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Alexandru Zeevleanu - PeerSpot reviewer
DevOps Team Lead at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Sep 23, 2022
Beneficial YAML plans, reliable, and low maintenance
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of GitLab are the review, patch repo, and plans are in YAML."
  • "GitLab could improve the patch repository. It does not have support for Conan patch version regions. Additionally, better support for Kubernetes deployment is needed as part of the package."

What is our primary use case?

We use GitLab as a source code repository, terraform modules repository, generic packages repository and for our CI/CD pipelines.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of GitLab are the merge request approvals, package repository, and that GitLab CI/CD pipelines plans are written in YAML.

What needs improvement?

GitLab could improve the package repository. It does not have support for Conan packages revisions.

Additionally, better support for deploying GitLab in Kubernetes is needed (i.e. more mature helm packages and updated documentation).

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using GitLab for approximately five years.

Buyer's Guide
GitLab
December 2025
Learn what your peers think about GitLab. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of GitLab is good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

GitLab is scalable. We only needed to add more resources to the VM. Horizontally, we were not able to scale it because we couldn't deploy it in Kubernetes correctly.

We have approximately 300 people using the solution in my organization.

How are customer service and support?

I have not used the support from GitLab.

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

I previously used Gerrit and I prefer GitLab. It is much better in the interface and integration, it is much more than only Git software, it is more of a complete package.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of GitLab is not complex. However, it can be difficult to deploy GitLab on Kubernetes.

What about the implementation team?

The deployment of GitLab was done in-house.

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

The solution's standard license is paid annually. They have changed the pricing tiers and removed the bronze tier, which was the perfect sweet spot.
There is a free version available.

I rate the price of GitLab a seven out of 10.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend the solution to others. For a self-hosted version, I advise others to deploy it using Docker/Docker-compose, it is the easiest way. The solution has no maintenance. 

I rate GitLab a nine out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Nor EL MALKI - PeerSpot reviewer
Project Manager at a consultancy with 201-500 employees
Real User
Sep 14, 2022
Highly intuitive UI, reliable, and good performance
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features of GitLab are ease of use and highly intuitive UI and performance."
  • "GitLab can improve by integrating with more tools, such as servers with Docker."

What is our primary use case?

We use GitLab for all of our Git sources and it is mapped to our integrated solution for the complete ICG platform.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of GitLab are ease of use and highly intuitive UI and performance.

What needs improvement?

GitLab can improve by integrating with more tools, such as servers with Docker.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using GitLab for approximately 11 years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

GitLab is a stable solution. We've never faced any issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Our current setup is with one server but GitLab overall can scale.

We have approximately 300 people using the solution. Most of the people are in the developers' teams, management, and tech leads that all log into GitLab.

GitLab can be used for enterprise-sized companies.

How are customer service and support?

I have not used the support from GitLab.

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

I have previously used GitHub as a developer. GitLab looks similar to GitHub and it's helping the developer use it better.

What about the implementation team?

We update the GitLab version annually for maintenance.

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

GitLab is a free solution to use.

What other advice do I have?

I rate GitLab a ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
GitLab
December 2025
Learn what your peers think about GitLab. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.
RameshL - PeerSpot reviewer
Chief Executive Officer at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Real User
Sep 11, 2022
Simple to set up, feature-rich, and has good code merging capabilities
Pros and Cons
  • "The code merging capability is something that we use very frequently."
  • "The integration could be slightly better."

What is most valuable?

Most of the features are pretty good.

The code merging capability is something that we use very frequently. Merging code is a big factor for us because most of our teams use GitLab.

What needs improvement?

The integration could be slightly better.

The interface should be more user-friendly.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been working with GitLab for more than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable product. We have not had any issues with respect to instability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

With approximately 30 users, we are not a large company. I found the scalability to be okay but I haven't tested it extensively.

How are customer service and support?

We have experience with GitLab support and we found the service to be good. There is not much of a lag in terms of addressing queries.

I would rate the support a five out of five.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

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

I also use GitHub and I am more comfortable with GitLab.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is simple.

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

This product is not very expensive but the price can be better. As such, I would rate GitLab a four out of five in terms of pricing.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, this is a good product that has a lot of features. There are several features that I don't use personally but other members of my team do.

I would rate this solution a nine 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 does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Javad_Talebi - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Sep 10, 2022
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: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1579953 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Jun 21, 2022
A double-sided solution for both DevOps and version management
Pros and Cons
  • "I like that you can use GitLab as a double-sided solution for both DevOps and version management. It's a good product for working in these two areas, and the user interface makes it easy to understand."
  • "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."

What is our primary use case?

I'm part of the application development team comprising 10-12 developers and I have used GitLab for configuration and version management. We have also used it for DevOps, but I have not been involved in the DevOps side. My work with GitLab involved basic version management (i.e. checking in, checking out, merging) and related features. 

I have also used GitLab for doing remote builds, which is when you check in and it triggers the build on the application remotely. For example, we have a YAML script that has been written for performing builds on GitLab automatically and when that script gets executed, it performs the builds and copies them to the destination folder. All of this gets triggered from GitLab.

What is most valuable?

I like that you can use GitLab as a double-sided solution for both DevOps and version management. It's a good product for working in these two areas, and the user interface makes it easy to understand.

What needs improvement?

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.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have used GitLab for two months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It's stable. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Once all the scripts are written, it becomes scalable. When an application gets deployed and people start using it, it's on the cloud and so it becomes scalable. All the applications that we design are deliberately written in such a way as to be scalable.

How are customer service and support?

We only used GitLab for a short duration, so there was not much scope or need for contacting technical support.

How was the initial setup?

The setup is straightforward to an extent because the part of GitLab that I was using for version management was similar to other tools that I have used such as Git and SVN. When I use GitLab, it's more or less the same process and workflow as these other tools, so there wasn't a big learning curve for me.

Our application was an accumulation of multiple applications, so there were multiple builds happening at any given time. GitLab would process the builds and it would take only a couple of hours for us to deploy the builds on the cloud.

The other thing is that the GitLab user interface is good, so it's easy to understand. You, yourself, can learn it simply by exploring and trying it out. Then there's a lot of help that is available on the GitLab website on how to use it. 

What about the implementation team?

For the implementation, we had a DevOps engineer who was the primary technical guy, and then the others were developers and related entities performing the development.

What was our ROI?

Personally, I can't say much about the return on investment because the licensing and costs and everything have been borne by our customer. We were just using it. But I think that the return on investment must be good, and it might be one of the reasons why the customer is using it for all their projects.

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

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

What other advice do I have?

I can certainly recommend GitLab. It's a good product and I would rate it an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Santy Nelson - PeerSpot reviewer
Business Head at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
May 30, 2022
Secure, reliable, but priced high
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of GitLab is its security."
  • "The price of GitLab could improve, it is high."

What is our primary use case?

GitLab can be deployed on-premise and in the cloud and it is used for DevOps.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of GitLab is its security.

What needs improvement?

The price of GitLab could improve, it is high.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using GitLab for approximately one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The stability of GitLab is good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

GitLab is scalable.

How are customer service and support?

The support from GitLab is good.

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

The price of GitLab could be better, it is expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I rate GitLab a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
IT Processes Methodologist
Real User
May 24, 2022
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: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
SCRUM Master at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Apr 26, 2022
Reliable with an excellent source-code repository and useful pipelines
Pros and Cons
  • "The stability is good."
  • "We'd like to see better integration with the Atlassian ecosystem."

What is our primary use case?

I work in PMO, and I standardize the workflows for scrum teams, AI teams, and kanban teams. If I have some scripting in Jira, and I need to save it in GitLab.

It is our source-code repository. It's used for the BI process, continuous integration, and continuous development. It's used for DevOps people. All of our IT people use GitLab.

What is most valuable?

The source-code repository is great. 

I really like the pipelines.

The stability is good. 

What needs improvement?

We'd like to see better integration with the Atlassian ecosystem. There needs to be better and native integration. That is really useful for us as Atlassian Jira has strong integration with Bitbucket, and Bitbucket is a computation of GitLab.

For how long have I used the solution?

We've used the solution for a long time. I've used this solution for one year at this company. However, I've used it for five or eight years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is always working. I haven't experienced problems with GitLab.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

My company is 100 people, however, my instance of IT people has 10,000 people in Jira. I work with a lot of developers.

How are customer service and support?

I've never used technical support. I can't speak to how helpful they are. 

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

We changed Bitbucket for GitLab.

How was the initial setup?

I'm not the main of GitLab. I did not initially set up the product.

What was our ROI?

We've likely seen an ROI. 

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

I don't deal with any licensing aspects of the solution. I can't speak about the exact costs. 

What other advice do I have?

We are customers and end-users. 

I'd rate the solution 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?

Google
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free GitLab Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: December 2025
Buyer's Guide
Download our free GitLab Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.