Jay_Kim - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Technology Officer at OSC Korea
Real User
Top 10
A feature-rich and a well-organized solution that is scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "GitLab is very well-organized and easy to use. Also, it offers most features that customers need."
  • "As a partner, sometimes it's difficult to get support. They have a really complicated procedure for their support."

What is our primary use case?

It is used for saving source code, and then people get the source code out of it, make a branch, and merge it to make a big file for deployment. So it's mainly a source code deployment tool.

What is most valuable?

GitLab is very well-organized and easy to use. Also, it offers most features that customers need. So I think it's one of the best solutions compared to other options. So, it's the most capable and easiest tool.

What needs improvement?

In terms of the solution's interface and features, I am satisfied.

As a partner, sometimes it's difficult to get support. They have a really complicated procedure for their support. Apart from the aforementioned reason, I am very satisfied with the product. It is only after we are registered that we get proper support from GitLab. The registration itself it's quite complicated, and it is mainly because they want to make sure that the users with a license contact the right support team.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using GitLab for two years. My company has a partnership with GitLab. I am using GitLab Version 15.6.

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GitLab
March 2024
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution. Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight or nine out of ten. Since it is software, they can have some bug-related issues, and no software is 100% protected. GitLab has many features in different areas, so I cannot specify which specific area has a problem.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution. Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten. My clients who use the solution are medium-sized businesses.

How are customer service and support?

The solution's technical support is good. I rate the technical support a ten out of ten. Only the initial registration is complicated.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The solution's initial setup process was easy. I rate the initial setup a ten out of ten. The solution can be deployed in a day. Only one engineer is required to deploy the solution. Also, the solution does require maintenance. Using it as a different storage operation when it comes to maintenance, there can probably be some updates that can fix security patches and other issues. So, we have several employees working on many different solutions and projects. But only one person is actually required for its maintenance.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Price-wise, it is a reasonable solution. On a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the pricing a five out of ten.

What other advice do I have?

It's a great solution. So I would recommend it to those who want to use it. I rate the overall solution a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Javad_Talebi - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud architect at Vodafone
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Open-source with a nice interface and great features
Pros and Cons
  • "It scales well."
  • "I used Spring Cloud config and to connect that to GitLab was so hard."

What is our primary use case?

GitLab is for professional teams, and it has some abilities in the user interface that are interesting to me. 

What is most valuable?

The look of the user interface is good. I have seen many features here that I don't see in BitBucket.

We like the automatic deployment for different environments. For example, if you want to deploy your application for the Azure system, Azure Cloud, you have the default configuration for them. That's true for Amazon or a VM, for example, as well. 

They provide default templates for products.

It is an easy setup.

The solution is stable.

It scales well.

I have a free version. It is open-source.

What needs improvement?

Authentication can be a problem when you have an application and you want to configure it with them. I used Spring Cloud config and to connect that to GitLab was so hard. It took hours for me to configure that.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using the solution for two years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is perfectly stable. There aren't bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. It easily expands. 

I have two projects. In my personal experience, for my own project, it's a scalable system for e-commerce mobile microservice spaces for event-driven e-commerce systems that are using GitLab.

How are customer service and support?

I've never requested the assistance of technical support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I'm also familiar with Bitbucket, although I don't use it right now. 

How was the initial setup?

The solution is quite simple to set up. 

I'm actually proficient. I'm not sure if a beginner user would have issues. It's likely okay for them.

The only difficult part may be the authentication configuration. It's a specific thing and not very common. 

What about the implementation team?

I didn't use an integrator. It is easily deployed in-house. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I don't need a license. I use the free version, and that is perfectly fine for me. 

What other advice do I have?

I always use the latest version of GitLab. I don't check the version number.

I'd recommend the solution to others. 

I'd rate it a ten out of ten. I'm happy with its capabilities. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
GitLab
March 2024
Learn what your peers think about GitLab. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2024.
768,857 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Filipe-Marcelino - PeerSpot reviewer
Head of Digital Solutions at Bravantic
Real User
Simple to set up, stable, and has Auto DevOps features
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable functionality of GitLab, for me, is the DevOps. Besides the normal source control based on Git, I find the Auto DevOps features most important in the solution."
  • "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."

What is most valuable?

The most valuable functionality of GitLab, for me, is the DevOps. Besides the normal source control based on Git, I find the Auto DevOps features most important in the solution.

What needs improvement?

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.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using GitLab for almost three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

GitLab is a pretty stable solution, and on a scale of one to ten, with one being the worst and ten being the best, I'm rating its stability a ten. My team just learned some details about the configuration of GitLab, so it's now tuned up, and right now, there's no problem with the stability of the platform.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

In terms of GitLab scalability, based on its features, it's supposed to scale easily enough geographically, but my company hasn't tried scaling it yet. It shouldn't be a big problem to scale the solution.

How are customer service and support?

In terms of the technical support for GitLab, I mainly use the forums and support sites of the solution. I don't use the direct technical support line of GitLab.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup for GitLab is simple mainly because of all its features that allow you to make a startup instance of the solution simpler and quicker, and that's very good.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

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.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated Azure DevOps, but we liked the style of how things are built up inside GitLab for the end-user and the developer more compared to Azure DevOps, though Azure DevOps is also a very good choice.

What other advice do I have?

I'm using the latest version of GitLab.

My company has a small team and only has six users of GitLab.

On a scale of one to ten, where one is the worst and ten is the best, my rating for GitLab, in general, is nine. My company likes the solution very much, especially over Azure DevOps.

I would recommend GitLab for others to use.

My company is a customer of GitLab.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Nakul Kundaliya - PeerSpot reviewer
Technical Lead Developer at Mayora Infotech
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Scalable, automatic code merging, and free version available
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of GitLab is the automatic merging of code."
  • "I rate the support from GitLab a four out of five."

What is our primary use case?

We are using GitLab for code management. We put code onto their servers. This allows developers to have a centralized place for code collaboration.

How has it helped my organization?

GitLab has helped our company save time. In our current project, we have split the job into two parts, one team is working on one particular feature and when done the solution merges the code together. Every two weeks we can release a new APK. We have the latest code in development so we don't need to merge code manually.

The solution receives frequent updates, it is always improving.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of GitLab is the automatic merging of code.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using GitLab for approximately seven years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

GitLab is highly stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The scalability of GitLab is good.

All developers are using GitLab in my company.

I plan to increase the usage of the solution in the future.

How are customer service and support?

I rate the support from GitLab a four out of five.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have previously used Bitbucket and Filezilla.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of GitLab is easy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

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

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated other options before choosing GitLab.

What other advice do I have?

One person can do the maintenance of the solution.

My advice to others is for them to use GitLab for managing their code.

I rate GitLab a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
IT Processes Methodologist at Gysan Gmart
Real User
Top 20
Easy to use, easy to install, and offers an open-source option
Pros and Cons
  • "Of all available products, it was the easiest to use and easy to install."
  • "The solution should be more cloud-native and have more cloud-native capabilities and features."

What is our primary use case?

I've used the solution just for my learning purposes. My company is using currently GitLab. We are using it for our CI/CD purposes for continuous integration and continuous deployment.

How has it helped my organization?

To my knowledge, my company started to use it as there were no decent alternatives to GitLab when they started to use it. The only decent alternative was GitHub, however, it was lacking in the CI/CD pipeline capabilities. At that time there were no GitHub actions available at the moment.

What is most valuable?

Of all available products, it was the easiest to use and easy to install.

What needs improvement?

The solution should be more cloud-native and have more cloud-native capabilities and features. It should be more GitOps-ready.

For how long have I used the solution?

I started using the solution a year ago. My company has used it for four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I cannot speak to how stable the solution is. From what I have seen so far, there were no serious issues with GitLab.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Approximately four to five developers and maybe a couple of QA testers and a couple of DevOps engineers are responsible exclusively for GitLab maintenance and support.

How are customer service and support?

Technical support has mostly been good.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I tried to learn a little bit about Jenkins, however, it was only through some internet content.

How was the initial setup?

At the moment of the GitLab acquisition, I was not working for the company. I did not handle the implementation process.

We need at least a couple of technicians, engineers, for deployment and maintenance. 

What about the implementation team?

Our own technical team handled the deployment. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

When I was hired (in 2020) they told me that they were using an open-source version. I'm not sure if that's still the case as it's a quite big company. Nowadays they should be using some kind of paid version, as the demand is pretty high, as far as I know.

I'm not sure of the exact licensing costs. 

What other advice do I have?

We are customers and end-users.

As far as I know, we are using the on-premise version. There are two versions of GitLab - the on-premise and the cloud version. We are using on-premise. As far as I know, we also keep making sure it's up-to-date.

I'd rate the solution nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
CTO at Dokument IT d.o.o.
Real User
Top 5
With great integration capabilities for small companies, the tool also provides a reasonable amount of stability
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution's most valuable feature is that it is compatible with GitHub. The product's integration capabilities are sufficient for our small company of 35 people."
  • "We do face issues in our company when we run out of disk space."

What is our primary use case?

My company's programmers use GitLab for everyday development purposes.

What is most valuable?

The solution's most valuable feature is that it is compatible with GitHub. The product's integration capabilities are sufficient for our small company of 35 people.

What needs improvement?

Some of the programmers in my company have had complaints about the product.

We do face issues in our company when we run out of disk space. We had to do some low-level system interventions to recover the server from GitLab in our company. It would be good if GitLab implemented some diagnostic features so that the server prevents functioning when it detects insufficient disk space. It is important to prevent cache to avoid running out of disk space. Considering the aforementioned details, making a recovery wasn’t simple.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have experience with GitLab.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Owing to the small size of my company, we do not need to utilize the scalability feature of the product.

My company has around 20 users of the product.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of GitLab was okay.

The setup phase was completed in a day.

Our company has DevOps and CI/CD to help us with the deployment process of the product.

Though I am unsure, I feel that the solution is deployed on-premises.

What about the implementation team?

The deployment phase was carried out with the in-house members of our company.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Speaking about the pricing of the solution, my company uses GitLab Community Edition.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Before choosing GitLab, my company had considered Microsoft TFS during the evaluation phase.

What other advice do I have?

GitLab is a product managed by the department of programmers in our company, and I am not much involved in it.

I recommend the solution to those planning to use it.

I rate the overall product a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Researcher at the InfoCloud Research Group at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Efficiently streamlines and automates tasks
Pros and Cons
  • "CI/CD and GitLab scanning are the most valuable features."
  • "There is room for improvement in GitLab Agents."

What is our primary use case?

My primary use case is for creating pipelines and automation workflows.

How has it helped my organization?

By streamlining tasks that we used to do on a daily basis and scheduling them.

What is most valuable?

CI/CD, GitLab scanning, and the cloud are the most valuable features. 

What needs improvement?

There is room for improvement in GitLab Agents. 

I would like to see more features focused on GitLab or CICD. I am not sure if  there is a roadmap for GitLab CI/CD Elite.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using GitLab for five years. I am currently using version 14.5.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable solution. I would rate it an eight out of ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I would rate the scalability of GitLab a three out of ten. It is low. 

It can be challenging to scale. Sharing databases and removing multiple VPNs is not easy to handle. GitLab's stability is not as good as other platforms that offer Kubernetes engines. We use OEMs instead.

There are 300 to 400 users in my company. We definitely plan to increase the usage. 

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We are familiar with GitHub. 

How was the initial setup?

I'll give the initial setup a six, slightly above average, where one is difficult and ten is easy.

Now we automate everything, so let's say the deployment now takes about one hour to deploy.

What about the implementation team?

For the deployment process, we create a template and prepare the VM on our cloud. Then we deploy the container using the controller, which deploys the solution.

We had IT specialists and engineers for the deployment process. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It's a bit tricky because we have a different license. I rate the pricing mode a five out of ten for now, but it might change in the future. We have an educational license, and support is not included.

What other advice do I have?

GitLab offers various services, and it's important to understand which ones you truly need. Service providers might have different capabilities, and compatibility with your existing devices can be a critical issue. We haven't faced many problems with network compatibility or duplicated services so far. 

If I could go back in time, I would recommend using GitLab primarily as a reliable repository. For additional features like scanning and monitoring, it might be beneficial to explore other specialized solutions.

Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Sunny Nair - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Engineer at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
A fantastic service delivery model with good security and stability
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution's service delivery model is fantastic."
  • "The solution should again offer an on-premises deployment option."

What is our primary use case?

Our company is a partner and installs the solution for clients who manage their ACD and DevOps pipelines. 

We have 700 developers who use the solution, Microsoft's integration, and SharePoint for uploading. 

What is most valuable?

The solution's service delivery model is fantastic. 

Integrations connect to the cloud server and are easy to use. 

The solution offers good security and stability. 

What needs improvement?

The solution should again offer an on-premises deployment option. In the past, an on-premises solution was offered that used to sync with the cloud-based solution. We would like that option to return because many industries are interested in offline uploads and pathways. 

The solution should integrate Web 3.0 and provide better system transactions.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the solution for three years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is very stable. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is simple. 

You can immediately start using the solution as soon as you subscribe. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution is based on a subscription model and is reasonably priced. 

Many options are available in the database but a few uncommon options that our company actually liked have been phased out. If those options return, the solution will be fantastic. 

Our company subscribes to the premium tier which includes security. It would be nice to offer security as an add-on at lower tiers so more users have access to these advanced features. 

I rate the cost an eight out of ten. 

What other advice do I have?

I recommend the solution and rate it an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Other
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free GitLab Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: March 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free GitLab Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.