Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

GitLab vs Microsoft Azure DevOps comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 2, 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
6.1
GitLab boosts ROI by enhancing DevOps efficiency, time-saving automation, software security, and user satisfaction through broad project adoption.
Sentiment score
6.5
Microsoft Azure DevOps boosts productivity, time management, and ROI, though integration with non-Microsoft tools can be challenging.
Regarding release frequency, previously we had one to two releases per week, but now we achieve daily or on-demand releases, resulting in a three to five-fold increase in release frequency.
Site Reliability Engineer at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Migrating to GitLab is bringing time-saving benefits, and everything is easier to automate.
IT Manager at a tech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
We have saved time significantly, reducing deployment time from four hours to five minutes per deployment.
IT Software Architect at ANAC - Autorità Nazionale Anticorruzione
On a scale of one to ten, where ten is the best, I would say ROI is an eight.
Associate Director at Grant Thornton (US)
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.6
GitLab support varies by subscription, with paid users satisfied, while free users often use forums or internal resources.
Sentiment score
6.8
Microsoft Azure DevOps offers efficient customer service, with strong documentation empowering users to resolve many issues independently.
We have rarely needed to escalate issues to technical support since GitLab usually runs seamlessly.
AWS DevOps/ Site Reliability Engineer at Tata Consultancy
I have interacted with architects for some advice during the implementation, and they were prompt in their response.
Platform Engineer & Manager at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
I have had meetings where they taught me, explained things, and provided guidance for starting from scratch.
IT Manager at a tech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
Resolving issues took time since understanding our unique problems was not always straightforward for support teams.
Project Executive at synergyc
I would rate technical support from Microsoft for Microsoft Azure DevOps an eight out of ten.
Consultant at Yara International ASA
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
7.3
GitLab is praised for adaptability, handling diverse workloads and large architectures smoothly, though some on-premises scalability issues remain.
Sentiment score
7.4
Microsoft Azure DevOps is scalable, supporting teams of any size, with seamless resource expansion and reliability across projects.
It has all the features required for our coding and deployment needs, which makes it scalable to our changing requirements.
Senior Application Developer at IBM
We're transitioning to OpenShift for future scalability with increased user numbers.
Platform Engineer & Manager at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
For scaling, other deployment options from GitLab's side need to be adopted.
Manager, Engineering at 7-Eleven
The scalability has left me pleased, not just for our teams in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, but as we expanded into North America, Africa, and even Australia.
Project Executive at synergyc
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Users praise GitLab for stability and reliability with minimal downtime, highlighting its strong performance and high stability ratings.
Sentiment score
7.9
Microsoft Azure DevOps is stable, with minor issues often related to connectivity, earning high user satisfaction ratings.
I have not encountered any performance or stability issues with GitLab so far.
AWS DevOps/ Site Reliability Engineer at Tata Consultancy
The updates are frequent and demanding, happening at least once a week due to security reasons.
Chief Technology Officer at Acclym
We raised a request with GitLab support, but they were unable to help because they could not find the root cause of what went wrong.
Assistant Manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Its stability might be attributed to its legacy as an on-premise solution that has been in development for more than 25 years.
Software Architect at RedesCDM
There was just one time when there was some infrastructure issue from Microsoft's side, so we faced some glitches for a few minutes only, not for hours or a day.
DevOps Engineer at ENTERPRISE SYSTEM SOLUTIONS LIMITED
The solution is stable, and we did not encounter any stability issues.
Project Executive at synergyc
 

Room For Improvement

GitLab users want better integrations, documentation, project management, intuitive pipelines, enhanced security, user-friendly interface, and simplified pricing.
Microsoft Azure DevOps users seek improved features, including query editors, integration, testing capabilities, Linux compatibility, security, and documentation.
It would be beneficial to have a user-friendly interface for setting up these configurations, instead of just writing YAML files.
IT Manager at a tech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
It is essential to conduct proper testing, such as unit tests and code coverage, within the SDLC pipelines.
Manager, Engineering at 7-Eleven
GitLab can improve its user interface to make conflict resolution more user-friendly.
Senior Application Developer at IBM
Those processes are a bit difficult for some customers who may not have technical knowledge and don't go through the entire documentation.
Associate Director at Grant Thornton (US)
Out of the box, the solution is effective, yet with advancements in AI, it has the potential to be more intuitive.
Project Executive at synergyc
Instead of customers having to try many options themselves, they benefit from practitioner recommendations.
Founder & CEO at DevTools
 

Setup Cost

GitLab offers a free tier, with Premium at $19 and Ultimate at $99 per user monthly, plus optional CI/CD costs.
Microsoft Azure DevOps offers competitive pricing with flexible licensing, starting at $6-$11 per user, with a free version available.
Even when working in other small organizations, we opted for GitLab as it was cost-efficient.
Senior Application Developer at IBM
The pricing of GitLab is reasonable, aligning with what I consider to be average compared to competitors.
IT Manager at a tech company with 5,001-10,000 employees
The price is high, and it limits user accessibility.
IT Software Architect at ANAC - Autorità Nazionale Anticorruzione
They don't even provide a POC where you can have a sandbox or stuff that you can go through and see how exactly it's costing.
Associate Director at Grant Thornton (US)
I find it to be expensive.
Project Executive at synergyc
Azure charges only the parking cost, not for unnecessary or unwanted cost.
DevOps Engineer at ENTERPRISE SYSTEM SOLUTIONS LIMITED
 

Valuable Features

GitLab excels in CI/CD pipelines, usability, integration, and automation, enhancing collaboration, productivity, and efficient DevOps workflows.
Microsoft Azure DevOps enhances productivity with its CI/CD pipelines, seamless integration, and user-friendly interface, streamlining project workflows.
As we implement automated testing and DevSecOps, it speeds up the process by forty to sixty percent.
Platform Engineer & Manager at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
The Ultimate version offers enhanced features for security scanning through DAST and SAST analysis, which have greatly benefitted our project workflow.
IT Software Architect at ANAC - Autorità Nazionale Anticorruzione
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.
Manager, Engineering at 7-Eleven
I can't approve my own request and move the code around without a review.
Associate Director at Grant Thornton (US)
Our company organized a training session with a certified Azure expert, which was extremely beneficial for adopting best practices during the initial three months.
Project Executive at synergyc
No organization would use just one vendor, and the goal is about what works well, is scalable, performs well, and offers a reasonable total cost of ownership.
Founder & CEO at DevTools
 

Categories and Ranking

GitLab
Ranking in Release Automation
2nd
Ranking in Enterprise Agile Planning Tools
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
90
Ranking in other categories
Application Security Tools (11th), Build Automation (1st), Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (9th), Rapid Application Development Software (11th), Software Composition Analysis (SCA) (4th), Fuzz Testing Tools (2nd), DevSecOps (1st)
Microsoft Azure DevOps
Ranking in Release Automation
1st
Ranking in Enterprise Agile Planning Tools
1st
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.0
Number of Reviews
136
Ranking in other categories
Application Lifecycle Management (ALM) Suites (2nd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2026, in the Release Automation category, the mindshare of GitLab is 29.9%, down from 36.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Microsoft Azure DevOps is 31.1%, down from 38.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Release Automation Market Share Distribution
ProductMarket Share (%)
Microsoft Azure DevOps31.1%
GitLab29.9%
Other39.0%
Release Automation
 

Featured Reviews

BasilJiji - PeerSpot reviewer
System Engineer at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Role-based workflows have transformed daily deployments and improve team collaboration
GitLab has role-based access control, so when a team member needs to make a code change, they cannot directly apply it to the environment but must put in a merge request. Once a senior reviews the code and approves it, then it is implemented across the environment, making it safer and allowing everyone to experience the process. The best features GitLab offers are version control and automation, which are the major things that stand out to me. When it comes to access, the login is very smooth, with just one login integrated with our Okta, allowing everyone to log in easily. Deployments become much easier, and that is how GitLab helps. The automation features make my work easier because we use a tool called AWX, which is connected to GitLab. Whenever we run a job on AWX, it directly checks the code and uses it. Since the code is not preserved locally but kept in the cloud, it is safe and nobody can tamper with it. When it comes to safety, that is a major thing. Automation features allow the code to be accessed from any tools we use, so the jobs we run are helping tremendously and doing their work perfectly. For pipeline tasks, we have created a significant amount of pipelines, which are all hosted in GitLab. Running the pipelines has become much easier, and they are doing a perfect job, helping tremendously in our day-to-day activities. GitLab has positively impacted my organization because previously we stored code locally on servers, leading to many risks. Since GitLab came into our environment, our integration and deployments became much easier, helping our work become much smoother. Improvements from GitLab have led to better team collaboration because when several people are working, they can all edit the code and submit it as a merge request, and once approved, it reflects directly to the main branch. Many can work at the same time. When it comes to deployments, deploying has become much faster since we started using GitLab, and even if errors occur, we can spot them easily and troubleshoot, which has helped tremendously.
Bharadwaj Deepak Mohapatra - PeerSpot reviewer
DevOps Engineer at ENTERPRISE SYSTEM SOLUTIONS LIMITED
Have built reliable end-to-end pipelines and streamlined cloud provisioning through consistent collaboration practices
I am currently working with open-source tools such as Jenkins for my main CI/CD pipeline, and for enterprise clients, I am using Microsoft Azure DevOps CI/CD pipeline. For other clients, I have also implemented CI/CD YAML pipelines through GitLab CI/CD workflow and GitHub Actions. I am creating the end-to-end CI/CD pipeline from development to deployment and monitoring all of this. Azure Boards is easier than Jira for my understanding because there are very easy points to manage the Agile methodology which we work on. Because it is a GUI, sometimes the process may take a few minutes more than the CLI process since the backend is running the exact CLI, but we are commanding through the GUI. There is definitely a time lag, but it is more secure. Microsoft Azure DevOps pipelines work very seamlessly rather than other CI/CD pipelines, as of my understanding. The downside is that the process may take more time when deploying some clusters, Kubernetes, Azure AKS service, or some vast microservice architecture deployments. There may be a little bit of lag I feel, though I cannot tell very strictly that this is a disadvantage, but sometimes it takes a little more time than other cloud infrastructures. All the major things are done by GUI, which is somewhat a little slow. However, if considering automations, process, monitoring, and provisioning, then it is the best cloud service across all the other service providers. Our implementation is a hybrid cloud. Microsoft Azure DevOps is definitely easily scalable. I have worked on many Kubernetes infrastructures and microservice deployments, and I have seen that replication is very good because it is very easy. The replication process is very straightforward. I definitely advocate for using less code because it is very time-consuming. If using GCP or Amazon Web Service, there is more interaction related to work over the CLI process. In terms of Microsoft Azure DevOps, there are many things done by the GUI, which is the best part.
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Release Automation solutions are best for your needs.
879,711 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
14%
Computer Software Company
13%
Manufacturing Company
11%
Government
11%
Manufacturing Company
14%
Computer Software Company
11%
Government
10%
Financial Services Firm
10%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business36
Midsize Enterprise10
Large Enterprise45
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business42
Midsize Enterprise27
Large Enterprise69
 

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.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for GitLab?
We are currently using general GitLab, not GitLab Premium.
What needs improvement with GitLab?
GitLab can be improved by being more responsive in the UI and offering better pricing for premium features, which would be useful for small startups. While GitLab's CI/CD is powerful, it is somewha...
Which is better - Jira or Microsoft Azure DevOps?
Jira is a great centralized tool for just about everything, from local team management to keeping track of products and work logs. It is easy to implement and navigate, and it is stable and scalabl...
Which is better - TFS or Azure DevOps?
TFS and Azure DevOps are different in many ways. TFS was designed for admins, and only offers incremental improvements. In addition, TFS seems complicated to use and I don’t think it has a very fri...
What do you like most about Microsoft Azure DevOps?
Valuable features for project management and tracking in Azure DevOps include a portal displaying test results, check-in/check-out activity, and developer/tester productivity.
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Fuzzit
Azure DevOps, VSTS, Visual Studio Team Services, MS Azure DevOps
 

Overview

 

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
Alaska Airlines, Iberia Airlines, Columbia, Skype
Find out what your peers are saying about GitLab vs. Microsoft Azure DevOps and other solutions. Updated: December 2025.
879,711 professionals have used our research since 2012.