Integrated task tracking and documentation have streamlined collaboration and code workflows
What is our primary use case?
My main use case for GitLab is utilizing it in three main ways: one is using the Issues and Epics tracking for tasks, the second way is using the Wiki, which is the documentation feature, and then the third way is for code management.
Out of those three, I find myself using the Issues and Epics tracking feature the most often. I really quite like it because I find it clear and clean to use, and it works well when using it with numerous people.
We use the Issues feature to record our tasks and assign those out, as well as recording the description of what the task requires. Then we use the Epics feature to group the issues into categories, which makes it easier to track the tasks at a higher level.
What is most valuable?
In my opinion, the best features GitLab offers are the Issues and Epics feature, which I find very clean and clear to use, and it is very quick and responsive. I also quite value the Wiki feature because both of those are built into the same platform, making it very easy to bounce between the two and create links between the boards and the Wiki.
The ability to link between the boards and the Wiki helps my workflow and collaboration with my team by ensuring that if we have any tasks that need to be carried out, we have them on the Issues board, and we write runbooks in the Wiki on how to carry out the task. We copy the link of the Wiki and put it into the description of the tickets so that when someone is working on the ticket, they can very quickly go over to the Wiki and know how to carry out their task, which saves us time.
GitLab has positively impacted our organization by making our code very secure because GitLab prides itself on security. Storing code in GitLab is a very secure way to do it, and from an operational efficiency and time-saving perspective, the Issues and Epics board is definitely helpful, offering a few benefits operationally.
What needs improvement?
The only feature I have used in GitLab that I thought could be improved is their code generation feature. When I previously used it, some of my questions were met with responses saying that it did not know the answer, and some responses were incorrect as well. I understand this is something new for them, so they are still developing it, but I do not feel that it is in a position where I would use it regularly just because it is not very reliable right now.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working in my current field between five to ten years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
GitLab is very stable. I have not seen any instability issues.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
GitLab is highly scalable and could very easily scale to thousands of code repos, which is necessary for any organizational size.
How are customer service and support?
The customer support for GitLab is very good, and I have no complaints because they have always been quite helpful. I would rate the customer support a ten out of ten because I have never had any issues with them before, and they are very knowledgeable.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Personally, I have previously used GitHub and Bitbucket as well. I find that GitLab has the cleanest and clearest UI out of all of them, and it has numerous features, such as the Issues and Epics tracking feature, as well as the Wiki feature, which sets it apart.
What was our ROI?
I have seen a return on investment. Any company that generates its own code and develops applications needs a code base, so it is more of a necessity rather than choosing something because it results in a measurable benefit. However, in terms of operational efficiency, a ten to twenty percent increase in speed could quite easily be seen from using the Issues and Epics tracking feature.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
Regarding pricing, setup cost, and licensing, to my understanding, GitLab offers competitive rates. There are a few big competitors within this space, such as GitHub and Bitbucket, so GitLab prices themselves competitively.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Before choosing GitLab, I did evaluate other options, and the main competitors I considered were GitHub and Bitbucket. They are great as well, and all three are brilliant, but GitLab, in my opinion, has the cleanest UI, which sets it apart.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend others to use GitLab because it is a great tool and there are not any real major drawbacks, just a minor one related to the AI code generation. I have given this review an overall rating of nine out of ten.
Unified pipelines have streamlined security checks and testing across our development workflow
What is our primary use case?
We are working with Black Duck, but we do have some plans to move to another vendor down the line.
Black Duck is used mostly for security checks. For coverage, we are using a tool called SonarQube.
Black Duck is explicitly used for security checks on code, for example, open-source software.
We perform scans with Black Duck Security Checker, but software developers handle the post-remediations and mitigation of risks and vulnerabilities.
For CI/CD, we are using GitLab Premium for our repositories. We have Artifactory for all artifact storage from JFrog Artifactory. We have Black Duck for security checks, SonarQube for coverage and unit testing, and Ansible for configuration management along with other tools.
These tools are used for our CI/CD pipelines, running all our pipelines and having unit test cases executed with SonarQube and Black Duck for security checks.
What is most valuable?
GitLab Premium is a one-place platform. You don't have to jump between other tools for multi-stage scanning. You can run multi-stage pipelines all together from building source code, testing source code, running test cases, performing security checks, deploying CI/CD, and end-to-end integration to deployment all in one place.
It is quick and fast. The pipelines run quicker, and the background job processes are efficient. It is multi-threaded operation so it is quite fast.
It is simple to use. You just need to have a good knowledge base, and by getting hands-on experience, you are all set.
What needs improvement?
It could be better, but now that we have migrated to Siemens Energy, GitLab Premium is being actively looked after by another team. We are just making sure that GitLab Premium administration is being done by us.
We are not using the security testing capabilities in GitLab Premium. For security we are using a separate tool.
The automation part could be improved. Nowadays AI is being actively used, and if we could integrate something like ChatGPT with GitLab Premium, it would be easier for us to check logs and debug faster.
We could integrate security and coverage built-in within GitLab Premium instead of relying on third-party tools.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with GitLab Premium for the last four years.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
We stopped working with Chef. We do have Chef for releases and a different process for our own product where Chef is being used. However, I am not using Chef. Instead, we have switched to Ansible for most of our configuration management.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
GitHub is a product I can compare with GitLab Premium.
GitLab Premium is much more reliable, quicker, faster, and basically easier to operate compared to GitHub. It is easy to get things on track. GitHub requires a lot of knowledge. It is easy to spin up any kind of environment and it is easy to be hosted.
What other advice do I have?
We were on the desktop, and now GitLab Premium is on cloud.
I am not really sure about the purchase process for GitLab Premium.
I am a GitLab Premium end-user.
I give this product a rating of eight out of ten.
All-in-one DevOps platform that keeps our team aligned and shipping faster
What do you like best about the product?
Everything in one place - code, CI/CD, issues, and deployments. The CI/CD pipeline is powerful and easy to configure. Code review and merge requests work well for our workflow. The built-in container registry and package registry are convenient. GitLab Pages is great for hosting docs. The self-hosted option gives us control when needed. Overall, it streamlines our DevOps workflow.
What do you dislike about the product?
The UI can be slow, especially with large repos or many pipelines. Some advanced features are only in higher tiers. The search could be better. The interface can feel cluttered. Documentation is extensive but sometimes hard to find. Runner management can be tricky at scale.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
Before GitLab, we used separate tools for version control, CI/CD, and project management. GitLab consolidates everything, reducing context switching and improving visibility. The CI/CD pipelines automate testing and deployment, catching issues earlier. This speeds up releases and reduces manual work. Having code, issues, and pipelines in one place makes collaboration easier.
A great enterprise repository solution
What do you like best about the product?
The user interface is excellent. It makes tasks like viewing and searching code, opening and reviewing merge requests, as well as creating tags and managing pipelines, all very straightforward and accessible.
What do you dislike about the product?
There are some useful features, but for instance, the ability to add two reviewers to a merge request is restricted by a paywall. This limitation is disappointing, especially for a self-hosted solution where you would expect more flexibility.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We rely on GitLab to host our version control, with our entire monorepo managed there. All of our upgrades are handled through merge requests, which streamlines our workflow. Additionally, we have an extensive network of pipelines in place to ensure that our code consistently functions as intended.
Streamlined CI/CD with GitLab's Powerful Features
What do you like best about the product?
I like that with GitLab we have control over our data since we deployed our own server and linked it with our domain. It has been particularly useful for automating workflows like Continuous Integration and Continuous Deployment, especially into Kubernetes environments. I also appreciate the ability to store secrets safely with GitLab, which adds an extra layer of security to our processes. Moreover, integrating GitLab with SonarQube for checking vulnerabilities in source code has been beneficial. After the initial setup on our AWS EC2 machine, everything works smoothly, which I really appreciate.
What do you dislike about the product?
Nothing anything at the moment
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
We use GitLab to keep our data secure and link it to our domain. It automates workflows with CI/CD for k8s environments and safely stores secrets.
Unified DevSecOps with Strong CI/CD Pipelines
What do you like best about the product?
I appreciate how GitLab brings the entire DevSecOps lifecycle into a single unified platform, reducing tools sprawl and making my workflow more efficient. GitLab's built-in CI/CD pipelines are one of its strongest features. They are easy to configure using .gitlab-ci.yml, provide powerful automation, and eliminate the need for separate CI tools, making environment deployment easy. The initial setup was moderately easy, and I found GitLab's documentation very helpful in making the installation straightforward.
What do you dislike about the product?
While GitLab is a powerful and unified DevSecOps platform, there are areas where usability and performance could be improved, specifically the user interface complexity and pipeline speed and resource consumption.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
I use GitLab to create tasks and issues for employees, get updates from assignees, and prioritize issues. It unifies my DevSecOps processes, reduces tool sprawl, and enhances efficiency with its strong built-in CI/CD pipelines, automation, and no need for separate CI tools.
Feature-Rich Platform with a Slick UI
What do you like best about the product?
It's an all-in-one solution for hosting both the sources and the resulting artifacts, good integration to other tools
What do you dislike about the product?
I'm missing a way to orchestrate reviews/merges across multiple repos
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
collaborating over code review
Consolidating multiple dev and security tools has streamlined workflows and reduced maintenance time
What is our primary use case?
My use case for GitLab Premium involves consolidating multiple tools for different use cases such as performance testing, SAST, DAST, project management, and advanced project management. Initially, the organization was using close to eight or nine different tools. When I joined this organization as a consultant, they were already using the intermediate level of GitLab within the ecosystem. I recommended that rather than using multiple tools while already paying for them, they add some additional budget and move to GitLab Premium. This would help reduce the maintenance and management of multiple tools and eventually reduce the overall licensing cost.
What is most valuable?
The functions I found most valuable in GitLab Premium start with the core functionality of Git and version controlling, which is quite solid. The integrations and built-in capabilities provided for security, infrastructure management, SAST, DAST, performance testing, and advanced-level project management make it a solid tool to use.
The code review feature in GitLab Premium improves my development process, and it represents the most basic functionality they provide. It is quite effective to use, particularly the merge request feature that they have.
The planning tools in GitLab Premium, such as roadmaps, help my team manage projects and timelines effectively.
The main benefits I received from GitLab Premium are that I save money and streamline my management process of applications. I am able to reduce costs and maintenance time because I do not have to maintain multiple tools, multiple servers for those tools, or multiple licenses. This helps to reduce both costs and man-hours significantly.
What needs improvement?
GitLab Premium is quite solid now, though there is always room for improvement. They provide a feature for integrating it with provisioning tools such as Terraform and others, but if they could provide direct integration and a segregated unit or feature that helps manage files and maintain versioning in a more visualized way, that could significantly improve the capability.
I have not come across anything lacking in functionality within GitLab Premium that I am looking for. In the future, if there is something, I might suggest it. As of now, whatever the demands of the clients I am working for, GitLab Premium is fulfilling that with the version and capabilities they provide, so I am satisfied.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been working with GitLab Premium for approximately four years now since my client opted for it.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
I rate the stability of GitLab Premium as nine out of ten since I never encounter any issues with it, though there might be some minor ones.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
The scalability of GitLab Premium is quite solid. I can rate it as ten considering we started with twenty users initially for this particular client when we opted for Premium, and we have scaled up to over one thousand two hundred users so far without facing any challenges.
How are customer service and support?
I rate the technical support from GitLab positively based on my experience. I have approached them a couple of times for issues I was unable to understand or implement, and I received solid support and inputs to fix those issues.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup process for GitLab Premium is simple, as we are using their SaaS platform. There is no setup involved; we just need to create an account, and then it is ready to use. It is a plug and play solution.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
The comparison of GitLab Premium with competitors shows that it is not unique. There are other tools available with similar features, such as GitHub and Azure DevOps from Microsoft, which also offer almost the same functionalities.
For me, the main reason to choose GitLab Premium is that it provides all the same functionality for a lower price compared to other platforms. They are almost the same in terms of cost. It all depends on how a sales team approaches the management. I mainly work as an executor and implementer, providing suggestions and conducting POCs, but the final decision is with the client. Clients are approached by different sales representatives to choose their product or others. We provide them inputs, features, and ratings, and then it is up to them which product they proceed with. GitLab Premium does come with a couple of extra features that are not available in other products on the market now, so it has a premium edge.
What other advice do I have?
I require clarification on which feedback about the effectiveness of GitLab Premium for audit events you are asking about.
Overall, I give GitLab Premium a final rating of nine out of ten for the product. I give GitLab Premium a rating of nine out of ten.
I continue to recommend GitLab Premium to different clients where I work.
Have managed internal projects efficiently but face challenges with user interface and navigation
What is our primary use case?
GitLab Premium is being used, but the CI/CD functionality is not utilized. GitLab also provides the entire CI/CD ecosystem, but that is not being used. GitLab Premium is used for version controlling only.
The primary use case for GitLab Premium is version controlling. Version controlling and triggering capabilities are available, and GitLab configuration is good, but not comparable to GitHub.
GitLab Premium is used for internal needs only.
GitHub Actions are used for enterprise clients, as GitHub is widely used across the enterprise client base. Maximum enterprise clients are using GitHub, while some clients are using Azure Repos. For internal purposes, GitLab Premium is used because most proof of concept work has been done with Jenkins, and automation testing is also performed with Jenkins. A dedicated server for GitLab Premium is maintained because there are more than 350 users. If GitHub were implemented instead, it would be costlier. GitLab Premium is less costly, which is the main reason for the choice.
GitHub is used widely for enterprise clients, while GitLab Premium is used as a customer and user solution.
How has it helped my organization?
Advanced scheduling capability for pipelines does not impact build and deployment speed. This is not felt because integration has been done with a Jenkins project. More than 100 projects are integrated with the Jenkins CI/CD pipeline, and all those repositories are in GitLab Premium only. No lag or slowness is experienced because webhooks have been integrated with all pipelines for auto build triggers. Builds are triggered within seconds.
What is most valuable?
The biggest benefit from GitLab Premium is that both repository management systems are good, as both GitHub and GitLab are valuable. The main advantage is that GitLab Premium has community support. For small organizations, GitLab Premium is good in all aspects. However, for enterprise use, GitLab Premium is also chargeable, though not to the same extent as GitHub.
What needs improvement?
When discussing improvements for GitLab Premium, the main area is the GUI. GitHub's GUI is very good, offering many collaboration options and the ability to customize dashboards. GitHub's look and feel is superior, but GitLab Premium's dashboard is very simple.
Regarding capabilities lacking in GitLab Premium, the main concern is the GUI. For example, in GitHub, there is a right side profile where settings can be directly accessed, and there is a direct section for developer mode with clear segregation. In GitLab Premium, when accessing users, confusion sometimes arises between root user and main user. There is an option for groups, but it is not direct. When clicking on groups, it goes to another section where groups must be found. This hierarchy could be more straightforward and direct.
The biggest drawbacks of GitLab Premium are GUI and configuration. GUI is the primary concern, but other aspects are good.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
A stability rating of eight points is given for GitLab Premium.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
GitLab Premium's scalability is rated at 8.5.
How are customer service and support?
Technical support is felt to be good, but not comparable to GitHub. There is some additional response time, which sometimes feels like a delay. Fast response is needed, but not to the level provided by Microsoft.
How was the initial setup?
Regarding installation and deployment, GitLab Premium is quite easy to deploy. This is confirmed by the fact that more than 100 projects are managed by GitLab Premium and integrated with Jenkins CI/CD. Build and deployment are quite seamless.
What was our ROI?
Regarding ROI with GitLab Premium, in terms of price, GitLab Premium is better because it is less expensive. GitHub is much more costly.
Regarding whether GitLab Premium is rentable, much clarity cannot be provided because all of these matters are handled by the network management team. Return on investment cannot be provided with much clarity because when working for enterprise clients, they pay hourly for IT systems. These things may be affordable or if they are costlier, they are managed when clients pay the company. GitLab Premium is manageable, and there is no additional complexity regarding ROI.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
GitLab Premium is affordable in terms of pricing, while GitHub is a bit pricier. If working with a much more complex and vast organization at the enterprise level, GitHub would be the choice. If operating a small organization or startup company without much complex scenarios, GitLab Premium is good.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
Regarding code review enhancements, GitLab Premium is being used for code-based implementation. For new enterprise clients, GitHub is preferred, but for startup companies that are new to development and operations, GitLab Premium is good because it does not charge much more than GitHub. For small organizations, small teams, and small companies, GitLab Premium is good. For the enterprise level, if working with much complex operations, much greater security, and much more usability and accessibility regarding user access and parameters, GitHub is preferred.
What other advice do I have?
The company relationship with Microsoft and GitHub is as a service provider, while with GitLab Premium, the relationship is as a customer and user.
If operating a startup company, GitLab Premium should be used, as GitLab Premium also provides a community edition with which many things can be done that are available on GitHub.
Regarding scheduling for pipelines, advanced scheduling capability does not impact build and deployment speed. This is not felt because integration has been done with a Jenkins project. All repositories are in GitLab Premium only. No lag or slowness is experienced because webhooks have been integrated with all pipelines for auto build triggers. Whenever any developer pushes any commit or code to the GitLab Premium repository, it automatically triggers within seconds.
The biggest benefit from GitLab Premium is that both repository management systems are good, as both GitHub and GitLab are valuable. The main advantage is that GitLab Premium has community support. For small organizations, GitLab Premium is good in all aspects. However, for enterprise use, GitLab Premium is also chargeable, though not to the same extent as GitHub.
This review has been rated with an overall rating of eight out of ten.
Very Efficient and Structured Solution for the whole Workflow from Management to Deployment
What do you like best about the product?
It started out with a very minimalistic approach, but over time, they have consistently enhanced their features and addressed bugs with better support for customer satisfaction. The platform is now easier to use and less complicated. It also integrates with all the popular mailing, communication, collaboration, and alerting applications. We use it for all our work tracking and releasing. Very easy to implement and build upon.
What do you dislike about the product?
Still has less features compared to peers. But it has everything we really need.
What problems is the product solving and how is that benefiting you?
It can be integrated seamlessly with all the popular apps for coding, releasing, testing and alerting logs and all the management workflows too.
