Technical Lead at FD
MSP
Top 5
Has a straightforward installation, but the performance could be better
Pros and Cons
  • "It is scalable."
  • "The solution could be faster."

What needs improvement?

The deployment and performance of GitLab could be better. In addition, the solution could be faster.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for more than five years, and it is deployed on cloud.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

GitLab is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is a scalable solution.

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.
769,236 professionals have used our research since 2012.

How was the initial setup?

The installation was straightforward.

What other advice do I have?

I rate this solution a seven out of ten, and it is good for a small set of people.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Senior Solutions Architect at a tech company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Good price, scalable, easy to deploy, and easy to set up CI/CD and integrate with other tools
Pros and Cons
  • "I like GitLab from the CI/CD perspective. It is much easier to set up CI/CD and then integrate with other tools."
  • "In the free version, when a merge request is raised, there is no way to enforce certain rules. We can't enforce that this merge request must be reviewed or approved by two or three people in the team before it is pushed to the master branch. That's why we are exploring using some agents."

What is our primary use case?

We are using it for building mobile applications and web applications. I am supporting the code in GitLab. It is only for giving access to my development team, and I just see what merge requests are coming.

What is most valuable?

I like GitLab from the CI/CD perspective. It is much easier to set up CI/CD and then integrate with other tools.

What needs improvement?

In the free version, when a merge request is raised, there is no way to enforce certain rules. We can't enforce that this merge request must be reviewed or approved by two or three people in the team before it is pushed to the master branch. That's why we are exploring using some agents.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for more than six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It seems stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I didn't find any scalability issues so far. We have around 50 members who use this solution. Around 20 of them use it on a daily basis.

How are customer service and technical support?

One of my colleagues got in touch with them, and his response was that their technical support was not that great. The details that they provided for the question were not that great.

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

We also use GitHub. Earlier GitLab was more favored, but now GitHub has everything that is there in GitLab. If GitHub is offering more, then there might be chances of switching to that. I am not attached to either of these solutions. If things are working better for me in GitHub, I will move to GitHub.

How was the initial setup?

It is simple. You just create one repo and then give access. It takes maybe 5 to 10 minutes.

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

Its price is fine. It is on the cheaper side and not expensive. You have to pay additionally for GitLab CI/CD minutes.

Initially, we used the free version. When we ran out of GitLab minutes, we migrated to the paid version.

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others. I would rate GitLab an eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
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.
769,236 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Delivery Head - DevOps at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 20
A single platform that is lean and easy to manage
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution has an established roadmap that lays out its plans for upgrades over the next two to three years."
  • "Even if I say I want some improvement, they will say it is already planned in the first quarter, second quarter, or third quarter. That said, most everything is quite improved already, and they're improving even further still."

What is our primary use case?

We are using this solution for DevOps adoption primarily.

What is most valuable?

The best part of the solution is it's a single platform, and this platform can help you do your required management, your source code management, your build management, your test management, artifact management, deployment management, et cetera. If this solution was not there, you'd have to put three or four different products together to do all the activities. With this, we are using one single product, including security. Everything is happening on a single platform. It is lean and easy management with no complexities and no integration issues. This one platform is able to do everything for us.

The solution has an established roadmap that lays out its plans for upgrades over the next two to three years. 

What needs improvement?

The release schedules are quite clear. Even if I'm expecting some improvement, the improvement release cycles are already there in place. So even if I say I want some improvement, they will say it is already planned in the first quarter, second quarter, or third quarter. That said, most everything is quite improved already, and they're improving even further still. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using the solution for a year. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The solution is stable and reliable. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We are using an on-premises deployment, and on-prem will always have challenges with scalability. On-premises infrastructure never has elasticity since everything is fixed. If I have 500 servers, I have only 500. I cannot grow them to a thousand in a minute. My storage is going to be limited. 

Our users are not more than 500 users. So for us, the scaling we have fits. 

I myself being a DevOps consultant, have seen deployments for 2000 or even 3000 users also.In that sense, there is an issue of scalability. The infrastructure we have means the solution will be quite scalable for the next three years. 

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

We have tried out a lot of other products, including Azure DevOps. We have tried a lot of open-source products as well. The major benefit we found in this solution is it's a single platform doing everything. If I go to Azure DevOps, Microsoft would also say it's a single platform, yet it's not a single platform. They have integrated themselves with multiple toolchain vendors, and it's a Microsoft wrapper on the top. When it comes to Microsoft is a resource-hungry solution. You require a lot of resources to run on Microsoft.

How was the initial setup?

The deployment is fairly easy. The people who are doing the deployment should be very clear about the fundamentals, like any adoption, like when you're doing a DevOps adoption and moving towards automation. 

The most important part is you really have to work on education. On the one hand, you have the investment, however, the investment will never show you how to use it. Once the adoption grows in the organization, you'll be able to see the returns and the benefits that are there. 

We are currently in a phase of adoption across the organization. It's going on very well, and deployment is fairly easy. I didn't find much difficulty when doing deployment and getting people to work with it. Anybody who works on DevOps toolchain implementation can even go and implement GitLab also. It's that easy.

What was our ROI?

We have a new adoption going on and within a year we'll begin to see a return on investment.

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

GitLab is a paid version, Ultimate GitLab. It has three editions: one is a free edition or a community edition. They have a premium edition, which is a paid version. Then, they have the ultimate edition, which is also a paid edition. 

There are no hidden costs or fees associated with the product. I pay one price and get everything I need. 

What other advice do I have?

We are using GitLab Ultimate.

As a DevOps consultant, I would like to give advice some. From 2008 or 2009, when the global market started adopting DevOps, until the year 2019 or 2020, we always had a problem. If I wanted to have DevOps automation in the organization, we would require four or five tools minimum. Since GitLab in 2020 emerged as a single platform, always advise people who are implementing DevOps to always move towards a single platform. 

The reason is that you save a lot of money on your infrastructure costs. You also save a lot of money on the resources which are required to maintain all infrastructure for a single platform. And if you maintain a single platform, you'll require an optimized resource tool to maintain that.

If you're going to have multiple tools in your infrastructure for DevOps, you require many people to maintain that. In the end, everything boils down to cost. Cost is definitely high if you need to maintain infrastructure with multiple toolchains. So my advice is always, when we talk about agility, to be lean. So when you bring in GitLab, you get a lean infrastructure; you get a simple and non-complex infrastructure. You have minimum compliance issues and minimum regulatory issues. 

I'd rate the solution eight 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
Application development specialist at Eccenter
Real User
Top 20
Open source solution that combines repository and deployment features and offers consistent stability
Pros and Cons
  • "GitLab is being used as a repository for our codebase and it is a one stop DevOps tool we use in our team."
  • "It is a little complex to set up the pipelines within the solution."

What is our primary use case?

GitLab is being used as a repository for our codebase and it is a one stop DevOps tool we use in our team.

What is most valuable?

GitLab has repository and deployment features that are integrated into one solution. This is its most valuable feature.

What needs improvement?

It is a little complex to set up the pipelines within the solution.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using this solution for two and a half years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

This is a stable solution. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

This is a scalable solution. 

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

I have used several tools like Ansible for deployment and Nexus as a repository. We moved to GitLab because these features are integrated into one solution

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is quite complex. The time it takes to deploy the solution depends on the artifacts. We have several steps in our pipeline so it usually takes around four to five minutes for the pipeline to complete.

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

We are using the Community Edition and this is free.

What other advice do I have?

It takes some time for the environment to become stable once you migrate from another solution.

I would rate this solution an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Hanif Shaikh - PeerSpot reviewer
Co-founder & Partner at idiligence Solution
Real User
Top 5
Great solution for maintaining and managing projects
Pros and Cons
  • "GitLab's best features are maintenance, branch integration, and development infrastructure."
  • "The initial setup was quite challenging because it takes some time to understand how to pull out or push the code."

What is our primary use case?

I primarily use GitLab for maintenance and deployment of projects.

What is most valuable?

GitLab's best features are maintenance, branch integration, and development infrastructure.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using GitLab for two to three years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

GitLab's stability is almost always good, but it depends on your connection with the network. If the GitLab services are running properly, and your services and network are fine, then there shouldn't be any problem with stability. There are some wrinkles, but they're around 5-8% and are mostly contained.

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

Previously, I used Team Foundation Server (TFS).

How was the initial setup?

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

What other advice do I have?

GitLab is a very good solution because you can completely maintain your code and have a number of developers working on the same project. I would recommend GitLab for those doing technology development, and I'd give it a rating of nine out of ten.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Product Development Team Lead R&D at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Web-based repository used for distributed programming and to store POC repositories
Pros and Cons
  • "As a developer, this solution is useful as a repository holder because most of the POC projects that we have are on GitLab."
  • "GitLab's Windows version is yet not available and having this would be an improvement."

What is our primary use case?

We use this solution for storing repositories for distributed programming. We have 15 to 20 users. We generally keep our POC repositories on GitLab.

What is most valuable?

As a developer, this solution is useful as a repository holder because most of the POC projects that we have are on GitLab. 

What needs improvement?

GitLab's Windows version is yet not available and having this would be an improvement. This is compared to Azure Git where Microsoft provides us with the setup of virtual agents which you can download and set up quickly. Your laptop will become an agent which is connected to your cloud environment to execute the job which is triggered from the cloud environment. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using GitLab as a developer for four to five years, but when it comes to practical implementation in my current organization, it's been about a year since we started shifting our repositories to this platform.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Absolutely, the solution is stable and satisfies our requirements. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Due to the relatively small number of users in our organization, I can't really comment on the scalability of this solution. 

How are customer service and support?

We have never needed to contact customer support. Whenever we had an issue, all the help we needed for a solution is on the platform or in the documentation.

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

We used to use TFS repositories on the older versions of Microsoft.

How was the initial setup?

I have done a setup on-premise for GitLab and it was straightforward. The documentation is clean which is useful for the DevOps person who sets up the on-premise environment. Based on the documentation provided by GitLab, I have prepared my own documentation.

To complete the deployment, it took me two to three days including downloading the artifact from the internet, getting the Linux server ready and setting up GitLab runner for CI/CD. I was the only person involved in the setup and we have 15 to 20 total users across our organization, almost all of them developers. 

What other advice do I have?

I rate this solution an eight out of ten. 

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Hybrid Cloud

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

Other
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
SCRUM Master at a retailer with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Leaderboard
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: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Performance Test Line manager at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 5
Useful script uploading, user-friendly, and stable
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of GitLab is the ability to upload scripts and make changes when needed and then reupload them. Additionally, the solution is user-friendly."
  • "GitLab can improve the integration with third-party applications. It could be made easier. Additionally, having API control from my application could be helpful."

What is our primary use case?

GitLab can be deployed on-premise and in the cloud.

GitLab is mainly used as a repository.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable feature of GitLab is the ability to upload scripts and make changes when needed and then reupload them. Additionally, the solution is user-friendly.

I have not explored the solution fully but the features that I have used have been good.

What needs improvement?

GitLab can improve the integration with third-party applications. It could be made easier. Additionally, having API control from my application could be helpful.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using GitLab for approximately three years.

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?

We have approximately 20 people in my department using GitLab and in my organization, we have approximately 4,000 people using it.

How are customer service and support?

I have not used the support from GitLab.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of GitLab is complex and could improve.

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

GitLab is an open-source solution.

What other advice do I have?

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
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.