GitLab vs Sonatype Lifecycle comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Mar 20, 2023

We performed a comparison between Gitlab and Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle based on our users’ reviews in five categories. After reading all of the collected data, you can find our conclusion below.

  • Ease of Deployment: Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle’s setup is straightforward, well-documented, and takes about three months to roll out. For GitLab, deployment is fairly easy, and the adoption process requires a focus on education.
  • Features: Nexus Lifecycle is praised for email alerts, a friendly interface, open source policies, component blockage, and security accuracy. GitLab was praised for its all-in-one platform and future roadmap.
  • Pricing: Nexus Lifecycle is pricey but provides value with transparent licensing and unlimited scans. GitLab has three editions, with the premium/ultimate edition having more features at a higher cost.
  • Service and Support: Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle offers strong tech support with expert architects, while GitLab has top-rated customer service but uncertain long-term support.
  • ROI: For Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle, it's hard to quantify the ROI, but it helped to avoid security issues and keep apps up-to-date, while for GitLab, a new adoption is expected to show an ROI within a year.

Comparison Results: Based on the parameters we compared, Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle comes out ahead of GitLab. Although both products have valuable features and can be estimated as high-end solutions, our reviewers found that GitLab’s price is higher and has uncertain long-term support.

To learn more, read our detailed GitLab vs. Sonatype Lifecycle Report (Updated: November 2023).
745,775 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The dashboard view and the management view are most valuable.""We use a lot of open sources with a variety of containers, and the different open sources come with different licenses. Some come with dual licenses, some are risky and some are not. All our three use cases are equally important to us and we found WhiteSource handles them decently.""We set the solution up and enabled it and we had everything running pretty quickly.""WhiteSource is unique in the scanning of open-source licenses. Additionally, the vulnerabilities aspect of the solution is a benefit. We don't use WhiteSource in the whole organization, but we use it for some projects. There we receive a sense of the vulnerabilities of the open-source components, which improves our security work. The reports are automated which is useful.""I am the organizational deployment administrator for this tool, and I, along with other users in our company, especially the security team, appreciate the solution for several reasons. The UI is excellent, and scanning for security threats fits well into our workflow.""There are multiple different integrations there. We use Mend for CI/CD that goes through Azure as well. It works seamlessly. We never have any issues with it.""The vulnerability analysis is the best aspect of the solution.""WhiteSource helped reduce our mean time to resolution since the adoption of the product."

More Mend.io Pros →

"GitLab is kind of an image of GitHub, so it gives us the flexibility to monitor our changes in the repos.""The most valuable feature of GitLab is its convenience. I am able to trace back most of my changes up to a far distance in time and it helps me to analyze and see the older version of the code.""GitLab's best features are continuous integration and fast deployment.""The stability is good.""The merging feature makes it easy later on for the deployment.""This is a scalable solution. We had around 200 users working with it.""GitLab is a solution for source code management, container registry, pipelines, testing, and deployment.""GitLab is being used as a repository for our codebase and it is a one stop DevOps tool we use in our team."

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"The integrations into developer tooling are quite nice. I have the integration for Eclipse and for Visual Studio. Colleagues are using the Javascript IDE from JetBrains called WebStorm and there is an integration for that from Nexus Lifecycle. I have not heard about anything that is not working. It's also quite easy to integrate it. You just need to set up a project or an app and then you just make the connection in all the tools you're using.""Lifecycle lets developers see any vulnerabilities or AGPL license issues associated with code in the early stages of development. The nice thing is that it's built into the ID so that they can see all versions of a specific code.""Vulnerability detection accuracy is good.""Sonatype support is quite responsive. When we needed something, we could reach out and set up a meeting. They provide the best support possible.""The most important features of the Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle are the vulnerability reports.""Due to the sheer amount of vulnerabilities and the fact that my company is still working on eliminating all vulnerabilities, it's still too early for me to say what I like most about Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle. Still, one of the best functions of the product is the guidance it gives in finding which components or applications have vulnerabilities. For example, my team had a vulnerability or a CVE connected to Apache last week. My team couldn't find which applications had the vulnerability initially, but using Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle helped. My team deployed new versions on that same day and successfully eliminated the vulnerabilities, so right now, the best feature of Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle is finding which applications have vulnerabilities.""The most valuable features of the Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle are the evaluation of the unit test coverage, vulnerability scanning, duplicate code lines, code smells, and unnecessary loops.""The IQ server and repo are the most valuable."

More Sonatype Lifecycle Pros →

Cons
"Mend supports most of the common package managers, but it doesn't support some that we use. I would appreciate it if they can quickly make these changes to add new package managers when necessary.""At times, the latency of getting items out of the findings after they're remediated is higher than it should be.""I rated the solution an eight out of ten because WhiteSource hasn't built in a couple of features that we would have loved to use and they say they're on their roadmap. I'm hoping that they'll be able to build and deliver in 2022.""On the reporting side, they could make some improvements. They are making the reports better and better, but sometimes it takes a lot of time to generate a report for our entire organization.""The turnaround time for upgrading databases for this tool as well as the accuracy could be improved.""Mend lets you create custom policies. They're not too complicated to set up, but it would be helpful if they had some preconfigured policies to match what we have in Azure DevOps. That would save us a lot of time. It's tedious to configure the policies manually, and I lack the capacity to do it right now. Other products have preconfigured packs and templates, and Mend doesn't.""I would like to have an additional compliance pack. Currently, it does not have anything for the CIS framework or the NIST framework. If we directly run a scan, and it is under the CIS framework, we can directly tell the auditor that this product is now CIS compliant.""The only thing that I don't find support for on Mend Prioritize is C++."

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"This solution could be improved by adding modifications such as slack notifications.""I would like configuration of a YML file to be done via UI rather than a code file.""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.""The pricing model of GitLab is an issue for me.""There is room for improvement in GitLab Agents.""The integration could be slightly better.""Expand features to match other tools such as a static code analysis tool so third-party integrations are not required.""It is a little complex to set up the pipelines within the solution."

More GitLab Cons →

"The team managing Nexus Lifecycle reported that their internal libraries were not being identified, so they have asked Sonatype's technical team to include that in the upcoming version.""It could be because I need to learn more about Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle, but as a leader, if I want to analyze the vulnerability situation and how it is and the forecast, I'd like to look at the reports and understand what the results mean. It's been challenging for me to understand the reports and dashboards on Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle, so I'll need to take a course or watch some YouTube tutorials about the product. If Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle has documentation that could help me properly analyze the vulnerability situation and what the graphs mean, then that would be helpful. I need help understanding what each graph is showing, and it seems my company is the worst, based on the chart. Still, I need clarification, so if there were some documentation, a more extensive knowledge base, or a question mark icon you could hover over that would explain what each data on the graph means, that would make Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle better.""We got a lot of annotations for certain libraries when it comes to Java, but my feeling, and the feeling of a colleague as well, is that we don't get as many for critical libraries when it comes to .NET, as if most of them are really fine... It would be good if Sonatype would check the status of annotations for .NET packages.""In the beginning, we sometimes struggle to access the customer environment. The customer must issue the required certificates because many customers use cell phone certificates, and Sonatype needs a valid CA certificate.""Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle can improve by having a feature to automatically detect vulnerabilities. Additionally, if it could automatically push the dependencies or create notifications it would be beneficial.""The solution is not an SaaS product.""The reporting could be better.""Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle can improve the functionality. Some functionalities are missing from the UI that could be accessed using the API but they are not available. For example, seeing more than the 100 first reports or, seeing your comments when you process a waiver for a vulnerability or a violation."

More Sonatype Lifecycle Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "This is an expensive solution."
  • "When comparing the price of WhiteSource to the competition it is priced well. The cost for 50 users is approximately $18,000 annually."
  • "Its pricing model is per developer. It depends on the number of developers in the company. The license is for a minimum of 20 developers. So, even if you are a small startup with less than 10 developers, you have to buy a license for 20 developers on a yearly subscription, which makes it quite expensive for startup customers. I provide consultation to startup accelerators. They're small at the beginning, and only once they grow to 20 developers, they can afford this tool. As a result, WhiteSource is missing this target audience. Their licensing is not flexible."
  • "We always negotiate for the best price possible, and as far as I know, Mend has done an excellent job with their pricing. Our management is happy with the pricing, which has led to renewals."
  • "Pricing and licensing are comparable to other tools. When we started, it was less than our existing solution. I can't go into specifics, but it isn't cheap."
  • "Mend is costly but not overly expensive. The license was quite expensive this year, but we managed to negotiate the price down to the same as last year. At the same time, it's a good value. We're getting what we're paying for and still not using all the features. We could probably get more out of the tool and make it more valuable. At the moment, we don't have the capacity to do that."
  • "Over the last two years, they have tried to add more and more features to their license packages, but the price is a little bit high, comparatively."
  • "It is fairly priced."
  • More Mend.io Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "We are using its free version, and we are evaluating its Premium version. Its Ultimate version is very expensive."
  • "The price of GitLab could be better, it is expensive."
  • "I'm not aware of the licensing costs because those were covered by the customer."
  • "GitLab is an open-source solution."
  • "GitLab's pricing is good compared to others on the market."
  • "In terms of the pricing for GitLab, on a scale of one to five, with one being expensive and five being cheap, I'm rating pricing for the solution a four. It could still be cheaper because right now, my company has a small team, and sometimes it's difficult to use a paid product for a small team. You'd hope the team will grow and scale, but currently, you're paying a high license fee for a small team. I'm referring to the GitLab license that has premium features and will give you all features. This can be a problem for management to approve the high price of the license for a team this small."
  • "This product is not very expensive but the price can be better."
  • "GitLab is a free solution to use."
  • More GitLab Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "In comparison with other tools, Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle could be more expensive. Still, at the same time, my company prioritizes security, so the pricing for Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle hasn't been an issue. If IT security weren't at the top of the list for my company, somebody would have raised the question about cost and how Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle is in terms of ROI. So far, there's been no question about the price. The cost of Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle hasn't been a problem so far. My company pays for the license yearly, plus technical support."
  • More Sonatype Lifecycle Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:Red Hat Ceph does well in simplifying storage integration by replacing the need for numerous storage solutions. This… more »
    Top Answer:We researched Black Duck but ultimately chose WhiteSource when looking for an application security tool. WhiteSource is… more »
    Top Answer:The best feature is that the Mend R&D team does their due diligence for all the vulnerabilities. In case they observe… more »
    Top Answer:We are using the open-source version, anyone can download it.
    Top Answer:The documentation is confusing. Sometimes, it is incomplete or has incorrect information. I have informed the vendor… more »
    Top Answer:We like the data that Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle consistently delivers. This solution helps us in fixing and understanding… more »
    Top Answer:The IQ server and repo are the most valuable.
    Top Answer:There is a licensing fee, and if you bring them to the company and you want them to do the installation and the… more »
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    WhiteSource, Mend SCA
    Fuzzit
    Sonatype Nexus Lifecycle, Nexus Lifecycle
    Learn More
    Overview

    Mend.io is a software composition analysis tool that secures what developers create. The solution provides an automated reduction of the software attack surface, reduces developer burdens, and accelerates app delivery. Mend.io provides open-source analysis with its in-house and other multiple sources of software vulnerabilities. In addition, the solution offers license and policy violation alerts, has great pipeline integration, and, since it is a SaaS (software as a service), it doesn’t require you to physically maintain servers or data centers for any implementation. Not only does Mend.io reduce enterprise application security risk, it also helps developers meet deadlines faster.

    Mend.io Features

    Mend.io has many valuable key features. Some of the most useful ones include:

    • Vulnerability analysis
    • Automated remediation
    • Seamless integration
    • Business prioritization
    • Limitless scalability
    • Intuitive interface
    • Language support
    • Integration
    • Continuous monitoring
    • Remediation suggestions
    • Customization

    Mend.io Benefits

    There are many benefits to implementing Mend.io. Some of the biggest advantages the solution offers include:

    • Easy to use: The Mend.io platform is very user-friendly and easy to set up.
    • Third-party libraries: The solution eases the process of keeping track of all the used third-party dependencies within a product. It not only scans for the pure occurrence (also transitively) but also takes care of licenses and vulnerabilities.
    • Static code analysis: With Mend.io’s static code analysis, you can quickly identify security weaknesses in custom code across desktop, web, and mobile applications.
    • Broad support: Mend.io provides 27 different programming languages and various programming frameworks.
    • Easy integration: Mend.io makes integration very easy with existing DevOps environments and CI/CD pipelines so developers don’t need to manually configure or trigger the scan.
    • Ultra-fast scanning engine: The solution’s scanning engine generates results up to ten times faster than legacy SAST solutions.
    • Unified developer experience: Mend.io has a unified developer experience inside the code repository that shows side-by-side security alerts and remediation suggestions for custom code and open-source code.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Below are some reviews and helpful feedback written by PeerSpot users currently using the Mend.io solution.

    Jeffrey H., System Manager of Cloud Engineering at Common Spirit, says, “Finding vulnerabilities is pretty easy. Mend.io (formerly WhiteSource) does a great job of that and we had quite a few when we first put this in place. Mend.io does a very good job of finding the open-source, checking the versions, and making sure they're secure. They notify us of critical high, medium, and low impacts, and if anything is wrong. We find the product very easy to use and we use it as a core part of our strategy for scanning product code moving toward release.”

    PeerSpot reviewer Ben D., Head of Software Engineering at a legal firm, mentions, “The way WhiteSource scans the code is great. It’s easy to identify and remediate open source vulnerabilities using this solution. WhiteSource helped reduce our mean time to resolution since we adopted the product. In terms of integration, it's pretty easy.”

    An IT Service Manager at a wholesaler/distributor comments, “Mend.io provides threat detection and an excellent UI in a highly stable solution, with outstanding technical support.”

    Another reviewer, Kevin D., Intramural OfficialIntramural at Northeastern University, states, "The vulnerability analysis is the best aspect of the solution."

    GitLab is a complete DevOps platform that enables teams to collaborate and deliver software faster. 

    It provides a single application for the entire DevOps lifecycle, from planning and development to testing, deployment, and monitoring. 

    With GitLab, teams can streamline their workflows, automate processes, and improve productivity.

    Sonatype Lifecycle is an open-source security and dependency management software that uses only one tool to automatically find open-source vulnerabilities at every stage of the System Development Life Cycle (SDLC). Users can now minimize security vulnerabilities, permitting organizations to enhance development workflow. Sonatype Lifecycle gives the user complete control over their software supply chain, allowing them to regain wasted time fighting risks in the SDLC. In addition, this software unifies the ability to define rules, actions, and policies that work best for your organizations and teams.

    Sonatype Lifecycle allows users to help their teams discover threats before an attack has the chance to take place by examining a database of known vulnerabilities. With continuous monitoring at every stage of the development life cycle, Sonatype Lifecycle enables teams to build secure software. The solution allows users to utilize a complete automated solution within their existing workflows. Once a potential threat is identified, the solution’s policies will automatically rectify it.

    Benefits of Open-source Security Monitoring

    As cybersecurity attacks are on the rise, organizations are at constant risk for data breaches. Managing your software supply chain gets trickier as your organization grows, leaving many vulnerabilities exposed. With easily accessible source code that can be modified and shared freely, open-source monitoring gives users complete transparency. A community of professionals can inspect open-source code to ensure fewer bugs, and any open-source dependency vulnerability will be detected and fixed rapidly. Users can use open-source security monitoring to avoid attacks through automatic detection of potential threats and rectification immediately and automatically.

    Reviews from Real Users

    Sonatype Lifecycle software receives high praise from users for many reasons. Among them are the abilities to identify and rectify vulnerabilities at every stage of the SDLC, help with open-source governance, and minimize risk.

    Michael E., senior enterprise architect at MIB Group, says "Some of the more profound features include the REST APIs. We tend to make use of those a lot. They also have a plugin for our CI/CD.”

    R.S., senior architect at a insurance company, notes “Specifically features that have been good include:

    • the email notifications
    • the API, which has been good to work with for reporting, because we have some downstream reporting requirements
    • that it's been really user-friendly to work with.”

    "Its engine itself is most valuable in terms of the way it calculates and decides whether a security vulnerability exists or not. That's the most important thing. Its security is also pretty good, and its listing about the severities is also good," says Subham S., engineering tools and platform manager at BT - British Telecom.

    Offer
    Learn more about Mend.io
    Learn more about GitLab
    Learn more about Sonatype Lifecycle
    Sample Customers
    Microsoft, Autodesk, NCR, Target, IBM, vodafone, Siemens, GE digital, KPMG, LivePerson, Jack Henry and Associates
    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
    Genome.One, Blackboard, Crediterform, Crosskey, Intuit, Progress Software, Qualys, Liberty Mutual Insurance
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Computer Software Company33%
    Financial Services Firm11%
    Energy/Utilities Company6%
    Media Company6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm16%
    Manufacturing Company9%
    Insurance Company5%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm18%
    Computer Software Company18%
    Manufacturing Company14%
    Retailer11%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization26%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Financial Services Firm10%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm27%
    Computer Software Company13%
    Insurance Company13%
    Manufacturing Company10%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm32%
    Computer Software Company12%
    Government9%
    Insurance Company6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business36%
    Midsize Enterprise7%
    Large Enterprise57%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business19%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise67%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business43%
    Midsize Enterprise8%
    Large Enterprise49%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business15%
    Midsize Enterprise34%
    Large Enterprise52%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business26%
    Midsize Enterprise18%
    Large Enterprise56%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business15%
    Midsize Enterprise9%
    Large Enterprise76%
    Buyer's Guide
    GitLab vs. Sonatype Lifecycle
    November 2023
    Find out what your peers are saying about GitLab vs. Sonatype Lifecycle and other solutions. Updated: November 2023.
    745,775 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    GitLab is ranked 6th in Application Security Tools with 49 reviews while Sonatype Lifecycle is ranked 11th in Application Security Tools with 9 reviews. GitLab is rated 8.6, while Sonatype Lifecycle is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of GitLab writes "Powerful, mature, and easy to set up and manage". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Sonatype Lifecycle writes "Integrates easily with many IDEs, and enables development and security teams to work together". GitLab is most compared with Microsoft Azure DevOps, Bamboo, AWS CodePipeline, TeamCity and Fortify Static Code Analyzer, whereas Sonatype Lifecycle is most compared with SonarQube, Black Duck, Fortify Static Code Analyzer, Checkmarx and Snyk. See our GitLab vs. Sonatype Lifecycle report.

    See our list of best Application Security Tools vendors and best Software Composition Analysis (SCA) vendors.

    We monitor all Application Security Tools 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.