions. Updated: July 2025.

DOWNLOAD NOW

866,300 professionals have used our research since 2012.

See our GitLab vs. GoCD report.

See our list of best Build Automation vendors and best Release Automation vendors.

We monitor all Build Automation reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.