Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
reviewer1579953 - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at a tech vendor with 5,001-10,000 employees
Real User
Leaderboard
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."
  • "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."
  • "There was a problem with the build environment when we were looking at developing iOS applications. iOS builds require Mac machines and there are no Mac machines provided by GitLab in their cloud."

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.

Buyer's Guide
GitLab
March 2026
Learn what your peers think about GitLab. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
885,264 professionals have used our research since 2012.

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 Microgenesis Techsoft Private limited
Real User
May 30, 2022
Secure, reliable, but priced high
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable feature of GitLab is its security."
  • "The most valuable feature of GitLab is its security."
  • "The price of GitLab could improve, it is high."
  • "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
Buyer's Guide
GitLab
March 2026
Learn what your peers think about GitLab. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: March 2026.
885,264 professionals have used our research since 2012.
IT Processes Methodologist at Gysan Gmart
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."
  • "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."
  • "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."
  • "The source-code repository is great, I really like the pipelines, and the stability is good."
  • "We'd like to see better integration with the Atlassian ecosystem."
  • "We'd like to see better integration with the Atlassian ecosystem. There needs to be better and native integration."

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
reviewer1251984 - PeerSpot reviewer
Tool Manager at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Feb 16, 2022
Good for CI/CD and version control, highly scalable, and very easy to set up
Pros and Cons
  • "CI/CD is very good. The version control system is also good. These are the two features that we use."
  • "CI/CD is very good. The version control system is also good. These are the two features that we use."
  • "I would like more Agile features in the Premium version. The Premium version should have all Agile features that exist in the Ultimate version. IBM AOM has a complete Agile implementation, but in GitLab, you only have these features if you buy the Ultimate version. It would be good if we can use these in the Premium version."
  • "Its security features are very expensive. The Ultimate version is very expensive."

What is our primary use case?

We use it for version control and CI/CD.

What is most valuable?

CI/CD is very good. The version control system is also good. These are the two features that we use.

What needs improvement?

Its security features are very expensive. The Ultimate version is very expensive.

I would like more Agile features in the Premium version. The Premium version should have all Agile features that exist in the Ultimate version. IBM AOM has a complete Agile implementation, but in GitLab, you only have these features if you buy the Ultimate version. It would be good if we can use these in the Premium version.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using GitLab for five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is very stable. In five years, we had to fix it only once.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is very scalable. We have about 2,000 users, but as per the reference architecture documentation, it can be scaled up to 50,000 users.

How are customer service and support?

We are using the open-source free version. So, we don't have support. We are looking to buy the intermediate version or Premium version. 

How was the initial setup?

It was very easy to set up. 

What about the implementation team?

We set it up by ourselves. We also update it, and we don't have to turn it off.

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

We are using its free version, and we are evaluating its Premium version. Its Ultimate version is very expensive.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are evaluating its Premium version, and we are also evaluating other products like GitHub.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate it a nine out of 10.

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
Andrea PICCININI - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Software Architect at ANAC - Autorità Nazionale Anticorruzione
Real User
Top 20
Aug 21, 2021
Scalable with knowledgable vendors and does not require lots of different third-party solutions
Pros and Cons
  • "We like that we can have an all-encompassing product and don't have to implement different solutions."
  • "We like that we can have an all-encompassing product and don't have to implement different solutions."
  • "We would like to generate document pages from the sources."
  • "We would like to generate document pages from the sources."

What is most valuable?

Overall, we've been very satisfied with the solution.

Our partner is very helpful if we need technical support. 

We like that we can have an all-encompassing product and don't have to implement different solutions.

The solution can scale. 

What needs improvement?

We would like to generate document pages from the sources. Right now, we can't do that.

The testing could be better in that, for the code quality, now we use an external product and maybe the internal product could be more efficient.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been working with GitLab for two years on a simple installation. Now, we have upgraded it and we might go to the enterprise solution.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. If you want to, you can move over to the enterprise version of the solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

We get our technical support via a partner and we have found them to be very helpful and responsive. We are happy with them. They work fine.

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

Previously, we used Jenkins and GitLab without the pipeline and the Runner.

How was the initial setup?

We have a partner that assisted in implementing the process for us.

What about the implementation team?

Our partner had assisted us in the initial setup process. 

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

It's not part of my duties to cover licensing and pricing. I can't speak to any details in relation to the costs. 

What other advice do I have?

I'd rate the solution at a nine out of ten. We've been very happy with the product.

We're a customer and an end-user. 

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
reviewer1430709 - PeerSpot reviewer
Works at a real estate/law firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Aug 6, 2021
Stable and useful for pipelines, but needs better pricing and better integration with Kubernetes
Pros and Cons
  • "GitLab is very useful for pipelines, continuous integration, and continuous deployment. It is also stable."
  • "GitLab is very useful for pipelines, continuous integration, and continuous deployment."
  • "Based on what I know so far, its integration with Kubernetes is not so good. We have to develop many things to make it work. We have to acquire third-party components to work with Kubernetes."
  • "From the DevOps perspective, the way we deploy applications is too complicated. It needs to be simplified."

What is our primary use case?

We are using it for pipelines, continuous integration, and continuous deployment. 

In terms of deployment, it can be a cloud solution, but we have installed it on our site on Azure.

What is most valuable?

GitLab is very useful for pipelines, continuous integration, and continuous deployment. It is also stable.

What needs improvement?

Its price should be improved. It is very expensive.

Based on what I know so far, its integration with Kubernetes is not so good. We have to develop many things to make it work. We have to acquire third-party components to work with Kubernetes. 

From the DevOps perspective, the way we deploy applications is too complicated. It needs to be simplified. It is very development-oriented, and it works very well for DevOps, but when you are at the group level, you want it to be simple and more oriented towards the process. The automation process to deploy is not a very good part of GitLab.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using this solution for three or four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Its scalability is fine. We have 200 developers in our organization. 

How are customer service and technical support?

We have been doing okay on our own. We are able to find support inside our company.

How was the initial setup?

Its initial setup is okay. We did the installation in three months, but it was very slow and complicated to develop the continuous deployment during these three years for each application. We had to develop pipelines for multiple development languages.

We are quite well organized now, but it took a long time to think about which pipeline to use with GitLab. We now have five pipelines. We have the infrastructure pipeline, the middleware pipeline, the image pipeline, the security pipeline, and the application pipeline.

We have a team of 10 people for its deployment. They are admins and managers.

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

It is very expensive. We can't bear it now, and we have to find another solution.

We have a yearly subscription in which we can increase the number of licenses, but we have to pay at the end of the year. 

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We are using the Azure Cloud solution, and we are thinking of trying the Azure DevOps solution this year. 

What other advice do I have?

I would recommend this solution to others. The product is fine, but you have to do the integration with different pipelines.

I would rate GitLab a seven out of 10.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Jagadeeswara Reddy - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Solutions Architect at a computer software company with 51-200 employees
Real User
Top 5
Apr 8, 2021
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."
  • "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."
  • "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."

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: 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: March 2026
Buyer's Guide
Download our free GitLab Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.